Membership
Selection box of members to wrap up the year
It’s been a while since I blogged about new members and I think I might blog about new members in batches from now on. It’s a more realistic approach in fairness. I hope you don’t mind!
First up are SpunOut.ie and coming from the community and voluntary sector I have been aware of the work SpunOut have been doing for some years. They are a National Youth Organisation Charity promoting positive personal and social change. Considering the manner in which young people use technology, offering them support and advice online is a no-brainer. I always think that initiatives aimed at young people make their first mistake when they mention the word “cool”. The approach of the SpunOut team undermines all previous “cool” efforts. I saw the SpunOut crew at the Irish Web Awards and I don’t think they care whether they’re cool or not. I wonder would they dress like that for the Net Visionary Awards 🙂
Foran Enterprise is as they say themselves “a professional company specialising in business design and training solutions.” They are based in Killarney, Co, Kerry and not only do they look after your electronic marketing but also print based marketing too.
The IIA Membership have seen many of their members scoop awards this year in all sorts of industry awards and new member Impact Media, based in Galway, can count themselves among those who helped bring home the piece for the mantel. Their clients FRS Recruitment won Best Recruitment Agency in the National Recruitment Federation (NRF) awards recently. Nice!
I was delighted to see Gorta joining towards the end of October especially when I looked at their brand spanking new website. It makes it very easy to make donations to assist them in their valuable work in making hunger history. The navigation allows all types of browser to find the required information quickly. They also include Field Blogs which is a great use of social media technology giving a real, up-to-the-minute view of what there volunteers are doing all over the world.
A big welcome also to the Web Office of my alma mater, Trinity College Dublin. Their representative Maura Horan is already getting stuck right in as she has agreed to chair the User Experience Working Group for 2009.
XennaNET.ie are also another welcome addition to the IIA. They availed of one of the special offers I made on Twitter a while ago and joined. While their website is currently in the minimalist phase I can tell you that I know that their claim to be “purveyors of fine web apps” is true. They are responsible for URL.ie which is indeed a fine, comprehensive URL shortening tool which I use regularly. It allows you to paste in a big long URL, shorten it and then share it via a number of different social networking and bookmarking tools. There is also a link for your browser toolbar and you can even generate a QR Code which while I see the potential value in is even getting a bit techie and geeky for me 🙂 Sweet though!
A big IIA welcome to Luxury Dublin Apartments. I’m sorry to say that I personally will probably never have the need for their service seeing as I hail from Rathmines which is the location of the beautifully appointed Luxury Dublin Apartments. However, having many family and friends scattered all over the globe it’s nice to know that there is a flexible option like this available in the area. As their local amenities page attests there is plenty to see and do in the area and it’s not far from Dublin city centre.
If you are thinking that it’s about time you snazzed up the office a bit you could do worse than Newform Office Interiors who joined the IIA recently. They are “a company who specialise in providing complete interior fit-out services to the Retail, Corporate and Commercial Sectors. With over 20 years experience, Newform give a complete turnkey fit-out service providing everything from office furniture, walls, partitioning, flooring.” Ever the geeky magpie I was particularly attracted to their Audio Visual Multimedia Wall. Shiny!
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Data Protection Commissioner welcomes new Regulations on unsolicited communications
Statutory Instrument No. 526 of 2008 which has now come into effect amends Statutory Instrument No. 535 of 2003 which has been in force since November 2003. Amongst the changes in the new Statutory Instrument are:
An increase from €3,000 to €5,000 in the penalty for a summary offence in respect of a contravention of the regulation relating to unsolicited communications.
The creation of an indictable offence for a contravention of the regulation relating to unsolicited communications. Where the person tried is a body corporate the fine imposed may not exceed €250,000 or, if 10% of the turnover of the person is greater than that amount, an amount equal to that percentage. Where the person tried is a natural person, the fine imposed may not exceed €50,000.
Provision for the prosecution of an officer of a body corporate for an offence under the regulations whether or not the body corporate itself has been proceeded against or been convicted of the offence committed by the body.
In relation to offences concerning the contravention of the regulation relating to unsolicited communications if, in court proceedings concerning such offences, the question of whether or not a subscriber consented to receiving an unsolicited communication is in issue, the onus of establishing that the subscriber consented will lie on the defendant.
