Getting Business Online From Your Personality
Following last year’s happy event with Software Alliance Wales, we’re doing another one – and this time it’s all about putting personality into content.
We’re running this event to meet the needs of people who now understand how to use WordPress – but maybe aren’t so sure about how to really work their content.
In this highly participative session, SMEs who are doing this through a variety of means will describe their approaches.
This evening event will be at the Village Hotel, Swansea on June 20th at 5.30pm , and you can book here.
And everyone attending will get to make some content which captures and conveys what makes them tick – uniquely.
Speakers include:
Adrian Bamford
Adrian Bamford is the director of a musical instrument retail business, Neath Music, and an experienced musician. He has worked all over the world as a professional live sound engineer, and has 20 years of experience in configuring large-cale professional sound systems.
Like most SME owners, he has had to acquired myriad skills; from administrating VAT through networking PCs to appealing against an increase in business rates. He is a many- times published technical journalist, a qualified further education lecturer, and holds recognised teacher status at the University of Glamorgan. He is currently studying towards an MSc in Leadership and Management Practice at the University of Glamorgan.
Deenna Barton
Deenna Barton runs Deenna’s Boutique in Neath, with her mum, Janice, selling high quality ladies fashion. But she offers her customers much more than a retail exchange, using her shop as a base for colour and style workshops and advice, and using video, online competitions and newsletters to build connection.
In March 2012, Deenna opened an online store pledging ‘We will work our socks off to make sure that you receive the same level of service as you would if you had visited us in- store’, and her customers now come from all over the UK.
A founder of Neath Business Consortium to help with town regeneration, Deenna is married to Simon, and mum to young Rhys. Like many of her customers, she is a busy working mum, active in her community, and this is what she reflects in her pioneering use of social media.
ps Some of you may be fretting that we’re down in Swansea for this one – we’re planning another meet-up with Joel Hugues further east, very soon.
Mojo At MoWo
We had our Mostly Women Doing Digital do yesterday – greetings to all contributors, planned beforehand and otherwise.
It may have had a distinctively female skew in that these tweets needed RT ing several times:
‘We are at 220 High Street. Opposite Labour Party Office. Green tiled building. Mosaic Restaurant on ground floor. #mwwd13′
‘If you are looking for us Read more…
Mostly Women Doing Digital
WITH BLOKES WELCOME TOO
Thanks to Indycube’s support and collaboration, we thought we’d have a different type of event on Saturday March 23rd – a day workshop where all the speakers are female, but women and men are welcome to attend.
Again a free event, it takes place at Indycube Swansea, between 10am and 4pm.
We’ve 7 women speakers, all enthusiasts in different areas of digital activity.
With emphasis on the practical, we aim to bombard you with useful takeaways to help plan your own digital production in the future.
SUBJECTS AND SPEAKERS
BOOKING
Please book here if you would like to come. Chris Bolton is catering a light lunch and he will need to know numbers.
With thanks to them, this event is supported by the Welsh Government.
Learning points from Going Responsive
On Tuesday night I was lucky enough to listen to James Cryer talk about responsive design.
I have written a longer post about Read more…
Getting Responsive With WordPress
Hello there and we’ve just planned our first meet-up for 2013.
WordPress.com itself has had a responsive overhaul, as you are possibly aware.
And if a wordpress developer, designer or content-maker, whether we need to use responsive design – and how we use it – may be vexing…
We’re lucky to have James Cryer steering this session, who some of you may remember from our very first meeting.
It will be held at Indycube Castle Arcade, Cardiff on Tuesday, February 19th, from 5.30 -7.30.
Everyone is welcome and please register here .
The event is free but we will be crowdsourcing with a bucket some financial appreciation to Indycube, who have been once more kind enough to host us.
So if can hoist your wallets along with your lovely selves, that would be brilliant…. thanks!
Yuletide Thanks And Good Wishes
photo by Helen Reynolds
Big thanks to generous hosts this year The Promised Land, Chapter Arts Centre, Indycube, and Software Alliance Wales. May good karma be returned to you soon.
And also thanks to our speakers who gave their time and expertise for free: Joel Hughes ( who spoke twice, the guy’s a saint), Nicky Getgood (mum now to baby Rowan and we wish you snuggles), Alessio Bernadelli (now at Times Educational Supplement ), Cathy Presland, internet marketer, and Helen Reynolds, social media manager for Monmouth Council – and some, too.
All of you who turned up, talked and joined in our collective enthusiasm and learning for WordPress are much appreciated.
Next year we hope to start off with events on responsive design, book production using WordPress, and Chris - newly in touch with his feminist side – intends to provide brown bag lunches for a do featuring just women speakers. But blokes are welcome too.
May all your themes and plug-ins be a go-go over yuletide.
We’d love to see you soon and have a good one.
How To Pull With WordPress
from http://www.useit.com
B.t.w. they offer amazing workshops and support – quite the envy of those of us at seminar who live further east.
Based on wide experience of running blogging workshops, Joel talked about ‘the man in the pub’ approach and a need to avoid the ‘To Whom It May Concern’ voice, that tempts bloggers who haven’t yet found their voice. On his blog, he’s published a most helpful follow-up post curation for smes or anyone who wants to beef up their blogging.
Helen talked about what successful bloggers do, about the power of talking as a friend, and about kindness and generosity amongst bloggers. Those of you who are thinking ‘too touchy-feely by half’ here should note that one of Helen’s posts here has over 25,000 hits.
That pesky Mrs Motivator insisted on talking as well, mentioning eye tracking patterns, personas and action online. Her notes and slides are here.
Finally, just like to make special mention of Ena, Dot and Alessio and anyone else who travelled some distance to the workshop. We very much appreciate your support and effort. Those of you who heard Alessio talking at Chapter, showing the amazing interactions kids were having in science blogs, may like to know he is now working at the Times Educational Supplement. And James Cryer, who spoke at our first event now has a posh job at the BBC… Impressive, eh?
We are currently planning our next event and hope to run something longer, over a day perhaps, on e-publishing using WordPress.
Be really helpful if you could tell us whether a Saturday, Sunday or weekday would work best for you on this (we suspect the first two )… Just tweet or comment us, please.
Cheers!
