Paul Walsh, the Irish Opportunist

I’m going to deliver a presentation on how Content Labels (AKA POWDER) will enable more trust on the Web. I’ll have with me, a tin of Heinze Baked Beans to help me demonstrate how Content Labels help consumers make better informed decisions about the suitability of products before making a purchase.

Read my Segala blog to learn more.

I’ve got two conference tickets to give away for a startup event in Brussels on March 19th 2008 call Plugg. If you haven’t been to Brussels before, it’s worth heading over to the conference if only to see this fantastic city. Although I wouldn’t go for the city alone, I’d got for the amazing networking opportunity to be had at this type of event.

Discover Europe’s hottest young internet start-ups and get inspired by some of the most compelling visionaries out there in just one day!

The Plugg conference is an excellent opportunity for you to get up to speed on the state of the European Web 2.0 industry. Register now for this extraordinary event - you can still enjoy the early-bird reduction fee!

I wish Robin Wauters the very best with this event. Robin used to work for Blognation before it was finally brought to a close through the unfortunate battle of the blogs late last year.

I’ll keep this simple. Leave a comment and I’ll pick two names out of a hat live on Qik on February 6th (around lunchtime in the UK).

A debate has started on Vodafone’s BetaVine. If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you’ll know that Vodafone provided me with exclusive rights to seed interest in the wider industry to help launch the Portal, after providing advice prior to its launch. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to find the time to continue commentating about it. Anyway, it’s doing exactly what I had hoped. It’s stimulating and supporting conversation within the industry. In this instance, it’s a heated debate which is likely to raise more awareness for the Portal if nothing else.

Luca Passani is the culprit (I mean that in the nicest possible way) responsible for starting the debate. If there’s one thing he’s good at, it’s starting a debate. Unfortunately he doesn’t know how to agree to disagree, or even respect the fact that he can sometimes be wrong.

My intention here is not to discuss the debate itself but instead, get people to use the right terminology. Ok, so my post about the correct spelling of Web site was a bit of a joke, but knowing the difference between WAP and the mobile Web is not, as it impacts end users for the worse.

It was a TechCrunch post that inspired me to write this note. I was about to post a comment but quickly realised that my message is important (and long) enough to warrant it’s own post. I’ve written about this previously where Luca has commented along with Google, Microsoft, .mobi, Opera and others. See here and here.

In my opinion, Luca has absolutely no interest in seeing the Web as we know it on the desktop, come to mobile phones. He is in favour of WAP and is an expert on the subject. WAP is not the mobile Web though, they are two entirely different technologies and he doesn’t have an appreciation for Web trends.

• WAP = sites built only for mobile phones
• Web = sites which should work on any device

WAP browsers and Web browsers look the same but what they display is completely different. One generates revenue for Operators and Content Providers and the other provides end users the ability to search and browse the Web. That’s why most end users don’t know the difference between a WAP site and a Web site. However, it’s not good enough to assume that they don’t care. It’s also wrong to assume they don’t want a choice.

In more detail
WAP sites are sites which have been built specifically to work on mobile phones. They do not work on desktop computers. This means if you come across a WAP site on your phone and wish to email the URL to a friend so they can see it at home, they can’t unless they’re using a mobile.

I used to own an LG Chocolate phone to demonstrate this point when giving presentations at conferences. I’d ask someone for the URL of their company Web site and then explain that it was impossible for me to view it on my new cool phone because it didn’t have a Web browser capable of displaying it.

Not all mobiles have browsers capable of displaying Web sites. Some phones come with a Web browser but it’s sometimes removed or hidden down the menu system by the Operator (not the manufacturer). Operators have always been extremely keen to keep it this way as they make money from WAP through revenue share deals with content providers.

It’s also worth mentioning that the Content Providers to which Luca and TechCrunch refer, are not likely to want users to access the Web (as invented by Tim Berners-Lee and harmonized by the W3C), as you do on a desktop computer. Otherwise they’ll stop making money through their commercial agreements with Operators. This means end users get whatever WAP sites Operators believe will generate the most revenue. This is not in the best interest of end users today.

