Nominate a Blog

You can nominate a blog by simply filling out the nominate a blog form over at the Manchester Blog Awards website, after first checking eligibility in the Categories section. you can nominate your own blog – but don’t forget to put forward one or two other blogs that you enjoy reading too.

More information

Please visit the Manchester Blog Awards website.

If you’re tweeting about the awards, why not include the #mcrblogawards hashtag?

Design Patterns for E-Commerce

E-commerce is a highly competitive arena in which anything that can give a competitive edge is useful. Sam Sutton will present a review of some of the more popular design patterns in e-commerce, and look at how interaction design patterns have been adopted within the e-commerce sector.

Does Technology Make Any Difference In Our Social Life?

This talk will give an overview of the EPSRC/ESRC Foresight project ‘Developing Theory for Evolving Socio-Technical Systems’ (TESS). The project is based on Robin Dunbar’s Social Brain Theory that explains the evolutionary constraints on human relationships and social organisation. With the spread of Social Networking Sites such as Facebook and MySpace, will we be able avoid those constraints to keep up with more friends and be more social, or is the downside, invasion of privacy, stalking, and a less social world ? The TESS project is researching these issues by studying social networks and work-related groups. I will describe current research on social networking sites and how this fits into the wider picture of social mediating technologies such as Twitter, Wikipedia, etc. Investigating the questions- does technology really change the way we behave in our social life, how do we adapt and use these technologies, and what impact might technology have a social capital?

For more information on the project http://www.mbs.ac.uk/research/DTESS.aspx

Time

The event will be from 7pm to 9pm

Venue

Code Computerlove, Ducie House, Ducie Street, Manchester, M1 2JW

Register For the Event

You can register at the Upcoming website.

Use Our Twitter Hashtag

If you want to tweet about the event or Northern User Experience, our twitter hashtag is #nuxuk.

More information on the event can be found at the Northern User Experience website.

The cream of the North West’s Digital sector gathered at Manchester’s luxurious Palace Hotel on Thursday to celebrate this year’s Big Chip Awards, the North West’s annual awards for digital excellence.

The night was hosted by legendary Manchester broadcaster Terry Christian and saw a record number of entries competing for one of 20 prestigious awards. The night also saw David Threlfall (Frank Gallagher from Shameless) speak on behalf of his charity Action for Children.

Organised by Manchester Digital, the trade association for the region’s digital sector, and backed by media partners Insider and New Media Age, the awards lived up to their reputation as the must-attend event of the North West’s digital calendar.

The big winners of the night were Cheadle’s Lightbox Education who took home the Big Chip Grand Prix for their MP for a Week which also won Best Public Sector Project.

Manchester’s Stardotstar and freelancer Digital Blah Blah also performed well at the awards. Stardotstar were crowned Best New Media Agency as well as winning Best e-Learning Project for its interactive exploration of the royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra Things to Come and Best Application of Technology for its innovative iphone parking app Nosey Parker. Digital Blah Blah won Best Freelancer / Micro Enterprise and scooped Best Use of Visual Design for the Adam Rix website.

Manchester Museum’s Consortium & Visit Manchester, a group of nine art museums and galleries in Manchester, won Best On-line Brand Development for the on-line magazine Creative Tourist, which celebrates everything’s that’s going on in the city – the site was also commended for Best Public Sector Project.

Manchester’s 11 Out of 10 Ltd. Won Best E-Business Project for Pure Gym ecommerce website.

Digital agency Cahoona snapped up the Best Not For Profit Project for its website for the redevelopment of legendary Manchester venue Band on the Wall which also won the publicly voted Tasty Website Award.

Manchester SEO experts PushON were awarded the Best Use of Search for their work on the Love Those Shoes website.

The Best Digital Marketing Campaign went to Iris Manchester for Wonderbra’s new Ultimate Strapless bra.

Manchester based Wooshi.com, the brand-new platform connecting the creators of rich media with potential buyers, was crowned Best Newcomer in the North West.

The Neighbourhood were awarded the Best Use of Animation for its video for Nord Anglia Education – Craig Knowles and David Ridges were commended in this category.

