Acted as a mentor, explaining how Social Media tools could help publicise & run the event
Set up and configured a number of tools to publish information about the event, and capture any multimedia content that was created
Wrote blog posts, tweeted, and ‘live blogged’ the event itself (i.e. created a real-time & interactive record of proceedings).
Provided project management and community management advice
What they said
Hannah Bryan, Director of event management company Sailor Girl Limited said:
Justin was a pleasure to work with. I was given three weeks to put on this event and Justin was a massive support from the initial brainstorming to the post-event feedback capture and close. The ‘live blogging’ in particular was a real hit as many of the project partners were not able to attend in person and so attended ‘virtually’.
CONNECT North East (CNE) brings together high growth technology businesses with those who are interested in funding them. Typically these businesses are start-ups, often run by young entrepreneurs who are very comfortable using digital technologies to communicate and collaborate.
What SCL did
Created a social media strategy for CNE, and provided ongoing tactical advice
Set up various online tools, e.g. blog, Twitter & YouTube accounts; published regular blog posts; ran the Twitter account; and monitored what was being said about CNE online.
Participated in existing online forums to help increase awareness of CNE
Worked with PR agency and CNE team to re-package key messages for Social Media audience
Shot, edited, and published video of key sessions – so those who couldn’t attend events might learn through viewing the material online.
“Souter Consulting added a very significant dimension to our marketing activity: contemporary, effective and insightful communication, tailored to a technology-savvy audience in a medium which they value. We recommend Souter Consulting highly.“
A recap of this event, with photos and the presentations (where possible).
Intro
“Your Honour, being conscious that it’s a while since the ‘Social media: beyond the hype’ event at the end of October, I’d like to plead in mitigation that I’ve had a couple of bouts of ‘flu since then, and a broadband cut-off [although that’s another *very* long story :-s].” [Enough excuses – Ed.]
Event details
As per my original post, the event was held at the Great North Museum Hancock, and really ran very well, courtesy of fantastic organisation from Ellie Silson and Julie Moore (and others) from Codeworks.
We discovered during the evening that the reason the room was so cold was because of a dead body at the back of the room (until 27th Nov 09), more often known as Lindow Man.
I’m told that the business networking facilitated by the Dollywagon technology was a success, although perhaps the format should have included a bit longer for folks to make each other’s acquaintance.
Presos from Jason Brownlee (Professor Young was also struck down by ‘flu) and Armin Talic to come hopefully. I’ve checked with Paul Smith, who feels his presentation loses rather too much in translation, but essentially tells the story of Twitchhiker.
Feedback
Ellie tells me that the speakers all got excellent marks, and also that the feedback was very favourable. Well done everybody!
I’ve been invited to take part in a roundtable event by RMT – my accountants.
This is an excerpt from the invite:
Getting the north east trading online @ RMT Gosforth on the 24th Sept 09
The aim of the day is to discuss how we can help get more north east based business trading online.
Cut through the mystery of trading online and dispel some of the myths, many of us take our knowledge for granted!
I will need to have a think about this and collect my thoughts – but please suggest anything you want me to raise on the day.
‘Trading online’ – to my mind – is about using the Web to market, sell, and serve customers. I suspect the ‘answer’ will be quite complicated and ‘multivariate’!
I believe there is a local newspaper involved, and also some people from various ‘grown-up’ industry bodies – so please chip in!
Agenda
There are two sessions, either side of lunch:
Session one – online business issues
Session two – develop a strategy to get the north east online
Further background:
If you could all think about your experiences of businesses that you have dealt with, which trade online and those that don’t, and try to identify any key issues.
Please bring to the table anything you think might be hampering online trade in the region, and things that might help improve it.
If you raise it, I’ll do my best to mention it – and then blog the upshot.
UPDATE 21/9/09: I thought I’d dig out the PDF that Peter Moran mentions and publish it through Scribd.com and hence make it more accessible…
This is the second of three planned posts to bring together some useful introductory material around Cloud – designed to give a balanced view, and cover the upsides as well as the challenges (e.g. security):
Because these are written works, necessarily there is more scope for detail and balance. These appear to be surprisingly good resources (well, *I* was pleasantly surprised).
