Hundreds of local business people will converge on The Civic in Barnsley on Wednesday for the third Connected Business conference.

Among them will be Lifetime trio William Bottomley (Communications Director), Andrew Lodge (Social Media Manager) and Victoria Oliver (Communications Manager).

The 2014 Connected Business event, which is being supported by Enterprising Barnsley, is set to be the biggest yet – with some top class speakers.

The aim of the conference is to help Barnsley businesses take advantage of digital and online opportunites.

Heading the exciting line-up of speakers at the free event is the BBC technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones (pictured below). He will talk about some of the latest online trends and digital innovations that he has been reporting on for the BBC – and consider how these trends and changes are affecting the way we carry out our business.

Other speakers include Simon Biltcliffe, the managing director of Barnsley-based global print buying business Webmart.

Simon will share his experience of growing his £37 million company – and how he sees both being based in Barnsley and taking full advantage of digital platforms as integral to his future plans.

Social media expert Linda Cheung, of Cube Social, will talk about how the role of LinkedIn has evolved – and how this particular business networking platform can be used to the best effect, to build and optimise your personal profile.

Creative technologist Adrian McEwen will explore how the Internet is increasingly escaping from behind screens and into the world. He will look at developments in the ‘Internet of Things’ and how all these new connected devices can help business grow and succeed.

There will also be smaller ‘Connected Business masterclasses’ for people to attend, including one from Wired’s Greg Williams and one from Mark Asquith of Barnsley-based DMSQD.