Connect2Media took home the Game of the North Award for its web-spinning iphone game Arachnadoodle.

The Big Chip International Award for Innovation went to Studio Liddell and Magic Lantern’s Bugbear website for BBC Children’s.

This year’s Big Chip saw the launch of two brand-new North of England awards, the Big Green Chip Award and the Little Chip Student Award. The DTP Group took the Big Green Award for its Managed Print & Copy Services at Leeds Metropolitan University whilst Andreas Linden from the University of Central Lancashire won the Little Chip Student Award.

The winner of the Anthony Wilson Original Modern Award was Kilogramme, who entered for Best Freelancer/Microenterprise. The Anthony Wilson Original Modern Award’s guest judge this year was the BBC’s Andy Davy.

The panel of judges, chaired by Michael Nutley, editor of New Media Age magazine, and including Gavin Ailes of Searchworks, Peter Cowley of Endemol, Alasdair Rawsthorne of the University of Manchester, Steve Smith of Liverpool Vision and Channel 4’s commissioning editor for education and new media Matt Locke had a tough job selecting the winners from one of the strongest Big Chip shortlists to date.

The headline sponsor of the 2010 Big Chip Awards were Vision+Media. The other sponsors were 2ergo, Insider, Manchester Metropolitan University, Marketing Manchester, Melbourne Server Hosting, MIDAS, Montpelier, New Media Age, Orchard and UK Trade and Investment.

Chairman of Manchester Digital and Big Chip organiser Shaun Fensom said: “It’s been a fantastic year for the Big Chip Awards and the North West’s digital sector in general. We had a record number of entries and the judging panel were impressed with the very high level of quality in all the shortlisted entries.

“There is a highly skilled and very creative pool of talent in the North and North West region and Big Chip provides a showcase for the very best projects and organisations. It’s vital we recognise those who continue to create exciting and innovative products and services, contributing to raising the reputation of the region as a hot-bed of fresh thinking as we move forward.”

Enda Carey, Sector Lead for Games, Digital & Creative Services at headline sponsors Vision+Media said: “The Big Chip Awards recognise and reward excellence in the region’s digital industry, which continues to go from strength to strength thanks to the immense amount of digital talent we have here. The Big Chip is a fantastic opportunity for that talent to come together and celebrate their successes of the last year. We’d like to take this opportunity to congratulate all of the winners.”

For more information on the event or on the winners and their winning projects and to read the judges’ comments visit www.bigchipawards.com

For further media information and images please contact Andrew Spinoza, or Maxim Howard at SKV Communications on (0161) 838 7770 enquiries@skvcommunications.co.uk.

Dates and time: 03 Jun 2010 1:00pm – 5:00pm
Organised by: The Small Business Marketing Centre
Venue: Old Trafford Empress Business Centre, 380 Chester Road, Manchester, Greater Manchester, M16 9EA

This interactive seminar outlines the eight essential principles Google adwords experts use to attract hundreds of customers every day. During this seminar you’ll be able to set up and optimise pay per click campaigns like a professional.

Cost: Free
Maximum number of attendees: 12

Further information visit http://www.learningadwords.co.uk/ or contact Chris Jenkins on 0161 408 6555 or email chris@learningadwords.co.uk

Media Foundation Placement Scheme Awareness Session

Start Date: 08th June 2010 6pm – 8pm
Venue: BBC Manchester, Oxford Road

The aim of this session is to find out about what the scheme offers and what placements are available for you to apply for. You will also have the opportunity to meet, and speak to our current MFPS trainees about their experiences and achievements so far.

This is a brilliant chance to meet the MFPS team, seek guidance, and gain clarification on the training profiles which interest you the most.

For further details and to RSVP to this event. Please email MFPS@visionandmedia.co.uk

GeekUp Manchester

Date: 18:00 Tuesday June 08 2010
Venue: MadLab, 36-40 Edge Street, Manchester M4 1HN

GeekUp Manchester takes place on the second Tuesday of every month. It’s a grass-roots knowledge sharing and networking social for folks involved or interested in all forms of technology and creative media.

