News

A North West and Yorkshire business website is soon to be launched in the West Midlands’. Former editor of The Birmingham Post, Marc Reeves, will be launching TheBusinessDesk.com as the West Midlands’ only resource for business news and information. The concept began in November 2007 in Yorkshire, with a second website following in the North West in September 2008. (more…)

IT professionals and telecom organisations enjoyed food, fizz and jazz at The Loft last week. TechMesh held the first of a brand new network event for more than 100 attendees that heard from internet guru Marco Potesta, and Orange Business Development Head, Conrad Poulson.

TechMesh are looking for feedback surrounding future speakers, topics, and formats. Have your say at the TechMesh blog here, for any specific questions contact Dawn direct on 0113 384 5641 or email dawn@techmesh.org.

Apple is seeking to find creative students to showcase their skills in the Creative Contest 2010. The best 15 entries will be shortlisted by Apple staff from each category, and then go on to a panel of industry professionals who will choose the top three.

The three winners in each category will receive fantastic prizes, a free Apple Certified Pro Certification Exam, feature in the iTunes Store Podcast directory and a trip to the awards ceremony in London. Flights and accommodation will be covered by Apple. (more…)

Joseph Edmonds is an ecommerce specialist who runs Edmonds Commerce. He has recently created and taught on the new nti Magento course. Joseph answers some questions about he’s career so far…  (more…)

Green IT is gaining momentum, and already organisations are reporting a skills gap around areas such as the implementation of virtualisation and the building of a Green IT infrastructure. In response to the growing discussion facing Green IT, Old Broadcasting House hosted a Green IT mini conference on Monday 18th January. The day included guest speakers from Helen Harrop (Digital 20/20), Colin Coghill (formerly University of Leeds) and Leeds Met’s Innovation North Professor Colin Pattinson. The three main questions posed were, what does “green” really mean? Why be Green? How to be Green? Each was discussed in 15 minute presentations and a debate with the speaker panel. (more…)

During December, Innovation Showcase coworker Tim Waters joined us here at Old Broadcasting House. Tim is a freelance geospatial developer and consultant who runs he’s own company called Think Where. Tim also volunteers with OpenStreetMap (OSM), a free editable map of the whole world. OSM allows users to view, edit and use geographical data in a collaborative way. (more…)

4iP is teaming up with Facebook to offer two individuals or companies up to £100,000 each to create Facebook apps, websites, tools, services, or mobile products which people can use to understand how Britain really works - or doesn’t. (more…)

Screen Yorkshire has a tender opportunity to deliver a digital marketing campaign for the cross region project NorthernNet. The tender deadline is open now, with a closing date of noon on Friday 22nd January 2010.

The outline of the objectives for the campaign are:

- To raise awareness of the NorthernNet brand across the North of England within the digital and creative industries and related media channels

- Devise and buy a web media campaign to market and raise awareness of the NorthernNet brand across the creative and digital industry as a whole

- Devise and buy a web media campaign to market and raise awareness of the NorthernNet brand with key digital and creative sectors e.g. animation, music etc.

- Generate excitement and engagement in the opportunities available from the NorthernNet innovations and collaborations project within the creative and digital industries

- Promote the use of the media access bureaus (physical access to the NorthernNet system in venues across the North) and the role  NorthernNet infrastructure plays in delivering competitive advantage to key sector SMEs

For further details of the opportunity, you can find out more on the Screen Yorkshire website by clicking here.

nti Works is a programme run by nti Leeds lasting approximately three months, designed to help new graduates get started as freelancers in the digital sector. The programme consists of some core training that has been specially designed to help you get started, as well as providing a virtual training account which enables enrollment on to courses from the nti schedule - see www.ntileeds.co.uk/training.

