I mentioned one of his BTW (Blogger, Tweet-up, Whatever) events before, and I think this s his fourth.
The idea is that us lot shouldn’t only communicate behind screens, since Ireland isn’t that big a place. So meet up and actually hold someones hand. Or at least give a real wave rather than a “*wave*”
The new BTW is going to be in the Kudos bar is the Clarion Hotel in the ISFC, Dublin on September 3rd at 7pm. That’s room for 150 people.
Once, back when I was a child, St. Patrick’s Day wasn’t that special. True it was a little reprieve from Lent (which seems to be 46 days this year if I’ve counted correctly), but not much. The parade would be a few freshly frozen marching bands (all those shivering majorettes in short skirts being gently caressed by the Irish hailstones remain a memory).
Maybe it was confidence. Maybe it was cash. But thanks to the lesser spotted Celtic Tiger, the parades got bigger, brighter and better. Its a week long festival and no longer a single day. Now the photographs are worth taking.
Which brings me to Pix.ie. They have been working with the organisers of the Irish St Patrick’s Festival on a huge photo sharing project to help document this year’s festival in photos from the perspective of those attending.
That means anyone in the country with a camera as far as I’m concerned. But they mean any of the events (or the un-events) of the popper festival.
Anyone who brings their camera to this year’s events to can contribute their photos to the official St Patrick’s Festival group so that the experience can be shared with people from all over the world.
And to bribe you / make it worth your while… there are prizes.
Three lucky winners whose photos capture the spirit of the festival. Canon have offered prizes with a total value of just under €1,800.
And it doesn’t stop there! You see the pix.ie community and the Irish Blogging community (some are still recovering the the Irish Blog Awards) at large gets some love for the parade. (Not to be confused with the “Love Parade”)
20 bloggers and photobloggers will be invited to watch the St Patrick’s Festival parade from a vetted viewing area. Each will be given an official wristband to gain access to this exclusive VIP area.
4 bloggers and photobloggers will be invited to watch the parade from the Festival Grandstand.
2 photobloggers will be invited to join the world media and take photos of the parade from the elevated position from the official open topped Media Bus which is positioned on the parade route.
2 Pixie users will chosen (subject to a security check) and given a Golden Pass which provides exclusive access to the parade route on the day. Only 12 Golden Passes will be issued this year to the international media and this is the first time photographers outside of the national and international media have been invited on into the parade route.
Which I think you’ll join me in saying “these are bloody bloody good prizes”. Then throw in the party at the Guinness Storehouse, and it may be a weekend that you need the photographs to remember.
Even without the competition, this is a great way to share your experience of the festival and let the world see Ireland at its best.
See the Pixie blog for more details and follow @stpatricksfest and @pixie on Twitter for ongoing information and news about what is going on. (Hashtag for St Patricks’s Festival is #spf09)
Well according to O’Leary’s PR spokesperson, Stephen McNamara, we are “idiot bloggers” or “lunatic bloggers”.
Not to worry, as the company starts to limit their presence to online only, and as a lot of people type the URL in to Google (rather than the address bar) the negative rail against bloggers may bite them yet. Its is all very well being the name hat most people think of when they search for cheap flights. But they search, frequently when they don’t intend to (after all, Yahoo is a top search for term in Google, and vice versa).
However they didn’t say they won’t correspond with all bloggers – nor that all bloggers are idiots. But it sure is implied.
After the Blog awards I’ve come to take the Jack Kerouac approach. If we are the insane ones… we are a lot of fun to be with.
The only people for me are the mad ones,
the ones who are mad to live,
mad to talk,
mad to be saved,
desirous of everything at the same time,
the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing,
but burn, burn, burn,
like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars…
I keep an eye on the Tuesday Push. The aim of the Tuesday Push is to get the bloggers of Ireland, usually the business bloggers or the blog of a business, to promote an other Irish company.
Those getting a push need to be offering a unique product or service, and should be taking part in the push themselves. Think of it as co-operative support. Creating a business community, one where ideas can be shared and have ideas bounce off each other freely. Or in internet terms, a meme gone sensible. Of course making the Irish technology community an actual community isn’t easy, but this helps.
That said, the key word is unique. Another template tweaked, off the shelf package generated on-line store, not for the push. I think new thinking might count, but you may have to explain what makes it innovative.
If you’re an Irish technology company that’s offering something new and have a blog (or other means to promote yourself and others), contributing to the promotional effort and putting your name forward for a Push of your own is worthwhile (just take a look at the feedback of some of those that have had a push). Or just join in, as some day you may be in the position of needing a push. By pushing now, you’re helping others, and may help yourself.
I think I need to defend myself after you “plucked me out”.
I’ll go with this one example of the Bord Gáis meetup. This wasn’t a scheme dreamt up by a PR firm, this was Bord Gáis doing it themselves. All the bloggers that attended did so out of curiosity. None of us knew what it was going in.
If we did, I suspect a different group of bloggers would have shown up.
If you want bloggers, ask bloggers who blog about your area. For the event the ideal group would be business bloggers, consumer affairs bloggers, green affairs bloggers. Oddly enough marketing and advertising bloggers would have been interested too.
Or to put it another way, would you invite a music journalist to the launch of a new cheese? (No jokes please)
I know that not everyone who attended blogged about it (yet at any rate). I know that it ended up being one of my longer posts.
From what I can tell, it was the first attempt at blogger outreach (not just their first attempt, but THE first attempt following the Collision Course).