MadLab is a bring your own drinks venue but there is also an honesty bar if you come empty handed.
Like usual Paul Robinson should be collecting the USB Drives and redistributing them for GeekUp “MixTape” Shuffle.

If you have any questions about GeekUp Manchester get in touch with Andrew Disley 07921040857 or Dan Hardiker

Powerful ways to reach your audience using social media

When: Wednesday, June 9, 2010 18.30pm – 21.00pm
Venue: Marriott Renaissance Manchester City Centre
E-Mail: northwest@national-womens-network.co.uk
Phone: 01928 711800
Cost: £20 members, £25 non members incl buffet supper

The internet has changed the way that we communicate with our clients and customers. Social networking has come of age, and many businesses are using sites like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and iTunes as a channel to market services and products. Can these exciting developments help you and your business? Jonathan Bowers will talk about the companies thriving on the social media explosion, and explain some of the dangers and pitfalls of misusing the world’s fastest growing medium. You will also have the opportunity to network.

OpenSpace networking & social

When: 10 June – 18:00 – 21:00
On June 10th OpenSpace will be opening its doors for an evening of socialising and networking.
During the event, we’ll be showing off our new space and hoping to meet and network with other likeminded, creatives, social enterprises and freelancers. The event will be from 6pm to 9pm with refreshments and nibbles.

As space is slightly limited, please email info@openspace.coop by 5th June if you’d like to come.

ICT Best Practice & Opportunities

When: Monday, June 14, 2010 09:30 – 13:30
Cost: Free

The event is aimed demonstrating ICT best practice and associated opportunities of funding ICT research. This will give delegates an introduction to FP7 collaborative research and showcase business case studies. There will be an opportunity for the attendees to participate in an FP7 ‘Best Practice Forum’ from which the results will be published and circulated after the event. There will be a look forward to some of the future European Initiative opportunities as well as an overview of the guidelines to writing a good, solid FP7 proposal.

Event Website: http://www.business-support-solutions.co.uk/events/887/

Tech Mission London 2010

Date: 2010-06-15 13:00 – 19:00
More Information: http://www.techcelerate.org/jun10

Tech Mission London 2010 (#TML10) provides a dynamic environment for Northern Tech community (tech entrepreneurs, investors, deal makers and service providers) to engage with their counterparts from London. Key objectives of this mission are to build new relationships and partnerships with access to markets, share knowledge and best practices, and explore investment opportunities.

Up to eight companies will pitch to a panel of investors in the evening. Each company is given 5 minutes to deliver a razor-sharp pitch and the investors have 10 mins to evaluate the opportunity for follow up during networking and beyond.

Get in touch immediately if you wish to pitch

Innovation Summit – How innovating together can improve your customer service

Date: 16th June 2010
Registration: 9:30am
Venue: Concorde Conference Centre, Aviation Viewing Park, Manchester Airport

The innovation summit will provide first class speakers, a Q&A panel session and a world leading technology showcase with over 25 companies.

The event is free to attend and will also include the announcement of the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce/Weber Shandwick Innovation Award Winner.

More information http://outthereevents.cmail1.com/T/ViewEmail/r/76F3CCB320C1D21E

InProcess:ing v1.4

an open forum for sharing creative coding and practice a scheme by Madlab and Cybersonica
Date: Thursday, 17th June 19:00 – 22:00 (and third Thursday – or thereabouts – of the month thereafter)
Venue: Madlab (Manchester Digital Laboratory)

madlab.org.uk
inprocessing.cybersonica.org

‘In-the-flesh’ presentation by London based live video performance artist or “pixelist” Evan Raskob a.k.a. PixelPusher – demonstrating his homemade software that generates video out of a controlled chaos of photographic images, simple shapes, animations, sounds, and live video feeds;

Informal ‘show-and-tell’ and ‘open-laptop’ sessions (go on… bring some of your own work along).
InProcess:ing focuses on the Processing language, environment and community (though not exclusively) as a vehicle to support and encourage creative collaboration and meaningful exchange between a diverse group of practitioners, creatives and hobbyists. It aims to create a playful, experimental space and a supportive framework in which people can share their work, realise new technological ideas, be inspired, challenged and stretched.

