Journey

Jamaica Pegasus Tweetup, The Second Edition

// September 4th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // Cool Stuff, Life, Technology

The Jamaica Pegasus has done it again! They have staged the second successful Tweetup in Jamaica. A tweetup is a social event for twitter users to meet, mingle and socialise in person. The Pegasus first hosted a tweetup on June 18, 2010, it was the first event of it’s kind in Jamaica and was a huge success. Jamaican twitter users all over were talking about the event for months, wait, correction we are still talking about the event. When the second event was announced it took only 8 hours to fill the 250 person cap for the event, the previous event took 3 weeks (only 150 people). In total over 300 people actually attended.

Was it better than the last one? Definitely! The food was good, and Capt. Collin Hinds kept the music juggling. Everyone seemed to be having a good time, people were actually dancing on the dance floor. One thing to note was that people were actually socialising, in person, and not just tweeting away on their phones. Marcia Forbes, twitter’s Jamaican media queen, prepared a survey for attendees to fill out on twitter usage and demographics, I can’t wait to see the results in her upcoming book. Mrs. Prudence Simpson, head tweeter for @JamaicaPegasus was also out and about greeting everyone. Corve Dacosta recently interviewed Mrs. Simpson for his The Last Word series on his blog, take a read. A tonne of prizes were also being given away, my friends @persephone101, @byrumjr and @wabamonsta were all winners, as well as @sweetpersona who always seems to win something as well. There were several other winners as well for prizes like a weekend for two at Secrets Resorts, which is another twitter-friendly hotel.

I was glad to meet with a lot of tweeples (twitter people) at the event, the list is big so I won’t call names, but thank you all! Due to the larger venue I don’t think people mingled quite as much as the last one, but it was absolutely necessary given the volume of people. After the event a group of us ended up going to the 24/7 Cafe on premises to enjoy some Bailey’s Milkshakes and Sandwiches. We didn’t end up leaving The Pegasus until after 2 AM! My only disappointment in the night was that nobody jumped in the kiddies pool, I was betting on that next time I guess? I would like to thank The Jamaica Pegasus for organising a great event, I had a great time! Please see some photos below:

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Kingston Beta: The Town Hall Meeting

// August 27th, 2010 // 7 Comments » // Cool Stuff, Life, Technology

Kingston Beta is the bimonthly networking event and Startup pitch platform where Jamaican and Caribbean tech/internet/mobile/business professionals, entrepreneurs and enthusiasts come To Learn. To Be Inspired. To Network.

It was founded by Ingrid Riley, entrepreneur, blogger and tech evangelist in 2007. Since then,  Kingston Beta has seen hundreds of attendees and scores of startup pitches from Jamaica, plus Caribbean startups from the region and the United States.

Today’s meeting was different than I expected. I had never been to a Kingston Beta meeting before and somewhat expected a hollywood style frenzy of the who’s who in tech. Ok so I was a bit imaginative, the who’s who of tech was there but it was a lot more down to earth than expected. The theme of the event was a Town Hall Meeting. The main discussion was supposed to take place after a Skype conference call with a guest speaker, but ninjas kept stealing the wireless signal and we had to abandon hope.

The discussion was vibrant and informative, unfortunately the habit of introducing people came mid-way discussion, so if you attended please add comments below so I can give kudos where due.

Ingrid Riley, Founder of Kingston Beta

The initial topic was how Digicel’s 4G is going to help spur entrepreneur-ism in Jamaica. The general consensus is that nobody could say how it would help directly, however greater internet access would aid development, especially in the form of jobs and web applications. Ingrid also pointed out that Facebook now has over four hundred thousand (400,000) Jamaican users. These statistics show just how much potential there is in social media and web development, since there is a large user base to interact with.

From the initial discussion we moved on to the value of social media, after the town’s Doubting Thomas, who’s real name is David Clayton, asked who was making money from social media. A long discussion ensued going over the difference between using social media to make money and making money from social media. This discussion drew contributions from nearly everyone, it was quite informative. As one of the last people to hold the mic, I summarised that to make money from social media you either need to be a social media marketer, a company using social media marketing, a content generator/developer, a content distributor, or a data harvester. Everyone who makes money from or as a result of social media falls into one of those 5 categories.

Foursquare, my favourite topic was also discussed. The question came up about who used it, what it was about, how does it benefit businesses? Of the 15 or so people in the room, about 5 were on Foursquare, we were referred to as the early adopters. Earlier in a twitter discussion with one of my followers we figured there were around 100 Foursquare users in Jamaica. I am beginning to think there are many more. Foursquare is a geolocation social networking application that allows users to compete for points and mayorships. In essence it is a game that allows venues to reward users by offering specials. Users who share their Foursquare activity with Facebook and Twitter then help to build presence for the venue they are checked in at. It was also noted that there are serious privacy concerns for a new user, however once someone understands that it is not always best to check in, or share your location then they can proceed to becoming mayor of their most frequented venues. I also managed to testify on the increased discussion levels online for Chilitos Mexican Restaurant because of their Foursquare special.