Lots of information was freely given. It was interesting to see a “grown up” product that few would describe as “sexy” being used for outreach. Things are changing in the marketplace, bloggers may be invited to more, but that is no guarantee of a write up, let along a favourable one.
The early inviter will get the “well they invited us” posts, but if it becomes more commonplace, the “I was there” won’t be blogged. The “I’m interested in this topic, give me the info” will take over. After all, most (if not all) Irish bloggers are amateurs. They have work, school or other duties in the mornings. They can’t attend a day-time press conference (or film screening). They don’t all live in Dublin (interesting to see how many of these things will take place in Cork, Galway, Kilkenny or Limerick). And bloggers are under no real obligation. A day without posting isn’t going to cause much harm. Not the same can be said about mainstream media.
Or to use your analogy, the swarm of locusts may find the field is empty when they get there.
Of course, locust only swarm then their serotonin levels increase. That’s the happy chemical of the brain.
“Name 5 bloggers you haven’t met in the flesh before that you’d like to say hi to at the Blog Awards, say why if you want, link to them. They then, in turn, link to 5 bloggers they’d like to meet and so on.”
Now I have a problem with this. I keep meeting people.
I’ve have to re-do my list a few times as I bump in to bloggers and with the upcoming Twestival there is a chance that I might bump in to a few more.
So…
1) Robert Sweetnam. He used to live near me and I never met him all that time. It tuns out our interests and situations were also similar (even started back in (different) college on the same date).
2) K8 the GR8. Wonderful fiction writer, and all round good person (with an evil streak, naturally). Her posts swerve from laugh out loud funny, to heart break to cruel twists of fate. And she also writes fiction. Having said that, I’m regularly freaked by her dad, Granddad, who I may want to avoid.
3 and 4) Le Craic and Maxi Cane. LC, because he comes up with brilliant ideas that I would like to see succeed, and Maxi as he got me writing fiction again (got to love a deadline).
And finally, 5) Sweary, or rather the Sweary Lady. Cause she makes me laugh, then makes me think. She is the Darwin Awards of blogs.
I should end here, but there are a few special mentions…
Omani – Partly to apologise (until he commented I thought his name was Grace O’Mani).
GrahamLinehan simply because I like the IT Crown and Fr. Ted. And also because I don’t expect to see him.
And lastly but not leastly (if that is a word) DebbieMetrustry, one of the organisers of the Dublin Twestival who I am definitely going to meet, because I owe her money and I can’t get in to the Twestival until I pay her.
Some of you may notice that I’ve linked to blog posts an not to their blog front page. Well, if they have automated trackbacks, they’ll notice that I want to meet them. Its a touch more subtle than asking directly. Or is that my devious streak showing itself again.
take care,
and see some of you tonight,
Will Knott
Tomorrow I’m heading in to a Collision Course between PR and marketing people and bloggers. I have the odd feeling that this will be the first time that some people in the PR world meet a real live blogger. Now some people thing that this is going to be a fight. Personally I think its going to be a repetition of common sense.
The event is being organised by Damien Mulley, a blogger turning in to game maker. After all, he’s giving away his marketing advice. All of it sensible, none of it shocking. Except for the shock of the “new”. It’s not rocket sience, its people.
You do know how to talk to people, right?
Sometimes I wonder. I’m interested in listening to the PR and marketing folk (know your enemy and all that). I’ve learned that badly done cold pitching is frequently badly done. E-mailing out all the information with a “oh, this is embargoed” tag at the end. Blindly following the “tags” in the contact database, rather than making their own in a targeted area (blame the list makers if you will).
PR and marketing is changing. Social media (and I’ll include blogging in this pile) is about conversation. Two way communication. Think about a journalist forming contacts in particular areas. A go-to gal on tech issues. An agony uncle on relationship issues. Making contacts who can help. Thats where PR is heading. Its going to be hard work, but bloggers aren’t scary most bloggers aren’t scary.
That first Christmas morning I stood brightly under the tree on my wheels. Shining not as brightly as the tree lights, but proudly and brightly. The sounds of food being turned in to a breakfast are made beyond the door. Things are calm.
Then there is a thump. Followed by more thumps as a child scrambles down the stairs and the noise gets louder as nearer. Then a small round child appears. I see a face spread in to a broad grin. Within seconds I am sat on as bare feet find pedals and start to cycle me around the room.
But only start. Stabilisers aren’t really made for rooms with furniture.
Annoyed the round one shuffles off after being cajoled in to the room with the food sounds. Then more thumping and a fully dressed child appears and pulls me towards the door. Fortunately saner hands help carry me to the safety of the outdoors and tarmac. Then what becomes a ritual begins. Using black marker, the child’s name is written on my crossbar. Ownership.
Soon a child and bicycle are speeding down the road. The child’s first taste of freedom.
Over the years, miles are travelled. I’ve been dumped outside shops, fields, ditches. I’ve had labels stuck to me, but always removed, ice cream dripped on me and caked in many different kinds of mud. Scratches, dents and repairs.
But a child’s bike, while built to handle the toughest of roads, has one flaw; the child grows.
I’ve been passed on to siblings, cousins and neighbours. I’ve travelled around Ireland to different families. And each new excited child has crossed out the former owners name and had their own written on my crossbar. My once bright yellow frames is now stripped with the names and memories of many.
I’ve crossed seas. A little girl came from Belarus and I returned with her. I’ve been passed on since then.
Many hands.
Many feet.
Many first flights for this bumblebee. Many first tastes of freedom.
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