It made sense to only offer WAP sites when mobiles were unable to display Web sites. It also makes sense to continue building WAP sites while mobile devices continue to improve, standards are adopted, prices come down, speeds improve and developers build Web sites so they work better on mobile devices.

In my opinion, we’re almost there. You only have to look at the recent launch of the iPhone to see what’s possible. It won’t be long before this capability is more widespread across more devices and the above points are addressed. As I keep saying, I’ve heard all the same arguments whilst at AOL in the mid 90’s. People use to say that online marketing would never take off because the Web was too slow, yada yada yada. The same type of people used to say that TV would never take off because it was so much smaller than the cinema screen.

End users do care about the difference between the two, or at least they would if told they were restricted to what the Operator wants them to see. Mobile stake holders make too many assumptions about what users want. That’s why the industry is so crap at getting it right.

So, can you see the difference between the two? If you had a mobile which stopped you from accessing the Web, would you care? Would you be happy to only view the WAP sites that your Operator forces upon you?

Please stop referring to WAP as mobile Web, it’s not. Just call it WAP.

From a customer point of view, you buy a mobile so you can surf the Web as you do from your desktop computer. Would you be happy to learn that you’re only able to use iMode, Live or other WAP sites?

Apologies for not posting as often as I should. I’ve been too busy drinking Champaign, attending networking events and going to parties. Naturally, I’ve also been striking up compelling partnerships with companies who will soon help Segala in its mission to scale and gain mass adoption for Web accessibility standards compliance and Content Labels in general.

The purpose of this post is to tell you what I’ve been up to over the past couple of months whilst name-dropping to highlight the people I think are cool and worth knowing. If you’re a partner or friend, it’s very likely that I’ve already introduced you to at least one of the people mentioned. Hopefully I’ll also give a little insight to my 48 hour day which enables me to run Segala, Chair the UK’s interactive trade association (BIMA), advise a few internet companies in the UK, mentor the CEO of one of Hong Kong’s top 5 mobile games companies, and present at various conferences and seminars.

From left to right.
1) Me and Oli Barrett
2) Hugo Greenhalgh, me and Michael Smith
3) Simon Woodruffe, me, Sabina Ali, Michale Smith and Anna Melville-James
4) Me with a group of people at a recent a Creative Out event supported by BIMA

There are lots more photos but you’ll have to do a search on Flickr to see the ones which don’t place me in compromising positions. Ok, so I looked a bit pissed in the second last one above. I wasn’t going to include it as it almost puts me in a compromising position but hey, if you can’t show that you’re human and able to enjoy yourself then what’s the point of it all?!

I had dinner recently with Robert Loch and Paul Birch. Paul asked if I did any work or if I was just very good at giving off the perception that I didn’t. The answer is yes on both accounts. What’s the point in doing all this work if you can’t have some fun at the same time?! That said, I’m finished my quest in getting Segala to the top of the mountain. That is, we can now demonstrate the company’s full potential to venture capitalists (VCs) without giving away internal organs as part of the deal. I’ll publish more information about our system that automatically generates Content Labels soon.

Presentations and Keynote Talks

I present at events regularly. I’d like to share with you, some of the most recent ones as they’re relevant to the content on this blog. Initially I was going to cover everything here but have decided instead, to write a post for each of my presentations in case you’d like to commentate on something specific without it being lost in a sea of information.

Parties and Champagne tasting

Well, what can I say, it’s the second Web boom and I want to ensure I’m in the middle, celebrating it as it happens, with a laptop in one hand and a glass of bubbly in the other. Note that I didn’t say ‘Internet bubble’; that would conjure up negative connotations based on the bubble burst which happened a few years ago. I don’t see anything about to burst as startups nowadays need very little money to get off the ground, they can deliver products and services more easily by collaborating with likeminded people/companies and it’s much cheaper than ever before, to market and sell via the Web.

