Damien Mulley

Gareth Stack. (New to me but been around a while.)

Red Mum.

Damien Blake. First Irish politician to waste time Twittering!

John Breslin.

Ina O’Murchú.

Karen Walsh.

And of course I’m here.

This will only become really big when Blogorrah start using it to send gossip. 🙂

Charity Trad gig on March 14th in Cork.

PR via Ning

Via Joseph Johnson, Cute Baby Polar Bear:

Herman Dune ‘I Wish That I Could See You Soon’

More Twitter users:

Neil Dorgan

Justin Macarthy

John M. Ryan

Hopefully things will get back to normal now with the Blog Awards out of the way though I am away all today and tomorrow on training courses. Automated blog posts are on.

Via Coolhunting is FatFingers.com which allows you to monitor auction sites like eBay for misspelled auction terms. Handy for picking up some bargains.

A gummi bear Chandelier. Nice.

The new Battlestar Galactica really gives a damn about their fans and treats them really well. A great marketing idea, they do weekly podcasts talking about the behind-the-scenes stuff on the show and now they’ve released raw materials so fans can make their own fan short films using Battlestar footage and sound clips. Great idea.

Always been a big fan of the theatrical style fashion shows Alexander McQueen puts on. This week he had some off video show combined with models walking down a runway that had a giant pentagram painted on it.

Here’s a Kate Moss hologram from one of his shows in 2006:

The robots painting the model back in ’99

Alexander McQueen and Bjork.

Freshly uploaded PD video:

I see from Paul McAuliffe’s (PD Candidate for Finglas) YouTube account there’s a good number of other videos too, all uploaded in the past week. The above video was done by a crowd called Cutting Edge Productions. I like it as it is not over-produced though I wouldn’t have had it shot with Harney talking to the audience over a desk. Still, well done for NOT having her sit at some big plush Minister’s desk.

However Rabitte’s video is just a little better because Pat seems a little more relaxed and comfortable with talking to the audience and there’s no desk. Another good start though and I’d personally watch more videos from Mary Harney, I’m not sure what it is but when I hear her talk and explain things I think she is quite genuine and she’s been doing more to fix the crock health system than many Ministers that went before her.

According to my stats, I have over 500 people subscribed to this blog. I greatly appreciate that. If I am not already linking to your blog then please let me know and I’ll link to you. Naturally I wouldn’t mind a link back but no hassle if you don’t want to.

Instead of just adding a link, I’ll also do a 2 sentence review of your blog too. (I know I know, you must feel so loved) Kind of like the New Blogs on the Blog bits I do over on the Awards website. If you’re already on my link list, awww, you miss out. For now. 🙂

Got this into one of my mail accounts:

The ICT Excellence Awards sponsored by Lenovo is now a firmly established landmark in our industry’s calendar – but are you involved?

Currently in its sixth year, it is Ireland’s most prestigious and respected awards competition in the sector with over 600 attending last year’s event.

Winning an award provides a sales edge and a real competitive advantage, gives your team a boost, generates some great PR and adds weight to your sales and marketing collateral.

Sponsorship of some awards is still available which includes:
Titled award sponsorship
Branded table of ten at the Gala Dinner
Branding onscreen during the award presentation.
Branding on the framed award certificate
Branding on the table menus
Branding on the show website www.ictexcellenceawards.ie
Presentation of the award to the winner on stage
Photo opportunity with the award winner
Promotion in ComputerScope, Irish Computer & Smart Company pre and post-show.
Fee: €4,800

Tickets @200 + VAT. Seems you can book tables of 10 with the application form.

So, a cat sponsorship is €2800 since you get a table which would normally cost €2000.

