I’ve just lost my Wired City Reconnected virginity, having attended one of their networking events for the first time this evening. Run by those friendly folk at Alba Associates, these handshake events are aimed principally at people working in the digital and creative industries

As Shaun Fensom - Chair of Manchester Digital and an impressively switched-on chap - said during our short chat, the current buzzword may be ‘innovation’, but there’s still a huge amount of value in ‘collaboration’ - and that’s really what Wired City is all about, providing a space for people with different skills and projects to meet, be introduced to each other and hopefully create collaborative opportunities and relationships for the future.

The introduction element is a key part of Wired City’s events, as you get to see a list of the attendees beforehand and choose one or two (or ten) who you’d like to speak to. The organisers - Les, Immy and Fiona - then make sure that they introduce you to those individuals over the course of the evening.

Once you get used to Les popping up on your shoulder and asking if you’re ready to move on yet (I did at one point think he was about to blow a whistle in a speed-dating stylee, only to realise he’d just popped a pen lid in his mouth whilst writing something down) this is actually a really useful way to get people moving and talking to as many other people as possible. Plus, I think it’s going to make me more likely to follow up with those people who I did speak to, if only to carry on the conversation that we left off slightly abruptly!

So yes, I shall be along at the next Wired City event. And no, it’s not just so I can get another free glass of wine… (although yes, it always helps…).