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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!

The last Irish Internet Association (IIA) meetball of 2011 is set to take place on 14 December.
Meetball has become a regular networking event organised by the IIA. The first one was held in January this year, and received very positive feedback.

The IIA now plans to continue hosting the event into 2012.
Meetball combines demonstrations with networking opportunities. Guests can hear from a number of speakers, while IIA members can demonstrate products and services.
Ailbhe Lee, events and training manager with the IIA, said the combination of demonstrations and networking helps break the ice for many attendees.
“The meetballs are a great networking opportunity for all our members and potential members. They help put faces to the names and are a good way to meet potential customers,” she added.
The event will kick off at 6pm at the Odeon Bar on Harcourt Street, Dublin 2. Admission is free, and open to IIA members and non-members.

Social events company Have the Craic has re-launched with a newly designed website and business strategy.
The firm, which was set up in 2009, has redeveloped its website, havethecraic.com, based on customer feedback.

Elaine Walsh, managing director, said: “We initially launched the site as a social network but with big players in the market such as Facebook we needed to relook at where our strengths lie.
“We have come back to the core of what we do, which is an events company. Really we exist for people to meet in person.”
Designed by Maddog Digital, the new site includes an improved booking system for customers. It makes it easier for customers to interact with each other and the events organiser.
The firm organises everything from student to corporate events, from outdoor activities to theatre nights.
Walsh said the majority of clients are busy executives who don’t have time to organise social events.

A new digital site that aims to compete with iTunes and Netflix is set to create 80 jobs in Ireland next year.
Digital Jet plans to invest €5 million to create the jobs as it looks to take a bite of the growing digital media market.

The firm will offer a location-based entertainment network called DJ Media Stream, allowing users to stream and download a variety of media. That media will include music, movies, books, games and news apps.
The site will launch in February and March to a closed group of users. In the meantime it has launched a Facebook page.
Niall O’Neill, managing director says: “We know there is a market and it is accelerating year on year driven by the growth of the internet and mobile. Netflix generated US$2.1bn revenue in the US and Canada alone in 2010 and yet control less than 1 per cent of the market value globally”

Larry Taylor, online and social media manager for BT Ireland

Company: BT Ireland is an all-island organisation with 3,000 employees. It is at the forefront of bringing next generation networks, services and skills to Ireland (north and south)
Job description: I am the head of digital and social media-related development. I also manage the Business of Science and Technology programme, which selects 30 students from the BT Young Scientist exhibition and workshops their ideas in Nova UCD.
Likes: Learning new things whether inside work, or out. At the moment, I’m learning to play the cello, understanding the dynamics of Social Media and the capabilities of next generation networks and cloud computing.
Career ladder: I started out as a research scientist, learning how to crunch data and find conclusions. I then joined a campus company start-up in UCD, to develop e-learning software and I learned how to manage multi-disciplinary teams, to deliver new technology. Esat was just starting its home phone and (dial-up!) internet access service and I was asked on board to lead the design studio. Esat quickly evolved and blended with Ireland on Line, Oceanfree.net and finally BT Ireland.
Qualifications: I have a Science degree and a Ph.D. in genetic engineering which are pretty useful in the complex world of technology and online media. I also completed courses in graphic art and design with NCAD.
BT has great in-house management training programmes, lasting from one day, to one year and I have recently finished a BT Leadership programme.
Working hours: BT has one of the largest team of flexible workers in the world, allowing us to keep connected anywhere, any time. So my core working day is 8am to 5pm, but my smartphone is rarely off. It’s a mixed blessing, that allows you the freedom to leave the office if necessary, but means you can always be reached!
Breaktime: I try to get out and about for some fresh air every day and lunch is usually at my desk. But I have started cycling to work thanks to some very decent weather.
Social media credentials: I blog internally within BT, manage the @btinireland Tweets, BT LinkedIn groups, Facebook.com/BTYSTE content and Flickr accounts. Twitter #tags are my new friends right now.
News sources: www.mashable.com (I got to meet Ben Parr at #DWS7!), http://etre.com/blog, www.TheJournal.ie, www.Siliconrepublic.ie and ‘wins.failblog.org‘ just for fun. Plus all the usual broadsheets.
Onsite or offsite: With flexible working and smartphones, there is no ‘one site’, any more. We even use the term ‘coffice’ to describe somewhere between the office and Starbucks. To do my job, I also to broadcast live from events, meetings and sponsor activities. Time to respond is also becoming limited; with Twitter, you have about one hour to report, or respond to a live event. With Facebook, less than one day.
Digital strategy/vision: BT in the Republic of Ireland is concentrated on Business to business operations and our digital strategy reflects this. Rather than trying to establish a ’social media team’ within BT, my vision is to build a community of networked experts throughout the organisation in Ireland. My wish is to empower dozens of technical and business experts with the skills to use social media as an everyday tool, rather than as an exotic marketing device.
I love Mondays because: I am helping to shape the future of marketing and communications in BT Ireland and there is always a new project and a chance to try out new things. Right now I am pretty excited about Ellen MacArthur’s involvement with the BT Young Scientist and Technology programmes in 2012. She kicks off her work with BT on 6 December 2011, taking part in a web chat with our BT Young Scientists. See www.facebook.com/BTYSTE for more info.