It does make me wonder though, when an Enterprise Ireland consultant who’s being paid by the tax payer to evaluate Segala’s business model, says to me, “… but Paul, I honestly can’t see how you can possibly sell over the Internet without the need for loads of sales people knocking on doors…” This was about 2 hours into an extremely frustrating meeting so my only response was “I think it’s time for you to leave my office as you’re wasting my time and I’m wasting yours”. Hopefully Einstein is back to his day job, rounding up sheep in a field on a remote island off the west coast of Ireland, where he can’t damage less experienced opportunists.

Anyway back to the positive stuff; the parties have been and continue to be, brilliant – as seen on Channel 4 news recently! The report also covers OpenCoffee London. If you’re an entrepreneur, investor, journalist or simply interested in networking with smart business people looking for collaborators and partners, then ensure to get your ass down to an OpenCoffee meeting! OpenCoffee meetings are taking the world by storm thanks to Saul Klein from Index Ventures. Click on the image to see the actual report.

The party featured in the report was attended by likeminded folk, such as

Michael Smith, Firebox.com co-founder, Mindcandy Founder, Second Chance Tuesday co-foundder (busy chap!)
Judith Clegg, Second Chance Tuesday Founder
Robert Loch, Internet People
Paul Birch, Bebo co-founder, Cominded Founder
Jim Lawn, POLCAT co-founder
Bronwyn Kunhardt, POLCAT co-founder
Chris Mooney, FHM International Editor
Scott Rutherford, Cominded Shareholder
Hugo Greenhalgh, Sharp Edge Editor
Farzad Jamal, MIVA Commercial Director
Oli Barrett, Rainmaker , Shareholder
Ben Way, Rainmaker, Founder
Ryan Carson, CARSONSYSTEMS Founder (FOWA, FOWD etc.)
Simon Woodruff (one of the original Dragons from BBC’s Dragon’s Den)
Jasmine Birtles, Moneymagpye founder
Tom Boardman, Firebox.com co-founder
Mike Fletcher, RSVP Editor
Richard Moross, Moo.com Founder
and many more equally cool personalities who I haven’t mentioned by name.

Networking events I’ve attended

Where do I start?! First on the list is Rob Loch’s regular gatherings of smart and creative individuals. These events are a mix of intimate dinners and informal piss-ups where people just talk and possibly follow up on drunken conversations about collaboration and partnerships the morning after. This is how Segala has sealed many of its compelling partnerships; starting with a mutual belief that alcohol and hot tubs is the basis upon which all deals should be made.

Then there are the BIMA events. For those of you not familiar with BIMA, it stands for the British Interactive Media Association. It’s the longest established trade association for the Interactive industry (est. 1985), with a bias towards the creative type. I’m Chair for the second year and am (thankfully) supported by 13 strong executives.

I try to go to as many BIMA events as possible, so I can been seen as ‘eating my own dog food’. It’s important to attend your own events, if only to demonstrate that you believe in them (which I do wholeheartedly!!). BIMA and Internet People are joining forces to run a new regular event (more information soon). BIMA’s events include intimate dinners which are always oversubscribed, dialogs and soon, ‘Breakfast Bites’ at the Ivy. I’m sure to get a kicking from my networking events Chair; Julie Lane as the venue has yet to be agreed internally. I’m hoping they’ll come around to choosing the Ivy when they see it in writing and everyone comments that it’s a great idea
I’ve also had the pleasure of hooking up with the likes of Steve Clayton , David Rowe and Claire O’Hallaron from Microsoft recently.

There are plenty more networking events to mention but I think I’ve covered enough for one post. In future I’ll write about upcoming events as they happen.

