Paul Walsh, the Irish Opportunist

I’ll be in San Fransisco between April 19th and 25th with The Web Mission. The initiative, headed up by Oli Barrett and Polecatting, will see 20 UK Web 2.0 companies travel to San Francisco to explore new opportunities for growth with key people in Silicon Valley. I’ll try my best to do a review of each company before we head out. Although I’m not sure how likely that is, as I said the same after I sat on a panel at the Essential Web event.

I’ve already chatted with Mike Arrington, Sarah Lacy, Loren Feldman, Stephanie Agresta and others about meeting up. Can’t wait!

If you’re in town and would like to meetup with me, or any of the Web Mission troops, get in touch now. Either leave a comment or drop me an email paul at segala.com My agenda below is pretty fluid as it’s best to rely on impromptu meetings. I’m supposed to hook up with Qik, Twitter and LinkedIn folk too.

If I get Segala to sponsor a party, what’s the best night? I wouldn’t want to clash with anything cool.

Let the networking and parties commence!

Agenda

Saturday 19th

• 13:00 Arrive San Francisco
• 15:30 Arrive at the Clift Hotel
• 19:00 TechCrunch Welcome Cocktails
• 20:30 Open invite at the Clift Hotel. Come join us.

Sunday 20th

• 14:00 Free time
• 14:00 - (?) Huge influencer BBQ at Brian Solis‘ house (Stephanie Agresta for the invite) I’m allowed to take some guest but keeping it exclusive.

Monday 21st

• 09:30 - 14:00 Some stuff at Oracle. I’ll forgo this if something better comes up in the meantime.
• 15:00 - 18:30 Free time
• 19:00 - 21:00 HSBC ‘Going Global’ Event.
• 21:00 - Free time

Tuesday 22nd

• 10:00 14:00 Company Presentations to VCs (Menlo Park). This is closed unless your press or a VC. Please get in touch if you’d like to attend.
• 15:00 - 18:30 Free time
• 19:00 - 21:00 Intimate Candelit Dinner with Oracle.
• 21:00 Free time

Wednesday 23rd

• 08:30 17:30 Web 2.0 Expo. I haven’t got a ticket yet though!
• 18:00 - 19:30 Drinks/Nibbles at Bebo offices, hosted by Michael Birch.
• 19:30 Free time. I’m pretty certain the Web Mission will have a party but I’d rather see them attend the parties that will already be arranged. I’m sure we’ll end up at the right party on the night.

Thursday 24th

• 08:00 - 11:00 Hangover, do not disturb
• 11:00 - 18:00 Free time
• 18:30 - 20:30 Farewell Drinks and Canapés at British Consulate.
• 21:00 Free time

Friday 25th

• Head back to the UK. However, I might see if I can make it to New York.

Will you be in town during any of the above dates? As I asked earlier, what’s the best night for Segala to sponsor a party?

Any recommendations/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

A good friend of mine, Paul Carr, is spending the next couple of weeks in SF (as of tonight). If you’re in town why not leave a comment or send me/him an email to connect. Paul has taken a few months off to write another book, so help him ‘create’ new material. His latest publication is imminent so watch out for it!

Sub to his blog too, it’s hilarious. He knows I won’t forgive him for making fun of iJusine though

paul at alljustwords dot com

I didn’t make it into the trailer so I’m obviously not rong enough. But my good rong friends did

I was delighted to have received an ‘invitation’ to lunch with the Prime Minister of Australia. Given that I collaborate with the Heads of Creative Industry for various countries such as Canada, Mexico and Hong Kong, and receive dinner invitations from the Mayor of London and the Irish Ambassador, I naturally assumed this was an ‘invitation’. Well, it was an invitation, but it came at a price.

I decided this morning that I wasn’t going to attend, mainly because I didn’t see the immediate benefit and given how busy I am, I just can’t afford the time. If I was having a one to one with the PM it would obviously be a different story.

For some reason I decided to double check the email. I noticed an attachment which obviously escaped me the first time around. Upon opening the ‘invitation’ I was amazed to see a £100 price tag. Can someone please tell me what the point of that is? Even if they were to squeeze 1000 100 people into the Hilton they’d only raise £10,000. Surely the sponsor could afford to cover that. It feels a little cheap to me.

If I was to add £25 I could treat 10 friends to a full roast pig/lamb in The Club Restaurant just off Regent Street. At least I’d be guaranteed to have a great time with the possible output of some great business ideas.

Clearing the mound of paperwork after my recent travels is a great start to the working day. My next port of call was Twitter, to find out what had been happening around the world today. You see, Twitter isn’t just a one-way broadcast tool to tell people where you are and what you’re doing.

