IT Sligo’s Innovation Week

I got a little email through today about IT Sligo’s Innovation Week. If anyone is interested, the details are below.

A quick question though: shouldn’t Derry have this kind of event too?

Or do we and I just don’t know about it … in which case please let me know.

IT Sligo’s Enterprise & Innovation Week is a week-long programme of seminars, workshops, events to promote innovation entrepreneurs and creativity (see attached schedule).

The Enterprise & Innovation Week’s Programme will formally launch in the Innovation Centre, IT Sligo on Monday 22 February. The programme was developed in partnership with Sligo’s County Development Board, Enterprise Ireland and the Western Development Commission.

The Enterprise & Innovation Week will run from the 22^nd to the 25^th of February 2010, and will feature over 20 events, including a number of international high-profile presenters. Some of the key note speaker includes:

·         Danny McCoy, newly appointed Director General of the Irish Business & Employers Confederation (IBEC) will formally launch the week’s programme

·         Larry Farrell, leading US author and expert on entrepreneurship

·         Harry Grill, Corporate Partner, with global law firm K&L Gates, counsels clients on cross-border, strategic transactions and advises international businesses looking to establish a commercial presence in the United States.

·         Seán Gallagher, Founder and CEO at Smart Homes and a Dragon on RTE’s Dragon’s Den

·         Ian Brannigan, Development Executive with the Western Development Commission.  Ian will be presenting the findings of the WDC’s recent report on the huge potential of the creative industry in the West of Ireland

·         The final of Sligo VEC’s Dragon’s Den Competition.

Visit Enterprise & Innovation Week’s website www.itsligo.ie/innovationweek for up-to-date information on the week’s schedule, news and events, and how to get involved.

Download the Enterprise & Innovation Week Schedule

We’re Back

After a nice long winter hiatus OpenCoffee Derry will be back in action on Wednesday, February 24th, 6pm. We’re hoping to book the coffee shop at the Nerve Centre again but will confirm the location soon.

Make sure to follow us on Twitter for updates.

See you there.

Workshop: Teaching in Immersive Worlds

National Workshop on Teaching in Immersive Worlds

University of Ulster, Magee Campus
20th November 2009

• Considering using virtual worlds for teaching and want to know where to start?
• Curious about how others are using virtual spaces for teaching?
• Interested in learning how the future of undergraduate education will be shaped by immersive technologies?

IMMERS[ED] 2009; National Workshop on Teaching in Immersive Worlds will be hosted by the School of Computing & Intelligent Systems and will take place in the Great Hall of the University of Ulster, Magee Campus, Northern Ireland on the 20th November 2009 (registration from 8.30, start at 9.30).

The workshop has an International line-up of speakers from the UK and Ireland and will offer a series of insightful talks examining the theoretical and practical aspects of teaching using virtual worlds such as Second Life, Opensim and Metaplace.  

Speakers include

• John Kirriemuir of Virtual Worlds Watch,
• Daniel Livingstone (SLOODLE) & University of West Scotland,
• David Burden (PIVOTE) & Daden Limited,
• Michael Callaghan and Kerri McCusker of the University of Ulster,
• Tim Savage and Carina Girvan of Trinity College Dublin and
• Barry McAdam and Anna O’Donovan of INTEL.

The objective of the event is to raise awareness of the benefits and possible pitfalls of using virtual and immersive worlds in an educational context and will provide practical advice and demonstrations from leading educators and industrial experts in this area.

It will highlight funding opportunities available in this field and offer tips on how to focus your research to maximise your chances of succeeding with applications.

The workshop is organised by the Serious Games & Virtual Worlds Research Team and the School of Computing & Intelligent Systems, Faculty of Computing and Engineering and co-sponsored by the University of Ulster, Office of Innovation Knowledge Club Program.

For further details on this event please contact workshop organisers Michael Callaghan or Kerri McCusker.

There is no fee to attend but you must register as places are strictly limited. To register and for further information please go to the workshop website.

http://www.learninginvirtualworlds.com/

InvestNI Online Marketing Workshop Thingy

Aidan from Riada dropped me an email about an event InvestNI are hosting next week – I’ve no idea if there are any spaces left but if you’re free for lunch next Tuesday it might be worth a look.

INVEST NI BEST PRACTICE CLUB – The Future of Online Marketing

The next meeting of the Best Practice Club will take place on Tuesday 10^th November 2009 in Davincis Hotel, Culmore Road, Derry between 12 -2pm. Lunch will be served on arrival.

