Last Saturday, 30th June, marked World Social Media Day and Cork pulled out all the stops hosting a hugely successful day long free event, at the Rubicon Centre on campus in CIT.
More than 200 Social Media enthusiasts descended on the Centre, which is already home to over 57 start-up companies and entrepreneurs, to take part in the many organised workshops and discussion groups planned for the day’s event. Speaking at the Rubicon, organiser Margaret Smith commented “We wanted to show how communities of like-minded people are growing online and the connections being made are real and beneficial. Social media can enrich our lives in so many ways. Bringing people together today in’ real life’ has proved a major success.”
The event was live streamed around the world, courtesy of both CIT and AER TV, allowing anyone who could not attend the event to be part of this historic event.
There were three main panels hosting talks during the day, included speakers from the Coder Dojo movement, a silver surfer, Imogen Bertin who spoke about how the face of education is changing and Conor O’Neill gave some excellent tips on the reality of keeping your kids safe online.
The final panel of the day was the one that got the biggest reaction both in the room and on the live stream. Alex Slye spoke candidly about the very real benefits she found during her fight with cancer, using her blog and Twitter to express herself. Eoin O’Connor told the audience the heartfelt story of his daughter Beibhinn, who was born with a rare heart defect and how he used Facebook to reach out to those in a similar situation, finding information to help with their understanding of her condition. And finally, Lisa Domican, mother of two autistic children and creator of the Grace App which helps severely autistic children to communicate, took to the stand. Everyone was mesmerised by the stories and the speakers got a huge round of applause at the end. The link between social media and real life was never so tangible.
Cian O’Regan co-organiser and graduate from CIT in New Media said “the massive emotional reaction to the experiences of our speakers today has been a great way to show to the world that Social Median is not all about selling and business. There are people behind each username and everyone has a story to tell.”
More than 10 free workshops took place covering blogging techniques, Audioboo, creating a website, food styling, blog photography, demonstrations of the Raspberry Pi and much more and all were fully booked well in advance of the event.
A crafting group who use social media to meet and swap ideas, materials and socialise also came on the day and showed off their skills. For many it was an opportunity to meet, face to face, people they had been talking to through twitter for years.
After the main event in the Rubicon Centre, there was a free after party for all the participants in the Bowery Night Club and the festivities lasted late into the night.
Cork seems to be a hub of activity where Social Media is concerned and certainly one of the only places where the virtual meets reality regularly through various events and tweetups etc. The words on everyone’s lips leaving on Saturday was “I can’t wait for next year”