Join us at the next session to see Processing in action, meet other interested and like-minded people and find out more about the project and how to get involved;

For full biogs, photos and links visit the InProcess:ing website inprocessing.cybersonica.org.

Manchester Wired City Reconnected

Date: 17.06.10 – 18:00 – 20:00
Venue: The Cafe, Enterprise House, Lloyd Street North, Manchester Science Park, Manchester

The Wired City Reconnected events are ‘collaborative’ networking events aimed at the digital, creative and ICT businesses interested in potential collaborations or the chance to share and exchange ideas.
The list of potential business collaborations is growing and would be pleased to receive yours. We are particularly keen to hear from .net developers, drupal developers and wordpress experts…to address current calls.

Book a place: please follow this Link to Manchester WCR Event; www.albaassoc.com/events
Delegates are charged £15.00. However if you book online up to one week before the event delegates are only charged £12.50. This fee covers liquid refreshment, buffet and an business introductory / matching service.

Intro Processing for Everyone

Date: Friday, 18th June 10.30am-4.30pm
Venue: Madlab (Manchester Digital Laboratory)

InProcess:ing and Madlab are pleased to welcome Evan Raskob – founder and organiser of Openlab Workshops – making art and music with open source/free software around London and the UK.

This condensed one-day version of the regular Openlab’s 5-evening course will be a relaxed but project-focused introduction to programing in Processing and interactive art and design in general. We will spend the bulk of the day on basic methods of working with code, general workflow and feeling your way around the Processing environment, along the way building some small projects and gaining inspiration from art, design and technologies such as Wii remotes, RFID, OSC, video and more. The material is flexible, based on the needs and wishes of the people attending.
£15/£10 students – buy your ticket via Eventbrite http://introprocessingforeveryone.eventbrite.com

The Drum B2B Marketing Forum

Where: Old Trafford, Manchester
When: 9am – 3pm, Thursday 3 June 2010

The Marketing Industry Network would like to invite you to an exclusive marketing forum for senior b2b marketers. Delegates will be able to listen and debate with leaders in the marketing industry on key issues of today. The b2b forum will feature four keynote presentations, a grand debate and interactive panel discussions on PR, digital, creative and sales & marketing developments and issues within the marketing industry.

If you would like to attend this free event please contact Caroline Lotinga on 0141 559 6066 or caroline.lotinga@marketingindustrynetwork.com

Internet Espionage

When: Tuesday, June 22, 2010 8am – 10am
Venue: The Park Inn Manchester Victoria
Contact: marilyn.nicholson@business-support-solutions.co.uk

A virus could start when an employee opens an infected e-mail message. As the virus spreads, confidential documents are made public, personal information is disclosed & e-mail delivery is halted, eventually even causing total data loss & limitless damage to your company and its reputation. Take some preventative action now & minimise the risk by booking onto this FREE breakfast seminar.

Partnering for Innovation Regional Events

When: Thurs, 24th June – Bridgewater House, Manchester

The Technology Strategy Board (TSB) has recently announced a fund of £18m to be used for collaborative R&D across the UK’s digital industry. To support the fund and provide information about the application process, the Creative Industries KTN have organised a series of six regional events taking place throughout May and June 2010.

The events are free to attend but space is limited so do register to secure your spot. For more information and to sign up please see:

Organiser website: creativeindustriesktn.org
Contact: Anita Onwuegbuzie – a.onwuegbuzie@arts.ac.uk

1-2-1 Creative Business Surgeries

When: 30.06.10 – 12:00 – 16:30
Where: Waterside Arts Centre, Sale, M33 7ZF

Come and discuss your creative business concerns with Paul Shambrook, Digital&Creative Services Broker with Business Link North West. Paul is highly experienced both as a business advisor and from running his own successful jewellery design business.

Call 0161 912 5616 to reserve your place. Places are free but you do need to book in advance.

