http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/ talk boards for love and friendship for Brum-ish blogging, web and social media types en Tue, 06 Jan 2009 00:57:59 +0000 http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/topic.php?id=5#post-67 Tue, 09 Dec 2008 13:19:09 +0000 Chris Unitt 67@http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/ <p>How about I do a question post on CiB? I'll give people a few days to submit the questions they've always wanted to ask, I'll answer what I can and leave the rest to the comments. Or something - is there a better way?</p> <p>Chances are if you've got questions to ask then lots of other peeps have too. </p> http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/topic.php?id=3#post-66 Mon, 08 Dec 2008 19:04:07 +0000 hellocatfood 66@http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/ <p>Bo selecta!</p> <p>I'm Antonio and I'm responsible for:<br /> <a href="http://www.hellocatfood.com" rel="nofollow">http://www.hellocatfood.com</a><br /> <a href="http://www.antiant.co.uk" rel="nofollow">http://www.antiant.co.uk</a><br /> <a href="http://www.crescent-theatre.co.uk/blog" rel="nofollow">http://www.crescent-theatre.co.uk/blog</a></p> <p>I'm a bit of an artist and community artist too! </p> http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/topic.php?id=7#post-65 Mon, 08 Dec 2008 19:00:00 +0000 graphiquillan 65@http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/ <p>Magners is cracking stuff :) I think indoors would probably work better - judging by the numbers indicated in the attending/maybe attending on FB, it would have probably required a taser to control blongoers!</p> <p>Yep, I think those Santa hats can be adapted for the new year. Maybe if we stretch them to about, say 5 feet long, and spray paint them yellow, we can invoke an entire Wizbit army :) </p> http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/topic.php?id=7#post-64 Mon, 08 Dec 2008 18:47:20 +0000 getgood 64@http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/ <p>It was a PINT OR FOUR of Magners (Shona) and lager (me), thank you Mark! So there.<br /> Anyways, I'm sorry but I don't think it can happen for tomorrow - a new lodger insists he needs to move in tomorrow evening and I need to be here to let him in and show him the ropes, so I'll be a quite late for Brumbloggers, as will Shona, if I make it at all.<br /> Suspecting the whole logistics of it be may better in indoor venue that's NOT a jam-packed Xmas market anyway. ; )</p> <p>Is it ok to do next month? When the santa hats will look gloriously incongruous? And after we've had ime to work on our Wizbit outfits? : ) </p> http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/topic.php?id=5#post-63 Mon, 08 Dec 2008 16:52:18 +0000 citizensheep 63@http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/ <p>Ooh, I hadn't realised people had responded! </p> <p>I do think there's a crossover, and I worry that there's too much stuff going on just outside the reach of many of us simply because we're not aware of how things fit together. </p> <p>There's also possibly an issue of people feeling left out: many of us (most of us in fact, I suspect) are connecting with slightly different groups of people on different networks (Twitter, blogs, etc) and finding ourselves party to only partial bits of discussions. A chance to see a fuller picture of the overlaps would be great, an not just for the bloggers group. </p> <p>If, as Julia suggests, we organise an addition to a bloggers meet maybe we could publicse it to a much wider audience? </p> http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/topic.php?id=3#post-62 Fri, 28 Nov 2008 17:17:33 +0000 Craig Hamilton 62@http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/ <p>Hello,</p> <p>I've made one Bloggers meet (but had to leave early, and before the beers) and have managed to miss every other one before or since. I will try my best to get to the next one to put names to faces since I follow some of you on Twitter with interest. </p> <p>I run the following blogs...</p> <p><a href="http://www.friendsofthestars.co.uk" rel="nofollow">http://www.friendsofthestars.co.uk</a> - lazy, unambitious country/folk band.<br /> <a href="http://www.cominrecords.com" rel="nofollow">http://www.cominrecords.com</a> - poorly organised folk label.<br /> <a href="http://camellotment.worpress.com" rel="nofollow">http://camellotment.worpress.com</a> - big-talking, fair-weather gardening.</p> <p>I also write (very) occasionally for <a href="http://www.hurryupharry.org/">Harry's Place</a>, <a href="http://www.mtv-vodafonesoundbites.com/uk/good_gig_guide.php">MTV Europe</a> and <a href="http://www.musicthinktank.com/">Music Think Tank</a>. </p> <p>I'm keen to learn more from the group and suggestions/notes/criticism on my sites most welcome. See you at the next Bloggers Meet (or possibly the next one after that)</p> <p>Ta<br /> Craig </p> http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/topic.php?id=6&page=2#post-61 Fri, 28 Nov 2008 09:04:16 +0000 stef 61@http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/ <p>Hi all, I had a good meeting with Jason at Screen West Midlands - we've made our collective pitch, so now we wait. It was really positive and these guys are well aware that they are uniquely able to make some exciting stuff happen. If you have any other ideas dm or @ me on Twitter. Now we wait - they've got some internal conversations to have as well as talking to other organisations that are looking at international visits like this over the next year or so. I'll post an update here as soon as I hear anything.