Dr. Martens photobooth. Hanging out in front of the Brighton Dome bar.
Unlike the grey overcast of day five, today the sun came out in force. Brilliant blue sky. Before leaving Jakarta the week before, Teresia from the British Council had wished us good weather — I now understood exactly what good weather at The Great Escape actually meant.
My plan for the day was to attend seminars and absorb as much as possible from UK and European music industry experts. Nothing started before 10am, and the first session I wanted to catch didn’t begin until noon. So after breakfast I let myself decompress in the hotel room. Every part of my body ached from the pace of the previous days.
By 11am the cold Brighton air (deceptively cold despite the sunshine) had made me hungry again. I’d recently quit smoking, which was making me snack more than usual. I found something to eat near the hotel and walked toward the venue.
The Seminars
I grabbed a seat in the second row for the first panel — front row thinking, without being obnoxiously in the front row. The session was a market-by-market guide to digital music in 2014, moderated by Chris from CMU, who also programs many of The Great Escape’s conference sessions.
Manolo — our Colombian delegate — was on the panel, sharing his perspective on festival opportunities in emerging markets. It was interesting to watch a colleague I’d been travelling with for days suddenly become a speaker at an international industry conference. He held his own well.
The afternoon brought more sessions. I moved between rooms, following threads that connected to the work I was doing back in Indonesia: digital distribution, sync licensing, artist development models. Each conversation added something.
Afternoon Sun, Outdoor Bar
By late afternoon, the sunshine had drawn a crowd to the outdoor bar area near the Brighton Dome. Several delegates from across Asia were there: Indra Ameng, Rahul and Adrian from Malaysia, Li Du from China. Ameng introduced me to a festival entrepreneur from Hong Kong.
I made one significant mistake. I assumed that sunshine in Brighton meant warmth. I was wearing only a light jacket. Wrong. The sea breeze coming off the water was biting. Eventually I admitted defeat and walked back to the hotel.
Adrian, Rahul, and I walked together. They were just stopping in to grab jackets before heading back out. I stayed in. We had dinner at the hotel bar — cold beers, a view of Brighton through the window, and conversation that ranged from music to family to what each of us was going back home to do. A quieter end to the day, but the right one. Body needed the rest. Tomorrow was the last official day.