Music and Media Educators Conference in Leeds

Just a quick blog to tell you about an upcoming, free (gotta like those) event on Wednesday 2nd and Thursday 3rd September being held by Leeds Metropolitan University and JAMES (Joint Audio Media Education Services).

The event takes place over two days and will include master classes, seminars, workshops, product demonstrations and lectures.

Day 1 will cover issues concerning music technology and education in areas such as Mastering and 'Long Distance Mixing'.

Day 2 will address issues relating to Film, TV and Post-Production with workshops from Foley Artists and Sound Design Editors.

Keynotes addresses will be delivered by Dennis Weinreich (Managing Director Post Production for the Pinewood Group) and Steve Lawson (stevelawson.net) .

If you're interested and want to register you can book your place by emailing innevents@leedsmet.ac.uk

Competition for the 2010 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona

The Digital Communications KTN, working in association with UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), has announced a competition open to UK-based SMEs with an innovative new mobile or wireless solution or product.

On offer are five free places to showcase your solution or product on the UKTI stand, located on the Avenida at the Mobile World Congress, Barcelona from 15 - 18 February 2010. This is your chance to introduce your high technology product to the more than 60,000 key industry decision makers that are expected to attend.

If you would like to take part in this competition you have to summarise in no more than 500 words the nature of your new solution or product, it’s value proposition and benefit to the customer, and why you believe your company should be awarded a place to showcase it at next year’s Mobile World Congress. Summaries should be sent to info@dcktn.org.uk and arrive no later than 5:00pm on Friday September 4 2009.

A panel representing the Digital Communications KTN and UKTI will assess all submissions received by this date. Up to twenty short listed companies will then be given the opportunity to present their products at finals held at locations determined by the geographic spread of the short-listed entries.

It's an excellent opportunity to showcase a new project, meet other people in the field and of course get a trip to the mobile conference, which just happens to be in Barcelona :-)

Upcoming events - Creative Networks’ Summer Festival & Yorkshire Gold Business Club's Golden Surgery

So just to spread the word about a couple of upcoming events...

The next Creative Networks event is going to be their annual Summer Festival on Thursday 30th July 2009 at ‘Wonderwood’, near the Round Foundry in the Holbeck Urban Village (you can get a bus from the Leeds College of Art if it's closer to you at 6.20pm and 7pm).

There will be live music, courtesy of the ‘Old Chapel’; barbeque and summer booze from the ‘Midnight Bell’; and as you would expect of Creative Networks, a great atmosphere and lots of good company.

This event is free to creative, digital and cultural industry professionals.
If you would like to attend, contact Creative Networks on 01422 399444 or email Bridget March at bridgetm@leeds-art.ac.uk

The Yorkshire Gold Business Club is holding a ‘Golden Surgery’ event. Discover the live contract and tender opportunities that are available right now that your business can bid for and win!

Speakers will offer practical advice about how to gain a real advantage and on winning work on major projects such as the £16bn Cross Rail, the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, The Commonwealth Games, Leeds Bradford Airport, Heathrow Terminal 6 & 3rd runway expansion and Transport for London upgrades.

Date: 22 July 2009
Location: Round Foundry Media Centre, Leeds
Time: 6.30 pm – 8.30 pm (Registration at 6.00pm)
Cost: FREE

Guests are required to register for this event - please email ygbc@venmanagement.com with your Contact Name, Company name and Postcode or call Lauren Pigg on 0114 2015721. You will receive an e-ticket in response. Numbers are restricted to the event so respond early to avoid disappointment.

TEDx North, TED talks across the North of England courtesy of Codeworks

Codeworks are bringing TED talks to the North of England with a fab TEDxNorth roadshow type affair. I won't explain what TED is, suffice to say it is the conference to be at; maybe because it's invite only, maybe because it's expensive or more likely because the speakers are ridiculously impressive and entertaining. They're absolutely not the normal run of the mill death by powerpoint type events. YouTube is full of TED talks if you want to see what i'm on about.

TEDx are official but independently organised TED events. And, for TEDx North at least, are free to attend.

Anyway so now there are going to be two events in Yorkshire & Humberside.

TEDxLeeds to be held on 10th September at Old Broadcasting House from 5.30pm - 9pm, supported by nti, carbonimagineering and Codeworks. You can register online.

TEDxSheffield to be held on 16th September at Electric Works from 10am - 5.30pm, supported by Creative Sheffield and Codeworks. You can also register online.

I try to keep this blog entirely Yorkshire centric as if the rest of the world doesn't exist, but in case you are unfortunate enough to be elsewhere ;-) :

TEDx Liverpool

TEDx Newcastle

TEDx Manchester

I have a feeling these are all going to sell out fairly fast, especially as they are free to attend, so clear your diary and get registered!

Future Technologies July - New Software Tools

This month instead of focusing on one main theme I thought i'd give a brief overview of some of the interesting new ideas i've come across recently. I like to keep my eye on people like Microsoft Research, Google Labs, Yahoo Labs and Mozilla Labs so i've gone through and chosen my pick of their current new offerings.

