Archive for February, 2009
The Opposite of Ryanair
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The Roe V Ryanair saga has rumbled on and gained momemtum since Jason first posted about it on his blog last week. When both your parents mention the story and say “did you hear about that other blogger and Ryanair” you know it’s reached critical mass 
It’s just another example of Ryanair’s attitude when it comes to dealing with customers. If they were on the excellent Brandtags.net website, how would they be described? It’s a website that randomly presents a brand name on screen and visitors to the site are asked to type a word that they associate with that brand.
2 words that pop into my mind when someone mentions Ryanair are “cheap” and “nasty”. And yet, people continue, and will continue to fly the airline because of their prices. Niall Harbison has an excellent post about Jason’s experience as a blogger at the hands of Ryanair.
We will see more Roe V Ryanair spats in future, because Ryanair really don’t give a shit about customer care. They operate from a position of knowing their value led offers are compelling for cost conscious travellers. And the majority of us ARE cost conscious when it comes to air travel.
Following the story on Twitter has had my mind working overtime on what could bloggers do to turn this story around and shake off the “lunatic blogger” label. So, if you have a blog and feel so inclined to stick two fingers up to Ryanair and say “You don’t have to be monumentally ignorant pricks all the time” I invite you to blog your “Opposite of Ryanair” story from March 2nd to March 16th.
Blog about any company, large or small, that are the opposite of Ryanair. Give a shout out to those businesses that do give a shit because we don’t talk up the good stories enough. We all have stories about good customer experiences and might not have blogged them – so now is the time. Shops, restaurants, tradesmen, the girl on the checkout, whoever it is, whatever it is – tell people “This is the opposite of Ryanair.”
Maybe, just maybe, Ryanair will see all these and think “shit yeah, we don’t have to be monumentally ignorant pricks all the time” and they might not think we’re lunatics either.
Any articles/blog posts/photos/stuff of interest I could blog about here ? Send the link direct to my iPhone now
This is not just a draw….
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Wow, a SUPER Draw from Fianna Fail. I’m just afraid the next €50 I take out of the ATM will collapse Bank of Ireland – I’d be SO in on this draw otherwise…
[86% of people are dissatisfied with the Government’s performance. Mandate revoked – general election on the way real soon now]
Any articles/blog posts/photos/stuff of interest I could blog about here ? Send the link direct to my iPhone now
Win a signed Edgar Mueller Poster
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You might remember seeing the above on Dun Laoghaire pier during the Festival of World Cultures in August last year. It’s a stunning piece of 3D Pavement Art by Edgar Mueller. I used a photograph of it as one of the weekly headers on this blog in October. The only Creative Commons image I could find showed the artwork fading away, but it was still impressive nonetheless.
The Daily Mail published a feature on Edgar’s work this week and has another photograph of the icy artwork along with more fabulous examples of his work.
Due to popular demand, Edgar has made the poster of the Dun Laoghaire work available to buy on his website. Each one is individually signed and measures 594 x 841 mm.
Edgar has very kindly sponsored a prize of one of the posters to the person who is closest in making guesses to the 3 questions below. Just leave a comment to enter the competition. Best of luck.
1. How many photographs were taken by Edgar while the project was in progress?
2. How much paint (in litres) did Edgar use to paint the work?
3. What is the actual, real life, size of the painting?
Photograph of “The Crevasse” above is (c) Edgar Mueller and used here with permission from the artist.
Any articles/blog posts/photos/stuff of interest I could blog about here ? Send the link direct to my iPhone now
Pushing on Tuesdays – The Tuesday Push
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Know of an Irish tech company doing something really innovative and thought to yourself “more people should know about this.”
Well, an initiative called the Tuesday Push has been running since July 2008 with the aim of spreading the word about such companies as Toddle, Pix.ie , Downloadmusic.ie and many more.
And today being Tuesday, there is another push – for Tuesday Push itself.
The premise is that everyone talks up a company (if they think it deserves to be) on a particular date. Every second Tuesday at it happens. Everyone tech and non tech alike are encouraged to talk about the company so that hopefully a tipping point is reached and a potential investor or journalist or partner hears/reads about the company.
As it says, everyone – techn and non tech – is encouraged to talk about the company. So, if you’ve got a blog, why not join in and help spread the word.
If you know of an Irish tech company that you think could benefit from the Tuesday Push there is a form on the website too. Also, check out the Tuesday Push on Twitter too.
Now, get pushing.
Any articles/blog posts/photos/stuff of interest I could blog about here ? Send the link direct to my iPhone now
The Irish Economy needs to be decoded
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Before the Irish Times published it’s list of 20 must-read Irish Blogs, I was aware of Irish Economy.ie . I have it in in my feedreader and have given it a go. I say “given it a go” because I’m an economic dunce and don’t fully understand a lot of what is being written there. I’m struggling to get a grip on what’s going on in the economy, other than the effects I see and hear about every day of the week.
So I went out to the local bookshop and bought a book yesterday to enlighten myself.
I’m reading it slowly and beginning to understand things more now. I’m almost through the first section of the book which answers the question “What happened”. It paints the broad picture of the global economy without too much jargon – so far so good. The sections coming up are very much geared toward UK readers, the intended market for the book.
The Irish Economy won a blog award last night for best specialist blog and one of last year’s winners, Robin Blandford had a great post on his last day as the 2008 Irish Technology Blogger.
The blog awards are a platform to do something. Do something while the spotlight is on you. Leave your job, start a business, publish a book, do something with it.
Please – for me…. if you win a category this year…. do something with it, then pass the baton on. And on. And on. Promote the awards, support the awards, and pass it on.
I’d love to see The Irish Economy people do a book similar to the one I’m reading at the moment, but with an Irish focus. I’d love to see some more advice on possible solutions or at least some suggestions on ways forward/through the situation we find ourselves in. I’d love to see it all laid out in plain English so we can all take part in informed debate.
If David Jones can get a book done and on a website in a week with the help of some generous and talented people, I’m sure Irish Economy can too and I’d only be too willing to help make it happen in what ever way I can.
It might take a bit longer than a week (given the scope of the topic) but there’s a lot of confusion out there and a book like this would be well received.
Any articles/blog posts/photos/stuff of interest I could blog about here ? Send the link direct to my iPhone now
