Sneak has spent many a long, long day at IT conferences in his time, bored witless by an endless stream of grey executives and greyer delegates spouting their monotonous corporate mantra. So it was with a heavy heart that Sneak travelled to his ancestral home this week, to Tyneside, for the Thinking Digital conference – what appeared to be another typically traumatic technology snore-fest.

Well, it came as a bit of a surprise to find jeans, open necked shirts and trainers the typical delegate-wear. Where were the ill-fitting suits, the chino/polo shirt combos so beloved of these events? And on stage, the roll-call of presenters made even more trend-bucking reading. Thus, attendees were treated to three speakers who lectured on the meaning of happiness and how to attain it – in love, in life, and in work. We also heard from a self-taught biogerontologist about how the first human beings to live to 1000 years old may have already been born. Um, right. Somewhere down the list, Microsoft and Cisco peered out, but to be honest, Sneak was far more interested to hear from Caspar Berry; former star of hit BBC children's drama Byker Grove, turned professional poker player, turned motivational speaker.

Fascinating as they all were though, Sneak has one little problem. There’s actually nothing to write about. Oh, the things I do for IT.