Ken McGuire

Tag: conference

  • Heading To Media 2020

    Media 2020

    Courtesy of Mediacontact.ie, I’ll be heading along to Media 2020 tomorrow in Croke Park in Dublin for a day long conference that includes presentations from BBC, RTE, the Guardian, the Irish Times, CNN, Google, Channel 4, and Realex Payments amongst others.

    According to Mediacontact.ie, the aim of the conference is to

    • Understand the key domestic and international trends that will shape the media in the future.
    • Explain the techniques, and strategies for reaching new online audiences.
    • Give you detailed information about the technologies, websites and applications that will capture the zeitgeist for the next five years.
    • Network with key influencers in the media industry.

    Just over a year ago, my own business took a step in a new direction, went through a little re-branding, and came out the other side with an additional focus on all things media. While web design and development is still the busiest element of the business, the shift from Event Ireland to Event Media has allowed me to open new doors in the world of design, music, theatre and radio and reach out to new audiences for each.

    Online and offline, dealing with the media has become a near daily part of work life on some level, certainly moreso when it comes to the music and theatre side of life so I’ll be very interested in hearing what the big players have to say about the changing face of media and thoughts on what’s coming over the next few years. Plus it’ll be good to get out of the office and meet some new faces.

    If you’re heading along and we’ve not met before, feel free to say hello. I’m here on Twitter, here on LinkedIn, and I’m aiming to be in Croke Park for breakfast. Hashtag for those following the conference on Twitter tomorrow is #med2020.

    Check out the Media 2020 lineup and details here or grab yourself a pdf brochure download.

  • WordCamp Ireland All Weekend

    WordCamp Ireland

    WORDCAMP IRELAND takes place this weekend, kicking off this morning in my own back garden (Kilkenny) where hopefully I’ll get to pop my head in for a few minutes over the course of the two days.

    Langton House Hotel is the venue for the first Irish WordCamp conference and for bloggers, techies, non-techies and WordPress users of all levels there’s plenty to choose from. Things kicked off informally last night with some nibbles, drinks and a photowalk around Kilkenny and registration has just opened this morning for the start of talks proper. Up first are Hanni Ross & Sheri Bigelow, Leo Ibanez & Loughlin O’Nolan and Daryl Koopersmith all split across the three tracks – Intro, Bloggers and Tech.

    Check the full WordCamp schedule.

    Langtons are looking after the catering and judging by mentions of croissants and scones for the morning, lunches in the afternoon and the (ticketed) dinners in the evening, along with a special WordCamp cocktail menu, nobody will be going home hungry. There’s full childcare available, free wifi for all and plenty for speakers and attendees to link up with.

    For those who haven’t picked up tickets yet, there are limited numbers available on the door with tickets today available for €50 and tomorrow (Sunday) available at €25.

    It’s possible I’ll make an appearance this afternoon disguised as a clown (or I could be mistaken for a clown in the garb I’ll be wearing for the day) so if you see a grown man running in the door of Set Theatre wearing lime green dungarees, a bright pink shirt and a very white face, do say hello. To all those visiting Kilkenny for the first time, you’ve got the weather for it, you’ve got plenty to see and do so don’t miss out on what the city has to offer as well!

    Follow WordCamp Ireland on Twitter.

  • Digital Ideas at The Digital Festival

    Shel Israel Speaking at BlogOrlando
    Creative Commons License photo credit: whiteafrican

    DIGITAL IDEAS should be in plentiful supply in Dublin this Wednesday with The Digital Festival taking place in the Berkeley Court Hotel in Ballsbridge. Early bird tickets are long gone but there’s still the possibility of buying a full-price ticket for €375 (plus VAT) before Wednesday.

    What does the €375 get you?

    How about a day with the following speakers –

    • Peter Kim, MD of the Dachis Group, speaking on “Social Networking & Social Business Design in 2010 and beyond”
    • Tim Duggan, Founder & Director at Mercury Girl Inc speaking on the revolution of Apps and how the explosion of production, engagement with and use of apps alter the communications landscape.
    • Shel Israel, speaking about real world stories of how Twitter has dramatically helped companiesgrow, provide greater customer service and changed the dynamic of the human conversation
    • Martin Bailie, Planning Director at Glue London speaking on digital consumer insights.
    • Russell Davies, The Open Intellegence Agency, speaking on blogging and business in a connected world.
    • Brent Hoberman, co-founder of LastMinute.com, delivering keynote talk on “Digital Growth – Opportunities for the future and some lessons from the past.”

    You can download the full running of the day (PDF) here.

    Speaker list does look quite good, with each allocated 50 minutes on stage, three talks in the morning and three in the afternoon, sandwiching an hour for lunch and wrapping with an open panel discussion with all speakers. Those interested in getting more details about tickets can check the site or phone +353 1 284 6096.

