Irish Technology Blogger
Today is the last day for nominations for the 2010 Irish Blog Awards. This year the awards are hitting the road again, taking place in the Radisson Blu in Galway on Saturday March 27th.
As usual I’m leaving it until the last minute to get the nominations in, and if you’re like me then you’ve got until 3pm today to get yours in.
Of course if you’re looking for a nice arts and culture blog, take a gander at The Devius Theatre Company 
Check out the Blog Awards site to make your nominations.
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…
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
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
They know what a blog is. They’ve read blogs as references. They might have even given thought to starting a blog at some stage, if they had time to do it. They know that podcasts exist. They know the power of the web.
They don’t blog. They’ve not really heard of, seen or used Twitter. Online video is another world away, but there is a realisation that it works.
They’re not on Facebook. They’re not on MySpace.
It’s their first time going to the Irish Blog Awards or any award ceremony that recognises those working with blogs or the wider world of the internet in Ireland.
I’ve spoken to people at the Irish Blog Awards over the last two years who were in the same situation. Some of them have gone mad altogether.
What advice would you give such a person?
The nominations are still open for the 2009 Irish Blog Awards, but not for much longer with 6pm Wednesday the deadline to get your nominations in.
Guilty as charged, I’ve yet to make my own but they’ll be in for this evening. The night recognises the talents and voices of the Irish blogging community across all genres. In the past I’ve been lucky enough to see nominations for some of my blogs in Best Technology, Best Music and have nominations in one or two other categories as well.
But it’s not just about technology or music, there’s the arts, business, pop culture, photography and a whole lot more.
The awards themselves are changing location this year. After three years in Dublin (having made the road trip the last two years) I’ll find myself driving to Cork and this great venue for the awards. Having experience two years at the Blog Awards and a fantastic night at the Irish Web Awards in October, the real fun of the night isn’t competely in the awards ceremony itself but in the craic before and afterwards (and all through the night).
In saying that, I’ve booked into the hotel already so there’ll be no looking for Burger King at 2am.
I’m looking forward to the night, catching up with those I’ve not seen or spoken to in a while and hopefully get the chance to match even more faces to names from the web. Hit the awards as often as you like, when there’s a few hundred people in the room it can be tricky to talk to everyone you want to!
Nip along to Awards.ie and get your nominations in before Wednesday.
At last year’s Blog Awards (2007), myself and the rest of the KKM crew had to cut the night short just after the awards ceremony to cover a few gigs in Dublin. This year, the crew was cut in half, there were no gigs to cover so myself and Ross found ourselves immersed in the 2008 Blog Awards at the Alexander Hotel in Dublin last night. Early in the door (my raffle ticket was 1-5!) and late back to the hotel (some time around 3am possibly?).
While I’ve already posted the list of winners from last night, I did want to flag a few things – mainly being the people I ran into on the night.
The Irish Blog Awards was full of legends. A huge room packed wall to wall with legends. The people in the room are the reason you don’t have to read the newspapers. They are the technology writers, photographers, musicians, food critics, fashion divas, arts lovers, business gurus, political thinkers, sporting enthusiasts and so much more. One cannot get over the sheer power of the Irish blogging community and the respect in which everyone is held amongst their blogging peers.
After missing out on RedMum’s photo walk around Dublin, and failing to hook up with Phil and Andy in Wagamama (due to getting in late, trying to find the hotel and getting ready for the Awards) we did eventually arrive at the Alexander bang on 6:30pm.
Who did I get to talk to?
Paul Browne for a start. About bloody time as well, having missed out on a chat and pint at last year’s Awards. That can of Guinness is still in my filing cabinet and I swear I’ll remember the name of that river! Talk of the night ahead and kayaking over the west was had before being introduced to the first round of beers for the night with Darren Byne and Darragh Doyle – two of the soundest guys you could meet.
After scoffing a few Black Jacks courtesy of the LouderVoice.com sweet bag, I finally managed to shake hands with Conor O’Neill. It’s been too long a time coming! It wasn’t long too before running into David Maybury. Having first met in Kilkenny late last year, I’ve to thank David and Deborah for the aftershow party in Burger King somewhere in Dublin around 2:30am. I say “somewhere” as there was a lot of walking, plenty of joking, and next thing you know I’m sitting down to a burger of some description.
