ANCHOR HIGH SUMMIT

:: Manufacturing NI’s annual Anchor High leadership summit takes place in Derry’s historic Guildhall on Wednesday May 31, bringing down the curtain on Manufacturing Month.

Established and emerging leaders from the manufacturing and engineering sectors across the island of Ireland will come together to explore their own leadership challenges, learn about their changing workplace and workforce, and the big strategic challenges and opportunities that lay ahead.

Panels, workshops, and discussions at this year’s summit focus on issues as varied as strategy, sustainability and ESG, digitalisation, skills and people, and creating diverse workplaces.

Hosted by Business broadcaster Jamie Delargy, speakers at the summit will include: Barry Winkless, chief strategy officer, CPL and head of the Future of Work Institute; Mark Higgins, director of operations, FAST Technologies; Kerry-Ann McGeown, global communications manager, Terex; Martin Tierney, director, Seating Matters; Sam Turner, chief executive of the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Centre; Alyson Hogg, founder of Vita Liberata; and Jill McKitterick, production manager, Coca Cola HBC.

The summit (details at https://www.manufacturingmonthni.com/anchorhighsummit/) will then culminate with a celebration dinner that evening in the Guildhall to mark 20 years since the foundation of Manufacturing NI as well as inducting the 2023 entrants in to the organisation’s Hall of Fame.

ENTREPRENEURS CONFERENCE

:: Alex Depledge MBE, one of the UK’s leading female entrepreneurs, is among a stellar line-up of speakers due at the All-Ireland Entrepreneurs Conference curated by Women in Business.

Taking place on June 16 at the Slieve Donard Hotel in Newcastle, the conference will focus on the theme ‘Dare to Compete’, following on from the recent Voices of Leadership Conference where keynote speaker Hillary Clinton recounted when she was ‘dared to compete’ for the role of President of the United States.

The only all-island conference on the entrepreneurial scene will feature Alex as keynote speaker reflecting on an entrepreneurial journey where she raised the largest capital funding ever for a solely female owner business, co-founding and later selling helping.com for a record £27 million. She has since gone on to start another company, Resi, with Irish business partner Jules Coleman.

The conference will include a pitching competition where two entrepreneurs, one based in the north and one in the south, will be in with the chance to win a £2,000 prize fund for their business

Other speakers include Norah Casey, founder of Planet Woman and former RTE Dragon; Aisling Bremner, leading marketing consultant; Francesca Morelli, co-founder of VAVA Influence; and Melanie Breslin, chief executive of The Elite Mindset Academy. Visit www.womeninbusinessni.com for ticket details.

DOCS IRELAND

:: Alongside a jam-packed film programme, Docs Ireland 5 returns in June with its most stellar industry programme to date with panels, workshops and networking events staring producers, programmers, and industry professionals from all over the world.

On Thursday June 22 the Docs Society will host an Emerging Talent Training Day giving new talent an opportunity to gain skills and contacts. That evening there will be a panel discussion on cross border collaboration called Celebrating the Gains, Addressing the Gaps in the Grand Central Hotel presented in partnership with Screen Producers Ireland.

Docs Ireland will host its Marketplace on Friday June 23 at 2 Royal Avenue for Documentary makers and funders from all over the world to create connections that will produce the next instalments of ground-breaking documentaries.

Hosted by audience designer Síle Cully, a range of panels and discussions on Engaging Audiences will occur. Panels include a take on Share.DOC, an introduction to Doc Alliance, a talk from NOISE Film and TV on Documentary film PR, a discussion on DIY distribution and a conversation with leading documentary sales agents.

Additionally, there will be three keynote industry panels. These are:

:: A discussion on current trends in the documentary market hosted by BAFTA Award winning film-maker and documentary trainer Andy Glynne. BBC NI, BBC Storyville, POV, RTÉ, S4C, TG4, YLE and more will be represented.

:: The Festival Programmers Session with Mads Mikkelsen (head of programme CPH.DOX) and Heather Haynes (associate director of programming Hot Docs).

:: The Place of Markets Documentary Landscapes with guest speakers from Cannes, IDFA, Documentary Association of Europe and East Doc.

The Northern Ireland Screen Pitch will also take place on Saturday June 24 for film-makers to pitch their documentary idea to industry professionals with the possibility of being awarded £7,500 towards a teaser.

SCALEX SUMMIT

:: Global thought leaders and experts in business and scaling are set to converge in Belfast on November 15 for the first-ever ScaleX Summit, a one-day conference to inspire, connect and enable company business leaders and founders to take their businesses to the next level.

The Simple Scaling team, known for their work in enabling ambitious leaders of SMEs to scale with purpose, are the visionaries behind the summit.

Being held at Belfast ICC, this event expects to unite over 500 entrepreneurs and business leaders to connect and explore the latest industry trends, challenges and best practices that are shaping the business world today.

Billed as “Ireland’s first dedicated scaling summit”, esteemed keynote speakers will deliver thought-provoking sessions on topics including the future of hyper sales growth, sustainability for greater profitability and impact, visionary leadership for long-term success, amplifying growth and the dynamic impact of scaling and investment, the power of high-performing teams, ascending to greatness by mastering your mindset, and much more.

Among the headline speakers announced for the event are Professor Damian Hughes, author of High Performance: Lessons from the Best on Becoming Your Best, the Sunday Times bestselling book that uncovers the eight essential habits of the world’s leading sportspeople, coaches and entrepreneurs.

For more information and to book, visit scalexsummit.com.