</p> <p>Thanks everyone! How good was this as a process btw? I realise we're missing lots of people from the conversation here... </p> http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/topic.php?id=3#post-60 Thu, 27 Nov 2008 17:41:11 +0000 gavinwray 60@http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/ <p>Hello,</p> <p>Twas nice meeting some new folk at the Social Media Surgery on Wednesday (my first time as a 'surgeon').</p> <p>I'm the Web &#38; Data Officer at the <a href="http://www.wmro.org">West Midlands Regional Observatory</a> doing content management, looking after <a href="http://wmro.wordpress.com">Observations</a> and helping folk make better use of the web.</p> <p>I also freelance in front-end web design (XHTML/CSS), WordPress and HTML email. More of my stuff at:</p> <p><a href="http://www.gavinwray.com" rel="nofollow">http://www.gavinwray.com</a><br /> <a href="http://twitter.com/gavinwray" rel="nofollow">http://twitter.com/gavinwray</a><br /> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/gavinwray" rel="nofollow">http://www.flickr.com/photos/gavinwray</a> </p> http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/topic.php?id=8#post-59 Thu, 27 Nov 2008 12:30:26 +0000 Julia Gilbert 59@http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/ <p>Any feedback about the event from either 'patients' or 'surgeons'?</p> <p>Any online activity emerged as a direct or indirect result of the surgery? I am thinking I will email the 'patients' in a few days to say that we hope they enjoyed the event and found it useful and could they let us know about any resulting online activity so that we can help publicise it.</p> <p>One thing that occured to me is that if we get more people coming to another surgery, we might need a bigger room. </p> http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/topic.php?id=5#post-58 Thu, 27 Nov 2008 12:13:44 +0000 Julia Gilbert 58@http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/ <p>I think cyBrum is right, although they're quite different, there is a bit of crossover of interest certainly among the usual attendees to date. Nothing to stop those who are interested organising a separate bit in addition to/before/after/during (in a separate area) the regular blogmeet :) </p> http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/topic.php?id=6&page=2#post-57 Thu, 27 Nov 2008 10:33:57 +0000 deplorableword 57@http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/ <p>It seems that American leads the way in terms of building huge amounts of users around social media (the Obama stuff for an extreme example) is there some difference in the american culture that makes people a bit more serious and less cynical about social media?</p> <p>Take the big city plan wiki thing: Would people in the US be more inclined to comment and make contributions? are the barriers to entry for social media different in different cultures? and if so how can we design stuff to make british people share more and get involved.</p> <p>It would be interesting to get some opinions and perspective get some perspective on this, from folks that run huge communities to actual people on the ground. </p> http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/topic.php?id=6&page=2#post-56 Thu, 27 Nov 2008 09:44:28 +0000 mark cyBrum 56@http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/ <p>I'm new to this topic too. My only thoughts are; there should certainly be a 2009 party representing Birmingham creative/social/community/blogging media, and there should be some continuity with 2008, i.e. a few of the same people, who already know the right places to be and the right people to speak to, and a couple of new people. 2008 was about "raising our game", maybe 2009 should be the same but also representing Bham in an official or unofficial capacity. </p> http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/topic.php?id=6&page=2#post-55 Thu, 27 Nov 2008 09:40:52 +0000 john383 55@http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/ <p>A quick idea that came up this morning with Stef is the possibility of linking up all that's going on with the Big City Plan with the SXSW trip. Not sure how this would pan out without knowing the specific aims of the plan, but my thoughts were send an individual/couple of people out with the Big City agenda and see how SXSW ideas could help address and inform those aims? </p> http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/topic.php?id=4#post-54 Thu, 27 Nov 2008 09:37:12 +0000 mark cyBrum 54@http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/ <p>Smelly Oak? We don't want to rub shoulders with a load of stoodents do we? (joke) </p> <p>I thought the Green Room worked ok. </p> http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/topic.php?id=3#post-53 Thu, 27 Nov 2008 09:35:10 +0000 mark cyBrum 53@http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/ <p>hello </p> http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/topic.php?id=7#post-52 Thu, 27 Nov 2008 09:34:31 +0000 mark cyBrum 52@http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/ <p>I think this is "a little brainwave" that was helped with a bottle or two of wine. I'll have no part in such nonsense ;) </p> http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/topic.php?id=5#post-51 Thu, 27 Nov 2008 09:31:38 +0000 mark cyBrum 51@http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/ <p>I agree that blogging and creative industries/business aren't the same, but there is some overlap, and a meet would be a good forum to see what's going on and how they fit. I'd be interested. </p> http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/topic.php?id=6&page=2#post-50 Thu, 27 Nov 2008 08:54:14 +0000 stef 50@http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/ <p>@john383 love it - great ideas.