Paul Walsh, the Irish Opportunist

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.

Here’s some good coverage of our kickoff dinner to discuss the creation of a new Industry Association in Ireland. I must point out that I wasn’t actually negative towards the IIA in anyway. Maria did a great job with the article but it looks like I was constantly comparing what I have in mind for a new Association, with the IIA.

We need more of this kind of press, to help raise awareness amongst the organisations that need help with digital. Why? Well because they’re not likely to read blogs, or at least, the ones which have been covering this topic so far.

Original article starts here.

There is a need in Ireland for an organisation that can represent the entire digital industry including web, mobile and any medium that digital content can be delivered through, says Paul Walsh, chair of the British Interactive Media Association (BIMA), which plans to set up a like-minded body in Ireland. Walsh said he would like to have a body that would act not only as a way of connecting and representing all those involved in the digital industry but one that can set standards and best practice also.

Ideally, such an organisation would not only give pricing guidelines to clients and freelancers but also act as a body of endorsement for future digital technology or digital media courses.

Through BIMA, which has been around since 1985, Walsh has been putting all of these practices in place: “I changed it from what it used to be – it was perceived by people as an IIA (Irish Internet Association)-type organisation – and I have turned that around so it is seen as more engaging and really out there in the industry.”

Walsh, who is also founder and CEO of web standards specialist firm Segala, said he would like this new association to position Ireland on the global stage in terms of the digital sector because he feels the country is too reliant on the service-based companies here for tax incentives.

“There are enough intelligent people and companies already in Ireland to change things so that we’re not reliant on the IDA bringing in big companies. We could encourage an ecosystem so that we have Irish-grown businesses.”

While the IIA has been around for quite awhile, Walsh says that the organisation looks at only one piece of the digital pie, the web, and even at that smaller players in the industry tell him they don’t feel catered for.

“I think we need a fresh approach because most IIA members are the bigger companies.

“What I’m hearing from smaller members of the IIA is that it focuses on specific areas like search marketing while they would like a voice for the smaller company or the freelance developer so their interests can be represented as much as the big players,” said Walsh.

“It would be nice to have an association that would bring other organisations together, like the IIA and the Agency for Direct Marketing, to endorse and embrace the stuff that they do well,” he added.

Key members of this new association should be diverse enough to represent the interests of each of the stakeholders, says Walsh.

This would mean including someone from academia, a representative of a big organisation like Microsoft or Google, someone who has set up a couple of small companies and who has the entrepreneurial instinct, as well as individuals with expertise from the mobile, television and broadcasting industry.

Some freelancers and small Irish firms say a number of initiatives to encourage the growth of the digital industry here in Ireland have a bias towards US companies and tax incentives.

The Digital Hub, an incubation space for such development, has 55 desk spaces reserved for US companies yet one Irish entrepreneur said that he found it difficult to secure a single desk space.

The inaugural dinner of the for-now-named Irish Digital Industry Association was held last week and attended by various members of the digital industry community, including Boards.ie founder John Breslin and Joe Drumgoole of digital storage firm PutPlace.

Original article on Silicon Republic by Marie Boran.

Transaction valued at approximately $44.6 billion in cash and stock;

Provides 62 percent premium to current trading price for Yahoo! shareholders;

Combined entity to create a more competitive company while providing superior value to shareholders and better choice and innovation for customers and partners.

REDMOND, Wash., Feb. 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT - News) today announced that it has made a proposal to the Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO - News) Board of Directors to acquire all the outstanding shares of Yahoo! common stock for per share consideration of $31 representing a total equity value of approximately $44.6 billion. Microsoft’s proposal would allow the Yahoo! shareholders to elect to receive cash or a fixed number of shares of Microsoft common stock, with the total consideration payable to Yahoo! shareholders consisting of one-half cash and one-half Microsoft common stock. The offer represents a 62 percent premium above the closing price of Yahoo! common stock on Jan. 31, 2008.

We have great respect for Yahoo!, and together we can offer an increasingly exciting set of solutions for consumers, publishers and advertisers while becoming better positioned to compete in the online services market,” said Steve Ballmer, chief executive officer of Microsoft. “We believe our combination will deliver superior value to our respective shareholders and better choice and innovation to our customers and industry partners.

Our lives, our businesses, and even our society have been progressively transformed by the Web, and Yahoo! has played a pioneering role by building compelling, high-scale services and infrastructure,” said Ray Ozzie, chief software architect at Microsoft. “The combination of these two great teams would enable us to jointly deliver a broad range of new experiences to our customers that neither of us would have achieved on our own.

My opinion

This could make Microsoft a serious contender in the Internet arena against Google. I’d welcome the purchase with open arms because I can’t help feel that Google is going in the same direction as Microsoft did years ago. That is, monopolising its position. I mean, Microsoft was sued by the EU courts for forcing Real Player upon users of Windows based PCs. Will it force Google into sharing its search algorithms given that it has more than an 80% monopolistic share of online search? Will Google ever be taken to court for Android? Ah, there’s a blog post yet to be written.

Personally I think Microsoft is given a hard time mostly by those who like to take a shot across the bow as they think it’s the right thing to do. I’ve only ever met cool, creative and entrepreneurial people at Microsoft. I mean it, I have never met a Microsoft employee that was anything short of helpful.

As for Google… my last encounter (and I’ve had a lot of them) was with a guy who attended one of my tech dinners recently. I asked him, ’so, what do you do at Google?’. His response was surprisingly not surprising, ‘I can’t tell you as it’s a secret’. I understand that internal projects are somtimes confidential, but it’s the tone of the response I have become accustomed to from Google employees. It’s as if they’re above everyone else. He was a very nice chap and he’ll always be welcome at my dinner table.

Source Ana Nelson via Twitter. Full story can be found on Yahoo! news.

[Update here's an interesting take from Denis Howlett]

I hosted a tech dinner last night to solicit people’s feedback regarding my idea for a new independent association to represent the interests of the Digital Industry. There were a lot of good questions and concerns raised and the general consensus was that Ireland would benefit from such an association.

Rather than provide you with what I thought about the evening, why not check out what those who attended thought. Below are some links to posts already written. If you’ve written a post please let me know and I’ll link to it. Check out the Qik video too to see who attended, I got everyone to give a quick introduction. It’s a little long so you might want to grab a coffee before watching it. Can’t wait to see the bill for that data usage

Look at who attended

Read what they had to say

Maryrose Lyons

Paul Campbell

Joe Drumgoole

Thanks again to Microsoft and Blacknight for their kind sponsorship and support.

Next

The next thing to do is come up with a name so I can setup the legal entity. Do you agree with Fergal from the IIA that the Irish Interactive Media Association would confused people because the acronym would be IIMA? Suggestions welcome so get your thinking cap on please.

I’d like to arrange a slightly more formal meetup in February. Perhaps a lunch meeting with a few presentations. Please let me know what you think and importantly, if you or someone you know would like to sponsor it. Are there any dates I should steer clear of?