Posts Tagged ireland
UN High Commissioner for Peace On… line
It had been an epic battle between two titans of the Irish online world. Multi award-winning and perhaps Ireland’s most influential Cork blogger Damien Mulley went head to head with the Goliath of social networking in the form of Bebo’s Philip Macartney. It was a veritable war of worlds. The blogging world versus social networking in a battle that would see only one victor. The prize? Control of the World’s bread supply. It read like an Ian Fleming script.
Few would have thought that the annual gathering of the glitterati of the Internet in Ireland would have presented the UN’s peace envoy with the opportunity to broker a truce. Both sides it seems had been softened by the headiness of the night. Mulley was spotted drinking Bollinger at the bar with sworn enemy of old - eircom’s head of communications. Macartney having been dressed down by compère Des Bishop had capitulated and agreed to investigate the four fake Bebo profiles of the comedian. The envoy sensed that this might just be the ideal opportunity to bring the two sides face-to-face for the first time.
The results, to be frank were quite surprising…
First this:
(Note the anxious grin from Mulley as he realises how big Macartney is in person)
Then this:
(Macartney acknowledges Mulley’s greatness)
Followed by this:
(Macartney’s grip on Mulley was absolute)
And ultimately this:
(My work here is done)
Add comment November 21, 2008
Ireland Network - Great Britain
A group of Irish people living and working in London have been roped in by the Irish embassy there to help kick-start a new social networking site. The site Irish Network Great Britain is aimed at Irish people working in the UK.
The Irish community has always been very strong in the various UK cities. This new initiative illustrates how things are changing and perhaps how the ties with Ireland and other Irish working in the UK may not be as strong as they used to be.
I know a few of the people involved in the project and was asked to contribute and article which I did, called Connecting Remotely. Wander over to the new site if you get a few minutes. Make a contribution if you can… I’m sure it would be encouraging for the organisers to see some support from the home country. The site is due to officially launch on November 11th but it seems to be open to the public already so you’ll be getting a sneak preview.
Add comment November 9, 2008
Podcamp Ireland 2008
I was going to do a review of Podcamp Ireland 2008 which was held yesterday in Kilkenny. It’s Sunday evening now and there are already a couple of very good reviews completed by Keith Shirley and John Keyes. I’ve decided I couldn’t do a better job than the two guys, so I’m not doing mine now.
My Podcamp 2008 badge from MadeMarian
I will say however that this was one of the most engaging conferences I have ever attended. The atmosphere was very relaxed but more than that there was a real focus on sharing. It was all about conversation; talking to each other about our individual experiences and listening to each other to learn what we could. A huge amount was crammed into a short day and I will pick off topics over the coming weeks to share here. I met so many new people that I am a bit overwhelmed today to put it all in perspective - will hopefully touch base with many of them via social media in the next while.
On a personal note I enjoyed what I thought was a decent discussion ( photo here) with Minister John McGuinness and Gabriela Avram on how business and government can make greater use of social media. This particular conversation was sprung on all three of us at short notice - thanks Bernie - but I think it worked okay. A key focus for me was that both the existing community online and business/government have a part to play if meaningful engagement is going to happen. Business/government will only continue to engage if their overtures are not roundly shouted down by over-the-top cynicism and rebuke.
Thanks to Bernie, Krishna and Ken for organising an extremely professional un-conference. A special mention goes to MadeMarian for the lovely badges (given to me by Grannymar) she made for people who were speaking yesterday - I was really chuffed to get one. I’m wearing my first social media badge proudly today.
Well done and thanks to everyone who was there for collectively making it a really worthwhile trip to the lovely Kilkenny. (A piece of trivia about Kilkenny - that website kilkenny.ie was first put together in 1998 by a group of graduates from the TCD MSc in Multimedia including Vincent Dermody, Karen Curley, Anne Conway and yours truly.)
2 comments September 28, 2008
As in any other community, there are rules
If you join any club, are a member of any organisation, or are part of any community there are some basic rules that you must follow. If you don’t you’ll be reprimanded and even worse ostracised. The same applies in the online community.
Over the past while I have witnessed several individuals and companies being dressed down by leading members of Ireland’s online community. These are individuals and companies that have broken the rules of the community. The misdemeanour could range from the way they set up their blog, taking advertising on their personal website, to sending unsolicited emails to large numbers of people. Individuals are named and shamed, and often rightly so.