</p> <p>@nicklockey - thanks for the detail! And "the stuff that I learned in those five short days was enough to blow my mind for the next 12 months and it truly transformed the way I approached my job" is a fantastic quote - I'm really glad we went just to hear you say that!</p> <p>@dave_harte - "The West Midlands needs a SXSWi trip in 2009 more than it did in 2008. " pretty much sums it up for me. We made a big impact last time. Imagine what we could achieve this year.</p> <p>@anthony_herron - I've got you. In the thick of it it's probably easiest to use Twitter and LinkedIn to connect with people? And it's such a personal thing handing someone a business card I'm not sure I'd feel comfortable pooling all contacts and then someone unknown to me using my name to get in touch with someone I'd met only briefly. One to consider though.</p> <p>Okay all - I'm meeting Suzie Norton at 3pm to talk about this. You have until then to feed in any more ideas.</p> <p>Thanks! </p> http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/topic.php?id=6#post-49 Wed, 26 Nov 2008 21:56:19 +0000 john383 49@http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/ <p>Hi all, coming to this a bit late and it seems like lots of sensible suggestions have already been made. Tom's suggestion of providing some opportunity for non-attendees to flag items on the schedule in advance makes a lot of sense to me. The coverage last year was great but I'd assume made less engaging for those who had no idea in the the first instance what SXSW was and therefore what they should be asking those who went to report back on. The ability to start the conversation around the schedule in advance might go some way to solving this. Similarly it might provide a good signpost to what mix of people should be going/who should be assigned to what talks etc. </p> <p>Second, I'd suggest that it might be a useful exercise to look in to setting some rough overarching questions/briefs that people who go could be looking at stuff through. It sounds to me like a really easy place to get lost in and perhaps having some questions to solve/contribute too in advance might help provide some guidance for the conversations we want to have when people return. Not sure what these could be, but broad things like 'how can Birmingham charities use x', 'what can schools get out of SXSW', 'what should Birmingham graduates be looking at from SXSW 08' etc etc might help provide a useful catalyst for grouping content and also help open a dialogue with people around town who wouldn't know this was going on if they aren't on the usual twitter/social media channels. Not sure how possible it'd be but maybe there's an opportunity to run an idiots guide to SXSW and the role it could play in advance somewhere like the B'ham Post? A one off feature in the paper, or online, would be one way of getting the word out that people are going and fielding input from an audience that wouldn't otherwise hear it. That balls in Jos court now!!... </p> http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/topic.php?id=6#post-48 Wed, 26 Nov 2008 18:17:45 +0000 nicklockey 48@http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/ <p>Speaking as another SXSWM veteran, I think that the focus should be less on the five days in Texas and more on using the experience to create a legacy and a reference point that can continue to grow over the rest of the year based on the things people learn and the contacts that they make. Being thrown headlong into the SXSW fray for the first time was a truly overwhelming experience and it took a few days to find my feet as a newbie. I don't think I really understood the value of the experience until the days, weeks and months after the conference.</p> <p>The delegate-by-proxy idea was really nice in theory but in practice, it was impossible to find time during the conference to effectively feed back on the stuff I was learning. Things needed time to percolate in order to make sense of them and to assess their value. Also, as the schedule was so packed that finding time to do anything but twitter was pretty damn hard! Had we have got inundated with more seminar requests from our followers back home I think it would have been a tough call between doing our duty to Brum and actually seeking out the stuff that got us professionally excited about going to SXSWi in the first place.</p> <p>That said, the stuff that I learned in those five short days was enough to blow my mind for the next 12 months and it truly transformed the way I approached my job. As I said on Twittter, the ripple effect from this was brilliant and, wherever possible I have tried to pass on what I learned to colleagues, friends, students, trainees, associates, panel audiences, etc. However, as John Bounds points out above, personal osmosis can only get you so far.