These days, Twitter is used for micro blogging, reporting news, spreading gossip and soliciting opinion from trusted friends. In fact, Twitter (well, my Twitter friends) has replaced my search engine whenever I’m looking for a recommendation or advice on something. For example, I’m currently conducting research on social networks for mobile users. Rather than spend ages searching on the Web, I decided to ask my Twitter friends. Within minutes I had at least ten people recommend two sites on average. Today I received some good recommendations about my upcoming trip to New York as I need to find reasonable accommodation in Manhattan.

So, before I started reading through the Twitter conversations, I decided to unfollow lots of people. If I didn’t immediately recognise the name, I unfollowed them. This might appear to be unfriendly and I suppose to a degree it is. But I want to increase the quality of the noise that’s coming through whilst making sure I’m not putting up barriers to potential relationships that could prove fruitful in the future.

I’d never intentionally unfollow someone with whom I’ve had a conversation, so please let me know if I’ve unfollowed you when I shouldn’t have. Even if we haven’t conversed but you’d like to know if I follow you, just send me a direct message from Twitter. If you’re not able to DM me, it means I’m not following you. If you continue to care, please let me know and I’ll happily follow you.

As a matter of interest, I follow some people who don’t follow me. But that’s ok, I’m interested in what they have to say and perhaps some day, they’ll have a mutual interest in what I have to say. Perhaps I just have something to say too often

I’m interested in what you have to say about Twitter. I’m also interested in your thoughts about my use of it. Do I talk too much?

I’ve just been given 10 free tickets to give away for the IWTC Conference in Dublin tomorrow. They’re also offering day passes for €50. The first 10 people to leave a comment get a ticket.

I’m giving a talk at 9:15 in screen 1 tomorrow so drop by if you’re around.

Next week is a busy one for networkers in Dublin. I’ll be in Ireland from Tuesday through to Sunday.

Tuesday 26th

19:00 Web Technology Conference starts. I’ve been asked to take part on a panel but it has yet to be confirmed.

Wednesday 27th

Ireland’s first Girl Geek dinner. I’ve been to one as Sarah Blow’s (original founder) guest and they’re good fun. I wish the guys (sorry, couldn’t resist) all the best and I’ll happily await the arrival of my guest invitation

The girl geek dinner is an evening for women in technology to get together, enjoy some dinner and meet some new faces. It’s a way to encourage your fellow women colleagues to join the community, offer their expertise and help grow the network of role models and leaders here in Ireland.

Check out Martha’s Rotter’s blog for more detail.

Thursday 28th

Ireland’s first ever User Group pub quiz. Eh, anyone fancy dinner?

Friday 29th

I’m giving a talk (Track 3) at the Irish Web Technology Conference. It has been organised by IrishDev.com and the user groups MTUG.ie, Ruby Ireland, DubJug.org, Python Ireland and PHP.ie. Sounds like a bunch of techies, but there are marketing related tracks at what’s going to be a rather big conference. I think they’re expecting upwards of 450 delegates.

I believe there’s an after party in the evening.

About my talk

Turn the Web brilliant, gleaming and stain free with POWDER (Content Labels). With my can of beans (no really) I will do a joint presentation on how Content Labels are the next step in reclaiming the Web from scammners, phishers and malicious people who do their best to ruin your day.

Content Label technology and the Semantic Web will restart the conversation between Web site owners and surfers so that everyone can make an informed decision about what they want to see online before they take that leap of faith and click on that unknown link. Find the information you want faster, feel more secure buying products online and make sure your kids never wander into the darker parts of the Web.

Saturday 30th 1st

Irish Blog Awards.

Created and managed by Damien Mulley. I’m looking forward to this.

So, if you’re around Dublin and fancy hooking up for dinner let me know and I’ll host a tech dinner.

BIMA (British Interactive Media Association), the Association that I Chair, has some upcoming events I thought you might find interesting.

Dialog

Viral: Quality or Quantity?

Date 6th Mar 2008

This Dialog will address the key questions that challenge the industry and cut-through some of the hyperbole in search of some clarity.

The Panel
Chris Kempt, Founder, Kempt (moderator)
Caroline McGuckian, Media Director, LBi
Jez Jowett, Managing Partner, Agency.com
Jim McNiven, Managing Director, Kerb

Read more about this on the BIMA blog

BIMA Breakfast Bites

Word of Mouth/Advocacy

Date 18th Mar 2008

The BIMA Breakfast Bites (B3!) is back in 2008. We’re working on completing the entire calendar for this year so you know what’s coming up but for now.

Andrew Crysell from Ramp Industry is going to kick off the first one. Ramp Industry have carried out extensive research and insight for the likes of Channel 4, The Guardian, River Island and Sony PlayStation, explores the significance of word-of-mouth, brand advocacy and the role played by content.

Read more about this on the BIMA blog

Every month, Robert Loch and I host an event called Top Cats. The goal of the event is to forge stronger ties and greater collaboration between the internet start up, mobile, interactive marketing, TV and advertising communities.

