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Stoke CON Trent stands as the premier pop culture, gaming, and media convention in Staffordshire, bringing together fans of comic books, sci-fi cinema, television, retro gaming, and cosplay. Hosted in partnership with student community hubs and popular campus facilities like Staffordshire Students' Union, this flagship event celebrates creativity, fandom, and local creative talents in a vibrant and welcoming setting. The convention features a wide array of activities tailored to fans of all ages. Attendees can look forward to exclusive guest panels and Q&A sessions with television actors, voiceover artists, and iconic comic book creators. Visitors have the unique opportunity to meet their favorite stars, secure personalized autographs, and pose for professional photographs throughout the day. For pop culture collectors, the expansive Trader Zone serves as a bustling marketplace. Dozens of independent retailers, artists, and creators offer rare merchandise, vintage comics, customized apparel, handcrafted collectibles, tabletop gaming gear, and original artwork. Whether you are searching for a missing issue to complete your collection or looking for unique fan memorabilia, the trader floor provides endless options. Cosplay forms the beating heart of Stoke CON Trent. Throughout the day, attendees are encouraged to dress as their favorite characters from movies, anime, video games, and comic books. A dedicated Cosplay Parade and Competition takes place on the main stage, giving participants the platform to showcase their craft, original designs, and character performance. Categories cater to both beginner costumers and experienced prop builders, evaluated by an expert panel of guest judges. Interactive entertainment zones keep energy high across the venue. The Retro & Modern Gaming Zone offers free-to-play console stations, competitive tournaments, and casual arcade setups. Simultaneously, creative workshops provide hands-on experience in prop making, comic illustration, and costume crafting. Designed for families, dedicated youth activity corners feature LEGO play pits, board gaming stations, and interactive treasure hunts.

Protect Your Commercial Assets with Expert IP Guidance Navigating the landscape of corporate assets requires a solid understanding of Intellectual Property (IP). For early-stage companies, growing businesses, and individual inventors, securing unique ideas, original brand elements, and proprietary technical processes is critical for maintaining a competitive edge. The Intellectual Property Surgery, hosted by the North East Business and Innovation Centre (BIC) in partnership with the Business & IP Centre (BIPC) North East, provides free confidential one-to-one advisory sessions to help regional founders audit, structure, and defend their core intellectual assets. Intellectual Property forms the baseline of commercial valuation for modern ventures. Without effective legal safeguards, innovative products, distinct branding, or proprietary operational methods can easily be duplicated or exploited by competitors. This clinic offers dedicated access to IP specialists who help evaluate your current business footprint, identify underlying risks, and outline practical steps toward full legal protection across every relevant category. Comprehensive Coverage Across the Four Pillars of IP During your personalized clinic session, specialists will examine your business model to establish which forms of intellectual protection apply to your operations. The session breaks down the four distinct mechanisms of IP management: Trademarks: Safeguard brand identity markers including company names, logos, product titles, domain names, and slogans to prevent brand dilution or market confusion. Copyright: Protect literary works, website copy, original artwork, media recordings, architectural plans, software source code, and training documentation. Designs: Protect visual aesthetic appeal, shape, external contours, and structural ornamentation of physical commercial products. Patents: Defend novel mechanical inventions, technical processes, technical solutions, and functional manufacturing methods against unauthorized commercialization. By systematically walking through these legal definitions during your session, you can create a prioritized roadmap for registering formal rights or implementing operational protocols that protect unregistered rights. Mitigate Infringement Risks and Maximize Asset Value Beyond securing your own proprietary assets, understanding IP is essential to ensure your business operations do not inadvertently infringe upon the existing rights of third parties. Adopting commercial materials, technology components, or marketing themes without proper vetting can result in legal disputes, costly rebrands, or unexpected financial liabilities. The IP Surgery provides guidance on conducting comprehensive preliminary searches across public registers, ensuring your new brand names or product designs are clear for commercial use prior to significant capital deployment. Furthermore, holding registered IP assets strengthens market positioning, increases investor confidence, and unlocks potential licensing revenue streams. Whether you are launching a startup, scaling an existing business, or developing a novel product line, this surgery equips you with actionable insights to safeguard your innovations and build sustainable enterprise value. Reserve your individual time slot in advance to ensure dedicated consultation time tailored specifically to your business needs.

The Institute of Fisheries Management (IFM) is proud to present the IFM Sustainable Fisheries Workshop 2026 in Hull, United Kingdom. Hosted in the historic maritime city of Hull, this three-day intensive national gathering brings together regional leaders, practical researchers, technical experts, and policy professionals to focus on the emerging challenges facing freshwater, estuarine, and marine aquatic systems. As climate change, urban developments, and environmental shifts strain natural habitats, the need for actionable, evidence-based management frameworks has never been more urgent. Delegates will gain direct insights into cutting-edge technical interventions, data-driven habitat monitoring strategies, and collaborative stewardship solutions designed to enhance ecological resilience across British waterways and coastal regions. Core Themes and Technical Focus Areas Throughout the event, attendees will explore several key thematic areas fundamental to modern aquatic stewardship. High-priority tracks include state-of-the-art fish passage engineering, automated hydroacoustic species tracking, real-time water quality diagnostic tools, and ecological DNA (eDNA) sampling methodologies. Dedicated workshop tracks will address estuarine management within the Humber Basin, examining practical solutions to balance commercial marine activity with active conservation. Presenters will share real-world case studies detailing habitat restoration projects, successful barriers removal, and species repopulation initiatives. Participants will leave with practical tools, technical workflows, and scalable approaches ready for immediate implementation in field operations and regulatory planning. Interactive Sessions and Industry Networking Designed to maximize peer collaboration, the workshop offers an array of interactive breakout sessions, technical roundtables, and poster presentations. Attendees will engage directly with field experts to debate policy updates, evaluate practical hardware solutions, and solve complex operational challenges faced by regional water boards and environmental consultancies. Dedicated networking breaks, informal evening meetups, and structured Q&A panels foster cross-sector dialogue between academic researchers, field technicians, regulatory agencies, and commercial stakeholders. An on-site trade exhibition area will showcase the latest environmental monitoring hardware, telemetry devices, and specialized field software from industry-leading manufacturers. Professional Development and Continuing Education Attending this workshop qualifies registered delegates for Continuing Professional Development (CPD) hours recognized by leading UK environmental and biological chartered institutions. Early-career researchers and seasoned practitioners alike will benefit from hands-on masterclasses covering environmental data analysis, GIS spatial mapping for fish migration corridors, and public policy translation. By bridging theoretical science with field-tested management techniques, the IFM Sustainable Fisheries Workshop ensures participants enhance their professional qualifications while actively contributing to the sustainable future of global and local aquatic ecosystems.