nti is pleased to announce the launch of the January Programme 2010! If successful in applying, you will be assigned a mentor to help you plan your professional development and you will also become a sponsored member of our pioneering coworking space at Old Broadcasting House, which will enable you to work alongside current members. During the time you are here you will be encouraged to get involved in the Leeds grass roots community, attending meetups, coffee events and evening presentations depending on your particular area of specialism (for example Open Coffee Leeds, Creative Networks, GeekUp Leeds, Barcamps, Hackspace etc) to start building your network of contacts which will be crucial to getting started. (more…)

Leeds Metropolitan’s Innovation North Faculty is offering some exciting Creative & Digital Postgraduate Study for January 2010. These include Music Technology, Sound Design, Games Design, Computing Animation, Digital Video & Special Effects, Creative Technology and Information Systems. 

The aim is to challenge and support clients through projects derived from industry connections including staff, who are themselves practising creative technologists. (more…)

MediaCityUK have announced their plan’s to connect businesses and residents to one of the most advanced communications networks in the world when the first phase of the £500 million complex is completed in 2011.

Peel Media, the developers and owners of MediaCityUK, today awarded a multi-million pound, five-year communications and IT contract to BT Business, the division of BT Retail that serves the UK’s small and medium-sized businesses. (more…)

Wordpress has recently won Overall Best Open Source CMS Award in the Open Source CMS Awards 2009.

“This is a landmark for us, as it is the first time we’ve won this award. It marks a shift in the public perception of Wordpress, from blog software to full-featured Content Management System (CMS).” (more…)

The BBC has launched a fresh opportunity for new and established digital agencies and producers in the North.

As the move to Salford in 2011 approaches, the BBC Children™s television department is looking to commission four projects that will total £500,000. @North will encourage and support the development and delivery of interactive content for children. (more…)

On Tuesday 17 November 2009, Leeds Metropolitan University’s Rose Bowl hosted the opportunity to meet Nokia, the world’s largest mobile phone manufacturer. The event was organised by Screen Yorkshire and supported by Innovation North, Game Republic and The Leeds Business School. (more…)

November has been a busy month for us moving over to the new Apple courses. The Snow 101 Support Essentials has become our current best seller, with November’s course full well in advance. If you haven’t already booked, we’ve got availibility in 2010. The first delivery of Snow 201 Server Essentials is happening on 30th November. We’ve also run the first couple of deliveries of the new Final Cut Pro 101 v7 course, welcoming back Chris Roberts to Old Broadcasting House. (more…)

Digital Week ended on a high with the DADI Awards 2009, held at the Royal Armouries in Leeds on Friday 13th November. The evening was a celebration of digital excellence across the nation.

The keynote speech was given by Tom Loosemore, Head of 4iP, who encouraged the present accessibility of online media including social platforms like Twitter and the UK favourite Facebook. A 3 course dinner followed that included wine, entertainment and the all important presentation of the awards. So who would be crowned the DADI? (more…)

Following the continued success of the ITV News Group Journalism Traineeship, ITV will be offering the scheme for a fifth successive year in 2010. The ITV News Trainee scheme offers the opportunity for enthusiastic and committed people to develop skills in broadcast journalism within the company. The year will offer a blend of formal courses and ‘on the job’ training in one of the ITV regional newsrooms. (more…)

The Drum recently announced, the UK’s first twitter awards to celebrate the best of Twitter. A FREE entry encouraged individuals, businesses and consumers, to tell the world why they are the one to follow. (more…)

On Wednesday 28 October, Charles Cecil will attend the London Games Festival as the keynote speaker at GameHorizon’s Best of British conference. Charles Cecil is the man behind the most successful console-based adventure franchise of all time, Broken Sword. Codeworks caught up with him ahead of the event to interview him about the current British games industry. (more…)

On Wednesday 21 October, The Loft hosted the fifth gathering of  Leeds Girl Geeks for our Girl Geek Dinner. The day got off to a great start with nti’s own Leia Bassett and Becky Edlin from Magpie Communications being invited on to the Radio Leeds breakfast show to explain what being a girl geek is all about. (more…)