Updated: Shock News This Morning
January 31, 2008 at 9:33 am
Well it never rains but it pours!
Yesterday (Thurs) I learned that the Brightspark blog is on a shortlisted for an award at the Irish Blog Awards! Best blog and Best Business Blog as well. Today (Fri) I’ve just been sent a copy of the John Collins column in the Irish Times where he profiles this very blog! Technology, Irish Times
I have to say I’m very surprised, but delighted. In fairness, on the blog awards front, there are about 50 others too including many that reside on the front page of my RSS reader and who I read regularly. But I am thrilled to be in such good company. So get on there, and vote.
Is there a need for an Irish Digital Industry Association?
January 30, 2008 at 10:48 am
Yes. I believe. Last night, I attended a dinner put together by Paul Walsh to discuss just that. View Paul Campbell’s pics here. Paul wants to set up a new non-profit independent association to represent the interests of a fairly wide range of players from our industry. He has defined stakeholders quite broadly, these range from students, graduates, academia, brands, technology providers, agencies, freelancers and government.
There was a lot of talk around the table as to whether we need a new association at all. Can I say, having tried them all, there is no association in this country that speaks to me, seeks to educate and excite me, or really does it for me. I am a member of the Dublin Chamber of Commerce; that is an organisation with legs and members that I do wish to meet. But I’m always there in the ‘oh you do internet stuff’ capacity. It’s good networking alright, but not with digital people.
- The IIA is supposed to represent people in the Internet industry, but it doesn’t. It knocks out courses on ‘how to search engine optimisation… ‘, ‘how to build a public sector website’… The IIA has nothing for the people who are already making things happen. It’s aimed at the people who buy these services. I’ve been a member for years now and have attended just two events, both of which I had to pay for (on top of my membership fee).
- The ISA is too expensive for me to join. So I can’t comment on that!
Wearing my business woman marketing hat (the one with the sparkles and the feathers!):
- Network Dublin is for women in business and the arts. I gave it a go for a year and never got a single piece of business from it. I learned about feng shui and nutrition, interesting, but not what I want from a business networking organisation.
- Dublin City Enterprise Board runs networking for women. It can be good sometimes, other times it’s populated by people who are ‘thinking of maybe some day’ leaving their job in a bank to set up a cottage industry at home. Not for me.
- The Marketing Institute of Ireland runs events that are attended by the latest influx of graduate trainees from large corporates.
- BNI is for hard core sales people. I gave it a go for close to 2 years when I initially set up Brightspark. It requires a weekly commitment to attend a meeting at 7am, follow up meetings with other members of your chapter, with the all important goal of getting referrals. I don’t think people really ‘got’ internet marketing back then; the quality of referrals I was getting was poor, so I let it go. I still have the utmost respect for people who are members of BNI, but I also feel sorry for them that they have to get up so early to get business!
But while I’m knocking the established collective groupings, I’m also thinking about the healthy abundance of non-establishment groupings taking place every week.
- Open Coffee – don’t forget it’s on tomorrow in the Morrison!
- Bar Camps all over the country which have morphed into Creative Camp
- Mash Up Camp
- Ruby Tuesday
- Open Tweet Ups
- Tech Ludd
The list goes on. So there is a definite desire for people to meet and get together, that much is evident.
Stick with me folks, there is an idea at the end of this….
What I love about ‘unconferences’ in particular Reboot is the participatory nature of assembling the speakers and the topics. The organisers of Reboot set a theme, last year was ‘human’ and people can put forward ideas of who they’d love to hear speak and about what. Sparked off by Niall Larkin’s comment about embracing the participatory nature of Web 2.0, I would like to put forward an idea of how this association could be modeled:
Think of the association as a framework; with an online social networking space and (hopefully) a vibrant offline component where people can meet …
Members can create groups (rather like in Facebook) and can request key speakers and other luminaries or experts to address their group on a particular subject.