For anyone looking to dip their virtual toe in the online waters seeing this can be quite discouraging. The problem you see, is that there is no rule book. The elders of the online community of course know the rules; the etiquette; what is permitted and what is not. The rest of us are figuring it out, often only learning from our mistakes.
Personally I can afford to make mistakes as I don’t claim to be an expert and I don’t have a brand or reputation in this area to defend. As a business with a brand to protect I would be concerned, since any mistake we might make could engender public and sustained ridicule. Companies invest huge amounts in their brand and the risk of a negative backlash is enough to put any business owner off engaging in social media.
Initiatives from Damien Mulley and the work I’m involved in with the IIA’s social media group are a positive step towards deciphering and setting out the rules. As the community matures it will hopefully become clearer to everyone what is acceptable and not.
The online community in Ireland is often described as cliquey. I certainly haven’t found this to be the case and have found it very easy to engage, and my participations have been very welcomed. The community does want to encourage more people and businesses to participate. I wonder though would it be more appealing to newcomers if the dressings down weren’t so harsh?
The elders have a very important role to play. The community looks to them for leadership. We look to them as examples of what is appropriate in this community. We also look to them to see how to treat others who make mistakes. Should they be taken aside for a quiet word in their ear or should they be publicly ridiculed for their stupidity? Personally I know how I’d like to be treated when I break the rules (unwittingly) in any club or community I’m a member of.
7 comments August 31, 2008
Souls touching
If you only read one blog post this year read this one from K8 the GR8…
4 comments August 10, 2008
Ireland’s newest radio show is Online
PodCamp Ireland have just launched a really interesting new online radio show hosted by Krishna De and Bernie Goldbach (who I’m glad to say are both members of the IIA Social Media Working Group which I’m currently chairing).
Officially the show is called a podcast but, from my work previously with Helen Shaw I figured that the easiest way to understand what a podcast is is to call it a radio show that you can subscribe to. Subscribing means that each new show is automatically downloaded to your PC or portable music player, so there’s no more tuning in or missing out. If you like radio you’ll like podcasts even more.
I was listening to episode three of the weekly Podcamp Ireland show the other evening while tidying up the kitchen after dinner. The show had been released that morning, but because it is online you don’t have to be sitting by your radio/pc at a specific time. And because the format is radio you can listen in the same way as you listen to traditional radio - while doing the dishes… Funnily enough, I discovered that Keith Shirely was listening at the same time and we had a bit of a chat about that on Twitter. (I’ll be having a post over the coming weeks on Twitter as I’ve only just started to get my head around it.)
The Krishna and Bernie Show opens with a bit of a catch up from the hosts, with what’s been going on in their lives and in the online world over the past week. There are also some tips from Michele Neylon from Blacknight on hosting.
The parts I really enjoy however are the conversations with business people who have made a stab at using social media to engage with their customers. There is plenty of noise in the blogosphere but it is refreshing to listen to an interview where the interviewer understands both technology and business. Furthermore, Krishna doesn’t just offer a light touch that you might expect to hear on traditional broadcast or print media. She digs deep enough to engage marketers and business people who are interested in exploring social media beyond the sound bites.
If you are interested in digging a bit deeper on social media do tune in and subscribe. As an aside the Podcamp Ireland event which is taking place in Kilkenny on September 27th looks like it will be well worth the trip. The promo says that it is the “very first stand-alone event to promote the use and provide guidance and tips on the subject of social media in Ireland.” I’ll be there.
2 comments August 4, 2008
Where have all the people gone?
Traditional bricks and mortar businesses in Ireland and elsewhere are increasingly selling to and serving customers that they have never met or even spoken to. Their customers are disappearing out of their retail outlets and off their phone lines into this new place called cyberspace.
How do businesses attract the attention of this new breed of customer? How do they sell to them or serve them? How do they build lasting relationships with customers they never meet? If business owners are not already asking themselves these questions, they will be very soon as greater numbers of their customers vanish from their doorsteps.
Am I overstating the case? Well, read each of the following statements and keep note of how many you concur with:
- “I can’t remember the last time I queued in a bank or building society.”
- “I read a lot but haven’t actually bought a book in a bookshop (or borrowed one from the library) in ages.”
- “Travel agents book flights for people. Really? And you actually pay them do do that?!”
- “Buying CD’s in record shops is a rip-off.”
