[jot]

Well I guess it's got you some attention :) I would have invested a marketing budget like that in supporting some low cost events with smart participants. I've not been involved in much in the North of England but I hear there are some great BarCamps and OpenCoffee meetups.

So is it just the two of you that will be making the funding decisions? That's where committees can do most damage.

[jdbradford]

Since the programme is open to anyone from anywhere we are attempting to raise the profile of the programme outside of the region - and social media etc is the obvious approach with limited resources and time.

In addition to a number of local events I have also attended around 10 different events across the UK and overseas over the last 3 weeks to raise the profile of the programme.

Your point is well made re BarCamps and OpenCoffee and it is my intention after the first programme to spend more facetime with interested participants - local suggestions would be welcome.

The selection process will include a variety of individuals including local VCs and entrepreneurs with "real world" experience.