Real-Time Journalism - Social Mixer V41.0 (Oct 27)

Calling all Hong Kong Digerati!

As Typhoon Megi bypasses Hong Kong and denies us a day off, time to plan for another social mixer where you get to meet the crème de la crème of Hong Kong's internet community.

This month's gathering (Web Wednesday HK V41.0) will take place on Wednesday 27th October and we'll be talking about "the effects of the real-time web on journalism". Let us know you're coming by signing up on Facebook or on this blog.

Our guest speaker is Kevin Drew, editor/correspondent for The New York Times’ global editions, based in Hong Kong and working on the Times' Continuous News Desk, where he focuses on breaking news for the Web sites and newspapers.

The event will kick off at 6:30pm and wind up around 9:30pm, with the interview starting at 7:15pm at Volar Bar & Club, Basement, 38-44 D'Aguilar Street, Lan Kwai Fong, Central, Hong Kong.

As per usual, there's a HK$100 entrance fee, including one complimentary drink and the chance to win incredibly slinky lucky draw prizes sponsored by Dejavu Lingerie, a local Hong Kong start-up set up by two regular Web Wednesday guests, who happen to be ex-models (yes, we attract all types, not just geeks!).

Our lovely assistant, Vivian, will issue receipts if you need one. (For students, you can get in for HK$50 without free booze). Thereafter, all standard drinks will be charged at special happy hour prices. 10% of entrance fees will be donated to Oxfam Hong Kong.

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

Jakarta Tweet-Up: Inspiring!

Thanks to Marcel Ekkel (Twitter.com/marcelekkel) who introduced me to Della Wijaya (twitter.com/della_w), the community manager of Yahoo! Koprol, I met an inspiring group of Indonesian digerati at a Tweet-Up in Jakarta last night. With a witty twinkle in her eye, Della set up the hashtag for the event, "#BiggsTU"! See the related tweets (and some photos) here.

As my Flip was at hand, I thought it'd be fitting to quickly introduce everyone. So here they are in full glory (slightly pixelated by the video transfer):



You can follow some of them on Twitter, which has taken Indonesia by storm. Now it is the third largest community on Twitter after the US and Japan.

@della_w, @NicoAlyus, @FarahMangun, @nilatanzil, @AdityaSani, @pitra, @alderina, @wiwikwae, @aulia, @thomasarie, @aulia and @auliamasna.

Communication Shutdown Revealed

Make your donation to Autism charities around the world here.

Facebook fatique? Come Shutdown!

Something mysterious is afoot. And it happening on October 1st. No. it's not the anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China...it's to do with addiction... [Correction: I've been fooled, it's actually happening on November 1st. Keep your eyes peeled!]




Visit Communications Shutdown on the web, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. Pumping soundtrack by star DJ David Guetta.

Magic - Web Wednesday hits 40!

Web Wednesday has hit 40 (months old)! To celebrate, we will have the funniest magician in Hong Kong, Andy Comic (andycomic.com), wooing the audience with his bilingual, impromptu show at our next social mixer on Thursday 16th September. [Yes, Web Wednesday is in denial but we couldn't afford the red sports car so thought that magic would fit in nicely with the topic of "The Dark Art of Search". Besides, Andy tells me that when he's not doing magic, he's programming PHP!]

The Dark Side of Search - Social Mixer V40.0 (Sept 16)

Calling all Asian Searcharati!

On the back of all these global search gurus attending the SES Conference in Hong Kong, I've invited a special guest, Max Sim, the ex-head of search for Rupert Murdoch's news and real estate empire to speak with us about the "The Dark Side of Search" at Web Wednesday - Social Mixer V40.0 on Thursday 16th September, 2010.

Whilst at News Corp, Max worked on the following real estate sites: realestate.com.au, propertyfinder.com, propertyfinder.ae, squarefoot.com.hk, realcommercial.com.au, casa.it, athomelorraine.fr, athomealsace.de and athome.lu.


We accept SEO/SEM virgins and black hat practitioners. White hats are asked to come under cover, just in case there is trouble! Sign up on Facebook or this blog to let us know that you're coming so that we can warn the bouncers.

As per always, we kick off at 6:30pm and wind up around 9:30pm at Volar Bar & Club, Basement, 38-44 D'Aguilar Street, Lan Kwai Fong, Central, Hong Kong. Do come early as we may have a special performance lined up.

Discounts for SES Hong Kong

Search Engine Strategies ("SES"), the world-renowned conference on search and social marketing, is coming to Hong Kong on September 13 and 14th, 2010!

Organized and programmed by the SES Advisory Board and SearchEngineWatch.com, the conference will be packed with sessions covering PPC management, keyword research, SEO, social media, local, mobile, link building, duplicate content, multiple site issues, video optimization and usability, plus networking events, parties and more.

We've negotiated a special discount rate for our members of 25% off (Sorry, the correct discount is 30% off, even better!). So instead of paying the regular US$995 for the 2-day conference, you'll pay US$746.25. Book your tickets now by visiting seshongkong.com and entering the code, "SESWW2", in the booking form.

Incisive Events, the owners of SESHK, are also generously sponsoring the top prize (a free delegate pass worth US$746.25!) at tomorrow's Web Wednesday social mixer so do come along to mix with the local Digerati, Searcharati, Twitterati and Social Media Gurus.

You can also follow SESHK on Facebook or Twitter (@sesconf_asia). The event hashtag is "#seshk", track it here. A first for a conference in Asia - a list of the speakers active on Twitter. I'm sure there will be plenty more firsts at this event.

I'll be moderating a panel on "Search & Social Games Goes Mobile" at 12:10 on Tuesday 14th. See the full agenda here.