Background papers
Draft NIST Working Definition of Cloud Computing v15
“The methodology for the Rackspace Hosting survey research, which was conducted between mid-October and mid-November of 2008, involved 1,500 US- and UK-based small- and mid-sized companies.
Approximately 36 percent of survey recipients responded to the questions.”
Sun Microsystems’ take on Cloud. Given Larry Ellison’s seeming contempt for Cloud (as per the previous Cloud post), it will be fascinating to see how Oracle progresses from a tie-up with AWS – to more fully integrating Sun & its expertise.
It’s 2/3rds Cloud intro & 1/3rd Sun product plug, but still a worthwhile read.
I’m whanging this in here for the purposes of balance, but arguably not as well developed as the other documents here. Suggestions for a better doc, anyone?
I’m one of many who sees Cloud Computing as a major industry trend, which could be very disruptive [or then again it could all be hype ;-D].
This is the first of three planned posts to bring together some useful introductory material around Cloud – designed to give a balanced view, and cover the upsides as well as the challenges (e.g. security):
Sometimes I’m not very good at explaining things – so the plan is to let some other people do it instead! Apparently it was Bernard of Chartres who first talked about “Standing on the shoulders of giants” – and I am doing this here :-D.
rPath takes the confusion out of cloud computing with this humorous animation in plain English. Visit rPath.
Cloud Computing Explained
Confused about the term “Cloud Computing”? Want to be “with the times” when you talk about new technology buzzwords? This video boils down a section of Cloud Computing, that of Cloud Infrastructure and Cloud Hosting in a way that everyone can understand!
Industry pundits / luminaries seem to have differing views about Cloud:
Some have ‘a great face for radio’ or just work better in print
Others seem to have mastered the art of presentation being more important than reality ;-D
However, there is definitely some good stuff in here, e.g. Kevin Marks of Google is v. interesting
IBMers on How Cloud Computing Will Make IT Easier
IBMers speak about their clients’ issues and how IBM cloud computing solutions have helped make IT easier for their businesses. Cloud computing offers a dynamic infrastructure that makes web services immediately accessible, allowing companies to grow and to do business more quickly and at lower cost.
30%-50% of *all* servers are dedicated to test, yet they only have 10% utilisation – Marie Wieck
In the software development process, 50% of the effort on average is spent in Test; in tests, 40-50% of the effort is spent in setting up and tearing down test systems – Kristof Kloeckner
Cloud Computing – the benefits, from Salesforce.com
“They would say this, wouldn’t they” – see for yourself. [What about the downsides? – Ed.]
Steve Ballmer on Cloud Computing
A thankfully brief and concise take on Cloud from the Boss of Microsoft.
Forrester
Introduction & scepticism combined! YouTube intro blurb [29 September 2008]:
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — While cloud computing is bringing enormous power to large and small organizations, the hype around the trend is “over blown,” says Forrester VP and Principal Analyst Frank Gillett. I interviewed him on Wednesday afternoon on the MIT campus.
He told me that the whole movement has lead to “cloud envy” with companies branding existing services by “cloud washing” — using “cloud spray,” he says.
Earlier this month he published a report on the subject.
Seems like Oracle CEO Larry Ellison is one of big skeptics over the cloud gazing, as Dan Farber over at CNET News.com writes tonight. Dan moderated a panel on cloud computing earlier this week at Technology Review EmTech conference.
Larry Dignan at ZDNet wrote earlier this month that cloud computing as a term has become meaningless.
– Andy Plesser, Executive Producer
Gartner
Frank Kenney, Research Director, Thomas Bittman, Distinguished Analyst, and Daryl Plummer, Managing VP and Gartner Fellow, discuss the risks and rewards of Cloud Computing.
I’ve got to say there aren’t enough sceptical voices that could bring more balance in this debate. However, Larry does a cracking job of making up for everyone else!
Larry Ellison calls out Cloud Computing
This is more of a podcast, but is actually rather an apposite rant about fads / bandwagons in the IT Industry.
Worthwhile listening to if you don’t believe all the hype! ;-)
This is by Dr. Michael Wesch and his team at Kansas State University. If you’ve ever struggled to explain the difference between HTML and XML, your prayers have been answered!