Speaking today, Billy Hawkes said: "The signing of these Regulations by the Minister is an important and significant step in the fight against unsolicited communications for marketing purposes. I welcome the increase in penalties which have come into effect I am confident that the strengthening of the law in this area will help me in my task to enforce the regulations concerning unsolicited communications. I want to take this opportunity to remind persons engaged in direct marketing activities that my Office continues to pay close attention to the whole area of unsolicited communications by telephone, fax, email and text message. The new regulations, together with the serving of a considerable volume of summonses by my Office in the past fifteen months, serve to send a strong message to all involved in direct marketing about the necessity of compliance with the law."
Concluding, the Commissioner said: "I want, in particular, to send a message to all involved in business to familiarise themselves with the law which applies to unsolicited communications for direct marketing purposes. Increasingly, in this period of economic downturn, my Office is receiving complaints about businesses making unsolicited contact with their past customers for marketing purposes. In many cases, such contact is unlawful and, if carried out by telephone, text message or email it may be a criminal offence. Ignorance of the law is not an acceptable excuse for non-compliance and I will have no hesitation in applying the full force of the new regulations to offenders."
Read more on the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources website.
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Give us our goodies!
Due to a slight technical hitch on today’s Digital Digest one of the links was broken. A cardinal sin online! Mea culpa!
So in order to redress this I am now republishing the link to the Goodiesthat were included in the “Next year it will be annual IIA Virtual Hamper” which included a delectable selection of gifts from IIA Members Enterprise Ireland, BlueMetrix, Applied Signs & Display, AllGifts.ie, SureSkills.com, DoneDeal.ie, 4GiftsDirect.ie, FlowersMadeEasy.ie and IGoPeople.com.
Merry Christmas!
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Seaons Greetings from IIA Staff and holiday opening hours
Fergal O’Byrne, IIA CEO, would like to take this opportunity, on behalf of the IIA, to wish you all a Happy Christmas and a Prosperous New Year. Speaking about the challenges ahead for Irish business, he said, "There is no doubt that next year will be a challenge for us all. However, I believe that the Irish internet industry is well poised to maximise the opportunities that will present themselves in a more challenging business climate."
The IIA will be running events aimed at making your business run smoother and more efficiently by leveraging the best tools and knowledge that online has to offer. The IIA will also be communicating with you via a whole range of new channels, offering you increased ways to maximise the benefits of your IIA membership. As a not-for-profit organisation the IIA relies on membership, events and sponsorship to run its extensive range of activities. Fergal, Roseanne and Irene would like to thank you for your continued support and they look forward to working with you in 2009.
For your information the IIA Offices will be closed from 12 noon on 24th December 2008 until 9am on 5th January 2009.
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New executive training course helps marketing professional move online with their budgets
This Online Marketing Training course is being delivered by the Digital Marketing Institute and has been created FOR the digital marketing community BY the digital marketing community.
The Irish Internet Association and SureSkills today announced that they have teamed up to provide an Executive Education Program in Online & Digital Marketing. This 12 week course is being delivered by some of Ireland’s leading Online Marketing professionals and is designed to meet the rapidly growing demands for up-skilling digital marketing experts. Further information is available at www.DigitalMarketingInstitute.ie
"The demand from our members for professional training in this fast-moving sector is immense", explains Fergal O’Byrne, CEO of the Irish Internet Association (IIA). "A recent survey of Ireland’s marketing decision-makers by IIA member company Amas found that 56% of marketing professionals spend over 10% of their budget online. Respondents to this survey cited value for money and measurement as the key factors in choosing to spend their budget online. (See State of the Net Issue 10)
"In challenging times, marketing professionals need to be able to offer their clients a full range of services." O’Byrne continues, "They must be aware of the marketing their clients are being exposed to and will therefore seek to emulate. This training program will provide marketers with access to the latest thinking and techniques in online and digital marketing. Delivered by Ireland’s leading practitioners in digital marketing, this program will provide the highest quality knowledge to attendees."
Steven Long of SureSkills adds: "As leaders in the provision of high level management and technical training, we have been actively searching for partners in this area. The IIA is the logical fit. Our initial feedback is that there is a huge demand for this course."
