Is Ireland in need of an Industry representative
October 31, 2007 //
I’ve been wondering for sometime, if Ireland is in need of a non-profit professional body or Industry association to represent agencies, freelancers and students who specialise in the Interactive Industry.
Such a body or association would
- Act as a unified voice within Industry
- Combat skills shortages by building better relationships with academy to help it better understand what the Industry requires of graduates
- Help clients better understand what’s required of them, so members could provide pitches which better reflect their suitability for a particular project
- Educate and encourage clients about the importance of standards
- Provide clients with a real opportunity to compare apples with apples - whether that’s a big agency going up against a freelance developer
- Provide Industry with a central source of information and statistics to measure growth and future potential
- Provide students with an opportunity to showcase themselves in front of agencies and clients thereby reducing the need to look outside of Ireland or use expensive employment agencies
- Act as a unified voice to lobby government on policies and legislation
- Host annual awards
- There’s lots more but I don’t have the time to list everything here.
I was inspired to write this post after taking part in a lengthy thread (which is still ongoing) on Eoghan McCabe’s blog. In short, Eoghan questioned the authenticity of the Spider Awards based on the companies short listed and the judging criterion used to hand out awards.
Please note that I don’t think Eoghan’s post title does it justice as he doesn’t actually care about not being nominated. Please look beyond that if you decide to read his post.
I don’t wish to discuss the content of the thread here as it’s best left on Eoghan’s blog. In one of my comments I explained that I Chair the British Interactive Media Association (BIMA), which represents the above and much more. The BIMA Awards are arguably the most prestigious awards dedicated to the creatives in the Interactive Industry. I went on to explain that although the awards make a profit, all of the money that BIMA makes from membership and events, is pumped back into the association. That is, it’s reinvested in Industry initiatives to help ensure the UK remains as the center of excellence for creativity worldwide.
One of the other commentators’ response to my comment was
@Paul Walsh - That sounds like an honorable and altruistic venture. We could do with something similar here.
So that got me thinking again. I’ve been given the green light to setup the Chapter for the Usability Professional Association (UPA) for Ireland and I came close to setting up IAB Ireland. I still intend on setting up UPA Ireland when I can find 5 minutes to breath. However, does the Industry need something a little smaller than BIMA but a little bigger than the UPA?
Do you think Ireland would benefit from a professional body or association to represent agencies, freelancers and students where each member has an equal voice and together they are unified?
What do you think?
ian hayward says 
cheryl says 
BankCardUSA says 
Stephanie says 
In a word: YES. I wish I had time right now to go through all the reasons, but from the envy I feel for, and the draw that London has … yes, yes yes yes yes.
October 31st, 2007
If there’s enough support Paul and I can build a small team of well connected/smart people in Ireland, I’ll happily set it up. That is of course, when Segala has launched a few things.
I would need a legal partner to help draw up all the paperwork as that’s the most time consuming bit to begin with. A few sponsors such as Microsoft and Google would be good too.
October 31st, 2007
I’m excited!
October 31st, 2007
Sounds like a brilliant and well needed idea. Teach a man to fish… I’d say if something was started it could really take off.
October 31st, 2007
Long over due
October 31st, 2007
You should see if http://www.digitalmediaforum.net/ meets your needs.
October 31st, 2007
Joe - it doesn’t address the gap to which I refer. However, I’d see such an association/body working with the likes of the Digital Media Forum if it provides ample services. Collaboration is key, thanks for the tip.
October 31st, 2007
Just saw your Tweet on this (BTW - shouldn’t we have a more butch term than ‘tweet’?).
As a freelance creative professional myself I’m greatly in favour. Would your proposed association include those of us in Northern Ireland?
October 31st, 2007
I’m amazed at how the Webby Awards own website is a pile of crap, bad usability, lousy design, difficult navigation. Yet this is supposed to “honor” the “best” websites in a wide variety of industries. It will never win any design awards.
So make sure your BIMA site incorporates your best thinking on all aspects of web design, accessibility, usability, content value. Consider linking to other relevant sites.
I applaud this effort of yours. It’s so important to respect and publicize good work in the digital media, and it’s fun to see little freelancers beat the big guys.
http://twitter.com/vaspers
October 31st, 2007
@Davy - tweet is a little girlie isn’t it. Oh how non-PC was that! Northern Ireland? Very good question. I guess the answer should be yes. With industry type stuff you fall between a rock and a hard place. Irish legislation doesn’t apply, yet associations in the UK don’t really support Northern Ireland.
@vaspers - I don’t really want to get into a conversation about the Spider Awards Web site as it would be unfair and could detract from this particular thread. The BIMA Web site does incorporate best practices. It complies with W3C Double-A standards with a few guidelines in Triple-A. However, I’m sure we need to go over it again! Check it out http://bima.co.uk
Segala independently tested the site as well as help the agency better understand accessibility. The problem is that we don’t have anyone checking the site when changes are made. Perhaps we’ll get someone to volunteer this time.
October 31st, 2007
I’m giving up on this industry. I’m off to become a fireman. Chicks will dig me and I get to play with a big hose and a bright red truck. Tell me THAT’S not better than Web design.
November 1st, 2007
@Ken, my uncle is the Station Officer in Wexford. His name is Bernard Gavin - give him a shout and tell him I sent you.
My connections never stop working
November 1st, 2007
Paul,
Drop me an email if you feel it’s appropriate, Fred
November 2nd, 2007
@Fred - love it, will be in touch. Thanks.
November 2nd, 2007
Yes!
But the largest problem it will face is to get the members to adhere to the standards the association sets. And then to keep the members when they find the high standards ‘restricting’.
Ivan | http://www.JobsBlog.ie
January 17th, 2008
Personally, I see the biggest threat as being the mismanagement of such an organisation.
If it were run completely for altruistic reasons and the organisers/board didn’t try to use it as a vehicle to promote their own business interests or get lots of publicity, then I’d be all for it. However, if this were to be set up in order to drive business towards Segala or any other company under the guise of representing me and my peers in a professional capacity then, I have to say, I’d be very much against it.
I don’t think that anyone should benefit from something like this other than the hard working people on the ground and the clients who solicit their services. In fact, I think such an organisation should be owned by it’s members in order to completely alleviate bias, abuse or vested interest.
I’m also a little concerned about the fact that clients, journalists, business people, etc. seem to be getting courted but there’s a notable lack of mention of production staff (designers, developers, etc) which is what a body like this should be all about. Or have I gotten things completely wrong?
January 17th, 2008