</p> <p>What I really wanted then was a place that I could store and publish the things I found as and when their value became apparent, usually long after the SXSWi experience was over. Sure, I could blog it all but that's only good for the stuff that I recognise as valuable and, in reality, the things that have proved most useful to the people I've encountered has been the stuff I didn't even realise I knew. For instance I've been finding that PR people, theatre people, publishing people, design people and more have all benefited from the things I soaked up from a TV-person perspective, yet I never would have sought them out to pass on what I knew and they probably wouldn't have approached me to learn it.</p> <p>I think we need to create a simple wiki or something where everybody back home (and the delegates that go) can, in advance of the conference, create questions they want answering, topics they want investigating, resources they need to find or types of people they need to contact. Hell, why not even a techie glossary that can stop some of us newcomers feeling so bewildered when we brave the strange new world of social media for the first time? Throughout the conference and long after its done, anyone, not just the SXSWM crew, should be free to fill in the blanks, share their insight and experience, pool contacts and post new subjects to investigate. </p> <p>I know to a certain extent "Who Needs The Sea" is trying to do this but frankly, it doesn't seem particularly compelling so far and I'd rather just have a bunch of really useful stuff under clear headings and themes that I can dip into when I need it. I found this wiki the other day (admittedly a book tie-in) but I think it is a good example of what I'm on about <a href="http://tinyurl.com/68soaf" rel="nofollow">http://tinyurl.com/68soaf</a></p> <p>But instead of thinking of this as a great online resource for SXSWM, I think we should see SXSWM as a great resource for populating this incredible bank of knowledge instead. 4IP is an amazing opportunity for the Midlands to make its mark on the digital media landscape so lets all pool our collective knowledge as a region and move forward together. </p> <p>SXSWM delegates have an extraordinarily opportunity to learn about the cutting edge of digital media and an amazing chance to use that knowledge to help foster opportunities, prosperity and innovation in their home city. Let's make it as easy and painless as possible for digital media-savvy Midlanders to get their expertise to the people who can really benefit from it most – their peers. </p> http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/topic.php?id=6#post-47 Tue, 25 Nov 2008 21:04:10 +0000 dave_harte 47@http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/ <p>As I'm guy who did the sending out of people last year:<br /> The 2008 SXSWi trip was conceived not as a regional profile-raising exercise or even as a trading/exporting opportunity but as a 'raising our game' trip. My approach was that I saw many people in the public sector go on trips where the expectation on them was to come back inspired and with a hope that somehow they would disseminate to others and at the back-end we'd see change happen. </p> <p>In reality that rarely happens because most people who go on the trips don't have effective ways to disseminate. So Stef and I thought, what if we saw the SXSWi trip in the same way (send people to be inspired) but sent some bright sparks from the private sector instead who knew exactly how to disseminate to their peers (and wider). </p> <p>I think we got the people mix spot on. Most came back and changed how they worked and what they worked on. It accelerated change within the networks they connect to and inspired others (me for a start) to make sure they got in on the continuing conversation (i.e. we became social media converts). </p> <p>The West Midlands needs a SXSWi trip in 2009 more than it did in 2008. Many in the city (Clive Dutton said it most recently) expect the Digital media sector to weather the downturn pretty well. We won't without a continuation of the accelerated change we started last year. There's a stack of 4IP money to spend don't forget and that needs individuals to be dreaming up some world-class interactive media ideas. Sending some 4IP people (the applicants, not the purse-holders) to SXSWi would be a good start then maybe? Sending ones who "share naturally" (to quote Pete) makes even more sense. </p> <p>Screen WM had some funds from AWM recently (£1.3m "to support digital screen media in the region") which should help fund this.</p> <p>Oh, and somewhere in the long-term ambition stuff we should be trying to pitch Hello Digital as our own version of SXSWi but until that happens (5-10 years away?) good people need to go to good things in far away places. </p> http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/topic.php?id=7#post-46 Tue, 25 Nov 2008 20:15:45 +0000 graphiquillan 46@http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/ <p>Julia, that is am eminently sensible suggestion. Thank flip you're here!