About the Course
This course is delivered in 24 separate modules, including Search Engine Optimisation, Pay per Click Advertising, Blogging, Site Analytics, Banner Advertising and Email Marketing. This course commences on Thursday 22nd January 2009. To suit busy timetables, delegates can elect to attend the course by day or as an evening course. More details and registration available at www.DigitalMarketingInstitute.ie
About SureSkills
The SureSkills training division provides the most comprehensive training schedule available in Ireland. SureSkills also provides a fully managed training service and has extensive experience developing and implementing bespoke training solutions for its larger corporate clients. More information available at www.SureSkills.com
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Deliver IIA Training Events in 2009
The IIA is looking for training partners who will design (together with the IIA) and deliver some of the 2009 training courses around the country. Please email events@iia.ie to receive a copy of the events tender specification.
Only members of the IIA will be considered as training partners so please login to ensure that your membership is up to date.
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You know more than we do
The end of 2008 is looming and we are doing a bit of navel gazing here in IIA HQ. Navels are all very well for gazing at but they’re a bit low on useful information. All of you however have lots of information about our events in your pretty little noggins and we want it!
We’ve prepared a survey about our events where we ask you about what you liked about last year’s events, what you didn’t like, what kind of events you would like to see next year and we also ask your opinion on some specific aspects of our programme. So fill out the survey please – it’ll only take five minutes!
Social Media Working Group
Social Media Working Group publish Draft Guide to Business Blogging for review
The Irish Internet Association’s Social Media Working Group chaired by Brendan Hughes, FBD.ie, are holding a workshop to discuss the first draft of their first Social Media Guidebook. This first draft publication is entitled “Blogging for Business: a Guide for Irish companies”.
In the spirit of Social Media this guide was developed collaboratively online by the members of the working group. Continuing this collaborative model the working group hope to share this draft with anyone interested in blogging for business and to discuss and develop it at a workshop. If you have never blogged before the Social Media Working Group are interested in your feedback. If you eat, sleep and work blogging, the Social Media Working Group are interested in your feedback. The draft will be circulated to all workshop attendees as soon as they register (so please register sooner rather than later).
It is hoped that remote attendance will be facilitated. Please follow www.twitter.com/iia or email members@iia.ie to express your interest in attending remotely if the facility is available on the day.]
Audience: Those interested in using Social Media for business be they expert or non-users.
Aim: To create a useful beginners guide for business people planning to get started in Social Media
Objectives: To discuss and develop the material prepared by the Blogging subgroup of the Social Media Working Group
Venue: Presentation Room, Digital Depot, Roe Lane, Thomas St., Dublin 8
Time: 3.30pm – 5.30pm
Date: Friday 5th December
Cost: Free to IIA members/ €20.00 non-members
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State of the Net Issue 11 now available
- a survey of Irish sites;
- online shopping trends;
- broadband statistics;
- information about online advertising format trends;
- statistics about eGovermenet Europe-wide;
- information about cross-channel purchasing;
- online advertising statistics
- Irish use of Social Networks
- Top Irish searches on Google
Download your copy now. Download PDF, 883k
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Future of Web Apps comes to Dublin Friday March 6th 2009!
Some of you may remember the FOWA Road trip where Carsonified visited some major cities including Dublin. They received such a great reception from the web community there so are really excited to be launching the first ever FOWA Dublin.
Expect a fabulous debut with a line up including:
- Blaine Cooke (ex Developer at Twitter)
- David Heinemeier Hansson (37signals & Ruby on Rails)
- Mike Butcher (TechCrunch UK)
- Simon Willison (Co-creator of the Django web framework)
- Ryan Carson (Carsonified)
- Emma Persky (Trampoline Systems)
- Eoghan McCabe & Des Traynor (Contrast)
- Matthew Ogle (Last.fm)
FOWA will be covering topics such as:
- How to sell your web app – Lessons learned from the acquisition of DropSend.com
- How to use APIs to build powerful mash-upsThe secret to making money online
- How to build amazing web apps – Lessons learned from building Twitter.com
- The future is Ruby without Rails
- How to build desktop apps that help your web app succeed
- Building content rich websites using Django web framework
The date for your diaries is Friday 6th March 2009.
The event will take place at Liberty Hall – http://www.libertyhall.ie/index.php?article=the_venue in the heart of Dublin, and in true FOWA style will be followed by a few drinks at the after party!
Tickets are €175 but we are releasing 200 for just €115!
Go to the booking page – http://events.carsonified.com/fowa/2009/dublin/book to get yours.