DUBLIN, IRELAND - Imagine if… we had a mission as a country. A mission to be the first country in the world to do something incredible. Imagine if the Irish Government decided that a cheap way to start bringing winds of change, create new jobs, create new companies, create new markets, would be to undertake a world first mission we could all join in on. All talk about. All look forward to. All focus on.

What if Ireland had a dramatic and ambitious goal of X before the end of the decade?

• The first country in the world - to provide free, fast and widespread, internet access for everyone, just like you’re entitled to mains water. While they’re at it, make connecting devices tax-free.
• The first country in the world - to be carbon neutral, producing more renewable energy than we use.
• The first country in the world - to recycle, home-compost, bio-degrade 100% of our recyclable waste.
• The first country in the world - to make continuous education free, unlimited night courses, weekend courses, qualifications, up-skill 100% of the country.
• The first country in the world - to land on the moon, oh wait - that has been done and it gave them a goal as a country.
  

  A dramatic and ambitious goal of sending an American safely to the Moon before the end of the decade.

What effect would this have on our population?

-Robin.

(Image Credit: Bailey Lighthouse in Howth last week.)

DUBLIN, IRELAND - The Big Moo is a follow on to “The Purple Cow” and is written as by 33 authors, edited by Seth Godin. Writers include Malcolm Gladwell, Guy Kawasaki, Tom Kelley, and…. Amit Gupta (Photo Jojo), who I met in Chicago over the summer. The best word to describe Amit is “Awesomeness ;-)”, he was in town with Amanda Lynn Ferri (Connected Ventures / Busted Tees) and we played a game of Whirly Ball (see vid below).

You need to watch this video of Amanda too! (Jealous of their office? I was.)

Anyway, after meeting Amit - I had to read The Big Moo. Unfortunately in the book, Seth thought it would be remarkable not to tell you who wrote which parts, and accordingly it feels awfully disjointed. There are a few gems in there (whoever wrote them), but each section is far too short to get into, and I got bored with quick quips from each author sometimes lasting just a paragraph. Would I recommend it? No. Would I read it right after The Purple Cow? Maybe.

It doesn’t live up to The Purple Cow, but it doesn’t take anything of Amit’s “Awesomeness” away either… like Urban Camping in Times Square, Founding Jelly co-working, and House 2.0.

-Robin

DUBLIN, IRELAND - I’m going to bang on a bit about ‘Edges’ again as it’s something that I see missing with people in technology all the time… not enough edges (I spoke before on how it’s at the edges where objects meet and create new materials).

I was on my run today, and I got thinking about edges (I was running along one, the edge of the Irish Sea). I was looking out at 180 degrees of clear space and thinking how great it was to live on an edge. That edge gives me inspiration, and so I got my Blackberry out to record some video.

I tried living in the ‘core‘ (City Centre), and that was great. The core is intense, but it’s all about itself. You live, breath, sleep the core. Which is great, but not for innovation.

Then I moved to the ‘edges‘, and the edges give me inspiration - there is no all-consuming inward looking core. Instead you are looking outward.

Innovators - Dip into the core to get connected, get involved, get motivated…… and then pull back out to the edges to reflect, apply and innovate.

-Robin

(Video Credit: ByteSurgery: Living On The Edge from Robin Blandford.)

DUBLIN, IRELAND - Yesterday I had a meeting with Ordnance Survey Ireland to arrange mapping data for d4h. They were ultra-accomodating and encouraging about small businesses. Following that, I hit UCD for a talk by Malcom Gladwell, which was ok - not memorable. Then into Dublin for a tech meetup at the blogger DJ death match at SoundCheck, crazy!

DUBLIN, IRELAND - I’ve been attending the DIT Hothouse “Be Inspired” talks and some podcasts have been released that are worth listening to if you weren’t there. Good homebaked Irish entrepreneurial content.

Dennis O’Brien Podcast - DIT summed it up as…

• Take every opportunity to travel,
• Whatever you do, do it well,
• Hone your communication skills,
• If you borrow, pay back – and remember, your word is your bond
• Leaving college, get your first job anywhere and learn from it

They forgot his key-point in my opinion:

“When the ducks are hungry, feed them. If you have a good idea, go out and tear the arse off it.” — Dennis O’Brien

Brody Sweeney Podcast - “I had real naked fears of failure, at times I was shitting myself. America is different to Ireland, investors like to see people who’ve failed.”

Here are some highlights of O’Brien - there’s an extended version here:

The next events is:

Be Inspired 3 - 3 December 12.30 – 14.00
Eamonn Fallon is a co-founder of Ireland’s largest property website Daft.ie. Eamonn reveals about the successes of the site and where it is going next. Conall O’Morain Sunday Business Show, Today FM interviews Derek Quinn, Newaddress.ie and Ciaran Crean, micksgarage.ie

Shout if you want to attend and need a referral or sign-in or something. I’ll try work it out.

