Future Decoded, held at London’s Excel exhibition centre, is Microsoft’s showcase London event demonstrating the ways in which the company is fuelling business innovation.  Held over two days, To Market attended on 10th November for the Business Day (11th was a Technical Day) – with a focus on the amazing effect digital transformation is having on business.

To Market was invited by Enterprise Nation to be on the Small Business stand alongside 12 other growing businesses using technology for innovation, communications, collaborations and productivity.

It was a pretty mind blowing day!  A very early start – there for 7.30am in our case.  Microsoft’s organisational team kicked in prior to the event with information, guidance and advice and help leading up to the day (a full powerpoint briefing plus booked call to ensure we were happy and know what we were doing!).  We had our own branded ‘pod’ and had a prime spot to see and be seen. Plus we had access to some of the latest tech if we needed it, this included the new Surface laptop/tablet. Our neighbours Yunya, Lacuna Digital and Shopwave were all using different versions.  Pretty nifty and super light!

There was a morning of keynote speakers which included Richard Reed, Martha Lane Fox, Clare Balding, Jessica Ennis-Hill and Rt Hon Lord Sebastian Coe in the ICC Auditorium – an impressive list at a seriously massive space seating some 4,000 people.  The SMB stand was positioned directly opposite this so we benefited from good traffic when people were gathering in the foyer.

From around 11.00am the formal Expo was opened in Capital Hall (right next to us) and there were breakout sessions in the Capital Suites and finally networking at the end of the day.  With Sunita and Maureen manning our stand I was able to take a look around Capital Hall where you could enquire about, see and try some of the very latest innovations available now for business and, interestingly, those racing to the very near future note where art and science interact and innovations such as Project Florence.  I left the hall with my head buzzing with the possibilities.

We made some valuable connections with partners, were filmed at the event for publicity purposes and have gained many new Twitter followers.  A really worthwhile experience!