I’m going to SXSW

After missing last year, and everyone waxing lyrical about how it “completely changed their lives”, I decided I had to find out for myself why SXSWi is supposed to be top dog.
So, I’m coming, and I’m really bloody looking forward to it.
2008 for me was a disappointing one in terms of events. I really enjoyed [...]

My Dad has a website!

A few weekends ago I introduced my Dad to the glories of Wordpress, and he now has his own site.
Check it out – he’s spent years developing his own casting techniques which lead to some pretty interesting works.
I’d love to say he’ll be on Twitter soon but don’t hold your breath.
And, if you are an [...]

How I learn

Photo by Sara
I never got on with formal education. The day I finished my last university exam was one of the happiest of my life.
I’d become so bored by my course that I taught myself how to build websites in the evenings.  Within a few months I was getting paid for it. My first ever [...]

Hmm, hold on a minute. Is that REALLY an idea?

From Ed Mitchell’s excellent post The Five Golden Rules for multi-platform development
Just do one thing for me. Please. If you ever write down an idea – ask yourself one thing:
“Is this really an idea or is it a technology in a false moustache?”

I’ve recently seen all of these ideas written down (by very smart people) [...]

Using art, music and film to discover unmet needs

Ethical trade consultants Impactt are now using creative approaches to help former victims of child labour.
“We sometimes use art and singing to encourage former child workers to dream about a better future not involving factory work. By getting them to visualise their dreams,we can encourage them to stick with school to reach these objectives.”
I love [...]

Social Innovation Camp this weekend

If you’re interested in digital public services, check out some of the winning ideas for The Social Innovation Camp – all being developed into fully working prototypes this weekend.
I’ve been impressed with some of the ideas – my favourites are:
Vegsy
To bring together people who grow food in their home, allotment, small holding or farm with [...]

Links for December 2nd through December 4th

These are my links for December 2nd through December 4th:

For the first time, jeans to be made in North Korea | Springwise: your daily fix of new business ideas – Wow – the first clothing factory opens up in NK – wonder what the labour standards issues would be in a place like that?
Gisby: SEO [...]

Word of the day: Elasmobranchii

“Elasmobranchii is the subclass of cartilaginous fish that includes skates, rays (batoidea), and sharks (selachii).” (Wikipedia)
What a word! First person to get it into a conversation with me in the next week wins a fiver.

Get me while I’m hot!

Looks like my next big job’s been delayed until early next year, so I have some time free between now and then to get my teeth into some new projects.
Do let me know if you’re interested in working together on anything digital – my fortes are digital production, concept development, user experience design, and I’m [...]

A Network of 700 Social Reporters

I’m very much liking David Wilcox’s newly coined phrase “Social Reporter”.

(Description by Paul Henderson).
I did some social media work with arts and community organisations last year and came to realise this is exactly what they need. And building social media skills and capacity within these organisations is much harder than it sounds. Not least because [...]