Jason Roe on RTE News (Video)

I was looking for this during the week (having missed the initial broadcast). While Ryanair are still in the headlines over charging people to use in-flight toilets, last week it was all about the comments flaring upf on Jason’s blog.

Video here.

Creative Entrepreneurship UnConference for Derry

I like creative things. I like creative people. I like people who get up off their arse and start something, creative or otherwise. So it’s great to see word of the Awakening Creative Entrepreneurship UnConference hitting Derry at the end of March. With recent BarCamps, CreativeCamps and Unconventions hitting Belfast, it’s great to see another UnConference heading North, this one taking in the full weekend of March 25th to 27th.

What is it?

“Awakening Creative Entrepreneurship [ACE] is a collaborative unconference, a showcase, and a multi-track Creative BootCamp for creatives, business leaders, support agencies, students, developers, technology providers, and VCs looking to develop and/or discover the next big thing. ACE revolves around a multi-track creative business development programme which offers the opportunity to win on several levels – for traditional businesses, support agencies, and creatives alike! ”

Speakers over the weekend include Edward T Colligan (CEO at Palm), Andrew Shorten (Platform Evangelist at Adobe), Sean Melly (Chairman of PowersCourt), Brian Kelley (Senior Advisor for Deutsche Bank), Greg Rewis (Creative Suite Evangelist Worldwide at Adobe), BarCamp favourite Martha Rotter (Microsoft Ireland).

The Official Blurb

“The technology world will converge in the North West from 25 to 27 March when Silicon Valley comes to Derry/Londonderry for the ACE UnConference, which has been funded through the Arts Council’s Innovation Fund. The not to be missed three day UnConference for Creative Entrepreneurship will see senior figures from the world’s leading creative technology and communications companies visit the region including Palm, Adobe, Powerscourt, Deutsche Bank, Nokia, Microsoft and DemonWare among others. The delegate driven industry event provides an opportunity to showcase the talent of local creative industries and will act as a platform for local entrepreneurs to access global expertise within an open innovation environment. Tickets for ACE are free, and with demand expected to be high, it is essential you register your interest to avoid disappointment.”

I found more on it here or check the official site for details .

Booking & BizCamp

Tickets are FREE so if you’re thinking on heading along, book now before it winds up like BizCamp – sold out. There’s no way I’ll make it to Derry on the weekend (giving a course in Kilkenny on the 26th before heading out of the country) but I will be at BizCamp for the most of the day on March 7th. Registration for that is closed but if you’re in Dublin for breakfast on the day, let me know. Rumour has there’s breakfast nibbles on offer.

Registration, however, is open for BizCamp Limerick. If you’re around on March 21st, get booking for that too!

Tuesday Push: Tuesday Push

photo credit: Valerie Everett

Some say you should crawl before you can walk, walk before you can run, look before you leap. On a Tuesday, it’s nice to push before you’re pushed. The Tuesday Push is a chance to shed the light on a company or service in Ireland, introducing those getting the push to the Irish blogosphere, tech readers, blog readers, tech journalists and the public at large. As the site itself says, it is “a way for the small but growing tech community in Ireland to make some noise about ourselves by picking a good example of an Irish Tech Company and highlighting their product(s) every second Tuesday”.

While it’s nice to see companies getting “the push”, it’s nicer still when they push back. It’s all about the community involvement. You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours. Or in this case, it’s technology startups in Ireland helping each other out. Since it’s launch last year I’ve managed to push a few of the names including Twitter Mosaic (Sxoop), DownloadMusic.ie, IGOpeople to name a few.

One of the great things about the growing tech community in Ireland is just that, the community. The spirit is seen in blogs, comments, through Twitter, LinkedIn, referrals, BarCamps, PodCamps, BizCamps, CreativeCamps and the likes. We’re great at helping each other out, which is why Tuesday Push is a great initiative for having the community highlight the rising stars within.

Of course, not everybody can get featured. The service in question has to be unique, has to be new, has to be different. Not sure what I mean? Check here for details.

I’ll keep on pushing where and when I can. Maybe some day I’ll need a push with something. But I’ll keep pushing because it puts another mark on the map for Irish tech companies. And it’s not only me that’s doing it. Dozens of great posts have been written about the ten companies featured since last July, across dozens of blogs, who have hundreds of readers each… do the maths.

Request a Tuesday Push here.

Up Close With a Twitter Mosaic Mug

My Twitter Mosaic mug arrived in the post yesterday evening. If you’ve not yet seen one and wondering what the buzz floating around the Irish Twitosphere was in the past week or two, check the video or read my last Tuesday Push post.

Update: Neville Hobson (@jangles) has another video review here.

Surprises and Familiar Faces at the Irish Blog Awards

It’s back to grindstone this morning after a great weekend in Cork at the 4th annual Irish Blog Awards. Whether you’re nominated for an award or not, it really has become one of the “must attend” nights of the year in Irish web circles. The extra perk for me was in representing The Devious Theatre Company who had been shortlisted for Best Arts & Culture Blog, the gong going to Fiona of Pursued By A Bear.

