Prosperity. Happiness Works.

The date 8 December may be traditionally synonymous in Ireland with Christmas shopping, but one thing that consumers won’t need to buy is quality reading material.

A new magazine for the tech community, available on digital platforms, is to be launched on Thursday.
Idea magazine, explains Publisher Martha Rotter, will be free and will be available online and formats such as ePub. “It’s all web standards-based so it looks great everywhere,” she says.
The magazine will provide coverage of start-ups and individuals at the cutting edge of Ireland’s tech industry. “The audience is people who are working in the tech community; we’re trying the things that would be interested primarily with them.”
Rotter, a freelance developer who formerly worked with Microsoft, had noticed a gap in the market for such a niche publication when she moved to Ireland four years ago.
The Idea magazine team includes Design Director Stewart Curry and Editor-in-Chief Niall Kitson.
Go to readidea.com to sign up for notification of the magazine’s launch – the ideas for upcoming issues are very promising!

Online advertising grew drastically in the first half of this year, while spend on other media fell, according to the latest Irish report on adspend.

The bi-annual advertising spend study from IAB Ireland and PwC found that Irish online advertising recorded its highest level of growth at 20.5% in the first half of 2011.
Online now ranks number three in total media spend, outperforming radio, outdoor, cinema and magazine.
The breakdown of online spend is as follows:
•    Display (34%)
•    Paid search advertising (45%)
•    Classified advertising (21%)
Strong growth in display has been witnessed in IAB adspend studies in the UK and across Europe as brands embrace online advertising in growing numbers.
For the first time an estimate of display adspend on mobile has been provided in the adspend study. Mobile advertising is still a relatively new platform in the digital media mix. The dramatic increase in smartphone penetration and usage has contributed to increased interest in mobile advertising. Display adspend on mobile is estimated at €1.6m in H1 2011.

Want to know about the value of the new Facebook timeline to business? You’ll need to ask someone who attends Thursday’s Internet Retailing Summit in Dublin.

One of the topics for the 9am slot is what the new Facebook timeline is about. Charles Dowd, Developer Relations, EMEA, Facebook is one of the first speakers at the summit which includes Prosperity MD, Gary Mullan and nine speakers from 9am to 4pm.
Topics covered include how to improve online conversion, future-proofing e-fulfilment, building and keeping trust, planning to succeed, how process beats price and product, SEO vs PPC, importance of brand strategy, unlocking the secrets of e-commerce.
Meteor, Retail Excellence Ireland and Happy Treads will tell their tales of e-tailing in the afternoon. The day includes two SagePay workshops and exhibitions. Sponsors of this conference from The Sunday Business Post include e-celtic, Celebros, Magico, Clipper, Retail Excellence Ireland and Prosperity. Visit http://www.internetretailing.ie/schedule/ for further details.

A customer relationship management and messaging tool for web app owners which is currently in private beta is bringing web businesses closer to their customers.

The team behind Intercom is CEO Eoghan McCabe, COO Des Traynor, CTO Ciaran Lee and David Barrett, front end developer.
“It’s for anything people log into – web apps, websites,” explains Traynor. “It’s moving to competing on quality of service.” The concept is that human level of contact can’t be left behind and this is where it differs from other CRM tools.
“It’s not enough just to see the messages from your user,” says Traynor. “It lets you get to know your users, greeting them when they log in, exposing certain things about users for example their Twitter account or LinkedIn profile… We tell you everything about them; we group the entire conversation history you have with the user.”
See intercom.io to sign up for free during private beta.

Jobseekers are using personal websites to attract potential employers, according to Michele Neylon, CEO of Irish hosting company Blacknight Solutions.

Neylon says jobseekers can use their own websites to highlight what they do well. The firm’s summer offer allows people to register a .me domain for just €5.99 a year.

“The .me domain name is perfect for a personal site. For example, if you’re a designer and you want to set up a simple portfolio website or an architect who wants to show your past work, you can use the .me domain,” says Neylon.

The .me domain name, which comes from Montenegro, gives people the opportunity to build cool concepts with their own site, says Neylon.

“By registering your own domain name you have 100 per cent control over it. You can move it around and maybe use it to create a simple, yet attractive CV at a minimal cost,” he adds.