Category: Social

slapswap.com launched…

Apparently swapping makeup is a big deal and one of the problems is that the existing sites tend to be very US-centric and US folk don’t like to ship internationally. So, @dressjunkie asked me to do something about it and as she’s my wife, I resolved to help her. For the last couple of weeks, … Continue reading “slapswap.com launched…”

Apparently swapping makeup is a big deal and one of the problems is that the existing sites tend to be very US-centric and US folk don’t like to ship internationally. So, @dressjunkie asked me to do something about it and as she’s my wife, I resolved to help her.

For the last couple of weeks, pj has been spending a couple of hours here and there helping me out with a little addition to a PHPBB installation that I set up for a ‘cosmetics swap site” centered around the UK.

Tonight slapswap.com went live.

Okay – it’s a PHPBB but it’s around a community that, without dressjunkie, I’d never have any contact with. But, despite being ‘only’ a bulletin board, it’s the embodiment of a social network.

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Creative Industries Innovation Fund Workshop – Thursday 29th Jan

Today I posted a quick note about a workshop being held in the OhYeah building (with special thanks to OhYeah and NoMoreArt for helping pull it together). The event itself was conceived during an OpenCoffeeMorning conversation between myself and Marty Neill of NoMoreArt – as he puts it, democracy without bureaucracy. The workshop is designed … Continue reading “Creative Industries Innovation Fund Workshop – Thursday 29th Jan”

Today I posted a quick note about a workshop being held in the OhYeah building (with special thanks to OhYeah and NoMoreArt for helping pull it together). The event itself was conceived during an OpenCoffeeMorning conversation between myself and Marty Neill of NoMoreArt – as he puts it, democracy without bureaucracy.

The workshop is designed to help those in the “creative industries” find the time to fill in the forms for the Creative Industries Innovation Fund. I’ve spoken to a lot of people about this Fund and extolled it’s virtues and I hear a lot of the same story – it’s something they’ll get around to.

Well, time is up. The closing date for this first call is Thursday the 5th of February and if you miss this one it’s months until the next. And the best reason in the world to hold a workshop is to help people focus the mind. Ideally we’re aiming for a largish group of people all focussed on filling in their forms and getting the paperwork out of the way.

There will be two sessions: one from 11 am to 1 pm and the second from 4:30 pm to 6 pm. The content for both is the same and it straddles part of lunch and just after work so that people from all walks of life can make some time to come in and at least get the forms.

The workshop itself is not about guidance – it’s not about trying to ensure success – it’s about getting the forms in on time, because if they’re not in then you’ve got no chance. I have invited representatives from the Arts Council (who are managing the fund), NIMIC and NIScreen (who are especially relevant to the digital content industry) and the Digital Circle Steering Group – hopefully an individual might be able to talk to these representatives and maybe get some guidance or inspiration from people who have experience with this sort of thing.

It’s meant to be collaborative, it’s meant to be a learning experience and it’s meant to be a shared social experience. At the most basic level it’s a heap of forms and pens and desks and chairs. What’s more is that it’ll be a collection of people who all have something creative inside them which they feel is deserving of public funding in order to have it realised.

There’s a form for registry – just to help us get an idea of how many people will turn up so I’d appreciate it if people could register beforehand. The format will be informal and it will be about completing forms.

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  1. The State of Funding in 2009 in Northern Ireland
  2. Digital Circle going independent and my thoughts on the Future
  3. The Creative Industries Innovation Fund
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Irish Blog Award Nominations 2009

Damien Mulley just announced the nominations for the Irish Blog Awards 2009! Go have a look! “This is not the long list and it is not the short list, this is the Nominations List. Every one of these blogs will now be sent forward for judging. After this, a longlist will be released, followed by … Continue reading “Irish Blog Award Nominations 2009”

Damien Mulley just announced the nominations for the Irish Blog Awards 2009!

Go have a look!

“This is not the long list and it is not the short list, this is the Nominations List. Every one of these blogs will now be sent forward for judging. After this, a longlist will be released, followed by a short list. The winners will be announced on February 21st.”

Notable ones who I know well from the list:

Best Fashion Blog – Sponsored by Spinnakerpro
Dressjunkie: http://dressjunkie.com

Best Technology Blog/Blogger – Sponsored by Bitbuzz
Unwired: http://wimaxxed.blogspot.com
Michele Neylon: http://mneylon.com/blog
Digmo!: http://digmo.co.uk
Pat Phelan: Telecomms Disruptor: http://patphelan.net
Mj: http://cimota.com/blog – Yes, me. No, I didn’t self-nominate.

Best Newcomer – Sponsored by Teamworkpm.net
Lee Munroe’s Blog: http://leemunroe.com
Russellmcquillan.com: http://russellmcquillan.com
Ronster Munch – Blog: http://theronster.co.uk

Best Blog of a Business – Sponsored by RedCardinal.ie
No More Art Notepad: http://nomoreart.co.uk/notepad

Best Personal Blog – Sponsored by Microsoft Ireland’s Developer & Platform Group
Marramgrass : http://marramgrass.org.uk
Sickbiscuit: http://sickbiscuit.com/blog
Alan In Belfast: http://alaninbelfast.blogspot.com

Best Photo Blog – Sponsored by Pix.ie
Iced Coffee Photoblog: http://icedcoffee.ie

I’d suggest you have a click-through and see what’s happening in the big wide world of blogging in your region. There’s some real stars out there (and looking at the heavyweights I’m nominated alongside, I don’t fancy my chances!!!!)

