Tag: irish_companies

social media, Technology

Paddy Valley trip – help needed

There is a contingent of Irish heading to Silicon Valley in December (2nd to 9th) to meet up and forge links with the movers and shakers in the mecca of the computer world.

The Paddy Valley Tour, as it is being called, has 17 Irish companies signed up so far. Many of those going are seeking to showcase products and to meet investors while there.

The organisers are looking for a little help:

There is a lot we need to cover so suggestions, reviews, tips and anything else is welcomed. We can’t do all of it on our own (and remain sane).
Things we need to do:

* Create shortlist of hotels to stay in that are central but also cheap.
* Create shortlist of venues for a showcase event. (A big room with connectivity and projector).
* Create shortlist of people to meet.
* Create shortlist of companies to visit both large and small.
* Create a list of potential companies.
* Cost of showcase.
* What can EI pay for or other Govt groups

If you can help with any of this leave a comment on the Paddy Valley site

Interviews, Podcast

Darren Barefoot interview podcast

I recorded an interview with Darren Barefoot at the end of last week but what with the Scoble’s visit and the IT@Cork conference, I haven’t had a chance to publish it until now.

Darren is an uber blogger, a web marketer, he is involved in Capulet Communications, Northern voice, darrenbarefoot.com, geek travellers blog – that I know of – a busy man! Darren was good enough to take some time out to discuss these and other interests with me.

Here are the questions I asked Darren and the times in the interview they were asked:

  • Darren, you are involved in Capulet Communications, Northern Voice, darrenbarefoot.com, geek travellers blog – that I know of – that must keep you quite busy… – 0:25
  • You are also involved in lighting design… – 0:56
  • Northern Voice, is that like BarCamp, just up north? – 1:45
  • Given your relationship with Ireland, could you speculate why so few Irish companies have started blogging? – 3:38
  • This whole Web 2.0 stuff, what is it? – 7:06
  • So there’s a difference between the term Web 2.0 and the reality which is the evolution of web applications…- 9:07
  • There seems to be a huge amount of hype around the term, are we heading for another bubble? – 10:22
  • Do you think Web 2.0 is changing how marketing is done these days? – 12:04
  • What about companies who are building software applications which are not Web 2.0 – how do they create a web buzz? – 16:21
  • It seems to be becoming the norm that sites are being monetized by ads – do you think we will soon see free versions of Microsoft office or Microsoft Windows? – 19:27
  • Does the fact that many of your applications are online help manage your remote clients? – 22:37
  • Finally, Mac or PC? – 24:07

You can listen to the full interview here (5.9mb mp3).

Blogging, Business blogging, Interviews, Podcast

Shel Israel podcast

The Shel Israel interview went ahead last night, as planned. Shel was great, full of warm humour, interesting insights and relevant anecdotes. below are the questions I asked him and the times in the podcast they were asked:

Shel, what is it about Ireland that appeals to you? – 1:15

You guys wrote Naked Conversations right out there in the open – as you completed each chapter of the book, you published it online – what was it like writing a book as transparently as you guys did with Naked Conversations? – 2:30

Most people have read the book now online, will they buy it? – 5:50

If you were writing another book, would you do it online? – 6:30

Given that very few Irish companies have started blogging yet, why should a company have a blog? – 7:28

What are the advantages of blogging to a business? – 8:40

What advice would you give to business bloggers to help them become become successful – 11:50

Companies can be afraid of being open in their blogs (what if our competitors are reading the blog) and are afraid of what will be said in the comments – how do you deal with these fears? – 15:11

If I am a developer, how can I see what people are saying about my application/product? – 17:55

What do you see as the benefits of Podcasts/videocasts to businesses? – 23:30

How is a podcast/videocast of use to smaller companies (smaller than Microsoft!)? – 25:25

So blogs/podcasts/videocasts are about humanising companies? – 27:50

You have recently blogged that you are going to start writing about startups – what aspect of startups most interests you? – 32:30

What challenges do startups face today that they didn’t 25 years ago? – 34:30

Brian Greene’s question:
There are 40,000 blogs updates every hour of the day. How am I to read all that? seriously hasn’t blogging just added to the textual data smog that make it easier for government to bury the truth, making facts harder to come by? 37:30

You can listen to the podcast of this discussion here.