You’ve probably seen it advertised around town, but the deadline for this year’s Best of Manchester Awards is fast approaching so its organisers are making one last push for entries.

The annual competition, hosted by Urbis, ‘celebrates innovation in art, music and fashion’. This deliberately broad scope means art, for example, can include illustration, photography, graphic design as well as fine art and sculpture.

There are also apparently ‘no age limits, no hype and no rules’, so any creative professional living or working in Manchester can enter. Prizes include professional career development, an exhibition in Urbis and a one-off cash prize.

Susie Stubbs, who’s helping to promote the event, has been in touch with an update about this year’s competition:

It’s early days yet as the deadline isn’t until the end of the month, but we’ve already had around 100 entries. Some of the work that’s come in so far is fantastic - the judges are going to have their work cut out.

And the judging panel itself makes for impressive reading: chaired by designer Peter Saville and including Caroline Elleray (head of A&R at Universal Publishing), Miranda Sawyer (Guardian/Observer writer and broadcaster), Luke Bainbridge (Observer Music Monthly), Justin Crawford (The Unabombers/Electriks), Tim Thomas (Blueprint Studios), Claire Lomax (Flux) and Kwong Lee (Castlefield Gallery).

The deadline for entries is 30 June and you can follow the latest from the awards camp at their blog, http://bestofmanchester.wordpress.com/. For more information on entering visit the Best of Manchester section on the Urbis website.

I’ve been lost in the loud, boozy, dingy world of this year’s In The City music conference for the past couple of days. It’s been fun so far, if a little damaging to the health.

This is, of course, the first ITC since the passing of its co-founder Tony Wilson, so it’s been interesting to see how it compares to previous years. Good news is that nothing much has changed - same old venues I’d never normally set foot in (Walkabout, Studio, Bar 38…), terrible teenage bands (I’ve yet to see anyone interesting), industry back-slapping and painfully late nights.

This year there’s a big corporate sponsor (Coca Cola) on board and the delegate bags (one of my main reasons for attending) certainly aren’t going to last til ITC 2008. I’ve also noticed that the seminars are less about technology and the internet this year, with management, distribution and live music coming to the forefront. The ‘360 degree model’ seems to be something of a buzz phrase too.

Elsewhere in the festival town formerly known as Manchester, we’ve got a comedy festival going on and also a science festival. I’m not particularly into either - far too participatory - and I’m suffering from festival fatigue, what with the literature and food and drink events earlier this month, so browse the websites yourselves if you’re so inclined.

But before you go, check out Virtual Manchester’s Manchester Events Guide, Manchester clubbing guide Northernights and Aidan O’Rourke’s Life on Mars location guide.

* I Love Manchester photo nabbed from Nik Fletcher, who has just left Manchester for pastures new - best of luck Nik!

Tonight Johnny Marr, formerly of the Smiths, is playing guitar at the Ritz with American band Modest Mouse. But when he’s not topping charts or touring the world, it turns out that the-big-haired-one likes to design shoes:

These PF Flyers Center Lo sneakers are limited edition with all proceeds going to charity - namely Cure Autism Now in the US and Manchester’s own Pictor School. From July 10 108 pairs will be available in the UK - from eBay for only �40.

If you’re interested in owning a pair and donating a bit to charity, register on the PF Flyers website for updates.

Two or three years ago I started collecting watches. Nothing too fancy: no poncy timepieces or Rolexes for me, just some Casio Film Watches from Japan. read more »