“BT have established that a junction box containing our connection has been flooded and damaged and are currently effecting a repair. The extent of the damage has been assessed and is now known to be affecting a large number of organisations around the city, not just the Council, and has been escalated to the highest priority within BT. The ICT Service is also engaging with another partner to establish a potential alternate connection to the internet.  Who is affected? – Anyone accessing the Internet, CAG and VPN users, external emails, Blackberry users.   What is the impact? – Any service requiring a connection to the Internet is currently unavailable.”

We’d have thought that after the fire in the BT tunnels a decade ago which wiped out Internet connections across the city for days that things would have improved, especially when we are told that there is “more than enough” fibre throughout the city to provide the resilience that we want. Well the reality seems to be rather different and all the more reason for encouraging multiple open access networks to develop to meet the 21st century needs of a 21st century city.

Contents:

• The difference between online & offline shops
• What makes a good website: design, layout & content
• How to develop a website specification in plain English
• Ways to keep your online customers satisfied
• How to build customer loyalty
• How to make your brand work on the webmore about this session here

Resources:

• Presentation
• Useful Links / Bookmarks
• Website Specification Template
• Writing a Website Brief

This resources below will cover the different ways to accept payments and how to choose the right one for your business & customers.

Contents:

• How to compare & contrast between the different options
• The payment services that are available, e.g. PayPal, Worldpay
• What’s involved in setting up a custom-built payments system
• How to make the payments process easy for customers
• The best model for your business

Resources:

• Presentation
• Sector Guide / Textiles
• Useful Links / Bookmarks

Every new generation questions the world it finds itself in. Arguably Generation Y has arrived better prepared than any other. The  difference – technology.

That technological buzzing disrupts all aspect of life, society, governance and business. It presents new and unexpected business opportunities and challenges many of the traditional canons in marketing, HR and business strategy.

This forum offers the opportunity to explore the issues at hand and its implications with a multidisciplinary panel of leading professionals.

Forum panel

• Helen Bullough, Executive Editor of Dragons’ Den, BBC Entertainment
• Dianah Worman OBE, Adviser on diversity, CIPD
• Mark Stuart, Head of Research, The Chartered Institute of Marketing
• Adrian Slater, Director, jobsgopublic

When and where

Thursday 20 November 2008 from 6pm to 7.30pm.

Manchester Business School, Booth Street West, M15 6PB.

Cost

£10 fee, but first 50 to register get in FREE!

How to register

Register by emailing csr@mjcc.info or on Facebook (you’ll need a Facebook account).

The event is part of a Corporate Social Responsibility Series in partnership with The Centre of Engagement (Manchester Business School).

The event is taking place over the Pennines in sunny Leeds, so Greater Manchester based freelancers don’t have far to go to attend.

It will take place in met:space (Old Broadcasting House).

If you want to go, you’ll need to register.

More information

Check out the Going Solo blog, their updates on Twitter, or have a look at the introductory video describing what it’s all about.

Tune-in, create, share, take-part, broadcast, publish, go global… Lets Go Global would like you to invite you to their open day.

Come and see what they do and how they do it. Whether you’re a member of the local community, an arts organisation, potential partner, a creative company or an artist we want you to come and see our facilities and find out about our new creative training lab.

Where?

3-5 Malvern Row, Old Trafford, Manchester M15 4FD, or go to http://www.letsgoglobal.tv/contact/.

When?

Thursday 3rd July 2008, drop in anytime between 1pm – 7pm or email LGG to arrange a specific meeting.

More info

You can find out more about Lets Go Global at www.letsgoglobal.tv, where there’s a video archive, forums, and lots more.

Now in its third year, the SIP-Bench project has been conducting a study of over thirty parental control products and services that aim to protect children between six and sixteen against harmful content on the Internet.

You can help the study by trying out some of the tools at home or at school. All you have to do is install some software provided by the project and contribute to the study for a couple of weeks.

You don’t have to be a computer expert to take part, just willing to contribute to the study.

More information

You can find out how to get involved, and the results of the benchmarking study so far, at the Safer Internet Benchmarking website.