Today’s blog is an appreciation blog.  Often we find ourselves just taking people for granted and not giving them enough appreciation for what they do for us – so this is an attempt to redress that balance in some small way.  I’d just like to say a big thank you on behalf of all of us who work in Northern Ireland’s emerging digital and online content sector to Matt Johnston (@cimota) for the tireless work he does on behalf of us and to promote our sector and our companies. 

I’ve spent the last two days in London with Matt.  We decided it was time to go and tell a few more people about the many talented people and small businesses that work in our chosen space in Northern Ireland.  Over the course of those two days we’ve promoted Digital Circle and its companies to:

·         The Technology Strategy Board

·         A group of social entrepreneurs

·         The Royal Society of Arts (RSA)

·         Everyone present at Friday’s Tuttle Club in London’s Centre for Creative Collaboration

·         The gathering of entrepreneurs and start up companies at Dominic Campbell’s City Camp London get together at the Hub King’s Cross

We’ve been blown away by the amount of interest there’s been in Digital Circle and at every event Matt’s had a stream of people wanting to ask him about the workings of the Digital Circle, how it started out, what the future plans are and what the Digital Circle members have gained from being part of the community.  It appears that what we have in Northern Ireland is quite unique in terms of small and micro businesses actually engaging, collaborating and helping each other out.

So this is my way of saying we appreciate you Matt and all you do for us.  The non-stop networking, the liaison with our government departments and Invest NI, the constant promotion of our companies, the search for opportunities for all of us and the signposting, the bright ideas you have, the introductions you make, the tweeting you do (I couldn’t believe how many people at Tuttle nodded when you revealed your Twitter name – they’d all come across you), the sheer volume of stuff you wade through so that we don’t have to and the dry good humour with which all of the above is delivered.

Please join me in appreciating Matt and post up your story in the comments of how he’s helped you or your company.

If you’d like to know more about the Digital Circle or join our community, you can do so via this link http://digitalcircle.ning.com/

Dave Briggs & I were in Belfast last Wednesday.  We had a few meetings planned but a couple of hours downtime in the middle of the day.  I decided to place an open invite on Twitter & the Digital Circle Ning site for people to come along & join us in a “conversation” between 12 & 2pm.  It sounds a bit vain but I thought it would be a good way for Dave to meet some people in Belfast in an informal way that wasn’t either at a conference, at a formal meeting or in the pub in the evening.  Learning Pool is based in Northern Ireland but Dave works from home in the East Midlands of England so I also thought it would be a good opportunity to introduce him to a few people that I know.  We weren’t sure whether anyone would show up.  I’d pitched it a bit like a mini-Tuttle club (anyone can go along to the regular Friday morning Tuttle club in London’s Centre for Creative Collaboration run by the rather fabulous Lloyd Davis & Brian Condon (more info about Lloyd & what he does in one of my very early blogs) – so there was no agenda and no formal topics (although we’d floated social media, public sector and anything you want to know about starting up in business – as I guess those are our specialisms).

We held our “event” in the rather grand Linen Hall Library in the centre of Belfast – it seemed a fitting venue for a Conversation & there’s was a cafe so we avoided any library “shushing”.

It ended up being rather good fun & some people did indeed swing by – a mix of small business owners, tech entrepreneurs and consultants – and conversation flowed for the entire two hours.  There’s Newsrupt’s Lyra McKee pictured above and as you can see, the fifteens in the Linen Hall cafe are pretty impressive too.

Colin Mitchell & I (he’s @pixelpage on Twitter) had some banter later on via Twitter & concluded this would be an ideal way to introduce a visitor to your town or city to a few interesting people.  Dave said he’d come away with an impression that Belfast was very friendly and had a lively start-up community.  As always, interested in your views.