Inside View

Remembering Ronni Bennett #cancer

BACK IN 2017, Ronni Bennett was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. I started reading her blog a few years before that on the recommendation of Dave Delaney. Ronni passed away on Friday, October 30, 2020. She was 79.

Teaching Lessons in Social Capital

I AM A BELIEVER in the value of social capital. I wish I was better at cultivating it, especially during the post-COVID era when face to face meet-ups have become preciously rare. It's a thought shared by Bill Thompson during the 2020 running of #audiomo and one I talked about in my own podcast below the fold.

Turning 13

DAUGHTER MIA (below with her bear) turns 13 in nine months time and Twitter tells me I've been tweeting for the past 13 years. This means there's a cluster of tweets announcing Mia's birth to accompany a set of photos I've snapped and saved on Flickr (possibly requiring password access for casual readers).

Pocketmedia with New Students #clonmeldigit

DURING AN INTRODUCTORY session with new students on our Clonmel Digital Campus, I asked how many people were using Instagram and more than half of the audience raised their hands. Although fewer than a half dozen said they had posted to Instagram that morning, my simple survey suggests Instagram is the pocket media social channel of choice for our creative students.

Let's rewind 10 years and look at what a similar audience was using.

Listen to "10 Years Teaching Pocket Media E87" on Spreaker.

Slowly Becoming a Pet Sanctuary

WE HAVE TWO CATS, one dog, and a never-say-die goldfish. And now I'm polluting my social media newsfeed with stories about the animals.

And I've a related story worth noting. The animals have started consuming more than 25% of my cameraphone snaps. And that means they're also responsible for me learning how to use several high quality video production apps on my Samsung Note 9.

Another Pathfinder Flushes FB

LIKE SIX OTHER people I have closely followed for more than a decade, I will also delete Facebook. I suspect the two primary school students in our household will never use it.

Over the New Year's break, I read Mike Cox (in the white shirt) outline why he's leaving. I talked about it on Topgold Audio Clips. Mike explains why he is breaking free.

Marchathon 2018 #stepchallenge

HUNDREDS OF THIRD LEVEL students in Ireland have started a month-long step challenge by joining together in small teams to record the highest number of steps together. We will update this page throughout the month of March 2018, helping to surface some of the initiative shown by LIT sports management students who are taking part in the programme.

Discussing influencers in #clonmel social media

I WAS PART of a 90 minute panel discussion held in the Clonmel Park Hotel on the 16th of February. Along with four other people I chatted about social media and selling. I tried to bring the perspective of influencers to the table because I believe the essential nub of any social media discussion revolves around influencers.

Google Shares Where You Work

Screenshot from my Xperia phone.

WHEN I FIRST SAW the names of people on my Google Maps next to pinpoints where they worked, I remembered that I told Google that I did not mind sharing my home or work location (and then I spoofed my home location).

The screenshot (above) shows the names of several people I wouldn't mind meeting over a cup of coffee when going to Dublin. The embedded image (below) shows what you might see if you ever find yourself near the work stations of some of the most creative animators and multimedia production students in Ireland.

Growing up Snapchatting

OUR MIA (8) shares her view of life by snapping and sharing as she goes. She started with Flickr in 2011, pushed a few photos onto Twitter in 2012, put her milestones onto Facebook timelines in 2013, picked up Instagram filters in 2014 and now has a posse of real life friends on Snapchat reaching back before 2015.

I hope to get her most creative stories into iframes that she can share in simple portfolios as she moves through the halfway point of primary school. Her initial work uses Commaful (now http://usepencil.com/play/miarosegold ). I see these tasks as essential development of her digital literacy.