August 24, 2009

Web Wednesday Hong Kong - Social Mixer V28.0 (Sept 2)

Thank you to our 130 guests and to Leon Ho for sharing his secrets to a productive life, using a combination of online and paper technologies at our August social mixer. If you missed it live, you can listen at your own leisure here. (For automatic updates, subscribe to our podcast channel - podcasts.webwednesday.hk)

Our next networking event (V28.0) will be on Wednesday 2nd September, where apart from movin' and groovin' with the Asian Digerati, you'll have a chance to participate in an interview with Hong Kong's leading Twitter Star, Jay Oatway, the man behind (@jayoatway, @portension, @chargedmobi) and lead organiser of Twestival Hong Kong (@twestivalhk).

The topic is: "Twitter: pointless babble or ambient intimacy?" How has this microblogging phenomenon grown from 2 million to 40 million users in the past 12 months and what are the implications?

The night kicks off at 6:30pm and ends around 9:30pm, so you'll have plenty of opportunity to mix with the movers and shakers of our local Internet and global tweeting communities.

There will be an entrance fee of HK$100, unless you're a bona-fide student, in which case it's HK$50. This includes one complimentary drink. All other drinks are at Happy Hour prices. (We will issue a receipt, if you require one). As per usual, we will donate 10% of entrance fees to a local charity.

Do invite fellow social media fans to join the Asian Twitterati on Wednesday 2nd September at Volar Bar & Club, Basement, 38-44 D'Aguilar Street, Lan Kwai Fong, Central.

Sign up for the event on Facebook, LinkedIn or on this blog.

Looking forward to seeing old faces and meeting many more new ones,

Napoleon Biggs
Founder & Host - Web Wednesday

Podcast: Leon Ho, Stepcase Lifehack.org

Napoleon Biggs, Founder and Host of Web Wednesday, interviews Leon Ho, local Hong Kong Internet pioneer and founder of Stepcase, who own the popular international productivity blog, "Lifehack.org" and and have developed several iPhone apps.

Leon shares with us how to run a profitable business whilst at college and how to use a combination of paper and technology in order to get things done in a digitally-cluttered world. We also discuss how to successfully port your business to the iPhone.

Recorded at Web Wednesday Hong Kong V27.0 at Volar in Lan Kwai Fong on Wednesday 5th August, 2009.






Crisp editing by our new "Multimedia Producer", Henry Oh. Somehow, he finds the time to run Socialutions, the Hong Kong Startup Association and help us to clean up this podcast!

August 19, 2009

Tonight: First 2 Forward Match 3!

Web Wednesday's got game! Two top creative directors. Five rounds of competition. One event that reveals the freshest, funniest, and freakin' coolest stuff from around the Web.

Come join the local creative community for First 2 Forward's 3rd match, between Endy Fung, Executive Creative Director of Razorfish and Alan Kan, Creative Partner of Kitchen Digital.

More great prizes from Adobe, who's generous support helps this event happen!

Starts at 8pm at Privé, 60 Wyndham St, Central, Hong Kong. RSVP on Facebook.

Copy of our beautifully-designed email invite, thanks to Brent's creative team at MRM Worldwide!


First 2 Forward就是由城中兩位出色的創意總監,進行五個回合的激戰,誓要以最快速度,將網上最千奇百怪、搞鬼惹笑、怪誕瘋狂的網上資料公諸同好!

得勝者將可獲贈由Adobe送出的免費軟件!謝謝他的支持。

今晚First 2 Forward更精彩的第三回合即將上演,你又豈能錯過?晚上8時 Privé, 中環雲咸街60號. RSVP on Facebook

August 18, 2009

Web Wednesday: global network, local community!

Since launching in Hong Kong back in June 2007, one of my goals was to build an active community of people who are passionate or simply curious about the Internet and digital media. By joining Web Wednesday and attending the local social mixeres, you are qualified to become a member of the "Asian Digerati".

Even in the depths of the current economic tsunami, it turns out that the entrepreneurial community spirit is still very much alive. We now have budding communities and regular monthly gatherings in the following cities (note that not all are in Asia!):

Hong Kong: Started by Napoleon Biggs in June '07

Singapore Started by Kevin Tan, Joe Nguyen and Andy Tu in November 2007.

Guangzhou: Started by Lonnie Hodge in July 2008.

Beijing: Started by Jim James, Oliver Dooley and Daniel Shi in March 2009.

Jakarta: Started in April 2009.

Halmstad (Sweden): Started by Mikael Ohren in May 2009.

Bangkok: Started by a large group of Thai Digerati in July 2009.

Ho Chi Min: Started by Chris Tran in August 2009.

Now that we have the foundation of a truly multinational network, I've set up a Fan page on Facebook under the "Web Wednesday Asia" moniker so that we can all link up via one easy to use page. A unified blog is on the way. In the meantime, do become a Fan and tell us if you like this way of joining up all the cities.

Web Wednesday Asia on Facebook

August 7, 2009

Looking for Hong Kong's Top Tweeters

We're asking for your help to find the most interesting users of Twitter ("Tweeters") in Hong Kong. 幫忙尋找香港最有趣的Tweeter!

"Interesting" can mean: timely, topical, amusing, shocking, unusual, entertaining, artistic, poetic, educational, stimulating, thought-provoking etc. We leave it up to you to chose but at least tell us why you like them.

Our goal is to invite up to 5 popular local Tweeters to be guest speakers at Web Wednesday's next Social Mixer on 2nd September at Volar in Lan Kwai Fong. We welcome people who tweet in English or Chinese (or even Nepalese, Hindi, Tagalog etc.).

August 3, 2009

Help Flood Victims in China, Support Oxfam HK

Back in May at PunchParty Hong Kong, a gathering of local bloggers and grass-root digi-gurus, I had the great fortune of bumping into a gentle young lady, who goes by the rather intriguing name of "Crazylegz".

Apart from being an avid blogger and Twitterer, it turns out that she "moonlights" as the Communications Officer for Oxfam Hong Kong.

Naturally, I didn't want to out this valuable opportunity to waste... So, three months later, I'm happy to announce that Web Wednesday will be donating 10% of our entrance fees at the next social mixer on Wednesday 5th August to help flood survivors of the July floods in Guangxi, Guizhou and Hunan.

Don't worry, there is a digital link here. In fact, the local Oxfam team seem pretty Internet-savvy, they've posted photos of their activities to help poor farmers on Flickr, a slideshow of which is embedded below.





And, you can follow their latest activities on Twitter (twitter.com/oxfamhongkong). I like their Twitter bio which says in few words what they actually do; namely, "Working with people against poverty" or in Chinese, "助人自助 對抗貧窮".

To make your own contribution, either donate online or download a donation form.

An interesting aside. Do you know what the Oxfam logo stands for?


Neither did I, until now: 'The "O" and "X" in the logo are joined to form a graphic representation of a person's head and shoulders, and emphasises the humanity of Oxfam Hong Kong's work. It also represents a ribbon, a universal symbol of solidarity. The green colour of the logo (the Oxfam Green) represents energy and freshness."

Personally, I prefer their Chinese name, "樂施會" (pronounced "leshihui" in Putonghua or "loksiwui" in Cantonese). Literally, it means "carry out happiness community" (more catchy than the brand "Oxfam"?) and seems to come from the Chinese idiom, "好善樂施".