A few of us Irish folk based in the UK received a little coverage in the Sunday Tribune yesterday. Actually, it was quite a spread. I’m particularly proud of this feature as the Tribune is a very respectable paper amongst the business community. The ‘5 marketing elite (their words, not mine!) include

• Lorraine Twohill, Head of Google, EMEA
• Rory Godson, Partner and Co-founder, Powerscourt Media
• Kevin Brown, Head of Engagement Planning, Bartle Bogle Hegarty
• Paul Walsh, CEO and Co-founder, Segala (me!)
• Dee Forbes, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Turner Broadcasting System, UK and Ireland

So, for the sake of promoting a great article about 4 professionals and me, I’ve published the entire piece here. The original article can be found on the Sunday Tribune Web site.

As the Tribune put it

Irish scale the heights of UK adland

When Lorraine Twohill arrived in London in 1999 to head marketing for the internet travel company, Dreamticket. com, she intended to stay for two years. The Carlow native was keen to get on the dotcom bandwagon and was prepared to leave her job in the Netherlands to do so.

London at the time was the epicentre of European internet activity and so I had to go there, ” she says.

Fast forward six years and Twohill is still in London, but now as director of European marketing for internet giant Google. She is one of a new generation of influential Irishborn marketers scaling the heights of London’s cut-throat advertising, PR and internet scenes. While much has been made of how the Irish dominate the London property sector and ‘own’ Bond Street, it seems marketers hailing from these shores are cutting it in Soho’s adland too.

Chances are that Lorraine Twohill will have come across her compatriot, Kevin Brown, a director of Google’s ad agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty.

The name Rory Godson is on many lips too, as the Dublinborn former deputy editor of the Sunday Tribune develops a power base in the Square Mile as a financial PR guru.

Meanwhile, Britain’s internet trade association, BIMA, is chaired by another Dubliner, Paul Walsh, whose day job involves running web accessibility and mobile testing company Segala.

[Minor corrections. BIMA actually standards for British Interactive Media Assocation. I'd be proud to be a Dubliner if I was from Dublin, but I am in fact, very proud to be a Wexford man.]

And these are just the highprofile players. The Ireland Fund of Great Britain, the fundraising charity that doubles as a business and social network for Irish professionals in London, says it has “at least 200″ Irish marketing directors and managers on its database of donors and event-goers.

They are drawn to a city that Godson describes as “one of the two great international cities in the world” and the opportunities it provides.

Many blue-chip companies have their headquarters in London, where marketing strategy is set and then executed by ad agencies based in Soho or Farringdon.

So why have these bright marketers eschewed the booming Irish economy while members of other professions - notably lawyers and accountants - have returned from London in droves?

The fact is that while it’s not exactly a marketing backwater, Dublin’s smaller scene cannot hope to compete with London’s scale and creative opportunities. The marketing strategies of multinational companies tend to be generated at headquarter level, in offices based usually in the larger markets of the US, Britain and Europe. They attract the best marketing talent including, it seems, some of Ireland’s finest.

Heavy-hitting marketers are not motivated by localising global marketing plans but rather by the extent of their influence over brand strategy and a large marketing budget at their disposal, says Samus Farrelly, commercial director of headhunters HRM Recruitment Group.

“It’s not that such jobs don’t exist here in Ireland but there aren’t as many opportunities, and when they do come up, they are heavily sought-after, ” he says.

While technology makes business increasingly borderless, proximity to London’s ad agencies and culture is vital for British-based marketers. Powerscourt Media, the financial PR company co founded by Rory Godson, delivers media nous to both Irish and international brands and gets them coverage in the financial press. To achieve that, Godson feels he must nurture his book of City contacts face-to-face.

“Every company that’s serious about international business has to tell their story in London, ” he says. “To have the relationships with the key editors here, you have to be on the ground, and by osmosis, taking in the same influences as them such as listening to the BBC in the morning.”

Powerscourt’s work advising Aer Lingus on its IPO last year could not have been done effectively from Ireland, Godson says.

For those Irish marketers arriving in Heathrow from the mid-1990s onwards, it helped that the Irish ‘brand’ had never been so highly valued.

