Somewhat irritatingly Wordpress won’t accept iFrames in the post, so I’m just going to do updates every few minutes or so. Coveritlive would have been greate as it constantly refreshes. Never mind. I’m sure there’s a technical way around it.

So, I’m sat in the press room here at Urbis. Not much sign of activity right now, but then there’s 30 minutes to go.

So, up first is Steve Coogan, Alex Poots and Peter Saville.

Some background if you aren’t aware…Steve Coogan - think Alan Partridge, Paul Calf, Pauline Calf…acclaimed mancunian comedian…somewhat controversial during his career (but that’s not for me to comment upon) and a guy who has brought much mirth to the TV in the last few years.

Peter Saville, iconic designer responsible for much of the Factory artistic direction through the 80’s and 90’s - take a look at Joy Divisions Closer and many of the New Order classic album covers. Saville was a major collaborator with Wilson and remains a strong creative force in the UK.

11:55 - Still waiting for signs of action…whilst the AV guys fix their feed into Second Life.

12:10 - Action. Waiting for audio feed from the Pavilion! Hmmm, missed the start…the only thing I can tell you right now is that Steve Coogan has had his hair cut. Hopefully the audio feed will start to come through soon.

12:35 - just nipped back from the Pavilion…feed now on. Going to be interesting to see how they keep this going for 24 hours is my first perception.

Right now we’re getting the skinny from Messrs Coogan and Saville about Tony Wilson. The ‘older brother to an entire generation” is how SC summed him up. He recalled one of my early memories of TW - the fact that everyone said they thought he was an idiot. It was cool to say he was such. Coogan muses that perhaps this is because we felt we were cooler than him. Hmm.

When 24hr Party People was released, there was a story about Wilson being irritated that the poster called him a ****. Not because it called him in this way, but because the poster was toned down!! *will dig out the link for you when I get a chance.

12:40 - Comments from the TWE feed aren’t exactly complementary right now.  I think Coogan is quite amusing (no surprise), but he could do with letting Peter Saville get a word in!

12:45 - Coogan on 24hr Party People. Wanted TW to appear like a flawed hero. Someone we could laugh at and laugh with.

12:50 - It’s really quite difficult to comment on what is going on in this environment. Apologies. May have to find another location to work from!

Saville ruminating about the amazing effect that Wilson and ‘a few other people’ had when basically they were just doing what they wanted to do. “Just do it” don’t worry about where it’s going and what’s going to happen. If you do that you won’t do anything. Profound from Mr Saville.

Wilson wasn’t entirely happy with how 24Hr came out, but his belief in other’s vision and artistic freedom let it ride.

13:00 - The first hour is over. Not quite sure what to make of that really. The technical difficulties didn’t help.

First up, is that it’s going to be interesting to see how they can keep this going for 24hrs. It’s a challenging format and kudos for giving it a go, but I’m wondering how much staying power the creatives who are here are going to have. Time will tell.

Second. The recollections of Tony certainly chime with my own as a kid growing up. More later.

Tomorrow brings the 24hr Conversation to the i4SM blog. I’ll be at Reification -  the Tony Wilson Experience and blogging throughout the time I’m there.

Carefully grafted from the official website, here’s what the experience is all about:

The Tony Wilson Experience - billed as the longest ever intelligent conversation - is a chance for young, talented people with an interest in the creative arts to take part in a non-stop, 24 hour series of workshops with some of the biggest names from the music industry, screenwriting, broadcasting, writing, design, photography and film. Staged in memory of the late broadcaster and cultural entrepreneur, and supported by Manchester City Council, the sessions will be challenging, inspirational and at times experimental.

So, I’ll be there, squeezed into the press area, milling about outside the tent and dipping through the green room (I hope) trying to catch a flavour of the day.

In addition, the event will be streamed into Second Life (go to One Manchester) and on the official website.

It’s going to be an interesting day. Not sure whether I’ll be covering the entire 24 hours just yet…

The tool I’ll be using to blog about each conversation is coveritlive…so if you do happen to be here tomorrow, you’ll be able to interact directly with the blog. After the fact, you’ll be able to relive my blogathon in all it’s glory.

-pc.