I thought I should write up my thoughts re my recent attendence at GameHorizon:
It seems pretty clear that the Computer Games industry is a major success story
Apparently making more money than film & music [although all I can find on Google are rather dodgy get-rich-quick schemes which refer to this…!]
What I *did* find was a report from back-end of 2008, quoted here and here, saying “Verdict research predicts gaming will become the UK’s premier leisure activity before 2009”
But it seems to be in ‘stealth mode’ in terms of profile
There have been various controversies about computer games – which are set out in this section from Wikipedia
Reminds me of my MBA paper on Microsoft & Public Affairs paper [which I should publish]
The nub of this was that Bill didn’t take politics seriously until he found his competitors were using their political connections as a business strategy
Also is on the cusp of convergence of various positive technological trends
3D & virtual worlds
Serious Games
Favourite sessions
‘Sneaking in the Back Door to become an AAA Multiplatform Studio‘ Sponsored by Game Republic – Paul Wedgwood, CEO and Game Director, Splash Damage Ltd.
‘Separating Fact from Fiction: the Future of Digital Distribution’ – Roger Walkden, CEO, AWOMO
‘Development Opportunities in PlayStation Home’ Peter Edward, Director, PlayStation Home Platform Group
Panel Discussion: ‘Game Exposure – The naked truth about marketing your self published IP’ Sponsored in partnership by BAFTA and Northern Film + Media.
[that’s enough – Ed.]
Pretty reasonable games industry in the UK, also in Europe
Cutting edge stuff going, which I have highlighted in my list of favourite sessions
What struck me was the the Social Media / online component that many companies are only now discovering seems to be standard operating procedure for the games industry – as Paul Farley (Managing Director, Tag Games) explained.
I met some good people & am following up various business opportunities. This was an eye-opener for me, and I expect to see the Games industry as part of a major convergence of computing trends in the home.
Live bloggging info
If you would like to read my live blogging notes from the conference, please see this summary page.
In wanting to help Ross Cooney plug these events, I thought I’d re-produce his e-mail of today:
“I am working with the organisers of a few IT related events based in Newcastle-upon-Tyne on the 29th July and was thinking that you might be interested in attending some or all of these events:
While you can find all the details of each event on their web pages, a simple synopsis is as follows:
CloudSeminar — Discover how ‘the cloud’ can help your IT operation
Venue: Newcastle University
Cost: £10 (or free to Codeworks Connect members)
Make no mistake, ‘the cloud’ is going to be disruptive to IT. It offers significant threats to market incumbents but huge opportunities to new entrants and established companies that respond quickly. Delegates will leave the seminar with a clear view of the compelling reasons for using cloud computing – and how to do it.
Venue: Newcastle University
Cost: £10 (or free to Codeworks Connect members)
CloudCamp is an unconference where early adopters and industry leaders of Cloud Computing technologies exchange ideas. With the rapid change occurring in the industry, we need a place we can meet to share our experiences, challenges and solutions. At CloudCamp, you have the opportunity to share your thoughts in several open discussions, as we strive for the advancement of Cloud Computing. End users, IT professionals and vendors are all encouraged to participate.
Venue: Black Swan Bar, Newcastle Arts Centre, 67 Westgate Road, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, NE1 1SG
After a long day spouting shite with technical boffins you can relax and have a drink watching a fun-filled but competitive team tournament in which teams of up to five members will compete against each other at selected games from the Wii sports package.
A bus will be on hand to bring you to the venue after CloudCamp.
While the organisers of these events are working together very closely it is necessary to register for each event separately using the following links:
Justin was a pleasure to work with. I was given three weeks to put on this event and Justin was a massive support from the initial brainstorming to the post-event feedback capture and close. The ‘live blogging’ in particular was a real hit as many of the project partners were not able to attend in person and so attended ‘virtually’.
CONNECT North East (CNE) brings together high growth technology businesses with those who are interested in funding them. Typically these businesses are start-ups, often run by young entrepreneurs who are very comfortable using digital technologies to communicate and collaborate.“Souter Consulting added a very significant dimension to our marketing activity: contemporary, effective and insightful communication, tailored to a technology-savvy audience in a medium which they value. We recommend Souter Consulting highly.“
