All Day Hey! 2023 retrospective

· 5 min read

After my usual post-conference slumber, I’ve finally managed to pen down some thoughts from the events of All Day Hey! 2023. There is nothing like running a conference, from the challenges running a live event throws at you to the surrounding community. This year was a tough one, the landscape of sponsorship and learning and development budgets meant we had to work harder to get bums on seats, but it was so worth it! Every year I’m humbled by the conversations I have with people and the response to the talks, and this year was no different.

These retrospectives are as much for me as for anyone else; if you’re looking for links to the talks, just jump to the bottom of this page.

Thank you

While it might look like it’s just me running around making things work, a big crew of us make sure things run smoothly. James Bevan, James Hall and Jack Sails help ensure logistics flow, and I’m forever grateful for their time and patience with me as the event comes together. Our outstanding suppliers, One Nine Nine, AdLib, Chapter 81, Rosy and Marcus on photography, all work together to ensure the production is as tight as possible. And finally, our sponsors WRK Digital, frankly and IMA HOME, ensure things stay accessible and affordable.

Phil remains a permanent fixture at All Day Hey!, bringing his fantastic MCing skills. I say it often, and for good reason, the event wouldn’t be what it is without Phil, and I appreciate the time he gives to ensure we get things just right.

And, of course, the attendees. All of you lovely lot who give us your time to turn up and learn something new.

Logistics

We know the space at Everyman Cinemas really well now, and our team works so well together that most things run smoothly these days. Special recognition to AdLib for their incredible AV services and Jack, who ensures all speaker logistics are handled well on the day (those pesky laptop changeovers). The stream production was excellent, too. Chapter 81 has taken some of our work during the pandemic and turned it into a professional production to watch later.

One thing I need to revisit for next year is the quality of the streaming offering. Despite making arrangements for a secondary line and further tests on network redundancy, we still ran into issues on the day. This has been the thorn in our side for a few years now and requires something radically different for 2024. I’m tempted to focus even more on the in-person element and pause the offering on streaming until we can find a more stable solution. I don’t think this would be a bad thing, considering hybrid networking and participation can sometimes be challenging.

It was the first time I’ve managed to get a third-party coffee vendor in for the day, and this was a massive improvement to the poor-quality coffee offered in previous years. Caffeine is king, and I was proud to partner with North Star Coffee Roasters, who delivered excellent coffee and pastries (from Nova Bake House) for all attendees.

The talks

All the talks (as well as the entire day’s recording) are available to watch for free on the Hey! Presents site. You can find out more about them here:

This year’s calibre of the talks was excellent; I found myself scribbling notes as the day went by of things to revisit and look further into.

Finally, we closed the conference and headed to Headrow House to wind down. This is one of my favourite parts of the day, as everyone’s head is full of ideas from all the talks and keen to discuss them and meet new friends.

Next year

And so I start planning for next year! I’m already lining up sponsors and speakers; if you’re interested in getting involved, then please reach out for a chat. All the talks are now available on the site for anyone to watch back for free.

We’ll see you in 2024!

Find out more about All Day Hey!