Articles for August 2012

Awesome Web & Tech Events in Cardiff – September 2012

Welsh Twitter dragon logo by FoomandoonianThis post is a bit different to the usual type of stuff I’d post on SEOno, but I was having lunch with a friend the other day and while we were talking about some of the upcoming web/tech events in Cardiff, I realised that there were so many going on next month that it was becoming difficult to keep track of them all.

…So I thought I’d list and link to them all in one place:

Cardiff Blogs

Cardiff Blogs logoWeb | Twitter | Facebook
When: Tuesday 4th September

Where: Maldron Hotel, St. Mary Street (map)
How much: Free!
Tickets: Eventbrite
Subject: Blogging
About: Anyone who knows me well knows that I adore Cardiff Blogs. This particular meet-up is all about the Wales Blog Awards (which I’ve been longlisted for, by the way)!

unified.diff

unified.diff logoWeb | Twitter
When: Wednesday 5th September

Where: O’Neill’s, Trinity Street (map)
How much: Free!
Tickets: Via their site (fill out the “+++ you ‘tendin?” bit!)
Subject: Software Development
About: All about software development, with a number of speakers. I’ve not been to one before (I think it’s still fairly new, so I don’t think there’s been that many previously), but I’m going to try and make it along to this one. I’ve heard many good things though!

Cardiff Start

Cardiff Start logoWeb | Twitter | Facebook
When: Tuesday 11th September

Where: IndyCube Central, Castle Arcade (map | link)
How much: Free!
Tickets: Facebook
Subject: Startups
About: Someone asked me to explain what Cardiff Start’s Hackdays were all about the other day. I’m sure someone will correct me if I’m horribly wrong (please do!), but it’s my understanding that its aim is to discuss how to boost the profile of Cardiff’s startups as a community. And that this is Phase 2. Rob Lo Bue sums it up well over on his blog.

cardiffrb

cardiffrb logoWeb | Twitter
When: Thursday 13th September

Where: The Owain Glyndwr, St. John Street (map)
How much: Free!
Tickets: Lanyrd
Subject: Web Development (more specifically Ruby on Rails)
About: If you’re a Ruby developer in South Wales then this is definitely one for you. I believe they’ve been running monthly for about a year now.

Cardiff Internet Marketing

Cardiff Internet Marketing logoWeb | Twitter
When: Monday 17th September

Where: Future Inn, Cardiff Bay (map)
How much: £5 (£4 if booked in advance)
Tickets: Eventbrite
Subject: Digital Marketing
About: There’s been a few of these now, and although I’ve unfortunately not been able to make one just yet, I’ve heard that they’re very good if you want to learn about different areas of online marketing (and that they’re also good for networking)! This one covers online reputation management: more info here.

#cakemixer

#cakemixer logoHashtag (I don’t think they have a dedicated site/Twitter yet)
When: Wednesday 19th September
Where: Vanilla Rooms, Park House Club, Park Place (map)
How much: Free!
Tickets: Eventbrite
Subject: Social Media
About: I believe this is the first one! A “Social Media Mixer” with speakers, social media-inspired cocktails and cake!

Oi! (Online Influence) Conference

Oi! Conference logoWeb | Twitter
When: Thursday 20th September
Where:
The Celtic Manor Resort (map)
How much: £75
Tickets: Eventbrite
Subject: Social Media
About: I have no idea why this wasn’t added to the list sooner, especially seeing as I already knew about it (something I probably shouldn’t admit to, but gosh darn my honesty)! Anyway, cheers for @Nonentity for bringing its omission to my attention. For more info, feel free to check out the hashtag: #OiConf.

Wales Blog Awards

Wales Blog Awards logoWeb | Twitter
When: Thursday 20th September
Where: Richard Burton Theatre, RWCMD (map)
How much: £5 (ticket price includes a glass of wine)
Tickets: Via the RWCMD website
Subject: Blogging
About: The Wales Blog Awards has been running annually since 2010 and features a variety of blogs in a variety of categories – click here for a full list of the shortlist nominees.

CryptoParty Cardiff

CryptoParty logoWeb
When: Saturday 22nd September
Where: O’Neill’s, Trinity Street (map)
How much: Free
Tickets: Eventbrite
Subject: Cryptography
About: Hat tip to @foomandoonian for finding out about this one – please see his blog post for more info.

Have I missed anything? If so, please feel free to drop a comment on this post, use the contact form or simply tweet me! For repeat visitors, if there are any updates then I’ll make a note of what they are below here, so that you know if there’s anything new.

I haven’t decided yet if this is to be a one-off or maybe part of a regular-ish series. I was thinking more the former simply because there’s a lot going on in September (as I said in the intro to this post). However, I guess we’ll see how it goes…!

Also, when I first had the idea for this post, I wanted to write it as a guest blog post on behalf of Computer Recruiter, so I’d still like to accredit them with a mention (and a link)!

[Welsh Twitter dragon image credit: Foomandoonian; event logos courtesy of each event’s Twitter profile]

Updates:

  • 08/09/12 – Added the Wales Blog Awards event.
  • 11/09/12 – Added venue info for cardiffrb.
  • 18/09/12 – Added CryptoParty Cardiff.
  • 20/09/12 – Added Oi! Conference (better late than never eh!)

SEOno News & GB Posts: Part 2

Following on from last time, just a quick update…

News

I finish my coursework at the end of this month, after which I’ll finally get on with the site redesign. I’m serious. I’m not kidding! I’ve been talking about it for well over a year, so it’s about bloody time I got it sorted. Seriously though, I’m marking it as a priority from September, even at the expense of writing less content until I get it done.

Speaking of content, I have some great posts lined up. I’m in the process of asking for people’s comments for a post relating to online marketing for live music, which will probably end up being one of my next posts. I also have half a dozen or so ideas for content – it’s just having the time write them that’s the issue!

Oh and I have a new job! I started my new role as an SEO Strategist for Box UK in July, as part of their new Digital Marketing division. Exciting stuff!

Guest blog posts

Not really guest posts per se, but 4 new posts on other sites…

Before leaving Liberty, I wrote a two-parter titled ‘What Is Keyword Research?’ The first part covers what it is, why it’s important and how to go about it. The second part covers a few common mistakes people make when conducting keyword research. I was supposed to have another post about PPC appear on a well-known PPC blog on behalf of Liberty, but I don’t think they ever published it unfortunately.

I’ve also helped to produce two posts for Box UK (already)! Before I’d even started, I was asked to write an introductory post, so I wrote a list of do’s and don’ts in carrying out SEO in 2012. I was also involved in an interview on SEO and UX (User Experience) with my colleague Chris from the UX team – we talk about how SEO and UX should work in unison and not be treated as separate entities.

I also have another YouMoz post in the works, which I submitted back in June. I wrote my first one a year ago, which seemed to go down well, so I’m very excited to have another post pending publication. Fingers-crossed this one makes it onto the main SEOmoz blog – I’d be absolutely delighted if that were to happen!