Last minute change to OpenCoffee Limerick Venue – AbsoluteHotel.Com

AbsoluteHotel.Com

AbsoluteHotel.Com is near Barrington’s and the Abbey Bridge.

Google Map

Video Imeall

Nothing to see here – just a webcam-view of an audio podcast being recorded (and it’s in Irish as well) – but it’s an indication of the direction in which I’m moving.

I’ve posted this already on An tImeall and in Facebook as well.

Create Programme Deadline this Friday

If you’re thinking of applying to the Create Programme for Digital Media Entrepreneurs at Dun Laoghaire Institute for Art Design and Technology, the closing date is this Friday at 12pm.

The programme consists of 12 months training and mentorship of Digital Media startups, and includes:

• Programme grant of €550 per month
• 12 months customised training programme tailored towards the core business and management skills needed for starting up and managing a sustainable business
• A dedicated location in IADT’s campus Incubation Centre – The Media Cube – equipped with broadband and phone connections
• Access to Digital Media commercial and technical expertise from an expert panel of mentors and trainers

Further information from Helen Murphy, email: create AT iadt dot ie, or phone +353 (0) 1 2144644.

See also: Article in ENN

An tImeall Ar Ais

Edgecast Media originated from a single podcast, An tImeall, which grew into a powerful idea: that specialised interests such as the Irish Language could be served in a uniquely effective manner using the subscription web model and online social media.

The idea became a company, and over the last few months, some of the practical issues of starting a business took priority over other activities, including An tImeall.

I’m delighted to announce that yesterday An tImeall resumed (MP3) a weekly podcast schedule. As before, it incorporates a weekly column on blogs and social media which is also syndicated in the Irish language daily newspaper Lá Nua.

Both An tImeall and An Líonra Sóisialta, have achieved major recognition for Edgecast Media, winning five awards in the past two years. But that’s not the only reason why they are of core importance to the company. Every business needs a vision – a Big Idea. An tImeall is the embodiment of our Big Idea: that the edge can be the centre; that anyone can be a publisher (or a broadcaster); and that the most effective way to find an audience – or a market – is to look for a community.

An tImeall is a labour of love, with the goal of promoting the Irish language and encouraging its use online. The blog and podcast are syndicated under a Creative Commons Licence (Attribution Noncommercial 3.0). If you run a non-profit radio station, website or printed publication, you are free to republish any of hundreds of podcast episodes or blog posts as long as you attribute them to imeall.com. (If you decide to do so, please let me know so that I can link back to you.)

Commercial terms are, of course, available on request. 🙂

Digiculture #3: Facebook and Fragmentation

Bored with blogs? Tired of Twitter? Or fed-up with Facebook?

Actually – I’m quite happy with blogs – or with any kind of media that doesn’t require me to join. I have neglected profiles on both Myspace and Bebo. I’m intrigued by LinkedIn – and possibilities of professional networking, but I haven’t taken the time to expore those possibilities. And Twitter has won me over with it’s convenience and immediacy.

What’s significant about those services that I choose to use is that they each give me some kind of benefit in return for my participation. So when Facebook came my way I have only one question: What’s in it for me? And the person to ask is the most enthusiastic Facebooker in my immediate circle: Bernie Goldbach.

This podcast (MP3, 26MB, 28:17) features an interview recorded at OpenCoffee Limerick, with Bernie and Brendan Bolger. In addition to Facebook and the others, PeopleAggregator gets a mention, as do Jaiku, Pownce and Tumblr.

The conversation continues next day in a podcast by Bernie at podcasting.ie. And he has more to say on the subject this morning, in a submission to Six Pixels Of Separation. It’s informed by a wider discussion, involving people such as Robert Scoble (also) and Paul Walsh (also: getting dumped on Facebook!)

In other Edgecast Media podcasting news, Digiculture will be a weekly show from now on, and there’s also good news for fans of An tImeall: the award-winning Irish language podcast returns tomorrow.

Plassey Panorama Brings Limerick University Campus to Life

Brendan Bolger and I have been keeping in touch for about a year and a half, sharing our interest in podcasting and social media in general. When I met him last week at Limerick OpenCoffee he told me about one of his latest projects, a Google Map of the University Campus in Limerick, with embedded YouTube videos displaying panoramas at different locations.

Every year, thousands of students go to College for the first time. I remember repeatedly getting lost in Galway (never an unpleasant experience!) during my first few days at Coláiste na hOllscoile. What a useful idea!

By the way, Brendan takes part in the next episode of Digiculture, due out later today.

Update: Some other maps by Brendan at Hidden Limerick and King’s German Legion in Ireland.

Safety in Startups

Frank Fullard points out that working for a large organisation is no longer a guarantee of job security – if indeed it ever really was. By contrast, most new jobs are being created in small businesses.

Since I left my old job in April, that company’s parent announced a global headcount reduction target of 10%. As of yet, the management of the Irish operation has not stated how they will meet this target.

I’m not saying that I am more secure in my employment now than I was in my old job. But I am in control and, as Frank points out, I’m learning the skills of entrepreneurship. Three months on, the initial success of Edgecast Media has exceeded what I had hoped for, but if for some reason it were to fail I don’t think I’d be sending my CV to MegaCorp Inc. Now that I’ve begun to develop my own resources as a business person, why would I get back in the back seat? I’m not knocking the corporate job – but I must admit that I’m pleasantly surprised at the unexpected peace of mind that comes with the knowledge that my success and my security are in my own hands.

What do I mean by this exactly? Well it’s simple. No job is safe, whether in a large multinational or in a small startup. But the non-entrepreneur who loses his job is faced with the worrying question: “Who will give me another job?” The entrepreneur, on the other hand, simply says: “Let’s try something else …”