The App School, Manchester’s groundbreaking scheme aimed at helping young people get into the creative and digital industries, has been won by Didsbury-based musician.

A panel of industry experts judged ideas from ‘App School‘ participants on Thursday 13th May, and chose a musical iPhone application (’app’) by Abigail Sanders as the winning concept. When launched, the app allow iPhone users to re-create the sounds of the Hurdy Gurdy – a long-forgotten medieval instrument.

To gather support for her pitch Abigail, who studied at the Royal Northern College of Music, attended the annual ‘Hurdy Gurdy Festival’ in early May. At the festival she approached some of the UK’s leading Hurdy Gurdy players, who gave their full backing her proposal – one player liked the concept so much he travelled to Manchester to perform at the pitch event.

On the judging panel were representatives from Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU), alongside Manchester-based app development companies. In addition the panel were joined by Rob Shoesmith – renowned in the digital industry as the Coventry binman who has launched a number of successful iPhone apps with MEDL Mobile, a major US software company. The panel applauded Abigail on the work she had done in developing the unique and marketable concept, concluding that the app had all it took to ‘go viral’.

Recently featured on BBC North West Tonight, The App School was designed to help young creatives increase their chances of getting a career in the fast-growing creative and digital industries. It was funded through Manchester City Council and developed by The White Room, in partnership with MMU and Cornerhouse. Alongside developing their app ideas, the participants have received training throughout the course on essential skills such as Project Management, Financial Planning, Team-working and Pitching, with
sessions co-designed by leading lights in the industry.

The White Room’s Project Director, Phil Birchenall led the design of the App School course. He says, “We are delighted with how the course has helped the participants. I’ve noticed a complete transformation in their approach, and I can confidently say we’ve helped shaped some of tomorrow’s creative stars through this project.”

A prototype of the app will now be built by a team of staff and students at MMU, who will be working with Abigail as Project Manager. She will be supported through its development by staff at The White Room and the companies represented on the pitch panel. Other App School participants have been offered internships by companies involved in the scheme.

The free monthly Social Media Surgery events which help Manchester businesses embrace the social media revolution in order to grow and market their companies saw an influx of new attendees.

Amongst the record turnout was Samrana Hussain, Business Reporter at Crain’s Manchester Business, the weekly business newspaper for Greater Manchester who commented:

“The event was well-organised with a good range of speakers who knew how to use the social media tools in discussion. Social media is being increasingly used to market and connect with businesses and consumers. The workshops offer an avenue to explore and discuss how individuals and companies can capitalise on the media.”

For more quotes and videos from the Social Media Surgery in April see http://ht.ly/1HBtx

The next Manchester Social Media Surgery is on Tuesday 11th May at the offices of the Manchester Digital Development Agency (MDDA), Lower Ground Floor, 117-119 Portland Street from 5:30pm to 7:30pm.

The theme of the event is:

‘What businesses can learn from how social media is used during the 2010 UK elections.’

Social media surgeons at the event are:

• Adrian Slatcher, Senior Digital Development officer, MDDA – Chair
• Katie Moffat, Social media consultant, organiser of Manchester Twestival and Manchester Digital council member
• Nigel Barlow, freelance journalist, co-founder of hyper-local news site for Manchester, Inside the M60
• Matt Hackett, Manager, Digital & Marketing Recruitment Team at Orchard
• Sarah Hartley, Local launch editor for The Guardian

Sign up to attend:
http://socialmediamanchester.ning.com/events/may-manchester-social-media

About the Event Organiser
Real Fresh TV provides social media consultancy, training and implementation services on digital projects in the region. Recent clients include Contact Theatre Manchester and Junction K. Need help with social media marketing? Contact us http://www.realfresh.tv/

The 2009 awards have attracted hundreds of entries from companies across the whole of the region. A total of 55 entries are on the shortlist which also includes 25 companies from Manchester and Greater Manchester, seven companies from Lancashire, three from Liverpool and 11 from Cheshire.