The best bit:

We hope you can join us and our MC Marty Whelan

In fairness, sponsors get a lot more from the above awards than the Blog Awards but I’m proud that there is no overall sponsor, that the name is clean in all promotional material and that sponsors do not present winners with the prizes on the stage itself. I’d hope the blog awards as much as possible will stay less commercial than other awards show. People keep suggesting making it a blacktie event next year too but I’d prefer to make the dress code as liberal as possible so nobody is put under pressure to wear a monkey suit. I do hope we have more people like the three mafia lads representing Bock the Robber,

And unlike other awards, it does seem like you can nominate anyone to enter this. With Twenty winning blog awards and Netvisonaries, I think we should nominate him for this too. His IT is indeed excellent.

More here: www.ictexcellenceawards.ie

Since I started writing for the Sunday Tribune a few weeks ago I’ve been getting almost daily solicitations from PR and Marketing companies wanting me to try out their client’s new doodahs or inviting me along to the AGMs of chemical companies and stuff totally not related to what I write about. One crowd even decided without permission to pencil me in for a conference call to chat about their product.

So, just a few things to consider before contacting me to let me know of your product/client and hey I appreciate you contacting me at the address supplied on the Tribune articles, if they don’t interest me, I can delete them, so this isn’t me saying get lost:

• 1) If I do write about PinkWidgets one week, emailing me and telling me I never wrote about your PinkWidgets is fair enough. Expecting me to then write about them the next week won’t happen. Pitch me something new.
• 2) My name is spelled DamiEn not DamiAn. I don’t mind people getting it wrong, happens all the time but writing insincere best buddy friendly emails trying to pimp your client and calling me DamiAn when the top of my column has DamiEn will make me think a little less of your ability to research your market. I never said I wasn’t precious.
• 3) I am very easily influenced. I will write about stuff if you bring it to my attention. That’s why I wrote about BarCamp, SEO Marketing, Pat Phelan’s AllFreeCalls, Twitter and that’s why I have quoted Eoin O’Dell, TJ McIntyre, Richard Hearne, Ed Byrne, Joe Drumgoole and lots more. But are you seeing a pattern? I’m influenced by them because I subscribe to them or I subscribe to people who mention them. They are not an inner-circle but they are some kind of circle and some kind of community I am involved in. Familiar strangers is a term I use a lot and that’s what they are.

  I’m lucky with the brief I have and can write about stuff I want to write about and that interests me and I find I write more naturally (not necessarily better) when I write about familiar things and familiar people. So yeah, make it on to my bloglines, or get picked up on IrishBlogs.ie and you’ll have a greater chance of getting my attention.

• 4) I’m based in Cork. I work by day as a technical writer. Yes, let’s get a coffee, what time does your train arrive at?
• 5) I write my articles for my mum. She’s being all proud and mother-like by saving everything I write. She’ll tell me if she can understand what I was writing or not. If she can’t, I try and make it simpler and make her go “Ahh yeah”. The one on crowd-sourcing is her favourite so far. Please understand this fact if you want to give out that I didn’t go in depth about the technology. I welcome your criticism but now you can see where I am coming from.
• 6) Press releases don’t work on me. Send me a link to a YouTube video of what you do.
• 7) I have to end lists with odd numbers. They just look better to me. You don’t have to do the same.

These are my Twitter feeds via Google Reader. Just imported James’ Twitter OPML file and added some new Twitter links of other Irish people I know. Viewing them via that Grazr Widget is painful. I prefer this method, til I come up with something a little better.

I expected Google Reader to be better with all the hype. The scroll, refresh, scroll, refresh, scroll refresh is beyond annoying. It’s nasty UI design. Is there a way of fixing it? The tagging/labeling is also still shit. Really surpised people like this over bloglines.

Holy crapola but the number of Irish folks joining Twitter is really taking off. I have a piece in the Tribune this weekend talking about it too. Anyways, hello to some of the New Twits on the block:

Award winning Gavin Mullan
Mr. Dogg.ie – Brian White
Paul M. Watson

and more:
Joseph Johnson
Justin Mason

EDIT, and more again:
David Cochrane
Stephen Spillane