VENTUREFEST was a moment when the entrepreneurs of York and North Yorkshire both new and established held up a mirror to themselves for the first time - and they liked what they saw.

There is no doubt that the event which was the region's first free science and technology conference and exhibition for entrepreneurs and business start-ups was more than a raging success - it was the starting point of a whole, new confident identity to launch a new boom in brainpower in years to come

Organisers from York Professional Initiative were euphoric when as many as 1,100 people - hundreds more than expected - converged on the Ebor Stand at York Racecourse. At the plenary session alone more than 500 people crowded to hear an opening address by Professor Alan Barrell, entrepreneur-in-residence at Cambridge University.

Solicitor John Yeomans, a board member of YPI looked around and said: "Something amazing has happened here, something that has triggered a whole new momentum for entrepreneurship in the region."

The verdict from Professor Tony Robards, pro-vice chancellor at the University of York and the moving spirit behind Venturefest: "It was stupendous."

Updated: 12:00 Tuesday, February 24, 2004