Judges

MARTIN BRYANT | Media and Tech Consultant

Martin Bryant is a consultant, speaker, writer, and educator in the fields of technology and media. He works to help technology companies craft a narrative around their products and business. He was previously Editor-in-Chief of international technology publication The Next Web, and Community Editor at Tech North, where he shone a light on the stories of startups and entrepreneurs in the North of England.

Mike Deyes | Deputy Director of Marketing | University of Liverpool

Mike is the Associate Director of Marketing at the University of Liverpool and leads on digital channels. He has a background in PR, communications and fundraising in both charity and education sectors. Mike is a great supporter of industry awards having sat on Northern Digital, Public Sector and other judging panels.

David Edmundson-Bird | PRINCIPAL LECTURER IN DIGITAL MARKETING & ENTERPRISE ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR: DIGITAL INNOVATION | Manchester Metropolitan University

David is Principal Lecturer in Digital Marketing at Manchester Metropolitan University, where he leads a team of specialist digital marketing academics and runs a number of digital communications programmes. He is co-author of 7th edition of Digital Business & E-commerce Management with Dave Chaffey and Tanya Hemphill. David is Chair of Global Judging Standards for Don’t Panic. His role is to ensure objectivity, transparency and consistency across the judging panels for all Don’t Panic assets, and to provide a quality assurance process in the judging process. He set up Manchester Met’s first part-time MSc in Digital Marketing in 2007, their first full-time MSc Digital Marketing Communications in 2016 and Manchester Met’s Global E-Learning MSc in Digital Marketing. David founded Manchester Met’s Agency Life programme in 2012 to enable students to experience live work skills in the workplace very early in their course. He has enjoyed several spells in academia as well as senior management roles in the digital sector, helped to set up Manchester’s second web design agency back in 1995, He sits on the Board FutureEverything and is a trustee of The Education Trust.

Katrina Kerr | Chair of Chester Bid and Trustee at Storyhouse

Katrina works as a marketing consultant, primarily in tourism and is a trustee of Storyhouse and Chair of the Chester Business Improvement District, an organisation dedicated to positioning Chester as a city that offers the highest all round quality of life. She is also a board member of the Tourism Society. Prior to that she was CEO of Marketing Cheshire, she reformulated the business model to ensure the longevity and commercial viability of the organisation, overhauled its digital channels and footprint, developed its relationship with Visit Britain. Katrina has also worked for a number of multinational communications agencies - Ogilvy, J Walter Thompson, Publicis on campaigns for clients such as HSBC, Unilever, American Express, Reckitt Benckiser and the UK Government. She started her career in HM Diplomatic Service where she worked in Paris and Brussels. Katrina studied languages at the University of Bristol and has an MBA from INSEAD.

Erin Portsmouth | Director of Corporate Affairs | Oldham Cares

Erin is a Chartered public relations practitioner who started her career in private sector marketing and communications consultancies, but for the past eleven years has worked in the National Health Service. She is currently Director of Corporate Affairs at NHS Oldham Clinical Commissioning Group where she oversees a portfolio including communications, engagement, public affairs, equality and diversity, organisational development and governance. She has a Masters degree in public relations, and served on the Chartered Institute of Public Relations North West Group Committee as a volunteer for ten years, also holding a three year term as Chair. She was appointed to the Board of Trustees of homelessness charity Emmaus Salford in 2017.

Anna Wilson | Head of Digital Development | Tangerine

Anna works day-to-day to build brands online, creating audience-first social media activity integrated with the wider digital footprint to deliver meaningful results for the brand. Over the last 12 years Anna has worked with the team to create multi-award winning campaigns with brands like Yorkshire Bank, Thomas Cook Sport, Virgin Media, Pizza Hut Restaurants and Specsavers.