This session will focus on the benefits to your business of using online marketing. These will include how to access new markets, new customers, reduce traditional marketing costs, reduce your overheads and increase your profits.

Topics to be covered will include Search Engine Optimisation, Google Analytics, Email Marketing and the growth of Social Media Marketing (e.g.Twitter, Facebook).

The invite says to contact Elaine Walsh at InvestNI on 028 71278179 or you can check out the detail here.

Next OC Derry – Thurs, Nov 12th

The next OC Derry is:

Thursday, November 12th, 6pm
City Hotel (reception area)

How I Lost the Derry Business Awards

The Derry Business Awards took place on Friday night at the City Hotel – and despite a few nominations for OpenCoffee folk, I can officially announce that:

• I am not Derry’s Business of the Future
• Donal Doherty is not the Entrepreneur of the Year
• Donal’s Foyle Fashion Week is not the Tourism Initiative of the Year

Despite the bitter sting of defeat, a few sociable beers eased the pain and a good night of drunken schmoozing was had by all.

Maybe we should start our own awards?

(And congrats to Donal for the two nods!)

Next OpenCoffee Derry – Thurs, Oct 1st

Hey folks,

Just a quick reminder that the next OpenCoffee Derry is this coming Thursday (Oct 1st), 6pm at the City Hotel.

It should be a great chance to chat about BarCamp Derry as well for all those planning on coming.

Huge Congratulations to Learning Pool!

Derry-based eLearning company Learning Pool announced a 5-year multi-million pound deal to provide online procurement training in association with the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS).

The company will start rolling out the suite of products to the public sector in South Africa and neighbouring regions early next year.

Obviously it’s great news for Learning Pool, but it’s also a great demonstration of how regionally-based businesses can compete – and win – on a global scale.

Congratulations all ’round!

Next OpenCoffee: 6pm Thursday, Waterfoot Hotel

Hi everyone

The next OpenCoffee Derry meetup is this Thursday, August 27th, 6pm at the newly re-opened Waterfoot Hotel. (map)

As always, the meetup is open to anyone and everyone and should run until about 7:30-8 ish. There’s free tea and coffee (thanks!) and there may even be time for a quick nosey around the hotel.

Any questions – email me.

How to Have an ‘Un-Business’

Another little piece adapted from Mark’s Derry News column...

As most of you will know, we’re in the process of organising BarCamp Derry – an ‘un-conference’ on the themes of digital media, the web and technology in general.

The idea of an unconference is to avoid many of the attributes normally associated with a traditional conference – like high entry fees, dull presentations or unnecessarily formal dress codes.

In order to attract a market that would normally avoid conferences like the swine plague, we’re creating a conference that does whatever it can not to be a conference.

Presentations are developed by the attendees themselves, the event is completely free, T-shirts and jeans are the order of the day and we even considered hiring a bouncy castle to keep proceedings lively.

Based on the success of similar events across the country, we’re expecting 100+ attendees from as far afield as Dublin and Limerick to make the trip for what is as much a social event as it is a business conference.

Now I didn’t come up with the idea of an unconference, nor did I dream up the idea of OpenCoffee.

In fact, the whole idea of an ‘un-event’ or an ‘un-business’ has been around for a long time. The punk movement could easily be described as the ‘un-band’ movement. Open source software is often described as the ‘un-copyright’ movement. Green businesses are based on ideas about ‘un-global warming’. The slow food movement; ‘un-fast food’. Fast food; ‘un-slow food’.

A Business in Opposition to the Status Quo

By simply defining an idea in opposition to the status quo, you naturally attract customers, clients and supporters who are dissatisfied with that standard. With that in mind, starting an ‘un-business’ or creating an ‘un-product’ or ‘un-service’ begins with an understanding of exactly what is wrong with how things are currently being done.

This isn’t about gradual improvement or incremental change, this is about wholesale revolution – which means finding something that really doesn’t live up to the needs of your chosen market.

That last point is key. For the most part, existing products and services aren’t that bad for most people. That’s why they’re the status quo. But for one particular audience they may simply not fit.

Business conferences and networking events are fine for many but there’s a growing market of business people in search of a less formal, more collaborative approach to doing business.

For them an unconference works – for others, a plain old conference is fine.

So how can you start an ‘un-business’?

Find a group of people or businesses for whom the status quo in your chosen industry simply doesn’t work. Make a list of all the things about the staus quo that don’t connect – the more they annoy people the better. Now create your business in opposition to those points.

Do it sincerely and do it well and you’ll have a built-in groundswell of support that truly wants you to succeed.