Cardiff and internet meet-ups
Hello
A bunch of us have just announced a social media cafe event in Cardiff called Trydan.
If you are interested in social media, you are welcome to join us.
I thought it would be fitting to kick off this thread (with some mixed metaphors) and discuss what's happening in Cardiff.
Also, a couple of people have (understandably) asked about how Trydan relates to things already going on in Cardiff. In particular, do we not already have other internet events in Cardiff? Good question.
Some of us attend the following
- Nocci (creative industries)
- Ignite (general geek gathering with presentations)
- Twitter meet-up (OK, Tweetup, if you will)
- Linux user group
- Cardiff Web Scene (of course)
I genuinely want to say hats off to the people who are organising these events. Of those I have attended I enjoyed them and found them very useful.
There are probably more but these are the most familiar to me.
We're starting Trydan because we think it's needed and complements what's already happening.
The kind of people we are thinking about are
- Journalists / Writers
- Artists / musicians
- Photographers / videographers
- Activists / social entrepreneurs
- Website publishers / managers
If you want to lump all these together you could describe it all as "content". I use that term advisedly, but if that helps - then Trydan is intended for people who produce content.
All these kinds of people could be sharing tips and learning from each other. I think there's demand for more of that in Cardiff.
If you build sites or platforms then hand them over to clients, please do take note. We would like to see Trydan as something you could comfortably point your clients to. How do I make video that works online? What's good link etiquette/practice? How can I title my blog posts and do some simple SEO? And so forth..
Another aspect is, when I attended Tuttle in London it struck me how useful it is for people who work from home. They've deliberately made it a daytime thing in a cafe. They are actually open for one session per week. I met several nice people who are fixers/hustlers or "portfolio career" people. It's obviously good for business for the homeworkers to meet people outside their sphere. Plus for those days when they might feel stuck inside the house, it gives them a relaxed working environment and another space to get into.
That's London. I got some ideas there and Tom Beardshaw checked out the Social Media Cafe in Birmingham. Cardiff will probably be different in its own way.
The Trydan thing will begin in beta. The event itself is some kind of adjustable wiki in space-time. Everyone involved will be shaping it for max benefit.
Cardiff Web Scene is an evening thing which seems to be for coders, web designers and people on the tech side. Maybe someone could adjust my definition for accuracy there, but the people associated with it are predominantly of that persuasion. And it's a web forum of course. So there is some overlap and we've announced Trydan here because it's relevant.
But overall I think a sign of maturity in the web industry is distinct and well-defined specialisations. Then within each of them, a high volume and quality of conversation. That's what we want to see in 2009.
Personally I'm a multiple hat wearer. I have a background in tech and software development, but I also DJ and used to run a record label. I also like getting things off the ground, so you could say I'm an entrepreneur too. I love Cardiff and have been here for most of my life now. I'd really like to see us SMASH IT when it comes to the web.
Write your thoughts below if you feel inclined.
Happy new year!
A bunch of us have just announced a social media cafe event in Cardiff called Trydan.
If you are interested in social media, you are welcome to join us.
I thought it would be fitting to kick off this thread (with some mixed metaphors) and discuss what's happening in Cardiff.
Also, a couple of people have (understandably) asked about how Trydan relates to things already going on in Cardiff. In particular, do we not already have other internet events in Cardiff? Good question.
Some of us attend the following
- Nocci (creative industries)
- Ignite (general geek gathering with presentations)
- Twitter meet-up (OK, Tweetup, if you will)
- Linux user group
- Cardiff Web Scene (of course)
I genuinely want to say hats off to the people who are organising these events. Of those I have attended I enjoyed them and found them very useful.
There are probably more but these are the most familiar to me.
We're starting Trydan because we think it's needed and complements what's already happening.
The kind of people we are thinking about are
- Journalists / Writers
- Artists / musicians
- Photographers / videographers
- Activists / social entrepreneurs
- Website publishers / managers
If you want to lump all these together you could describe it all as "content". I use that term advisedly, but if that helps - then Trydan is intended for people who produce content.
All these kinds of people could be sharing tips and learning from each other. I think there's demand for more of that in Cardiff.
If you build sites or platforms then hand them over to clients, please do take note. We would like to see Trydan as something you could comfortably point your clients to. How do I make video that works online? What's good link etiquette/practice? How can I title my blog posts and do some simple SEO? And so forth..
Another aspect is, when I attended Tuttle in London it struck me how useful it is for people who work from home. They've deliberately made it a daytime thing in a cafe. They are actually open for one session per week. I met several nice people who are fixers/hustlers or "portfolio career" people. It's obviously good for business for the homeworkers to meet people outside their sphere. Plus for those days when they might feel stuck inside the house, it gives them a relaxed working environment and another space to get into.
That's London. I got some ideas there and Tom Beardshaw checked out the Social Media Cafe in Birmingham. Cardiff will probably be different in its own way.
The Trydan thing will begin in beta. The event itself is some kind of adjustable wiki in space-time. Everyone involved will be shaping it for max benefit.
Cardiff Web Scene is an evening thing which seems to be for coders, web designers and people on the tech side. Maybe someone could adjust my definition for accuracy there, but the people associated with it are predominantly of that persuasion. And it's a web forum of course. So there is some overlap and we've announced Trydan here because it's relevant.
But overall I think a sign of maturity in the web industry is distinct and well-defined specialisations. Then within each of them, a high volume and quality of conversation. That's what we want to see in 2009.
Personally I'm a multiple hat wearer. I have a background in tech and software development, but I also DJ and used to run a record label. I also like getting things off the ground, so you could say I'm an entrepreneur too. I love Cardiff and have been here for most of my life now. I'd really like to see us SMASH IT when it comes to the web.
