Prosperity. Happiness Works.

Hello Prosperity Blog readers! I’m Roseanne, the newest biddie on the Prosperity block. I started with Prosperity in July and it has taken me this long to get my act together to pull together a blog post! In fact I rocked in here on my first day, demanding login details for the blog. My, they must be disappointed. However it’s not that I haven’t been thinking about it… but more on that anon.

First allow me to dispense with the formalities and introduce myself properly. I’m a long time blogger myself, blogging on my own blog since 2003: if there were prizes for longevity I would have scooped them all and that’s about the only one I’d be good for. I also have an extremely occasional podcast and until recently many people in the digital sector in Ireland had met me through my previous role as Membership manager with the IIA. Many people on Twitter etc. know me as the crocheter who cooks and bakes, all with varying levels of success. However the constant in my life since I was a teenager has been technology: ever since my eldest brother won a ZX Spectrum in a Telecom Éireann Art Competition (I know, weird prize, right?!) I’ve been hooked.

So I decided that I would write an occasional blog post for the Prosperity blog about all the shiny and interesting links that I happen upon in my virtual travels. With that in mind I have been squirreling away some of my favourite links for your reading pleasure over the last few months. So here goes [deep breath]:

• Now I know that I said this was going to be about shiny things but I’m going to kick off with a list of ugly things but this was a hot favourite when I shared it on Twitter recently: 10 Ugly SEO Tools that Actually Rock
  
• I had a big Skype chat with a group of Springboard students in UCC and during the course of the conversation suggested they read Erin Kissane’s great book “Elements of Content Strategy” It’s not a new publication but it’s a classic (and I would do well to heed my own advice and finish reading my own copy!)
• Content was a hot topic last week as Refresh Dublin focussed on the topic with CoryAnn Joseph of iQContent and Des Traynor of Intercom.io sharing their own unique perspectives on content. I would HIGHLY recommend getting yourself along to the regular Refresh events. I even managed to nab myself a lovely new t-shirt which I wore with pride at the weekend. (On the topic of content I actually am recruiting two very different content roles at the moment…)
• While I have been out and about I still have not managed to make the most of the #tweetseats from CrackBird Dublin but I couldn’t help thinking about them when I read about this clever little app from TablesReady. It’s even endorsed by the Cheers Bar in Boston no less. Nothing like a bit of celebrity architecture to make a link seem even shinier, eh?
• During an actual night out (at the Chambers Ireland Corporate Social Responsibility Awards no less!) I got to talking to my dinner companions about women in technology. The very next day, bless their memories, Michelle Daly and Pauline Sargent shared this very comprehensive list of 100 Women Bloggers you should be reading. And yes that is the sound of my Google Reader exploding!
• I’m a big Foursquare fan (yes I announced my child’s imminent arrival with a late night checkin to the Coombe…) so I love this little video that gives a really clear view of how busy 4sq is and where.
  A Week of Check-ins on the Path to One Billion from foursquare on Vimeo.
• I was interested to read on ReadWriteWeb about the acquisition of Ning, the network of social networks I always meant to check out! I think it’s mad to read about the traffic these sites receive: they get “40 million global unique visitors” to their network every month and will add that to the acquiring Glam.com’s 200 million visitors. This is an area that the IIA Social Media Working Group which I remain a member of, will be looking at during a session on International Social Media this evening over in Populis (and much thanks to them for hosting). Follow myself or the chair Eoin Kennedy on Twitter later today to catch a stream or tweets on this session.
• I love this infographic that I picked up from Rounds who are all about Facebook video chat: it’s about the evolution of long distance relationships. Technology is bringing us all closer - aaaww. Well except for the trolls… And on that note I’ll take flight until the next time the Magenta Magpie spots another shiny link!

Prosperity, which has recently opened an office in London, co-hosted a successful ‘Green Gathering’ in London with Cybercom last week.

Both companies now have a presence in London, with Prosperity Digital’s new office located in the heart of London close to Regent Street.
“The whole goal is to create a community and for somebody from the community to speak at each meetup,” says Gary Mullan of Prosperity.
The first speaker at the inaugural gathering spoke about her experiences in London. “There was a great energy and enthusiasm at the event.”
The group has been established to appeal to people in the digital marketing industry in London who are Irish and would like to network. “There was a definite need for people in digital and marketing to network because it’s a quite fragmented market over there. They wouldn’t meet each other otherwise,” he adds.
Prosperity has had a healthy amount of interest from agencies that attended the event. It will recruit for London-based roles as well as helping place UK-based candidates with in demand digital media skills who wish to move to Ireland.
The next group meetup takes place on 8 December, 2011. Find out more on Meetup.com/Green-Gathering

A new programme that allows 12 to 15 year olds develop business ideas in workshops and present them on YouTube could soon roll out across the country.

IT consultant and business owner Eamon McGrenaghan launched The Biz Factor in Leitrim this month, with 20 12- to 13-year-olds taking part.

He hopes to inspire school-goers to become entrepreneurs through the programme, which provides a combination of Apprentice-style projects, X-Factor-style judging and Dragon’s Den pitching.

Videos of presentations were posted on YouTube, and were open to the public vote.

A number of ideas emerged from the day, including one for a smart card that limits under-21s to a certain number of drinks in a night.

McGrenaghan plans to extend the programme to 15 year olds and make it an annual event in Leitrim.

“I’d like to see businesspeople contact me to do something similar in their own counties,” he adds.

Budding entrepreneurs who fear the high costs of long-term leases are getting in on the pop-up act. The concept was made popular in Ireland by Crackbird, the temporary restaurant operated by the owner of Jo’Burger.

Pop-ups are temporary spaces used by businesses for short periods. A licence contract is used, and a lease can last anywhere from one day to a year.

Joe Prendergast, co-founder, PopMeUp.ie, says the concept takes pressure off new businesses.

“Some people think they have great ideas, and by going into a pop-up unit might realise that nobody likes their product so they can move on to something else. Or what they thought was something small might turn out to be big and they can expand easily.”

Initially reluctant, landlords are warming to the concept, according to Prendergast.

PopMeUp.ie has a database of tenants and landlords, and will negotiate terms. The firm itself is recruiting a managing director.

Irish-based firm Decisions for Heroes (D4H) has launched secure document and photo storage, with internet sharing and collaboration features, to the emergency response market.

Using the latest cloud computing technology, the firm is set to roll the service out around the world, and has already tested it in seven countries
Robin Blandford, director, D4H, says it will have a hugely positive impact on rescue team efforts.
D4H already offers a web-based incident management and analytics tool to emergency responders. The new technology allows them to create historic file storage archives.
“It will allow emergency responders to take photos on the scene for evidence. They can then upload photos and files to one location and make them accessible to everyone on the response team,” says Blandford.
“It makes it easier to collaborate and share and it will also mean that it’s very easy to search for a file if you have a hearing or coroners’ hearing.”