“The Celtic Tiger didn’t just change the nation, it changed the perception of Irish people and their abilities, ” says Adrian Brady, who in 1996 founded Eulogy, which claims to be the biggest Irishowned PR agency in the UK working for such clients as Virgin Mobile and Royal Mail.

Hugh Burkitt, chief executive of The Marketing Society, attributes the success of Irish marketers in the UK to several characteristics.

“The Irish have some advantages on the British scene, ” he says. “There’s no question that the Irish verbal ability is very great. The Irish accent is classless, whereas English voices can convey status. And as we increasingly work in team situations requiring consensus, the natural conviviality of the Irish comes into play.”

Beyond this, London’s most influential Irish marketers share certain traits, not least an impressive CV and early experience of big campaigns or brands. Many are aged between 35 and 40 and have passed personal thresholds such as starting a family that make returning to Ireland more difficult.

One feature that LondonIrish marketers lack is a formal professional network, similar to that for Irish solicitors and accountants in Britain. The absence of such a forum is a missed opportunity for doing business, says Eulogy’s Adrian Brady. His PR agency is exploiting its advantage to “understand both British and Irish cultures” by helping overseas brands launch in Ireland and vice-versa. The company is currently working on Brazilian drinks brand Sagatiba’s Irish debut.

There is, of course, an informal network for Irish marketers and other professionals through events run by The Ireland Fund of Great Britain. What aspiring marketer would not want to rub shoulders with Peter Sutherland, chairman of the fund and former chairman of BP and Goldman Sachs International, at the fund’s annual London City Luncheon powerfest?

Aileen Ross, director of the fund, denies that its purpose is a business network, stressing that the primary aim is to raise money for projects to help the Irish community in Great Britain. To do so, however, the fund must encourage affluent Irish professionals to attend its parties and golf days.

“It’s become obvious that they do us to network, to meet like-minded people to do business with and socialise, ” she says.

Nearly 20 years ago, the writer Maeve Binchy observed London-based Irish professionals at play at another London Irish ball and coined the acronym Nipples (’new Irish professional paddies living in England’). Now it seems we may have to invent a new one. That’s because today’s Simpils (’successful Irish marketing people in London’) are determined to influence the destiny of the world’s biggest brands and must do so beyond these shores.

Four who’ve made it into London’s marketing elite… and me

Lorraine Twohill, Head of Marketing, Google EMEA

The lowdown:

London-based Irish marketers don’t come more powerful than Twohill, who directs Google’s marketing in Europe. She joined the search giant in 2003 from Opodo, the travel portal. Indeed Twohill, a Carlow-born polyglot educated at Dublin City University, is a serious Europhile. Before moving to the UK in 1999 as head of marketing for Dreamticket. com, she worked in Spain, Italy and The Netherlands. Twohill is a regular in the ‘Power 100′ list published annually by UK magazine Marketing and is listed in US ad bible Advertising Age’s most recent ‘40 under 40′ power ranking.

Irish nationality as a competitive advantage: “Ireland is going through a popularity phase at the moment, ” Twohill says. “They can talk about Cool Britannia, but it’s more Cool Hibernia now.” That said, Twohill notes that “there are so many nationalities in Google, and if you’re considered good, you’re good no matter where you come from”.

Reasons to stay in London: “I’m in the UK because my team is here. It’s our largest market in Europe and one of our biggest in the world. London is a centre of advertising resources and I need to be around them.” But the London-Dublin route is “like a shuttle service”. She returns to Ireland once a month.

Rory Godson, Partner and Co-Founder, Powerscourt

The lowdown:

Godson’s ascent from grubby journalism to habitué of UK plc boardrooms has been astonishing.

The Sunday Tribune hired the young Godson as a sports subeditor in late 1980s, and promoted him to deputy editor.