-Robin.

(Image Credit: Dennis O’Brien, Ivan Mc Donald et. al. on stage at DIT)

DUBLIN, IRELAND - Once things settle for me I’m hoping to get involved in this type of initiative in Ireland. The concept is to collect ideas that can use technology to make social change and then get the brightest and best together for a weekend to implement them.

The UK sicamp.org collected 115 ideas this year and have filtered down to 8 they will take forward to the weekend on December 5th. If you’re talented and available, why not zip over!

Here’s a summary of some answers they hope to find:

• Can they stop 550,000 tonnes of junk mail by providing an alternative?
• Can visitors to developing country be organised to bring more than just cash with them?
• Can commuters user-generate an accessibility focussed transport map?
• Can we map all the social care requirements of an area?
• Can we harness jogging routes and gym commutes to form a delivery network for the elderly?
• Can we sell fruit and veg from our own gardens by connecting with neighbours online?

I love the jogging routes idea (GoodGym), I’ll keep an eye open for this one. A definite trend of the next 20 years will be technology aware senior citizens, and I can’t wait. Irish social entrepreneurs like James Corbett with his project Vizitant are sure to be winners over the long run.

Vizitant is bringing video information and communications services to the socially marginalized in Ireland, including the elderly, carers, disabled and other groups.

-Robin.

Resources:
Social Innovation Camp, UK
Social Entrepreneurs Ireland

(Image Credit: Last week, I took part as a casualty in a major incident training exercise with the Irish emergency services. We had to riot in a stadium until the Gardai Riot Squad arrived. They pushed through the crowd with explosions and bricks flying until the injured were behind the shield and accessible to the ambulance crews. I had been impaled on a metal bar with quote “my guts spilling out”!)

DUBLIN, IRELAND - Theo Paphitis from the Dragon’s Den tells his story to riches. I had some problems with this book, but I wasn’t sure what the problems were. Then I realised when I went to write this review, as on the inside cover I read the subtitle “How I Transformed My Life and How You Can Too”… Theo certainly tells us how he transformed his life, but forgets about us the reader. I felt this book was Theo saying me, me, me. Let me show you…

Preface:

“In the end I was persuaded that my story might be worth telling - and more importantly , worth reading. But what I didn’t want was the usual ‘I was born on such and such a date’ type volume. I’ve started reading lots of those and I’m usually fast asleep half-way through the first chapter”

Chapter 1, Line 1:

“I think now is an opportune moment to go back to the beginning - where is all started for me in Cyprus. [...] I was born on 24th September 1959.”

Yawn.

Apart from the fact that about 3 chapters (I skipped 2) are about his football chairman’s job at Millwall FC - no juicy management or money making bits, just “I sold A, I bought B, I fired A”, there were some parts in the book that were good, and I did finish it - but it’s a real “I’m just great, me, me, me, look at me.” story. I wanted to hear about the huge risk, the nail biting moments, the big deal inside stories, behind the dragons real thoughts… but I just got how cool Theo thinks he is - and he may well be - but it wasn’t what I wanted from the book.

I can tell if a book is good, it’s left covered in blue pen notes, scribbles, stars, underlines, and boxes (I have a policy to draw what I think or want to remember on the pages). My copy of Theo’s book is still as good as new.

Get a copy or see other books I’ve reviewed.

-Robin

The inspiration is from a flow diagram decision block.

and a radio wave / communication data symbol as in “Digitally Communicating Decisions”.

What am I trying to achieve?

A brand/logo/symbol that can be used on multiple product lines under the name “decisions for…” as we roll out the same technology into different domains. This could be done by different symbols in the diamond or by colour changes.

As I outlined in the last post, I need the “Heroes” brand to have a real connection to rescue teams and their styling which tends to be in the form of a circular crest or patch. The ability to make a good sticker or physical fabric patch is also important.

So here’s where we’re now down to…

-Robin.

DUBLIN, IRELAND - I’m on a campaign to find a look, a brand, an image. Something that says rescue, safety, rough, tough, outdoor. Something that gives software a look that appeals to rescue teams. That they can self-identify with. That feels different to Web2.0 logos, that feels different to Microsoft Logos, that feels outdoory.

So I’ve been going through all my test users and prospective users websites and finding their style. What do they identify with? How do they put their best foot forward? What brands do they want to stick on their 4×4’s? On their laptops? On their helmets? I’ve been creating screenshots for about 3 hours now - and have boiled down what the common look is:

Photoshop next.

-Robin.

(Apologies on the image of the list, I couldn’t get OmniOutliner to export to plaintext.)