When I first started out working in the creative industries back in the late 1990s, I hardly knew anyone apart from a few local friends whom shared similar interests. The world seemed a vast open space of almost limitless opportunities - but where was I to find them? I could barely contain my excitement (or nerves!) when for the first time I was sent by a company I worked for at that time to represent them at my first international industry event - the Cannes Film Festival 20