There are no formalities apart from my introduction to the evening and we don’t have speakers. It’s an informal gathering of likeminded people, many of whom end up collaborating on very interesting projects.

Who qualifies to be a Top Cat

• Established Agencies = Founder/CEO/Chair
• Technology Providers & Brands (big companies such as Microsoft and the BBC) = Director/Head or other senior decision maker
• Startups = Founder/CEO/Chair + secured VC funding or have a seriously good track record
• Other = Publishers, Editors, Authors, TV Personalities, Establish Journalists, you get the picture.

I’m going to have a chit chat with a few people tonight and stream it live via my mobile. Keep an eye on my Qik account and feel free to comment and ask questions in the live chat room. It might be better to subscribe to my Twitter feed so you get a text message each time I stream live.

So, another Top Cats event is upon us. Check out the names of those who have said they can make it this month.

Who’s coming tonight

• Alex Hoye, Chair, Faction/Buildersite
• Alexis d’Amecourt, 19 Entertainment
• Andrew Shorten, EMEA Platform Evangelist, Adobe
• Andy Co Founder, Agency Mobile
• Andy Finney, Founder, ATSF
• Andy MacLaren, Co-founder, Agency Mobile
• Angela Kirkham, Publishing Manager, Online Marketing, O2
• Armando Ruffi, Co-founder, Zubka
• Ben Johnson, Principal, Both Vitruvian Partners
• Brian Hoadley, Managing Director , phunQube
• Caspar Craven, Co-founder, Trovus
• Catherine Toole, MD, Sticky Content
• Cathy Grimes, Marketing Manager Personal Solutions, Equifax
• Charles Astwood, Founder, London Eating
• Chris Wood, CEO, Top Table
• Craig Hill, Founder / Chairman, Digital Outlook
• Dan Morris, Managing Partner, Splendid
• Daniel Appelquist, Senior Technology Strategist, Vodafone Group
• David Hart, Director, Codegent Ltd
• David King, Director, APCO Online
• Dennis Greene, Head of E-business, Royal Mail
• Dr Anxo Cereijo Roibás, User Experience Research manager, Vodafone
• Edward Charvet, Co-founder, Trovus
• Elizabeth Varley, Editorial Director, Online Content UK
• Farzad Jamal, Group Internet Controller, Northern Shell
• Felix Velarde, Founder, Underwired
• Hamish Gordon,
• Irfon Watkins, CEO, Coull
• James Booth, Co-founder, Rockabox Media
• James Pimentel-Pinto, Managing Director, Agency Mobile
• Jasmine Birtles Founder/MD, Moneymagpie.com
• Jemima Kiss, New media reporter, Media Guardian
• Josephine Fraser, Social/Educational Technologist
• Julia Eilon, AMF Ventures
• Justin Bradley, Head of Digital Television, Sixth Sense UK
• Justin Champney, Head of Brand Innovation EMEA, McCann Worldgroup
• Justin Cooke, Managing Director , Fortune Cookie
• Mairi Clark, Editor , Revolution Magazine
• Mark Fallons, Head of interactive, McCann
• Mark McDermott, Director, Codegent Ltd
• Martin Lowde, 19 Entertainment
• Mike Butcher, Editor, TechCrunch
• Mike Risman, Managing Partner, Both Vitruvian Partners
• Nick Halstead, Founder, Fav.or.it
• Omaid Hizwazi, Co-founder, Crayon
• Paul Canty, Founder, Preloaded
• Paul Duncanson, Managing Director, Creativebrief
• Peter Ogden, Producer, ITV
• Richard Daish, Head of Mobile Services, Chelsea FC
• Richard Titus, Acting Head of UX&D, BBC FM&T
• Rob Corradi, Founder, Preloaded
• Rob Walk, Managing partner, NovaRising
• Robert Killick, MD, cScape
• Robin Charney, Sr. Marketing Manager - Web Platform Solutions, Adobe
• Robin Howard, Client Services Director, BT
• Satish Jayakumar, Co-founder, AdJug
• Scott Gallacher, Director of Online & Partner Marketing, BskyB
• Simon Grice, Founder, ideas.org
• Stephanie Bouchet, Marketing Director, Joost
• Theodore Emiantor, Managing Director, Westminster Accountancy
• Tim O’Neill, Founder / MD, Reactive
• Tom Nixon, Founder, Nixon Mcinnes
• Tom Sacchi, Founder / Director, Unit9
• Tony Cocks, Microsoft
• Will Jeffery, Managing director, Maverick Media
• Will McInnes, MD, Nixon McInnes

Hosts

• Robert Loch, Founder, Internet People & Founder, That’s Useful
• Paul Walsh, Chair, BIMA & Founder, Segala

Thanks to Adobe for their sponsorship this month.