Stints at other Irish newspapers and a job as Irish editor of the Sunday Times followed. Poacher became gamekeeper when the world of PR beckoned. Godson joined Goldman Sachs as European director of corporate communications but, never one to let the grass grow under his feet, quit after a year to set up Powerscourt, advising such clients as Aer Lingus, Eircom and BP on their media relations.

Networking: Godson gets together with fellow London-Irish business people through the Irish charities he helps.

He describes such networking as “subconscious” but acknowledges that his agency does gain a lot of work from Irish clients. “Because we are culturally attuned to Irish sensibilities, working out what Irish clients want is easier for us. You get to the same wavelength more quickly.”

Reasons to stay in London: The key factor keeping Godson in London is business opportunity. “Our Irish clients want us to operate here and we have a rapidly developing international business too. You need to be on the ground, going to events and parties and having coffee with editors to tell your clients’ stories.” Godson doesn’t rule out moving back. “Happily we have a house in Dublin so it is relatively easy to move back and forth.”

Kevin Brown, Head of Engagement Planning, Bartle Bogle Hegarty

The lowdown:

Brown is one of London adland’s most influential media experts. It’s all a far cry from when he went to the UK aged 22 in the 1980s after completing a marketing course at the College of Commerce in Rathmines. Having been introduced to media planning and buying at Nestlé, Brown then experienced ad agency life at BMP and Bartle Bogle Hegarty. He honed his specialist media skills at Starcom Motive, leaving in 2000 to set up Soul, an agency he sold in 2005 to an Asian network. Last year Brown was headline news in Campaign, the UK ad magazine, when he rejoined BBH to establish a new planning division.

Irish nationality as a competitive advantage: “It’s no disadvantage. The Irish are pretty open, friendly and good communicators, which is important in a communications business.”

Reasons to stay in London: Brown’s wife is English and they have two children. “Once your children start building a world in this environment, it’s harder to up sticks and leave, ” Brown says. The other big incentive to stay is the global horizons offered by London and by BBH. “There are centres of excellence in the ad industry and London is one of them.”

Paul Walsh, CEO and Co-Founder, Segala

The lowdown:

One of AOL’s first employees in Europe, Walsh is a selftaught internet technology whiz who combines running his web accessibility and mobile testing agency Segala with chairing the UK internet trade association BIMA. He sits on the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) advisory committee and is a key member of the Mobile Web Initiative (MWI) steering council. Before founding Segala in 2001, Walsh consulted for mobile phone giants such as Vodafone and Orange. His career beginnings were not so lofty:

Walsh’s first job involved filing and lugging computers around for a Dublinbased bank.

Irish nationality as a competitive advantage: “I’ve been at international events where I’ve been told: “you Irish can get away with anything with that accent”. He admits to being “quite proud” that an Irish person is heading the UK internet trade body.

Networking: Walsh is an assiduous networker amongst internet technology types, regardless of nationality.

Based with his family in Guildford, Surrey, Walsh divides his time between Segala’s offices in Dublin and the UK, with travel around the world to speak at conferences and to visit clients.

Dee Forbes Senior Vice President and General Manager, Turner Broadcasting Systems, UK and Ireland

The lowdown:

UK London’s advertising business was the making of Dee Forbes, senior vice president and general manager of Turner Broadcasting Systems UK and Ireland. Arriving in the UK capital 16 years ago armed with an arts degree from UCD, the Cork woman began her career as a lowly sales executive at ad agency Young and Rubicam Europe. Promotion has led to her current position at Turner, where she is responsible for all the channel’s commercial activities, including marketing and PR.

Irish nationality as a competitive advantage: Forbes doesn’t believe that nationality is an issue in London’s business world, and apart from occasionally speaking more slowly, has never felt she had to compromise her Irishness. Forbes notes one undeniable positive. “I came to London 16 years ago as a green graduate and luckily the Irish have a strong work ethnic so we can make it here.”

Reasons to stay in London: “It would be difficult to get something as senior as this at home, ” Forbes admits. “But I return a lot to Cork where I have a house and so have the best of both worlds.”