I had debated on Twitter all my transport options – train, bus or drive via Waterford or via Clonmel, turns out the best way (suggested by Bernie and Mike) to get to Cork from Kilkenny is heading out the Urlingford direction. You don’t get into Urlingford but hop on the M8 a few minutes outside the town, motorway all the way to Mitchelstown, a hop skip and a jump on the N8 before linking back up with the M8 into Cork. If going down was quick, coming back was great, leaving about 12:30pm only to be sitting in the Newpark for lunch by 2:10pm. One of the top roads the country has to offer at the moment.

I’m hoping the 5th ‘Blog Awards return to Cork. My God, that hotel is great. Quirky, funky design, great rooms, great staff, great selection of 90s music playing in the restaurant, top notch food (had dinner in the restaurant) and they were willing to let 300+ bloggers and friends have the run of the entire downstairs for the night. There aren’t many places who would do it! Then again, was there anyone staying in the hotel that wasn’t there for the awards? I’d heard at one stage that 130 of 150 bookings were for the awards, with only 2 rooms in the hotel by midnight. If it gets announced for Cork again, get the bookings in early! Plus, breakfast rocked the following morning as well and I’m looking at staying down there in May before heading away for some foreign wedding celebrations.

Across some of the categories I felt there were a few surprises, a few blogs I also didn’t know or read (yet) and one or two firm favourites coming to the front. Nialler9 made it three-in-a-row for Best Music Blog (can he make it four, or do you duck out after three as others have done?), Blacknight bagged Best Blog of a Business, Trust Tommy nicked Best Newcomer and Suzy Byrne took the gong for Best News/Current Affairs Blog before going on to scoop the Grand Prix prize for Best Blog.

There were recognition awards too for Brian Greene and Damien Mulley, without whom nights like the Blog Awards just don’t happen.

I did manage to avoid the dancefloor and resist the temptations of giant Twister (rather adamantly), spending part of the second half of the night swanning (sitting) around the lobby. The expanse of the hotel did make for a different atmostphere. Compared to memories of 2008 and 2007, things seemed a lot more spread out, creating a much relaxed atmosphere as things got later into the night. People were able to find their own corners, start their own conversations and take their own space.

It was great to catch up with the usual suspects of Darragh, Darren, Niamh, Deb, David, Liz, Anto (I DO know Anto), the Belfast connections of Phil, Andy (proper pintage next time around), Keith and more besides with Niall, Campbell, Jason, Robin, Conn, Johnny (who I didn’t get back to after, sorry!) and everyone else I managed to get to say hello to in the run of the night before sneaking off about 1am. Also, after two years of looking to say hello to the man it was high bloody time I said hello to Pat Phelan (and cheers Keith) who had his snazzy Google phone on display. I want! If you’ve heard about the intro videos, but haven’t yet seen them, they’re all available now in glorious technicolour. Surprised to see my own face in one of them… grrr.

Some great conversations, some great introductions – not as many as I would have liked to have made or had but such was the scale of this year’s event that it really was hard to get to everyone you wanted to see. That said, I’m going along to Bizcamp in Dublin on March 7th for the day where hopefully I’ll get to catch up with a few more people.

A full list of winners in each category and links out to all nominated blogs can be found here.

Update: more links to come in a bit…

Kilkenny Alive Launches

I mentioned earlier in the week that Kilkenny Alive was on the way. Conor O’Neill reckons it’s the future. I reckon it’s a good start, there’s (hopefully) a lot more to come and hopefully too it’s going to stick around.

KilkennyAlive.com is the latest addition to the media ranks in Kilkenny. Conor also makes a good point – if your business isn’t online these days, it’s headed for extinction. In terms of delivering a newspaper, this is harsh reality and something that traditional media folk need to get moving on. Despite the ups and down the Voice Group had with the Kilkenny Voice newspaper, I still feel one of the reasons they didn’t succeed is that after three years on the go as a printed publication, there was still no website. For as long as I remember (and I was at the launch of the Kilkenny Voice as well), it was a holding page for some registration company before disappearing completely.

A newspaper needs an online presence. Just like a magazine needs one. A radio station needs one.

With the demise of the Voice in Kilkenny, we’ve got two printed titles in circuilation – the Kilkenny People (only ABC rated paper) and the Kilkenny Advertiser. Both of these papers are operated by groups. The Kilkenny People, while recently being touted as being up for sale, is under the control of Johnston Press while the Advertiser is part of a larger network (Galway Advertiser, Mayo Advertiser, etc.).

Decisions that impact the way these papers operate online have to be fed all the way back up the chain. All the Advertiser sites look the same – sure wouldn’t they have to when you’ve got a brand to promote. The Kilkenny People site, while functional, is lacking. Lacking content, lacking a decent looking design (this being my opinion). With Kilkenny Alive, we’ve got something different. The “newspaper” is the site. They’ll have their journalists, their photographer and they’ve got a strong team behind it all in the forms of Jimmy Rhatigan, Sean Hurley and Mark Brennan. It’s an independent publication that has a strong chance to shape its own future and do something constructive online in terms of news delivery for Kilkenny city and county.