- “I do all my grocery shopping online.”
- “I always buy my perfume/cosmetics online. Bargain.”
- “Can’t say I’ve ever walked into the local branch of an insurance company or a broker’s office.”
- “Television? Oh, you mean YouTube?”
- “What, you’re not on Bebo or Facebook?!”
- “You can actually TALK to people on mobile phones??”
- “I don’t buy newspapers - I get all the news I want online for FREE.”
- “When was the last time I wrote a letter? Your having a laugh! I’ve got two email accounts, instant messenger, Skype - who needs letters?!”
How did you do? If you found yourself agreeing with more than 50%, you can call yourself a member of “Net Gen” - the young ones who are disappearing into cyberspace faster than the rest of us. If you’re over 25 you can count yourself an honorary member of Net Gen. If you are over 25 and don’t find yourself agreeing with most of these, try putting these statements to someone under 25 and see what the difference is.
The point I am making is that the way customers interact with organisations is changing. We live in an age of technology-mediated consumer interactions, and that technology is increasingy Internet-based. The age of face-to-face encounters with customers where you can “eyeball” each other, “press the flesh”, have “the bit of banter” and so on, is passing.
Consumers who want to book flights, pay a bill, or buy products no longer have the inclination to head into town to do these things. Increasingly they don’t even want to have to ring a call centre and be bounced around an IVR maze for 20 minutes before they speak with someone. If they cannot do it online with you, you can be sure that they can with someone else; and because they’ve never met you they’ve certainly got no sense of loyalty to you.
As a generation disappears from the highstreets to a rapidly changing and unfamiliar place, we are all having to adapt, learn and keep up. The time for wondering if “the Interweb thing” will ever take off has passed. In order to stay relevant, meet expectations, succeed; we must all be digitally aware, skilled and engaged. In so doing we’ll not only know where all the people are gone - we’ll be there with them.
As I put this blog post together I’m experiencing a sense of the enormity of this. As a person working in the Internet industry I get the challenge for business. I also see that this is going to have much bigger implications across society as a whole. People are not just disappearing from business’s doorsteps, but from the traditional places we meet and interact in society. The Internet presents wonderful opportunities for greater collaboration and mutual understanding; however it also presents a challenge to how we understand ourselves and our relationships with others.
Having been blogging for nearly a year I’m reviewing the direction of my blog. I’ve used it mainly for clarifying things about business and new media in my own mind and then hopefully making it easily accessible to others. If there were to be a theme for the direction I would like to take I think it would be teasing out the impact the disappearance of a generation into cyberspace will have on businesses and society at large. So the brief might widen a bit, but hopefully some will still find it interesting.
3 comments July 2, 2008
Innovation starts here
As Ireland strives to develop into a Knowledge Economy there is increasing focus from both industry and policy makers on Innovation. On the world stage we are finding it evermore difficult to compete in either manufacturing or food production – two of our economy’s key strengths in the past. An innovation culture, it is hoped, will position us to compete as individual businesses and as a nation at a higher level, providing greater opportunities both in terms of differentiation, exports and inward investment. For anyone who operates a service business the Internet stands apart as perhaps the biggest opportunity for innovation and differentiation.
Innovation
Innovation is the process that seeks to bring (often significant) improvement to the way things are currently done. Successful innovation ultimately brings value to both the business and their customer. Businesses usually innovate in order to improve their product or service offering or to improve how they do things internally.
1. Innovating to improve products
Apple have changed the way that consumers think about personal computers and more recently about music devices and mobile phones by constantly pushing the boundaries in the design of their products. Gillette continuously innovate in the design of their products continuously improving ease of use and functionality on what are very simple devices.
2. Innovating to improve service
Dell Computers changed the way they sell their products, empowering consumers and developing increased brand recognition and loyalty at the same time. More recently they have introduced Ideastorm to gather customers’ feedback on how to improve; leading to direct changes to their offerings.
3. Innovating in how things are done
Henry Ford significantly changed the way that cars were manufactured. The shift in the internal processes had a dramatic impact on costs and ultimately on the availability of cars to the general public. Ford motor cars continue to pride themselves on their culture of innovation more than 100 years later. Southwest and later Ryanair significantly changed the way that they provided air travel to their customers. These two companies have changed the landscape of air travel in the US and Europe for millions of passengers.