There was chat with RedMum, Phil O’Kane and Andy GoodOnPaper.
Johnny Beirne is a man I’ve to catch up with again and finish the conversation that never really got off the ground – we’ll do it again. I also decided that Marcus Mac Innes is a legend as well. Some mad conversation at the end of the night I’m having trouble piecing together. Needless to say there was a lot of laughing. Plus, I gave him one of the 5 mustaches I won which can be here.
I got to catch up with Nialler9 (who did the double on the Best Music Blog) who capped off what’s been a terrific week, all things considered. AoifeMc bagged herself a gun on the night courtesy and it was nice to make the introduction before the night ran out. The same too goes for Sinead Gleeson, twitter / sunday cooking 2.0 cohort Alexia Golez (who is even nicer in real life as much as she in online, plus she had a kick-ass Thundercats tee on) and Paul Walsh.
I managed to snap Ina on video rummaging for a holiday break… 
How did that work out in the end? Went looking for Sabrina Dent before the night was out – mission accomplished too. There was some strange tattoo checking with The Humble Housewife? After that, things get a little bit hazy.
I can go on, but in fairness I think I wound up talking to an absolute ton of people there on the night. God, I even made the dance floor for the last part of the night – big thanks to Brian Greene for the absolutely solid music through the night. No thanks to whoever kept laying on the tequila…
Mr Mulley certainly throws a solid bash, but it’s the Irish blogging community on a whole that make it happen and make every second worthwhile on nights like last night.
You can catch a selection of pictures I took on the night here on Flickr (will get them on Pix.ie shortly, I was told I’d be killed otherwise).
For the moment, it’s onward towards CreativeCamp this coming Saturday.
Partly for my own reference for later on, and to give some link love to the winners, here’s the list of those who walked away with the trophies last night.
I had been featured under Best Technology Blog for kenmc.com while KilkennyMusic.com was included in the Best Music Blog, those categories going to Robin and Nialler9 respectively. Couldn’t go to two nicer lads! Fair play!
I’m currently shaking off a hangover, getting sorted with some photos from last night as well as the list of names of people I spoke to – yes, I saved them to my phone “just in case” the pints kept flowing. The pints, and shots, flowed until we were pretty much the last ones out the door so I’m glad I kept that list!
Full flashback / summary later this evening…
That’s how I imagine tonight will run, but not exactly in that order.
The 2008 Irish Blog Awards are taking place tonight in the Alexander Hotel, Dublin with kick off scheduled for 7:30pm. Having been to the Awards last year I can say that the Alexander is a great venue and anyone going is bound to run into some fantastic people.
The blog finds itself nominated for in the Best Technology Blog category amongst the likes of Tom Raftery’s Social Media, Donncha O’Caoimh, Alexia Golez, Michele Neylon’s Pensieri, Michelle Gallen, Dave Northey, Inside View from Ireland, Robin Blandford’s ByteSurgery, James Corbett and Chris Horn.
Word has that list gets shorter again tonight before the awards are announced but it’s been a pleasure to have kenmc.com nominated for the very first time. I’ll also be there with Ross as KilkennyMusic.com found it’s way on the music shortlist though a betting man would put money on Nialler9 doing the double. Not a bad way to round out a week with Super Extra Bonus Party bagging the Choice Music Prize too.
Ken will be the guy to talk to if you basically want to talk about anything from music to technology, sport, you name it. I’ll be standing beside him, the guy with the mohawk, consuming copious amounts of free alcohol and saying things like “what the hell is a blog anyway!?â€
Says he leading the way for staff bloggers at KKM. Either way, we’re going to go and have a bit of craic, wind down after a few hectic weeks on all fronts and mingle with the very best the Irish blogosphere has to offer.
While having two phones might make me a terrorist, I’ll also be concealing my new Nikon Coolpix S200 so if you’re talking to me, jump in for a picture, sure why not!
See all y’all tonight.
The shortlists for the third annual Irish Blog Awards have been announced. The lists in full are available here.