Though they’re only up and running to the public since yesterday, there’s some good content on the site. Breaking news will roll as and when it happens (unlike the other papers who are still “edition” based) and it does, with news from yesterday afternoon and the draw for the McCalmont Cup appearing just after lunch today. Yes, Kilkenny Alive is also publishing a Wednesday “edition” but there’s also talk of a free PDF download of the weekly editions, there are currently RSS feeds available for individual categories though you won’t see this from the front page at present.

I’m sure there’s plenty more to do for the site in terms of improving visibility, titles, URLs, seeing them indexed in Google News etc but the main thing is, it’s launched, it’s available and I do hope it lasts. Maybe they could take a leaf out of the book of the Munster Express, another solid online resource from an independent publication in the South East.

Irish Blog Awards: Technology Bloggers

The short lists for the Irish Blog Awards have been announced thanks to the trojan work being put in by the judging group for 2009. On average each blog shortlisted was scored by seven judges. Having seen KilkennyMusic.com and my own blog here drop off at the long list stage (i.e. not shortlisted), I’ll be delighted to “fly the flag” for Kilkenny as The Devious Theatre Company have been shortlisted in the Best Arts and Culture category.

The top drawer of Irish technology bloggers this year contains

• Contrast
• Robin Blandford (last year’s winner)
• Pat Phelan
• Michele Neylon
• Justin Mason

As in previous years, each individual shortlist has turned up some gems. There’s some regular appearances by certain blogs in their respective categories again joined by several new faces, a great indication of growth in blogging in Ireland and the quality of output of those blogs.

I’ll be in attendance at the Awards myself on Saturday night and I’m staying over in the hotel so there’s

New Online Newspaper For Kilkenny Launches This Week

photo credit: Edgar Zuniga Jr.

“The countdown has begun to February 18, 2009 – A historic day for Kilkenny which will then boast Ireland’s first on-line provincial news paper.”

Kilkenny Alive, a new online newspaper for Kilkenny city and county is set to launch this week. The paper, or site in this case, is being managed by Jimmy Rhatigan, former editor of the recently collapsed Kilkenny Voice along with Sean Hurley, both cornerstones of Kilkenny print media. I missed the launch of the newspaper on Saturday evening but caught up with Mark Brennan, who will look after the day-to-day running of the site, via email.

The site itself should “keep a nice flow of content” while every Wednesday will see a new “edition” posted to the site. You can also get a PDF download of the weekly edition which will contain everything one would expect in a newspaper with news, sport, theatre, arts updates etc. There’s also talk of some “nice surprises” which I’m sure will be revealed from this Wednesday onwards. The site is being designed and run inhouse and will launch at KilkennyAlive.com.

Given the loss of the Kilkenny Voice and some noticable content-shifts of late at the Kilkenny Advertiser (bring back your business section, please!), it will be interesting to see where Kilkenny Alive will go and what gaps it can fill in local media.

Gerry Adams On Music (and his iPod)

KCLR96FM are a great bunch. They’ve had me on the air countless times over the last three years to promote everything from Kilkenny Music to the Blog Awards, PodCamp to Devious Theatre and beyond. I’ve had guest slots on shows on the station (used to do a regular gadget slot with them) and more recently was on air with Sue Nunn talking up the evolution of the mouse. So when I heard that Sue was going to have Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams as a guest on her show yesterday I thought I’d ask him a question – or have them ask a question for me.

I missed the majority of the show due to this week’s PodCamp Podcast and was amazed to hear him still on the air about 11:50am, having gone live just after the news at 11.

Anyway – the question was posed to him “from Carlow Music and KilkennyMusic.com was simple and completely (one would hope), non-political. “What’s your favourite band”.

In his own words, here’s Gerry Adams talking up his favourite band, music and his new iPod, the clip provided to me by KCLR96FM. You can listen to On The Record with Sue Nunn Monday to Friday from 10am to 12pm, streaming live via KCLR96FM.com.

[audio:http://www.kenmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/kclr_gerryadams_music.mp3]

Testing WPtouch, Make Your Blog iPhone-friendly

A tweet from Donncha pointed me in the direction of WPtouch earlier today, now running on kenmc.com.

What does it do?

It’s a plugin for your Wordpress-based blog that renders a very iPhone and iPod-friendly theme of your blog. Forget bulky images, scrolling screen after screen – load in the plugin, fire it up and browse a great looking lo-fi version of your blog (see the image above).

You can customise how particular pages are displayed, tie in Flickr photos, full links pages login / logout function and, to an extent, set a colour scheme for the theme via the plugin options. I might as well do a little digging into the plugin and bring across some kind of consistency between the actual blog and the iPhone version of it but I’m impressed.

Grab the plugin yourself here. It requires WP2.3 or higher and has support for WP2.7.

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