Ireland, Consumers & Internet
Irish consumers are changing the ways they consume media and the expectations they have of organisations they do business with. 2 out of every 3 adults (aged between 16 and 44) are now online and the numbers are growing by several percentage points each year. Broadband penetration finally seems to be gaining momentum, even if the costs and quality are still largely unacceptable. Mobile broadband take-up is starting to register as a significant trend. Gaming consoles are increasingly clambering onto the network. 10 years ago we described ourselves as living in the Information Age. Today we could say that we are living in the IP Age (IP = Internet Protocol, the platform upon which all Internet content and traffic moves). The technology is no longer merely giving us easier access to more information. A high-bandwidth high-speed IP network gives us the potential to access and interact with media, applications, systems and people in ways that we have only started to imagine.
It still feels like we are still at the start of things. We are witnessing a revolution in how we live our lives and the measure of our participation in this revolution is how hooked-in to the IP network we are. I have friends and acquaintances who I rarely see but who I know more about what they are doing and how they are feeling than some of my family. It is not just novelty or utility that engages, but increasingly it is social and emotional necessity. The ramifications of this for society are profound.
Organisations need to understand that consumers now expect much more of them in the IP Age. When was the last time you went to an airline website and were not able to book flights because they didn’t have a booking engine? When was the last time you tried to find out about a hotel only to discover that they didn’t have a website? Its unheard of.
There’s doing the bare minimum, and then there’s seizing the opportunity to differentiate your consumer offering by leveraging the potential of the IP Age in innovative ways. And many, many Irish companies are already doing this, in both small and major ways. From SME’s such as Tipperary’s worldwidecycles.com building awareness through blogging, to large corporates such as Vhi launching podcasts, to big media companies such as RTE making TV available on mobile phones, to startups such as Daft.ie meeting the needs of both business and consumer in an unrivalled manner. The list goes on, but one feels that the surface has barely been scratched on the opportunities that exist.
If you’re looking for a little inspiration on where innovation can lead have a look at the Innovate or Die project and then the beautiful multi-media micro-site of co-sponsor Specialized Cycles.
Add comment June 11, 2008
Net Behaviour Research versus JNIR
After I’d completed my previous post on the JNIR report on Internet usage on Ireland I came accross the Net Behaviour Research output released two days prior to that on the same subject. Net Behaviour are a media-buying agency specialising in digital media. They undertook a research project around the same time as the JNIR guys at “30 online sampling points in Ireland and abroad”. Their focus was very much on Irish web users (whether based here or abroad) and took 500 websites into consideration. Net Behaviour don’t tell us how many actual users were captured in the research; you’ll remember that JNIR surveyed 5,000.
Here are the Net Behaviour top ten plotted alongside the JNIR top ten:
NET BEHAVIOUR:Google.ie
Yahoo (any)
AerLingus.com
Ryanair.com
RTE.ie
eBay
MSN
eircom.net
iTunes.ie
MyHome.ie
Yahoo
Eircom
Ticketmaster
RTE
Myhome.ie
Ireland.com
Irishjobs.ie
Golden Pages
Entertainment.ie
Loadzajobs.ie
missing from JNIR:
Google.ie
MSN.ie
Bebo.com
Ryanair.com
AerLingus.com
YouTube.ie
Ebay.ie
Daft.ie
Hews.biz
As you’ll see, the commonality between the two pieces of research is Yahoo, Eircom, Myhome and RTE. Yahoo tops with the others following in different positions thereafter.
My list of the sites that I felt were obviously missing from the JNIR research has the following overlaps with the Net Behaviour findings: Google, MSN, Ryanair, AerLingus, and Ebay.
Put these together you’d get a list of the top ten websites in Ireland that looks something like this:
1. Google
2. Yahoo
3. Eircom
4. MSN
5. AerLingus
6. Ryanair
7. Myhome
8. RTE
9. Ebay
10. and in last place I’m taking a punt on Bebo
And I’m just going on common sense.
The question is, who do you believe? In fairness to the JNIR they are clearly not setting out to report on the actual top websites in Ireland, only the top of the 19 websites that are paid up members of the JNIR. (I do note with interest that none of Net Behaviour’s clients actually feature anywhere in their list of top sites - in any of the categories they list. Not sure what that says?)
It probably all goes to emphasise the need for a standardised and independent approach to measuring Internet activity in Ireland. Wouldn’t it be refreshing if a few of these research houses knocked heads together and came up with an agreed approach that would offer more reliability.