Kilkenny bloggers are shortlisted in four categories – myself under Best Technology Blog, Ross Costigan for Best Photo Blog, Keith Bohanna for Best Business Blog and KilkennyMusic.com in Best Music Blog.
Some of the shortlists aren’t all too short but it’s nice to be included amongst some of Ireland’s top blogs for the second year running.
The awards this year will be held once again in the Alexander Hotel in Dublin on Saturday March 1st. If you’re planning on going along, get your registration shoes on pronto as about half the spots are already gone. There’s a 10 euro entrance fee on the night with all proceeds raised going to three nominated Irish charities – Brainwave (the Irish Epilepsy Association,) St. Francis Hospice and The Multiple Sclerosis Society of Ireland.
Four of us went up to the awards last year (2007 saw KilkennyMusic.com shortlisted in Best Music Blog), a night which was a first for me in putting many faces to names. The funny thing is, on walking in the door a lot of people (including myself) are on first name terms with other attendees, everyone you would know from the world of blogging, podcasting, Twitter and over 2007 the addition of Jaiku.
As much as you can trade comments back and forth on various platforms, I still feel it’s really important to meet people face to face, shake someone’s hand, have a yarn about something random over a pint.
Besides, this year there’s so much more – photo meets, tea parties, gourmet brunches…. it’s all go.
The first week of March is being considered “Irish Blog Week”. Though unofficial by nature, the scheduling of some of the country’s biggest web and technology events for bloggers and podcasters alike have created one very busy week for the start of March.
Kicking things off on the first of March is the third annual Irish Blog Awards. Damien Mulley is in the driving seat again on this year’s awards show to be held in the Alexander Hotel in Dublin. The Alexander was a great venue for the awards last year and whether you’re nominated for a category or not, it makes for a great social and networking occasion. Let the hair down, have a few drinks and mark a date in the calendar that recognises the quality of bloggers of all genres in the country.
Also on the day there’s a “Ladies Tea Party” being organised by Sabrina Dent and Ina O’Murchu. This takes place in The Market Bar, about a 12 minute walk from the Alexander and is an open invite to all female bloggers in Ireland to have a gathering pre-awards show. Drop in for a few hours from 4:30pm on March 1st.
Not only is there a tea party on the day, but Red Mum is organising a meetup for photo bloggers as well, something I might try and get along to, depending on how early I can get out of Kilkenny.
On Sunday March 2nd you’ve got the third WebCamp event, to be held in Cork at the Kingsley Hotel. With talks in the morning and breakout sessions in the afternoon, the topic for the day is social network portability. Workshop fee is €50 for early bird registrations and €60 at regular cost. Full details can be found here.
If you’re hanging around Dublin after the Blog Awards then you might be interested in a gourmet brunch being organised by Deborah a.k.a. The Humble Housewife. Starting from 1pm in the Ely Wine Bar on Custom House Quay, the event is for food bloggers, fans and readers of food blogs and friends. RSVP by February 1st to lay claim to a place at the brunch.
The week continues over Monday and Tuesday as BlogTalk 2008 hits Cork, the fifth international conference on social software. Speakers include John Breslin, Gabriela Avram, Anna Rogozinska, David Cushman, Salim Ismail, Rashmi Sinha and many more.
Forward to the end of the week (Saturday March 8th) and CreativeCamp takes place in Kilkenny. Following the success of PodCamp in Kilkenny last September, it’s nice to see another event on my home soil, and another event I’m directly involved in organising alongside Keith Bohanna and Tom Corcoran. Two of the talks on the day have been confirmed so far and registration is open. You can sign up to attend here (free) and sign up to talk here (we’d love to hear you).
There’s also rumour of a bloggers’ dinner taking place in Kilkenny on Friday 7th, more on this as and when it is revealed.
Track it on Jaiku or keep up with all the links above!
Unmountable Boot Volume (Dell, Fix) 339 comment(s)
iPod Hack – iPod Video becomes iPod Classic (How To) 100 comment(s)
WordPress 2.5 Is Live And Wild (Plus Popularity Contest Notes) 75 comment(s)
Recent Comments
(11 weeks ago)
(11 weeks ago)
(13 weeks ago)
(15 weeks ago)
(15 weeks ago)