  • Tis The Season For BarCamps

    Tis the season for BarCamps, surely. Tomorrow I’m off to BizCamp in Dublin where I’ll join in the region of 200 other entrepreneurs, freelancers and free thinkers in the first business-focused BarCamp to be held here (nice to see another “themed” BarCamp running). Registration starts from 9am tomorrow and with the early train leaving Kilkenny pre-7am I’ll be hoping to make breakfast in Dublin. Talks are scheduled for between 10am and 5:30pm ish and there’s a draft schedule here.

    BizCamp Limerick follows on March 21st for those who can’t make Dublin tomorrow (it being “sold out”) or are looking for another helping of talks from more business people. The Limerick session is being held in UL and at time of writing there are currently 71 attendees and 19 speakers registered.

    Two events that I’m going to miss (will be out of the country) are the ACE (Awakening Creative Entrepreneurship) in Derry running March 25th – 27th and OSS BarCamp in Dublin on March 28th which runs in DIT’s Kevin Street Campus. While all the speaker slots have been filled, if you’re interested in going to OSS BarCamp, leave a comment on the attendees list.

    Finally, in April we’ve got BarCamp Belfast coming up. I haven’t been to Belfast since August 2006, catching Steel Pulse in the Andersontowns Leisure Centre (what a gig!) and it will be good to get across the border and meet some more web heads for the weekend. It’s going to be held in The Black Box on Saturday April 25th and already there’s over 110 signups, the makings of another great day.

    The best thing about all of these events is that they are free.

    If you’re looking to get out and meet some likeminded people – business types, designers, web heads, geeks, startups, entrepreneurs and more – then get yourself to one of these events because that’s where you’ll find them hanging out.

  • A New Music Conference for the New Music Economy – This Weekend

    I made a note to myself that for 2009 (not a resolution now) I would get on the road more – get to Dublin more, grab a coffee in the Absolute Hotel in Limerick at some stage, and hit more events and evenings. One event I’m sorry to be missing though (it’s a five hour drive up and I’m swamped for the weekend) is UnConvention, taking place in Belfast today and tomorrow.

    What is UnConvention?

    Unconvention is an unconference aimed at the grass roots of the music industry – bringing together musicians and industry professionals for conversation, inspiration and collaboration.

    or as About.com have it listed…

    “a music industry convention that really isn’t like a music industry convention at all. The event is aimed at the independent music industry. Entrance fees are in keeping with indie music budgets (free!) and the discussions all surround making it in music outside of the mainstream machine. At night, indie musicians get to show off their chops on local stages”

    Bands, labels, entrepreneurs, music industry insiders and outsiders – it’s an event that I should really be at and I know I should be at so I’m happy to be following the activity for the weekend here on Twitter and here at UnConventionBelfast.com.

    The Official Blurb

    The 2-day conference has attracted strong interest from all over the UK and Ireland; organisations who have signed up for involvement include BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio Ulster, Music Managers Forum, Island Records, Sony Music Publishing, NIMIC, Oh Yeah Music Centre, Birmingham University, Fat Northerner Records, Smalltown America Records, Richter Collective and First Music Contact, among many others. Radio 1’s Huw Stephens was one of the first to sign up to the event, and had this to say: “I’m looking forward to finding out more about the scene in Belfast, which seems to be thriving at the moment. Rory McConnell’s Radio 1 show features so many quality artists from Northern Ireland so to get to Belfast and meet the bands and managers is an exciting prospect. In the music world, doing it yourself is essential at the moment, and so I’m looking forward to seeing what will be discussed.”

    Friday night’s showcase line-up includes Ed Zealous, A Plastic Rose, Colenso Parade and Strait Laces on the live stage, and Vertigo Smith, Escape Act, Junior Johnson, Cat Molojian, Seven Summits and The Monts; spanning a highly diverse range of styles and genres.

    From a music industry perspective, the potential of UnConvention to boost the industry locally and further afield was recognised by key sponsor, Belfast City Council. Councillor Michael Browne, Chairman of BCC’s Development Committee comments “Belfast City Council is committed to helping support the development of the creative industries in our city which, if nurtured and supported in the right way, have the ability to make Belfast truly competitive on the global stage. UnConvention provides an exciting opportunity to showcase Belfast’s eclectic music scene and musicians and provide useful networking and business development opportunities for those working in this sector.”

    Attendees can that Rich Dale, Tracy Dempsey, Nick Fitzsimons, Jennie McCullough and Andy McMillan for organising the event.

  • CreativeCamp Belfast This Weekend

    The first CreativeCamp (in Ireland) hit Kilkenny this past March (I had a helping hand in organising the event), an event which started to bring in a nice concentration on design and the arts online. I had many a good conversation with film makers, visual artists, a writer, a theatre director – all of whom were starting to explore the online world as a means to promote their work and connect with fellow artists.