</p> <p>I'm feeling quite scared about what I come out with after 4 pints of Magners..... </p> http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/topic.php?id=6#post-45 Tue, 25 Nov 2008 19:04:52 +0000 Craig Hamilton 45@http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/ <p>Hi Anthony,</p> <p>Apologies, I wasn't being clear. I'm aware of the arrangements for both for MIDEM(net) and SWSW(i) and the events could be in different months or on the same day, my point is that a Brummie creative business - being almost certainly small - would only benefit from either event by planning and concentrating on one alone. This, however, would be a missed opportunity for the Music folks and I'm suggesting someone (Dubber) bridges the divide between the two events </p> http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/topic.php?id=6#post-44 Tue, 25 Nov 2008 18:57:24 +0000 Anthony Herron 44@http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/ <p>Perhaps have an idea here for you Stef, it's what I and a few other music peeps do every festival conference we go to. We would write a little report on all the people we meet, what they do, what they're looking for and the contact details on the business card or a scan of it. Distribute it to each other &#38; it's a great way to get even more out it all, even if you don't meet some people, you may read they're looking for something you have or you need something they have. Works well in music e.g. a list of music supervisors for synchronisation. Not sure if you guys would find it a relevant method. Thought I'd throw the idea in there. </p> http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/topic.php?id=6#post-43 Tue, 25 Nov 2008 18:53:15 +0000 Anthony Herron 43@http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/ <p>Just to pick Craig up here on something </p> <p>"In my opinion, a company or individual attempting to gain from both SXSW AND SXSWi at the same time would only experience diminishing returns."</p> <p>They're actually on different dates mate, the SXSWi bit is before the music festival. If you've been to MIDEM before, it's the same thing with MIDEMnet, one is always before the other. fyi. </p> http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/topic.php?id=6#post-42 Tue, 25 Nov 2008 18:26:36 +0000 Craig Hamilton 42@http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/ <p>..and I somehow appear to be an administrator.</p> <p>If there is another admin reading, I reckon we should get that status revoked before I break this thingy.</p> <p>Ta<br /> Cx </p> http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/topic.php?id=6#post-41 Tue, 25 Nov 2008 18:13:17 +0000 Craig Hamilton 41@http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/ <p>I appreciate I'm often taking the mickey when it comes to this sort of thing, and for the most part my tongue is only halfway in my cheek, however I think it's only fair to say that reading what the Brummies who went to SXSWi last year contributed online was very, very helpful to the folks back home - Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't we all early adaptors of Twitter as a direct consequence of their trip? </p> <p>So, if there is to be another visit then some kind of framework (as outlined by Pete) can only help enhance things for all concerned. I look forward to learning by proxy. </p> <p>However....I do have a point regarding the crossover between the music industry SXSW and SXSWi itself. </p> <p>With my 'Music Industry' hat on, and from experience of MIDEM and similar (smaller) things, I have to say that there would be enough going on at SXSW itself to keep someone (horrendously) busy for the duration. You go to SXSW to hawk your wares, be that a label or an artist. That's a full-time, meet-n-greet sales and marketing job - In my opinion, a company or individual attempting to gain from both SXSW AND SXSWi at the same time would only experience diminishing returns. </p> <p>I'd therefore suggest some kind of designated liasion between attendees of both events. Someone who understands both sides and can identify new opportunites for people there and (just as crucially) at home. </p> <p>Please be aware that I'm not feathering my own nest here....I loathe conferences and frankly the idea of travelling to Americky with a large group of (relative) strangers fills me with a profound dread. I'd much rather be playing golf. </p> <p>I therefore nominate Dubber to be that special person, if he wants the job. Pound-for-pound he's the smartest of the Brummie Computer Club bunch, and y'all know it. </p> http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/topic.php?id=6#post-40 Tue, 25 Nov 2008 16:18:05 +0000 stef 40@http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/ <p>Pete and I have been in touch with Suzie Norton from Screen West Midlands and we're due to be meeting in the next couple of days. I'd really appreciate any ideas that we all have to bring up at that meeting. </p> http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/topic.php?id=6#post-39 Tue, 25 Nov 2008 11:48:11 +0000 deplorableword 39@http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/ <p>I think you've pretty much summed it all up pete. </p> http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/topic.php?id=6#post-38 Tue, 25 Nov 2008 10:20:51 +0000 Katchooo 38@http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/ <p>RE Pete's criteria - well 2 out of 3 ain't bad.</p> <p>It's looks like a fantastic opportunity. Hmm wonder if there's a press trip I can jump on the get in the vicinity... *Blagger's twinkle shines bright.