Photograph: https://www.facebook.com/RCTCouncil

What stayed with us afterwards wasn't business. It was the room. More than 20 people had given up their evening to be there. Artists, designers, makers, creatives and people connected in different ways to the town and the wider area.

And as the conversation developed, one thing became very obvious. These were people who genuinely cared about Pontypridd. Not simply about winning a title or about securing funding. They cared about the town itself, its people and its identity, its history and what it could become.

The Pontypridd28 team was listening. The evening became an open conversation about culture, creativity, community and what makes Pontypridd distinctly Pontypridd. There was brainstorming. There was humour and personal stories. And there was a great deal of passion!

Jesse Briton and Beth from the Pontypridd28 team helped guide the conversation. The ideas are still being shaped by the people who live, work and create here.

For somebody working in visualisation, we found that particularly interesting. Our work at Luxe3D is normally about taking something that exists only as an idea, a drawing or a concept and helping people see what it could become. Buildings before they are built. Spaces before they are transformed. Ideas before they become reality.

So sitting in a room discussing what Pontypridd itself could become in 2028 felt surprisingly familiar!

The People Behind the Place

There is something very different about hearing people talk about a place when they genuinely have a connection to it. Throughout the evening, conversations repeatedly came back to Pontypridd itself. Its character, its stories, its communities, its creative people and its potential.

Nobody in that room could know which ideas will eventually become part of the final bid and it wouldn't be appropriate to share those conversations publicly while that process is happening.

But the individual ideas were almost secondary to something else I saw that evening. People cared enough to turn up, they cared enough to speak, they cared enough to listen to one another and they cared enough to imagine something bigger for their town.

That matters.

There is a line in the public Pontypridd28 video that, after attending the session, feels even more appropriate.

When people ask why Pontypridd should be the UK Town of Culture in 2028, the answer is:

"Just try and stop us."

Before Tuesday, it was a great line. After Tuesday, we understand it a little better.

Because behind the campaign, the branding and the bid, there are real people putting their time, creativity and energy into trying to make something happen!

And there are local people turning up after work to help shape it.

Whether Pontypridd ultimately becomes UK Town of Culture 2028 will be decided further down the road.

But if Tuesday evening was anything to go by, there is no shortage of people willing to get behind it.

Follow What Happens Next

The Pontypridd28 team said that the official website is expected to go live by the end of this week:

https://pontypridd28.com

Updates are also being shared through Rhondda Cynon Taf Council's social media channels:

https://www.facebook.com/RCTCouncil

There are further conversations taking place as the bid develops, giving more people from across the community an opportunity to contribute.

For Luxe3D, Tuesday's session was a reminder that places aren't defined only by their buildings, streets or landmarks but they're defined by their people. And on Tuesday evening, there was a room full of people who clearly cared about theirs.

We are glad that Luxe3D could be one small part of that conversation.