    While artists and creative practitioners made up a small portion of the blend of people there (there were initially 120+ subscribed to attend and likely 80-90 there over the day), the key thing is that it brought creative people together from all walks of life both online and off.

    So it was great to see Andy McMillan (who I got to meet at this year’s Irish Blog Awards, briefly) annouce earlier this year that CreativeCamp Belfast would be taking place. And wouldn’t you know, it’s taking place this weekend.

    CreativeCamp is a self-organised “unconference” – made up of open, participatory workshop-events where the participants are responsible for setting the agenda, deciding on topics and generating the content. CreativeCamp Belfast brings together technology and creative enthusiasts who want to make things happen with web, mobile, open source, new media, music and design.

    Of all the events and unconferences to provide some kind of online coverage or online archive of the day, this is one of those events I hope archives everything.

    When I passed my driving test earlier in the summer (before the need to have a second driver regardless of your license kicked in) I thought, “this is great – have van, will travel. Dublin, Belfast, anywhere with a bit of motorway”.

    Then in typical Irish form you get an invitation to a wedding and two fall on the same weekend, pinning me to Kilkenny on Friday and Mayo on Saturday. So there’s a slight part of me (the musician and music promotor / sponsor / butcher / baker / candlestick maker) gutted that I’m going to be missing out on talks like

    • Nick Fitzsimons – Music Licensing – What is it, how to approach it, and why it’s important
    • Rich Dale – A Manifesto for a sustainable NI Music Scene
    • Anto O’Kane – Building a new model of the music industry from the ground up – open discussion on the best way to keep a band afloat, and even make a few quid.

    not to mention the rest of the talks that are taking place on the day, a number of which have yet to have their details published.

    Plus it would have given me the chance to spread the wings and head to Belfast, take in a load of new faces on the day – the key thing for me behind these unconference events.

    So, long spiel aside, here’s the facts –

    • CreativeCamp Belfast takes place this weekend, Saturday September 6th
    • It runs 10am to 5pm in Blick Shared Studios (map)
    • You can still register here, here or here
    • It won’t cost you a penny to attend

    To those involved in CreativeCamp Belfast and those attending, have a good one!

  • iQ Boot Camp On The Way

    iQ Content Boot CampThe annual iQ Content Boot Camp is on the way, taking place in the Radisson SAS Royal Hotel in Dublin from April 22nd to April 24th. Early bird registration passes today but if you’re working in the web industry in Ireland (or anywhere else for that matter) and you’re available to attend, it would be well worth considering given the variety of courses on offer.

    Here’s the lineup over the three days, with full details of each course available here.

    Tuesday 22nd April

    • Killer Web Applications
    • Web Analytics 101
    • Kick-start Your Web Strategy
    • Email Marketing
    • Writing For The Web 101
    • Practical User Testing
    • Search Engine Marketing 101

    Wednesday 23rd April

    • Writing For The Web 202
    • Personas – Getting In The Head Of Your Customers
    • Accessibility For Web Managers
    • Web Analytics 202
    • iQ FutureNow Seminar
    • Apres Boot (mid conference drinks)

    Thursday 24th April

    • Information Architecture That Works
    • Web Governance
    • Online Advertising
    • Content Strategy
    • Website Healthcheck
    • Web Project Management
    • Search Engine Marketing 202

    There are also free iQ Clinics running where you can make use of one-to-one sessions to answer any questions you may have regarding your own website.

    How much? You’re looking at three-day packages starting at €1,100, with tickets also available on a one day or two day basis. For pricing and registration details see here or phone Liz on +353 1 8170768.

  • Irish Microsoft Technology Conference Tomorrow

    The 2008 Irish Microsoft Technology Conference gets under way tomorrow April 2nd to Thursday April 4th. Kickoff is 7pm tomorrow (Wednesday) in the Cineworld Complex on Parnell Street.

    The IMTC 2008, is an 8 track, 40 session extravaganza covering a breadth of Microsoft’s latest emerging technologies. Throughout the festival there will be numerous networking opportunities, coffee and session re-runs.

    Now in its third year, the IMTC 2008 is the second of seven major technology conferences in IrishDev.coms IxTC Series 2008. Co-organised with the Irish Microsoft Technology User Group and First Port Jobs, it’s an event by the Irish technology community for the Irish technology community.

    The event delivers 40 Developer and IT-Professionals including LINQ, VS 2008, SBS 2008, Virtualisation, Business Intelligence in SQL 2008, SQL Server 2008, Sharepoint, Silverlight, WCF, Scrum, Volta, CSharp, Next generation Web Apps, XNA, BizTalk, XML Web Services, OCS, IIS for ASP.NET, Hyper-V and Windows Server 2008.

    Full information and details on how to book to attend