If that doesn’t transpire, we could revert to common sense as it might just give us a more reliable steer. What do you think?
Add comment April 18, 2008
Would U Buy Car Insurance from Ryanair?
Have been watching the interesting reactions to the launch of the new online car insurance offering called No Nonsense at www.ryanaircarinsurance.com. There have been lots of discussion about whether you would or would not buy car insurance from Ryanair. I’ll let the posters do the arguing for and against (in as unbiased a manner as I can):
AGAINST:
“I can Imagine Ryanair car insurance, You have to add extra premium for each passenger you have in the car and more for the luggage in the boot.” Run to da hills (boards.ie)
“How many pieces of photo-id do I need? Is an insurance disc holder an optional extra? Am I covered if I give Mr or Mrs Sarkozy a lift? Am I covered for return journeys or is it only one way insurance?” mathepac (askaboutmoney.com)
“There will probably be a clause that when making a claim there will be an administration fee more than the cost of the claim…..getting money BACK from Ryanair……try it!” Pete1430 (boards.ie)
“Can you imagine settling a claim.Mr /mrs Ryan air “but your car was at an address 150kms from where you said it was kept” Claim’nt “But I thought YOU would understand”" groupb (boards.ie)
“I am currently paying about €600. Mick O’Leary wants €383.81 (fully comp). I’d still be wary and would like to examine all T&Cs before signing my life away.” kbannon (boards.ie)
“just did a quote there - - same as thier airline - you get the absolute legal basic and then pay extra for things which you would normally expect to get with a policy. Also noticed that you cant protect your bonus on 4 years which is ridiculous. Given my experience with thier customer care in the past I wouldnt look forward to a favourable claims service.
At the end of the day would you go to an airline or a supermarket to buy a carton of milk?? - - in my opinion the same applies to insurance.” briancbyrne (askaboutmoney.com)
“Unable to quote me. Clearly just trying to bag all the low risk mondeo drivers out there.” crank_case (octane.ie)
“Aye. I’d be a bit iffy about the low cost airline handling my car insuance. And I won’t be getting a mortgage from Tesco’s either. I may have McDonalds do my pension though.” Friz (octane.ie)
“General questions regarding Ryanair Insurance: Do they get to decide where you sit in the car?
Do they charge per bag? Will the car no longer go exactly where you wanted, but take you to Naas and call it “Dublin International”? Will some eejit come round your house after every journey trying to flog you a scratchcard?” buiog (octane.ie)
FOR:
“Looks like it’s the same sort of ‘No Frills’ approach Ryanair take with the airline, but you can be sure it’s going to be cheap!” - Dub Man (Boards.ie)
“Look, regardless of Ryanars no frills policy and their approach to all of their business’s - Its good to see another provider in the market. Competition is no bad thing.” Niceirishfella (boards.ie)
“Hey…this has to be a good thing. Anything that might mean a better rate - even if it is O’Learys lot.” Cheeky fellow (boards.ie)
”It looks like this won’t be Ryanair paying out on any claims. In the article linked to this page it says the policy is underwritten by FBD - so they are the ones who would pay out on the claim. Ryanair is just a partner in this.” take yer points (boards.ie)
“They’re obviously going for the younger drivers and won’t quote any cars that could be “high risk” or could result in a big claim. Looks like a competitive alternative to Quinn for me and that can’t be a bad thing!!” take yer points (boards.ie)
“€738.11….200 odd quid less then what I’m paying now. (Quinn, Fully comp)” The Edge (boards.ie)
“Not quoting me for an Elise but I clicked the button for them to get back to me. The Mondeo, however, is €400 cheaper including a couple of extras! I’ll be checking them out again for sure.” up-the-dubs (octane.ie)
“it’s not like ryanair have much interaction with you personally as it’s just FBD rebranded and repackaged. both tesco and AIB do this with hibernian (i’m currently on AIB). when you call them a hibernian employee answers and says something like: “AIB hibernian insurance”" davidclayton (octane.ie)
IF you want to see the full discussions visit the various discussions here (and thanks to the sites for letting me copy a selection here):
http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?p=575061
http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055234675
http://www.octane.ie/forum/showthread.php?s=1ac55bf8636efe102a2e3e4e317dd679&t=14303
4 comments February 12, 2008