[Edit: Also noticed The Ronster!]

Related posts:

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community networks

Friday last I took an hour or so out to help Andy McMillan (@goodonpaper) with a presentation on social networking at the Community Arts Forum. Andy didn’t need help but it was a worthy cause – and ended up being interesting enough. We started with a brief intro to FaceBook, punctuated with the question, “How … Continue reading “community networks”

Friday last I took an hour or so out to help Andy McMillan (@goodonpaper) with a presentation on social networking at the Community Arts Forum. Andy didn’t need help but it was a worthy cause – and ended up being interesting enough. We started with a brief intro to FaceBook, punctuated with the question, “How many of you are on FaceBook already?”

About half the room raised their hands which rendered a little of what we were planning to talk about obsolete and in order to move things along we had to improvise – Andy had thoughtfully added an extra slide at the end detailing WordPress and Ning which we explained would possibly be useful tools in constructing a social network for the community.

We also covered peripheral subjects like security ( not telling everyone on FaceBook that you’re off on a two week holiday with your address displayed and photos of your expensive equipment on show, making sure the people you friend are people you trust ) and also appropriateness (employers and recruiters sometimes look at FaceBook -at least the good ones do) and they’ll not want to see updates about your drunken debauchery at the weekend, skiving work on a Monday or Friday or the game you play with your old college mates which involves posting pictures of rutting canines on each others Walls).

I’d be happy to repeat the experience, covering some subjects maybe in more depth and, hopefully with Internet access this time.


[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

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What’s happening in Ireland …

We’ve got quite a few things happening over here so this is a little micro-link blog post about the sorts of things you can see if visiting sunny Ireland. On Wednesday the 15th January, the Northern Ireland Science Park are holding a “Seed Capital” event about how to attract early stage funding for your venture. … Continue reading “What’s happening in Ireland …”

We’ve got quite a few things happening over here so this is a little micro-link blog post about the sorts of things you can see if visiting sunny Ireland.

On Wednesday the 15th January, the Northern Ireland Science Park are holding a “Seed Capital” event about how to attract early stage funding for your venture.

On Monday the 19th Jauary, Mobile Monday Belfast will be entertaining us with presentations and discussions about Location Based Services with speakers from Locle, RateMyArea and Anaeko.

On Tuesday the 20th January, OpenCoffeeBelfast opens it’s doors at 9 am in Charlies Coffee Shop in Bradbury Place, Belfast. The opportunity to mix with technologists, entrepreneurs and people with great ideas is too good to miss.

On the 28th January, there’s a ‘free’ Digital Marketing Roadshow in Dublin. This free one-day conference will bring you up to speed on successful digital marketing for your business. From designing a website for the user experience, through building brands online, leveraging search engines, social media, and blogs, to campaigns, online PR and digital marketing. Hear from high-profile, industry leaders during this information packed day.

On the 6th and 7th of February, Unconvention launches in Northern Ireland. Backed by Belfast City Council and the Northern Ireland Music Industry Commission, it will have an innovative format of participant-led panels, workshops, speed mentoring, open-floor presentations and informal networking, coupled with a showcase of some of our best musical talent, Unconvention will be the first of its kind in Northern Ireland.

We’re also working on an event for collaboration, learning and networking for the Irish iPhone development community. Discussions to be found at the XCake site.

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Looking East Across the Irish Sea….

One of the opportunities for 38minutes and the whole ‘ning-based’ network is the shortening of these distances – isn’t that what the internet is all about (apparently it’s not just about porn and advertising). When I look at a map, I like to draw a line circle from where I am to around 75 miles… … Continue reading “Looking East Across the Irish Sea….”

One of the opportunities for 38minutes and the whole ‘ning-based’ network is the shortening of these distances – isn’t that what the internet is all about (apparently it’s not just about porn and advertising).

When I look at a map, I like to draw a line circle from where I am to around 75 miles…

and I find myself wondering what is across the Irish Sea, what new counties and towns exist over here and is it simply the cost of the ferry which stops us working together more? I’m looking to look and learn, eastwards over towards Glasgow – what are my cousins over there doing?

Over the last twelve months I have been in Scotland twice – both times passing through – past the towns which, to me are simply legends of my heritage (apparently my family is from Annan) and having no real concept of the life and people who toil and live there. Even Glasgow, not much further from me than Dublin, is seemingly distant due to the tyranny of around 26 miles of sea.

So where should I ask? Here? What’s going on in Lochaber and Skye, in the Western Isles, Ayrshire, Dumfries and Galloway?

