Una Coleman

February 7th, 2010 Posted in Speakers, Speakers | No Comments

Una ColemanUna Coleman is an international strategy and marketing consultant with over 20 years experience in strategic marketing and international operations both in the US and Europe. She has worked in organisations ranging from technology start-ups and fast-paced direct marketing agencies to large corporates. She is a member of the Enterprise Ireland Mentor Panel and the Irish Internet Association’s International Strategy Working Group, and recently chaired the IIA conference on Winning International Business with the Web.

Session: Blogging for International Markets

Blogging for International Markets focuses on the role of blogging in your overall international marketing strategy – on and offline – and covers objectives, frequency, measurement, commitment, interaction and online reputation management. It will focus on issues particularly relevant to international markets, including localization, voice, and culture gaps, with a look at some case studies from the international blogging arena.

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The €2,500 Dinner Ticket

February 6th, 2010 Posted in Events, Miscellaneous | No Comments

WordCamp Ireland Dinner Tickets

We recently became aware that the ticket order form was miscalculating some ticket orders, in particular those where the attendee was trying to purchase extra tickets for Saturday’s dinner. Unfortunately, we became aware of this when a grand total of 56 WordCamp emails we had never seen before, many complaining about the broken checkout calculating an absurd cost for dinner tickets, arrived by email yesterday morning.

According to our mail provider, this was due to “an anti-fraud feature implemented by the control panel vendors” and was corrected on Thursday. I believe some mail may also have bounced; we’re very sorry if you tried to reach us and could not. We’re also very sorry if you tried to order extra dinner tickets with your conference pass and could not.

While dinner will be good, it will not be €2,500 worth of good. The form now correctly calculates the extra Saturday dinner ticket prices at €25 each. If you need to “top up” your WordCamp order with extra dinner tickets you were unable to order before, you can now do that online. Again, our profound apologies.

Below are answers to some of the questions we’ve been getting about ticketing:

1. I didn’t order my tickets because I couldn’t check out correctly. What should I do?
The order form has been fixed. You should order your tickets now.

2. I didn’t order my tickets because I couldn’t get the form to load. What do I do?
Load the form directly. Or, you know, turn JavaScript on. It’s not that evil…

3. I ordered my tickets but not (obviously) the extra dinner tickets I need. What should I do?
You can now order extra dinner tickets on their own form.

4. I ordered my tickets but never got confirmation from you. Did you get my order?
If your PayPal records show a payment to Katherine Nolan, than yes we did. Your name is on the list and we will be sending you a confirmation and ticketing email this weekend as well.

If you have ANY PROBLEMS ORDERING from here on out, please let us know. You can send @WordCampIreland a tweet, add a comment here, or use the contact form. We will send you a PayPal invoice directly if online ordering is failing for you – we genuinely want to make this as easy as possible and apologise for the fact that it has been difficult for some people.

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Leo Ibanez & Loughlin O’Nolan

February 5th, 2010 Posted in Speakers, Speakers | No Comments

Leo Ibanez & Loughlin O'NolanLeo (left) and Loughlin (right) met in the online games publishing industry and are currently working on building Community Storm, which aims to help clients create vibrant online communities using any and all available tools.

Originally from Argentina, Leo somehow ended up in Cork and has spent the last decade building and managing multilingual online communities. Loughlin is from Dublin and rather unoriginally still lives there. He has worked as a copywriter and online strategist for all kinds of clients, big and small.

Session: Building & Managing Community with WordPress

This how-to seminar on Building & Managing Community looks at the value of building community, how to actually implement community with WordPress, how to manage users as you build critical mass, and why you’re not a community manager until someone has threatened to break your legs.

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Gearing Up, Tickets Up, Maps Down

January 29th, 2010 Posted in Miscellaneous | 4 Comments

Ticket Prices Going Up

As promised when we launched WordCamp, now that the first 100 tickets (and then some) are gone, we will be increasing our ticket prices as of 1 February. We encourage you to get your tickets while they are still cheap.

While the blog has been quiet, there’s a lot in the works behind the scenes and we’re looking forward to releasing the following into the wild:

  • Announcing the next round of speakers very shortly
  • Extremely cool swag bag loot for attendees
  • Announcing our last few sponsors (we only have four spots left!)

One of the reasons there’s been a delay in finalising the speakers is that we are, frankly, way behind on our WordCamp email. Katherine and I both apologise; we are digging ourselves out of the email black hole this weekend. Holidays, travel and our real jobs got the better of us but WordCamp is full steam ahead and we’ve gone to press with our first printed materials for the conference.

OK sure – not very thrilling for you, but very exciting for us.

Anyway, here’s the venue map of where all the action will be happening, complete with our major sponsors:

floorplanFine, we’ll just sit here and be excited by our map all by ourselves.

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The .EU Power Station

December 16th, 2009 Posted in Miscellaneous, Sponsors | No Comments

The .EU Power Station at WordCamp Ireland

We’re delighted to announce that thanks to sponsorship from EURid, the European Registry of Internet Domain Names, WordCamp Ireland will be sporting the lovely .EU Power Station. You’ll be able to recharge your laptop, mobile phone, PDA or other standard gear in the main hall’s Power Lounge, complete with comfy chairs and cozy cups of coffee, and we’ll even let you DJ while you wait!