Write your thoughts below if you feel inclined.
Happy new year!
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Claire Scantlebury on -
Hi Carl
Firstly, we at Cardiff Web Scene think that Trydan is a great idea, and Dan and I are hoping to come along and check it out. As I think a few people know, Cardiff Web Scene was born out of Cardiff Geeks (which is still running as far as I'm aware), and used to be predominantly tech focused, however we're branching out and what we really want is to create a community and a forum for anyone with a professional interest in the web, from developers, designers, bloggers to online marketers to get together to exchange ideas, improve job opportunities and to create a bit of a buzz about the online industry in Cardiff.
The Tweet Up and Ignite are just 2 of the events that Cardiff Web Scene are running (and yes there will be a pure ‘Cardiff Web Scene’ meet up towards the summer) and we’re hoping to be setting up some more really interesting and hopefully bigger events which we hope people will participate in, throughout 2009. We’re also hoping to carry on working with Nocci as we feel it’s only natural to try and build a stronger relationship between the online and the creative industries.
Of course we are wary of ‘swamping’ the market with hundreds of events and communities, but I think at the moment there’s probably just the right balance - although like you I’d be really interested to get some feedback from the community.
Anyway, good luck – we’re looking forward to it!
Claire
-
Permalink Reply by Dan Zambonini on -
I'm totally up for as many of these things springing up as possible; if they're useful, then brilliant, if people don't like them, then they'll stop happening and people will try other things. That's evolution!
It's worth pointing out that Claire and I (along with Ian at the start) only started organising Cardiff Web Scene and related events because everyone in Cardiff was complaining about a complete lack of any networking and get-togethers. So it's quite nice to see that people are now thinking there's too much happening! Obviously the community has exploded and has really got behind events such as these, and those by Nocci.
Let's keep experimenting with different formats, times, places and subjects. The good ones will stick, and there's no real cost to organising the ones that don't work; I've yet to go to any of these events (including the tweetups) where I haven't met someone new and fascinating.
Dan
-
Permalink Reply by carl morris on -
As a corollary to all this, the other day I heard about the existence of a Cardiff meet-up for Flickr fans.
I was pleased about this. It's not that I'm a hardcore Flickr-head but I really want to see MORE specialisation in Cardiff when it comes to the web. Same goes for the Drupal meet-up currently being suggested.
Whether either of those events will last beyond a few weeks is another question. As Dan says, it's evolution and it's about trial and error. Even if the events go defunct, the attendees might get some benefit from 2 isolated meetings anyway. Besides, they might choose to maintain their associations in other ways.
There was a time when you could classify yourself as a computer person and know (almost) EVERYTHING about the entire field. That time has passed. Now we have loads and loads of niches.
Most probably I personally won't be attending a Flickr or Drupal event, but fair play to them. If that were my scene I know I'd get lots of value from meeting other enthusiasts there.
Great things can happen if you focus on your niche. We live in a city supposedly and if you like Drupal and you're serious about getting proficient with it, then get involved in a network of Drupal people. You will almost certainly achieve wonders by focusing on that and filtering out other distractions.
The writer Malcolm Gladwell reckons that it takes 10,000 hours of dedication and practice to become "expert" at something. Gladwell does have some semblence of a point there, whether you think he's a genius or a big-haired buffoon. (The jury is still out.)
As for Trydan, it emerged from a pub chat with some journalism people where we realised there was nowhere to talk about the human side of social media and properly focus on that. Like we said, people who wouldn't necessarily come to a tech meeting such as journalists, activists, etc. etc.
Another distinctive of Trydan is that it runs in the daytime and is a working space if you want some humming of activity in the background. (Since moving out of my office last year, I miss this!)
It's also fairly lightweight in that there won't be regular speakers, presentations or heavy organisation. It's a cafe.
Yet another distinctive of Trydan is we've deliberately done a shout-out to people in Birmingham, Manchester and London who are running counterpart events. In doing so we hope to encourage a bit of inter-city collaboration.
This comment is partly in response to some comments I've been seeing/hearing.
If anyone wants to share their perspective, go ahead. Help us make these things better!
-
Permalink Reply by Mark Ramskill on -
Good meeting all of those who attended Trydan earlier today. Had a couple of very worthwhile chats...
Sorry Tom for calling you Dan continuously (shouldn't have had a beer at 11am!) and sorry to those who I didn't recognise until you reminded me that we've chatted on Twitter (Carl, I suck).
Can I suggest the delights of Cardiff Bay for the next one... might persuade more cave-dwelling Bay types to attend. Plus it means I don't have to endure another car ride with SubHub's sales manager Steve. His reverse parking is terrifying!
Mark
twitter.com/ramskill
-
Permalink Reply by carl morris on
-
Mark, great to meet you and looking forward to the coming months.
Now that things are in motion, shall we have that venue discussion over at the Trydan wiki then? I've started a thread there for people who attended.
I'm just thinking that if we discuss Trydan here, people over there might miss it. And conversely, people here might not be interested.
I intended to describe what Trydan was about in this thread - and get some people's thoughts on the wider context of Cardiff. But on second thoughts, it might be too off-topic for some folks.
It's like a Venn diagram where Mark and I and some other people want to be in the intersection - but not everyone.
(Ergo, sorry to anyone for whom my posts above got a bit rambly.)
x
-
Permalink Reply by Claire Scantlebury on
-
Hi Mei
It certainly is. We're hoping to be holding a casual meet up in the coming weeks. Keep an eye on Cardiff Web Scene (either here or on Twitter @CardiffWebScene) for more information.
thanks,
Claire
Mei Lewis said:Corollary 2
Is this things still ongoing at all?
About
Badge
© 2010 Created by Dan Zambonini
Powered by 
.
