Archive for the ‘byte night’ Category

Byte Night #3

Monday, September 28th, 2009

The latest enthralling instalment of my preparations for Byte Night in NewcastleGateshead on October 2nd.

Tent & dry run

Somewhat embarrasingly, when I tried out the tent & sleeping bag on Friday night, I managed an hour or so and felt a bit odd, so came in to a nice warm bed. Mmm, perhaps sleeping outside is not so easy after all.. :$

I should say that I cycled around Brittany with a school friend when I was 19, and for 2 weeks that was rather pleasant – perhaps it was because it was during the Summer…

Anyway, I’ve learned that

  • a pillow would be a terrific idea
  • bed roll was rather good
  • sleeping bag was warm enough (fingers crossed)
  • it could be quite a tough gig to sleep out, especially if the weather isn’t kind :-s
  • I’m not all that good at putting up tents :$

I’ve also found my own survival / bivvy bag and also a sleeping bag liner.

I think I’m beginning to get my head around it all – but it helps having the pledges so far, and also means I can hardly back out.

So, Friday night at the Baltic – here we come!

Photos

Some of my stuff – and putting up my tent.

Video

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Posted in Business, bonkers, business networking, byte night, experiment, gateshead, good cause, north east england, serious games, technology, work | Comments

Byte Night update #2

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009

Hello folks, I’m thrilled to be able to say that (at the time of writing) I’ve nearly reached 2/3rds of my initial fund-raising target of £500. I’ve also got some cheques coming in, so the fund-raising continues! :-D

I’m really happy about this, but am keen to collect as much money as possible.

[The widget on the right is powered by the JustGiving website, so the total will hopefully have gone up.]

My Brother has offered to double his donation if I shave my beard off, but I’m not altogether sure for how long!

So, if you can think of other ideas as to how I can raise some more wonga – please leave a comment.

I’m including some more background information:

  • Things I think I’ll need
  • The second part of a previous Byte Night video diary from Reading
  • The flyer to accompany the Newcastle event, to give you an idea of what’s it all about.

Packing List

I like lists, so this one is my aide memoire starter-for-ten:

  • Camera
  • Video camera?
  • Microphones
  • Monopod
  • Sleeping bag
  • Inner?
  • Bivvy bag?
  • Survival Bag
  • Bed roll
  • Cardboard?
  • Dry bags
  • Waterproofs
  • Coat
  • Overtrousers
  • Boots
  • Head torch
  • Thermals
  • Fleeces
  • Hats
  • Buffs
  • Gloves
  • Fleecey face thing
  • Sense of humour

More video

Byte Night video diary part 2


Byte Night Newcastle flyer

Byte Night 09 Newcastle Flyer

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Posted in Business, bonkers, business networking, byte night, experiment, gateshead, good cause, north east england, serious games, technology, work | Comments

Byte Night update #1

Thursday, September 10th, 2009

Umm, I’ve been seriously slack in getting myself sorted for this – mega :$

However, I’ve resolved to do a ‘multi / social media’ sleep out, basically because I need to rev myself up, and also rev up my fundraising activities, because I’m so behind schedule.

So, the idea is that you join me in giving money to Action for Children, but don’t worry, you can wait until I’ve actually done it to cough up.

JustGiving sends your donation straight to Action for Children and automatically reclaims Gift Aid if you’re a UK taxpayer, so your donation is worth even more.

Videos

Videos below, photos to come via Flickr, no doubt.

My lame first attempt

Ken Deeks intro

This explains what it’s all about.

Video Diary from 2007

A video showing the experience for some folk down in Reading.

Wash up

My mind goes back to New Year 99 – 00 (aka the Millennium), as I spent the evening at the Royal Horticultural Halls in London talking to homeless people etc. [press release in this links needs some punctuation – Ed.]

On a totally spurious note, this blog post is continued on page 94 (sorry, this is such a great Wikipedia entry… :$ again).

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Posted in Business, Social Media, blogging, bonkers, business networking, byte night, collaboration, education, enjoyable, experiment, good cause, newcastle, north east england, technology | Comments

Please help me raise money for Action for Children #bytenight

Monday, August 10th, 2009

BN09_Newcastle_esignature I’ve decided to take part in Byte Night, a rather good Tech Industry fund-raiser, probably because I’ve seen photos of Jenny Agutter in Computing each year, and think it might be a good laugh.

Speak it softly, but I’m sort of looking forward to donning a whole load of technical gear, as my interest in tech is not confining to IT! ;-D

The blurb from the AfC flyer for Newcastle reads:

"Each year, over 500 people from the IT and business community give up their bed for one night to experience a little of what it might be like to be homeless.

The money they raise helps Action for Children tackle the root causes of youth homelessness and gets thousands of children and young people off the streets and into secure accommodation with education and training opportunities.

Each year, at least 75,000 children and young people experience homelessness*; 1 in 3 attempt suicide† and 1 in 7 young runaways are physically or sexually assaulted (this figure rises to almost 1 in 2 after a week‡).

Byte Night is a unique event that takes place across the UK. In 2008, it raised £470,000. Now in its 11th year, it is one of the single biggest fundraisers for Action for Children.

Your support of Byte Night is vital to ensuring it continues to support the thousands of vulnerable young people Action for Children work with each year.

Byte Night sleepers range from systems developers to CIOs and business managers to marketers who regularly return each year for a rewarding and memorable experience."

I’m sure you’ll agree that this is an excellent cause, so "Do it, Do it – Do it now!"

Boilerplate from Just Giving, to put your mind at rest:

"Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity."

Thanks for reading and hope you feel you can contribute to Action for Children.

UPDATE 29/8:

  • For some reason, an html tag <p style="display: none"> had sneaked into this post, so there appeared to be no content. Hopefully you can see this now… :$
  • Also, the Byte Night website seems to be down / being worked on, so will keep you posted.

Posted in Business, bonkers, business networking, byte night, enjoyable, experiment, good cause, interesting, newbie, newcastle, north east england, technology, work | Comments