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Content Silos

This is something that annoys me as much as it does Zachary. Content Silos. I’m wary of putting my data into other people’s servers. I’ve seen them fail, I’ve seen them disappear with other people’s data and I’ve seen the fallout it can cause. Why is Momentile going to be any different to Friendfeed or … Continue reading “Content Silos”

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This is something that annoys me as much as it does Zachary. Content Silos.

I’m wary of putting my data into other people’s servers. I’ve seen them fail, I’ve seen them disappear with other people’s data and I’ve seen the fallout it can cause.

Why is Momentile going to be any different to Friendfeed or Brightkite or any of these other services which are vying to be our biographers? We see the use of having an automated chronicler, but is it worth it when we’re just creating pipelines to automatically populate these various services from one source. I update Twitter and my blogs. They in turn update Facebook, FriendFeed, laconi.ca and any of the other daft services I’ve signed up to. The repetition is pointless and you end up dissolving your message into a dozen different streams.

What would make me use one over another? Quite simply- heartshare.

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Open Source Social

I meant to blog this ages ago. It’s a list of open source social platforms and tools – some of which would be very useful for Digital Circle or similar groups. Elgg– Social networking engine Elgg coming soon in two flavors – Classic Elgg and the soon to be released Elgg 1.0. Elgg looks very … Continue reading “Open Source Social”

I meant to blog this ages ago. It’s a list of open source social platforms and tools – some of which would be very useful for Digital Circle or similar groups.

Elgg– Social networking engine Elgg coming soon in two flavors – Classic Elgg and the soon to be released Elgg 1.0. Elgg looks very ‘facebook’-y and might be useful for a group of real-world contacts who have a lot of interest together – perhaps a club around a community?

Pligg – An OS content management system providing an interactive website for users to submit, vote and discuss web-based content. This is, more than anything,a DIGG/REDDIT clone. But it’s going to be one way for groups who would normally email each other with news headlines with an RSS-based web site which will provide all those features and more.

MaharaРE-portfolio social networking software developed for the education community, and including a r̩sum̩ builder/digital CV. The Mahara project is based in New Zealand, with partner organisations in Japan and the UK.. This would seem to be the most suitable for something like Digital Circle Рpart of the plan is to create some sort of profile of the Northern Ireland industry so that if we need to find skilled people, we need look no further than down the street rather than looking across the seas and oceans.

There are other tools and platforms on that web site – these are just the ones which inspired me.

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What the f**k is Social Media? by @mzkagan

Really enjoyed reading this slideshow explaining What the f**k is Social Media from Marta Z Kagan (@mzkagan): What The F**K is Social Media? View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: socialmediamarketing marketing) So many people don’t ‘get’ social media. Explaining the success of flickr yesterday was actually a challenge to people who didn’t get … Continue reading “What the f**k is Social Media? by @mzkagan”

Really enjoyed reading this slideshow explaining What the f**k is Social Media from Marta Z Kagan (@mzkagan):

What The F**K is Social Media?

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: socialmediamarketing marketing)

So many people don’t ‘get’ social media. Explaining the success of flickr yesterday was actually a challenge to people who didn’t get that the community makes the success. These slides also contain the message to polarise people: make them love you or hate you – but don’t let them be indifferent.

I’ve been pushing this idea when talking about the sort of nominations we want for the steering group – people with opinions, people with agendas, people not afraid to upset the apple cart, dare I say it – people who think different?.

If you’re not doing this now, you’re not on the Internet.

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Make Corporate Butts Pucker

I wrote: A year ago Rich Segal wrote an article on how to make a corporate butt pucker. As we inch closer to opening the CoWorking site in Belfast, I find myself having loftier dreams regarding it. I envisage a place where we can assist startups and if necessary turn a couple of dreamers into … Continue reading “Make Corporate Butts Pucker”

I wrote:

A year ago Rich Segal wrote an article on how to make a corporate butt pucker.

As we inch closer to opening the CoWorking site in Belfast, I find myself having loftier dreams regarding it. I envisage a place where we can assist startups and if necessary turn a couple of dreamers into new entrepreneurs.

The level of support required for this would, of course, be minimal.

What does ‘Code4Pizza’ get out of it?

Well, the aim is kudos and ten percent. Ten percent? Yes, ten percent of the company created. Which means the directors of code4pizza are motivated to make it a success. It will be the only way that code4pizza can become self-sustainable.

What do students get out of it?

A real placement? How about a placement where they’re not washing the VP’s car (as happened in Nortel). Or making tea for line managers in manufacturing (again, Nortel). They’ll get real experience, real mentoring from real business people who are highly motivated to turn them into a success. And at the end they’ll hold 90% of a company they helped build.

So…

I’ve not yet tested the viability in terms of putting it in practise. I’ve spoken to lecturers and they think it’s a great idea. I’ve spoken to entrepreneurs and they love it too. I’ve even spoken to a few students about it and they’re convinced it would take off. So everyone loves it, now what.

  1. CoWorking Belfast
  2. Collaborative Contracts
  3. Initial Funding
  4. Programme Development

Okay….

…why will this make corporate butts pucker?

The idea is that a simple, lean company with three founders and one good mentor can kick butt.

Crazy? I don’t think so.

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