First up is Google Labs and what i'm most interested in at the moment (except maybe the new OS :-)) is Google Wave.

"Google Wave is a new model for communication and collaboration on the web".

A ‘wave’ is a group conversation with added functionality. A 'wave' is live. It combines files (text, photos, videos, maps) and conversations. People can join part-way through the 'wave' and rewind to see what has previously been discussed / shared.

As I understand it, a group of people can work on a file at the same time and the 'wave' ensures it keeps track of all the different changes in real time and that there is only one version of the file. So instead of having to have version 1, version 2 etc of a file you can work on one file but rewind to see where changes have been made and thereby see the different versions. Also, because it's live you can see other peoples changes in real time - making it very useful for collaboration.

Next is Yahoo labs and a new product they're working on called MapChat.

MapChat combines Instant Messenger and maps. So basically you can discuss areas or specific locations with a group of people at the same time whilst viewing the maps. I can see this being particularly useful for events organisers but potentially it could have other uses. Not surprisingly you have to have a Yahoo account to try it out and I don't, so if anyone else does, have a go and let me know what it's like!

I'm really liking this next find from Mozilla labs called Ubiquity.

"With search, users type what they want to find. With Ubiquity, they type what they want to do."

The online demo shows a user being able to insert maps whilst writing an email. So basically you're composing an email and through Ubiquity you can tell it to insert a map (instead of linking to the map). You can also insert an online review - Ubiquity is grabbing the information from the webpage and automatically adding it to your email through a simple command from the user - I like this! You can also add information to your calendar without actually having to go into your calendar. For me I like it because it's combining some of the fantastic benefits of using commands with online information and office-like tools.

You can also highlight a list of locations, for example a list of hotels, and then add them all to a map using a simple one line command. It allows you to send messages through twitter, compose emails whilst on a webpage, automatically create TinyURLs for websites, all through using commands.

The only disadvantage I see with it is that for people who have never used Linux or applications that use the command line this could take some getting used to and could in fact seem a bit too alien. It also seems to take quite a bit of effort to set it up.

Finally, from Microsoft labs i've been looking at the Social Desktop.

"The Social Desktop blends the Web and PC by embedding Web oriented sharing inside your desktop, allowing every document to have the ability to have a backing social URL for sharing without having to upload or copy or move it from its natural location. This url provides access not just to the file, but to a built in social experience which includes a rich preview of each item, comments, related items, tags, etc."

What an interesting idea. As I understand it this is basically using cloud computing (Windows Azure, which is Microsofts cloud) to turn public anything you have on your desktop that you want to share with others. Not only is the file made public without any real work on the part of the end user but all the related content is too, i.e. people can have a conversation about the file and this information is saved with the URL. Could be fantastic for collaborative working.

My only query with this one is that it states "enabling local data to be accessible through firewalls" - i'd like a bit more information on this! I wonder how it does this and what restrictions would be in place to ensure sensitive information doesn't get out and about by mistake.

I'm struck by the similarity of the products above, which are all looking at combining existing but currently separate ways of working and bringing them together to make them more efficient. So there is nothing individually new or amazing , it's more the combination that is interesting (instant messenger with file editing etc). Apart from Mozilla's Ubiquity, they are also all focussed on improving online collaboration, removing the need for face to face meetings. Is this an indication of a new global workforce able to work anywhere, at any time, with anyone?

IT and Telecommunications Report - The Findings

We recently commisioned a report looking at the IT and Telecommunications industries in Yorkshire and Humberside.

The report was made up of several elements including an online survey of IT companies asking various questions about their business and the potential for a new business network for the IT and Telecomms industries in the region.

A profile of the sector nationally and regionally was also compiled by looking at various different sources of statistical information.

Finally, there were also workshops held across the region (Leeds, Hull, Sheffield and York) as well as some one-to-one sessions with key individuals in order to gain some qualitative feedback.

The report makes for an interesting read if you're involved in the sector so you can find the results on our website, Establishing IT and Telecomms Yorkshire.

UKTI event: Opportunities for Yorkshire companies in India, 13th July, Leeds

Indian customers are looking for ICT firms with experience, expertise and innovation to help them meet a variety of business needs, many familiar to the UK but new to the Indian market.

There is great demand for software, electronics and communications expertise, across sectors including healthcare, automotive, government, education, infrastructure and retail.

As the global market for offshore services becomes increasingly crowded, Indian IT firms are looking for partners who can provide sources of competitive advantage to global customers.

The UKTI is looking for the best UK firms in these sectors, to introduce to its network of potential customers and partners in India, and support them through the increasingly familiar challenges of doing business in this compelling market.

UKTI can guide you through these opportunities, and equip you with the knowledge, confidence and support to explore them. You can book 1 to 1 sessions with the UKTI sector specialists in India to look at opportunities specific for you.

Or you can attend an event in Leeds on the 13th July. The UKTI is bringing ICT and Life Sciences sector specialists from India to the UK, to share these opportunities with you at a series of “India Clinics”.

To find out more or register for the India Clinic in Leeds contact Amanda Kirk:

0113 394 9825 mandy@uktiyh.org.uk