Anyone can join a group that they are interested in. Anyone can create a group. This allows members of the association to participate by give and take. So for example, if I’m there in my giving mode, I might create a group called ‘Internet Marketing Tips for Freelancers’. I might tap into my contacts to get some good speakers along to address the group on low-cost ways of promoting yourself online. It would be open to anyone interested in internet marketing to come along. As a taker, I might be interested to attend a briefing on the top 10 plugins for Wordpress, or the latest Microsoft innovation, etc.
Just as Adwords shuts down your underperforming ad groups, so too would unperforming groups be removed from the framework. When you log in to the site, you should be able to see a top 10 of what’s happening at a glance. I can imagine a busy space where perhaps a group of web designers are giving a talk to ad agency execs on the essential components of a design brief. At the same time, the photo-bloggers group are being addressed by a Canon representative who’s going to present the features of the latest camera. Meanwhile, the accessibility group are meeting to argue about accessibility rule 243!
Groups can engage online through twitter, through Campfire, any number of ways. Offline events can take place in a small corner of a local pub, or in a large conference venue anywhere in the country. It depends on the size of the group and the nature of the topic. I’d suggest getting a number of small vibrant groups going, then when we’ve got a critical mass of engaged people, introducing groups whose purpose it is to lobby government, Enterprise Ireland, etc.
That’s my idea. What do you think?
Presentation Boot Camp - Free Place!
January 29, 2008 at 1:30 pm
Voice Coach, Olivia MacDonnell and Emma Ledden, Presentation & Media Trainer, deliver “Presentation Bootcamp” - the most comprehensive, intensive and practical presentation skills course out there. It’s not called BootCamp for nothing - it is challenging but highly rewarding.
If you think you are up for it, and could do with honing your presentation skills, then get in touch with Olivia and you could be enjoying this 2 day training course absolutely free!
She’s had a last minute cancellation for this THURSDAY and FRIDAY. I’m not available to go - much as I’d love to - but if you can get yourself to Bewleys Hotel Ballsbridge - you can improve your presentation skills and enjoy a lovely lunch!
Course Outline
What makes Presentation BootCamp different from other courses?
- 2 trainers from specialised backgrounds
- Video recording & analysis
- Professional voice coach
- Limited numbers
- 1:1 feedback
- Post course follow up & evaluation
“Presentation BootCamp” is designed to give people greater confidence and skills to persuade, motivate or sell and covers the following:
- The dreaded nerves
- Preparation & power point
- Voice training
- Individual concerns
If you are free to attend this Thursday and Friday (31 Jan, 1 Feb), then contact Olivia immediately on 087 7627582.
Start Up Camp
January 28, 2008 at 6:52 pm
From the people who brought you the hugely successful MashUp Camp in November, here’s something for budding entrepreneurs - Start Up Camp. Taking place in London, March 7-8. If new and emerging businesses in the UK are what you’re after, then contact the organisers now as they are looking for sponsors.
Now, all of this is not to be confused with Creative Camp which is taking place in Kilkenny on March 8. And certainly shaping up as an event not to be missed!
Techludd Event
January 25, 2008 at 11:20 am
If you were looking at productivity charts for the tech sector in Ireland for 2008, you’d notice a distinct drop on January 25th! That’s because Techludd took place last night at the Odessa Club. Free bar all night - thank you Microsoft - and a packed room of new and old faces. Oh how the chat was flowing!
I particularly enjoyed this event because there was a new set of people there, not just the same old faces. I left with a real feel-good glow about the industry I work in and the people that make things happen. As Anton who organised it said, ‘when I go to conferences, the best part tends to be the bits in between the speakers. That’s what Techludd is about - an event modelled on the bits in beween.”
I met 3 people who were there to find ideas to invest in. A nod and a wink to Ellybabes and she whisked them off to put them in front of people they needed to meet! Paparazzi were out in force. Twitterers were there in the flesh. Others came out of retirement to be there. All up it was a very worthwhile event, thanks to those who stuck their necks out, weathered the criticism from across the water, and made it happen!
The Carlsberg of Fleet Management Sites
January 18, 2008 at 3:37 pm
When you take the time out to get to know the people from a company, you get a true understanding of what they’re about. I’d met with Merrion Fleet Management a couple of times before starting work on their site. So I knew them to be a very energetic company, who are all really passionate about cars, motoring, driver experience, and getting deals for their cilents. Notably, their client service people would make a good case study for ‘how things should be done’. I felt it was important that all of this come across on the site.