Manchester firms nominated in this year’s awards include Code Computerlove for Transpennine Express, ahd for its ahd168 animated robot film, TWBA\Manchester for ghd website and Love for Doctor Martens. Merseysiders shortlisted included Everton Football Club for its Bluetooth offering and Mando Group for the Liverpool Biennial 2008. Lancaster’s 15secondTV and Cheadle’s Lightbox Education were also shortlisted, the latter in three categories.

The panel of nine judges, chaired by Michael Nutley, editor of New Media Age magazine, and including Alasdair Rawsthorne of Manchester University, Alasdair Scott of Filter and Matt Locke commissioning editor at Channel 4, had the tough job of selecting the shortlist.

This year there are 13 North West categories, including some new ones – the ‘green’ award for technology, the Tasty Website award  (a popular vote via SMS text messaging) Best Digital Marketing Campaign, Best Online Brand Development and Best Newcomer (Enterprise).

Added to these are the Game of the North award (open to companies in all Northern regions), and the International Award for Innovation. A special Anthony Wilson Original Modern Award will also be presented on the night.

Altogether, 46 North West companies have been short-listed for the awards, which boast MIDAS, NWRDA, MMU, Creative Manchester, Orchard Suits, Manchester Digital and Melbourne network solutions as sponsors.

Companies nominated for an award will automatically be entered into the relevant sub-regional category for Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, and Merseyside. Winners of the regional awards will then be entered into the Grand Prix category for the best overall entry.

The awards are organised by Manchester Digital, the trade association for the region’s digital sector and will be once again hosted by Manchester broadcaster and Celebrity Big Brother finalist, Terry Christian.

Chairman of Manchester Digital and Big Chip organiser, Shaun Fensom, said: “We were overwhelmed with the number of high quality entries this year and the judges had an incredibly difficult decision cutting these down to create a shortlist. The current economic downturn has not deterred the digital sector from highlighting its successes and we think we have some of the best entries since the awards began 11 years ago.”

The Big Chip Awards will be announced at a glittering awards dinner on Thursday 18 June 2009 at the Palace Hotel, Manchester.

The full shortlist can be viewed at www.bigchipawards.com.

ProDev Day is a FREE business networking day for all students interested in discovering the Digital and Creative Industrial Sector in Manchester and what it has to offer in terms of careers, placements, internships, part-time work, study and mentoring.

It’s also for companies and organisations to find out more about the kinds of student being produced by the Universities and Colleges in the City with a view to managing employment in the future.

It’s also a chance for companies to give something back to the learning community in terms of support and help for students who want to move into this sector.

When

Wednesday 12 November 2008, between 12 noon and 3.30pm.

Where

The Street, John Dalton Building at MMU on Oxford Road in Manchester, UK. Google Map.

More information

Visit the ProDev Day website or subscribe to the feed.

This time round we will be asking has rich media outlived its time and is banner advertising dead? A recent survey of industry decision makers suggests so — more than 60 percent agree that rich media doesn’t have the “legs” to take us where we want to go over the coming years.

Interactive Digital Advertising looks set to be the next evolution of advertising — combining the accessibility and intelligence of the Internet and other forms of digital media with the benefits of interactivity — the final frontier of proactive engagement.

During this evening session Colin Elms (UK Managing Director at Eyewonder) will be discussing the opportunity this creates for agencies and advertisers. Using case studies Colin will demonstrate how you can fully leverage the technology to create entirely new levels of brand awareness, loyalty and engagement through the creation of two way dialogues with consumers. Whether that’s incorporating broadcast assets into your online campaign or showing product demos in your banner you will learn how video can be used to convey your brand and how to create, deliver and track successful campaigns in a more efficient and effective manner.

Colin Elms is the UK MD of one of Interactive Digital Advertising’s fastest-growing innovators. Eyewonder enable brands and advertisers to leverage the industry’s most comprehensive creative capabilities for online campaigns that are proven to deliver rich results. Colin has been publishing websites whose primary source of income is advertising for the last decade in senior management positions at sports publisher 365Media and itv.com.

The presentation will be over by 7:45pm, leaving plenty of time for networking over the wine and canapés. Tickets are £25 + VAT, places are limited so make sure you book early to reserve your place.

Book here