[ Image credit ]

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The Blacknight Theatre

November 29th, 2009 Posted in Miscellaneous | No Comments

The Blacknight Theatre

We spent a lot of time putting together what we think are some fairly excellent sponsorship packages for this conference. As it turns out, sponsors to date have been less concerned about what they can stick in your swag bag and much, much more concerned with their signature cocktails (more on that later – boy, do we have plans for your hangovers…)

But we’ve also named the four rooms we’ll be using for sessions for our four top sponsors. As our lead sponsor, Blacknight gets its moniker on the incredibly impressive, brand-new Set Theatre [more pics] for the duration of WordCamp. It is impossible for us to emphasise enough what a fabulous venue Langton’s is, but this – this is seriously swank.

And if you’re a speaker scheduled for this venue – fear not. It comes with a Green Room with private loo where you can conveniently invert your head prior to stepping out onto this rather imposing stage. It’s scary but you’ll have a chance to walk it before your event, which will help!

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The WordCamp Genius Bar

November 28th, 2009 Posted in Events | No Comments

WordPress Ireland Genius Bar

One question we’ve been asked a lot is “Will there be a Genius Bar?” Now that we’ve figured out what a WordPress Genius Bar is, the answer is: Yes, there will be a Genius Bar.

A WordPress Genius Bar is basically an opportunity for you to sit down with an expert WP user at a table in the main hall and get your WordPress questions answered. These can be questions like the following:

  • How do I install a theme?
  • Where is my RSS feed and what do I do with it?
  • How do I un-mess-up my header?
  • How do I add a poll or survey?
  • How do I hack change this search box?
  • How do I integrate Twitter with my blog?
  • What are tags and how do I use them?

We’re expanding on the basic Genius Bar idea a bit and also including people who can give you quick, one-on-one tips on improving your content, being more search-engine friendly, developing your audience, and general blog voodoo.

So it’s a chance to get both general questions answered and hands-on help with your actual blog. We’ll have a schedule of Genius Bar volunteers on the wall at WordCamp, along with their general areas of usefulness so you know who you should go to; everyone will be adept at basic WP tech questions and fixes but some volunteers will be more geared towards specific areas of expertise for your individual issues. Sessions will be capped at 15 minutes each.

We’ll be recruiting volunteers in February but if there’s something you’d like to see covered at the Genius Bar, let us know in the comments!

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WordCamp Ireland Dinner

November 21st, 2009 Posted in Events | 1 Comment

saturday Night Dinner at WordCamp
On Saturday night, WordCamp is hosting a dinner at Langton’s for all campers who wish to attend. The cost of this dinner is not included in you ticket price and is totally optional; if you wish to attend, you need to book your dinner ticket plus any for friends, partners, kids etc when you book your ticket.

UPDATE: If you tried to book extra tickets and could not, you can now order those here. Apologies for a broken checkout that is now fixed.

This will be a three-course sit-down dinner with open seating. The food will be gorgeous but this is not a formal do at all; come in your jeans and your favourite “No I Will Not Fix Your Computer” t-shirt if you like. It’s just a chance to get to chat and break bread with more of the people from WordCamp, plus we’re totally over-organised and the thought of 200 hungry people wandering the streets of Kilkenny gives us hives. Kids are welcome and children under 12 are free.

Optionally, if this is not your thing, people will be gathering in the bar at Langton’s for Pub & Grub that night, and the dinner guests will be decamping to there after dinner, so that’s perfectly convivial eating and drinking option as well.

Time: 7:30 – 10:30 PM

Image ©Kevin Dooley

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Saturday Night: Langton’s Pub & Grub

November 21st, 2009 Posted in Events | No Comments

Langton's Pub

What’s the best part of hosting WordCamp Ireland at Langton’s? Could it be the gorgeous conference rooms, the lovely setting, the amazing service, the award-winning food? Well there is all of that, but really it’s that we get our own pub!

Kilkenny has a purely silly number of pubs for a city its size, but on Saturday night we’ll be de-camping (ha!) to the bar at Langton’s after the conference for food and drink. Everyone from WordCamp is welcome along with their partners and family, and this is where the people attending the ticketed dinner will be spilling out to when the dinner is done. So if you’re at a loose end and wondering where everyone is, the answer is probably here.

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Friday Night: Speakers & Sponsors

November 21st, 2009 Posted in Events, Speakers, Sponsors | No Comments

Speakers & Sponsors

We’ll be welcoming (and thanking) all of our speakers and sponsors who’ve made it down to Kilkenny in time with a private dinner at Langton’s on Friday night. The setting (and the food) will be very nice indeed but this is not a formal do by any means. Wear what you like – if you’re jetlagged, you can stumble downstairs in your PJs and we’ll be happy to see you (and give you coffee.)

We’ll be getting firm numbers for this event as we confirm speakers. You can bring your kids; we’ll be asking you about that as well.  Dinner will kick off at about 7:30 or 8 and we’ll update with details as the schedule firms up. Thanks!

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