* </p> http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/topic.php?id=6#post-37 Tue, 25 Nov 2008 00:05:56 +0000 peteashton 37@http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/ <p>Loads to cover here. Bear in mind these are my thoughts and opinions from my personal perspective as someone who went last year with some specific ideas of why we were going and who has no say in who gets funded this time around. </p> <p>1) The music issue. I think Joanna Geary is a useful example here. At the time she was more a journalist than a social media type but she had a keen interest in the emerging technologies (video streaming was probably the big one) and how it would affect her industry. If someone from the music industry is sent they should have a similar bias towards the stuff SXSWi covers in order to get the most out of it. The field in which they work is irrelevant - their passion for social media and internet stuff is where it's it. (see point 5)</p> <p>2) Following on from this, SXSWi is, in effect, a trade convention for those in the Internet industries. It is not somewhere you send people to learn the basics. It's where you send people who are at the very least on their way to be being leaders in their field. I'd put Nick Lockey in this camp as (from what I saw, and I could be wrong) he was showing signs of developing some serious skills and knowledge in his area and SXSWi tipped him into developing that stuff further. </p> <p>Personally SXSWi was essential in getting me where I am today as it contextualised my ideas, showed me which were stupid and which were achievable and made me feel part of an industry. Amongst many other things. In short, I was amongst a few thousand of my peers. We need to send people who will find the other attendees to be peers. </p> <p>3) We need to increase the number of people from the WM who have had the SXSWi experience. This is essential if the Internet industry in the WM is to develop and mature. At the same time, those who have been before can act as guides for the "newbies". SXSWi is a daunting place and it took my a good couple of days to acclimatise. Some kind of buddy system, be it formal or otherwise, would be a good idea I feel. </p> <p>4) When Stef put this opportunity to me last year I was determined that, for me at least, this wasn't just going to be a gravy train jolly on the tax payers expense. I felt it essential that if Birmingham had paid for us to go we have to bring something back. The problem was quantifying this. I don't think the "send me to a talk and I will liveblog it for you" thing worked that well as it was too specific. I found the most interesting things happened in the corridors and at the evening events meeting up with random people and having in depth discussions. The official events were, with some exceptions, irrelevant. </p> <p>One example of this would be meeting Alex Hillman whose experiences with co-working were very inspiring and which I've directly passed on to the Moseley Exchange co-working project. This didn't come from a scheduled talk - it came from sitting on the floor by the lego and chatting. </p> <p>But I do think there needs to be a sense that while personal development is essential, bringing something back home is also essential. In the last few months I think we've done this on various levels from the surgeries and cafes to the small scale things like talking to students and using what we've learned to help others. It helps that we're by definition involved in sharing environments so we do this sort of thing naturally. </p> <p>5) I think the criteria for going to SXSWi should be as follows:</p> <ul> <li>You understand, and can explain to a novice, the majority of what's covered at SXSWi. In other words, you can hold your own in a room of Internet experts.</li> <li>This stuff gets you really excited. Really really excited. You can't help talking about it.</li> <li>You're a sharer, not a hoarder.</li> </ul> <p>Again, my personal criteria. I have no say in what the criteria would actually be. But I think these three would guarantee both good personal development and the bringing home of the knowledge bacon. </p> <p>6) As for funding, not my department, but as someone who's been before I'd be happy with a subsidy or even a loan. </p> http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/topic.php?id=3#post-36 Mon, 24 Nov 2008 23:51:37 +0000 getgood 36@http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/ <p>Bo. I'm Nicky Getgood and I say Digbeth is Good on <a href="http://digbeth.org" rel="nofollow">http://digbeth.org</a> : ) </p> http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/topic.php?id=7#post-35 Mon, 24 Nov 2008 23:50:28 +0000 getgood 35@http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/ <p>Hey Julia, I like it. BLOLGO?! ; )<br /> Frankie - keeping my fingers and toes crossed for next brum bloggers meet, you going? </p> http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/topic.php?id=7#post-34 Mon, 24 Nov 2008 23:37:44 +0000 getfrank 34@http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/ <p>when and where is this plan going into action? </p> http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/topic.php?id=7#post-33 Mon, 24 Nov 2008 22:32:03 +0000 Julia Gilbert 33@http://www.paradisecircus.com/talk/ <p>Fun idea! Maybe we could make up a (surreal, non-guessable) nine word phrase? Then each Santa/Wizbit could tell the player the word and number (position in the phrase) e.g. "loldeirdre 3"? The first nine to turn up could be the Blongo Santas and make up the phrase, then there will be no probs with people missing? </p>