A HUGE summer creative industries conference is being planned for Plymouth after the city was snubbed on a national map for the booming digital economy.
The creatives' conference is due to take part in June and will feature speakers and workshops on a range of topics such as app and game development, coding and robotics.
The idea is to put the city on the national digital map, as the UK tech industries reach a turnover of £161billion.
The project comes from Plymouth's creative organisation Digital Plymouth after members were disappointed to find Plymouth did not feature on a national map of digital clusters.
Last year, the landmark Tech Nation report revealed the digital economy was booming outside London, with 74 per cent of digital firms now beyond the capital.
It cited Bournemouth, Liverpool and Brighton as emerging cities – but not Plymouth.
And the Tech Nation 2016 report – styled as the most comprehensive analysis of the UK's digital tech economy – contains a map which highlights clusters in Truro, Redruth, and Camborne; Exeter and Newton Abbott; and Bristol and Bath; in the South West.
But Plymouth is absent.
The Digital Plymouth team say this is not an accurate reflection of the booming creative industry in the city and are determined to make the rest of the country sit up and take notice.
They have already set up a series of quarterly "meetups" for the city's digital figureheads and others wanting to learn more.
These have become so popular 100 people turned up at the last one.
And they plan to spin this out into a huge conference in June 2016, with a date and venue to be confirmed.
Paul Bird, creative director at Plymouth's Elixel, and a founder of Digital Plymouth, said members wanted to know why city graduates often headed for jobs in London, Bristol and the North.
"We wanted to work out why that was and realised there was no culture or scene down here, nowhere for people to talk to others in the creative industries within the city," he said.
Digital Plymouth then did a presentation on the UK's tech clusters for Plymouth City Council and looked at business growth associated with students coming out of university.
"The South West was empty – not even on the map," said Mr Bird. "But we knew, by running our own businesses, that there is a digital culture down here, so it's about highlighting that and promoting the awesome things Plymouth is doing.
"We started regular 'meetups', the first was in September – we had 54 people at the New Continental Hotel."
A follow up at the Loft, Sutton Harbour, attracted 100 people, and Mr Bird said: "It got a lot bigger than we thought in a short time, we only thought 12 to 15 people would turn up.
"The most interesting thing was the mix: web designers, copy writers, Government officials, freelances, students, and more.
"The idea is to run four quarterly events in March, September and December with a conference in June.
"The conference will be a day and-a-half event, with a full day of speakers and the second day workshops.
"We want to promote the talent in Plymouth but also bring in big names from other cities.
"We have one from Pearlfisher (design agency) in London confirmed already.
"We are talking to Plymouth College of Art, which has come in as a partner, about getting students involved.
"The conference will promote Plymouth – we want it noticed in the South West and around the UK."
The next free-to-attend meet-up is on March 3, from 6.30pm at the Loft.
It will feature speakers including Becky Veater from Elixel, graphic designer Owen Jones, Jason Butler from Sponge UK, and Marcin Roszkowski from New Digital Design.
Digital Plymouth was set up by Mr Bird along with Sabrina Simpson from Plymouth Cowork, Garry Hunt from Sonic Digital Communications, Rob Wick from THINQTANQ, and Mike Turner from Tin Digital.
Mr Bird said: "We have a three- to five-year plan for Digital Plymouth.
"Ultimately we want to create a funding pot, we could use that to invest in business ideas, so when they come out of university or college there is something that can help them start up."
He said a membership pack, with discounts, and mentoring schemes are also ambitions.