Then I studied their competitor sites and I knew what not to do. The other fleet management sites are your typical dull corporate brochureware, with no real thought or uniqueness coming through. Shame as many of these are very large businesses that would have the money to get it done right. The other fleet management companies have unwieldy navigation that confuses and dated banners of the type last seen in the 1900’s!
Introducing Merrion Fleet Management - the Carlsberg of Irish Fleet Management Sites!
With a stylish design, this 5 page site has got everything it needs. Learn about Fleet Management in 5 minutes. Get to know the team - not just the management team, but all of the team. And if you’re into driving, subscribe to The Drive - a blog about driving, new car models, safety tips, and tax and government changes.
Irish Blog Awards
January 16, 2008 at 9:57 am
The Irish Blog Awards take place on Saturday, 1 March 2008 in Dublin’s fair city. And now’s your chance to nominate your favourite blog. Do it now - here.
I’m going to spend a little while reviewing my RSS feeds to remind me of who I read often, where I rely on to hear it first, and whose voice is loudest, clearest, most eloquent, and funniest breaking through the fog and making a connection in my head. If you still aren’t using RSS to keep on top of all the information that is out there, January 2008 might be a good time to start. You can set yourself up on RSS in a couple of minutes if you go here.
Stickiest Site
January 15, 2008 at 9:35 am
I just spent 7 minutes playing “Get the Glass” board game - an interactive 3d board game developed by Goodby Silverstein & Partners and North Kingdom, and one that has won the FWA Favourite Website Awards for 2007. In only the second time since the FWA’s foundation, both the people’s choice and the FWA were awarded to the same site.
Play it. It’s brilliant. With a flavour of “The Incredibles”, amazing 3 board and scenery, challenging tasks, and well positioned ‘milk is good for you’ messages, I love it!
Facebook is like Toilet Paper
January 10, 2008 at 9:56 am
“Like Facebook, toilet paper is rather popular. Everyone I know uses it. But I have yet to see ads on it.”
Witty comment by Jim Meskauskas in his post about “3 Trends That Will NOT Happen in 2008″.
Those anti-trends are:
- Mobile will not be the new Next Big Thing
- Social networking will not be the killer advertising platform
- Agencies will not be where the big ideas are coming from
He talks of agency fear - fear of being fired by clients, fear of being squeezed on fees that are tied to transactions, and fear of not being compensated for their ideas. And that’s in the US! Read the full post here.
Golden Spiders Still To Pay
January 9, 2008 at 11:25 am
Shocking news. The Golden Spiders, aka Business & Finance Magazine, have not yet paid the €500 they agreed to pay to a charity of my choice for their blatant and multiple spamming. View post. The agreement was made on 11 December and the people at Daisyhouse were delighted at the prospect of this windfall before Christmas. Unfortunately this was not to be.
I ask you - what is €500 to a large and cash rich organisation like the Golden Spiders? They get that for filling part of a table. And spare a thought for the difference that kind of money could make to the people who benefit from Daisyhouse’s services.
Do they think this is going away? Surely they can’t be that stupid. I brought it to the attention of the Data Commissioners before Christmas, and seeing as I haven’t heard anything back, I followed up with a phone call this morning. My contact there is going to call the Golden Spiders people and remind them today.
More on this when I hear. But in the meantime feel free to link to this post about what a miserly shower the Golden Spiders are. All the inbound links to the post about the fine have pushed this subject onto page 1 of Google when you search for Golden Spiders! Thanks to everyone.
** Update on 16 January **
Every day I reminded the Data Commissioners to ask Golden Spiders/Business & Finance people to get the skids on and pay up. Yesterday I said I’d had enough and was taking it to my solicitor to enforce payment. Lo and behold, yesterday the €500 was paid to Daisyhouse. So thank you Business & Finance, and here’s hoping I never hear from Golden Spiders again. Because if I do…ah ah… you know what’s going to happen!!