My Elite Grocer’s Gale Peart confronted the developers at the meeting by asking why there were not more local smart-phone and web applications, especially for Facebook. She emphasised local media houses had good content that needed create mediums for sharing it. Also corporate Jamaica could use these applications for better service and support. Hey with 400,000 Facebook users, if 10,000 of them paid US$1 for an application then that is the equivalent of a young programmer’s salary for a year.

Overall the event was good, had a long discussion afterwards as well with some of the attendees. I will definately try to attend the next one, I hear there are big plans for it being part of an international entrepreneurs week. Please comment below if I have left out anything.

Twitter users who attended:

@yorkali @ingridriley @persephone101 @chrysalisceo @forresterod @myelitegrocer @moniquepowell @top5jamaica @marciaforbes @CRAC16 these are just the usernames I know, please comment if I forgot you. Thanks! ’til next time!

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Reforming Jamaica’s Education System Using Social Media

// August 23rd, 2010 // 1 Comment » // Life, Technology

Jamaica’s education system is in distress. In the past, Jamaica’s education system used to be hailed internationally for churning out top students. Although we still do, the general standard of education has fallen over the years. In the 90’s a fallout was created when both the UK and US created special programs to recruit our teachers and other professionals. This brain drain coupled with a change in society and home life has fueled our growing education problem. The government now has an even greater issue, in trying to clamp down on spending and to control the country’s debt, it is cutting down on tertiary tuition subsidies.

In the past ten years though the internet has proven how access to information can change lives entirely. What we need to do now is embrace the technology available to us to solve our issues. Back in 2002 or 2003 I submitted an idea to Cable and Wireless for an international competition they were hosting to find the next big idea, unfortunately I didn’t win, however I think it can still be used today. The idea was to create an online platform like Wikipedia to store information for Caribbean school syllabi. Why is this better than wikipedia? Because it is controlled and precise, the information would be relevant to the current syllabus in an easy to read form.

Since then I have attended university online and taken part in web-casts and online tutorials. What was available in 2002 is nothing compared to what is available today. Now information exchange is affordable. Cheap cameras allow every class/lecture to be recorded on the fly. The video can then be uploaded for students to watch again, or to prepare themselves for the next class. Wouldn’t it be easier to do your homework if you could re-watch math class from this morning? We could have the best teachers do video lessons, so every student can have the same access to the best of the best. The tutorials also don’t have to be location specific, members of the diaspora could contribute time to help create a lesson. Also thanks to the Caribbean Examinations Council, all students in the Caribbean follow the same syllabus, so create it for one country and it applies to the whole region.

Today’s generation is fully integrated online, after video lessons / online notes are created they can then be shared using class mailing lists, Facebook, Twitter or any other social network. Allowing students to discuss and share content using platforms they are used to and want to use. Content can be hosted using free course management system Moodle, which is already being used by NCU, UWI and UTech, as well as thousands of schools worldwide.

OLPC XO Laptop

In Jamaica we have the OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) project. The project is aimed at integrating the XO laptop in our primary schools. The laptop is rugged, affordable and scalable. It is designed to be worked on (literally) by a young child (5-12) and the software is fully open source, with contributors all over the world. If the government and private sector would support a project to roll these out to primary schools it would totally change the way Jamaica learns. The laptops also network with each other, allowing a mesh network to be created to share information between students via wireless without the installation of expensive infrastructure. XO laptops also support Moodle right out of the box!

The fact is, if the government and private sector made an investment in technology and social media for education, we could greatly increase literacy rates and the quality of education overall. This investment would provide even greater returns if it was done as a regional effort. This is far greater than ensuring each school has a computer lab to learn word processing. Everyone would have the same access to information regardless of background or economic conditions. Tutorials can be shared online to give everyone access to the best teachers. The information is there for 24/7 access by anyone, making research and studying easier. Tertiary education costs could also be cut as some classes can be held entirely online, using material previously generated. The greatest gain from a project like this would be what we cannot imagine or measure now. The possibilities are endless.

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Digicel: The Experience

// August 22nd, 2010 // 2 Comments » // Life, Technology

Last night I attended Digicel’s 4G launch at Hope Gardens in Kingston. I knew this event was going to be one not to miss, after receiving my invitation in a gold envelope earlier in the week. After entering the venue I was greeted first by Tashana in the 4G lounge, where my drink was ordered via MSN messenger to the bar. Tashana then invited me to experience 4G using one of the computers on hand. I promptly tested and was happy with the results of 8MB/s.

Tashana and myself Digicel 4G Experience

Speed on Digicel 4G service

There were some other attractions as well like the Digicel 4G martini which was made with dry ice:

Digicel 4G Martini

There was also food, and lots of it, I remember seeing at least 3 different buffet tables, I am partial to Sushi though:

om nom nom nom

Thanks to tweeples @persephone101 for coming with me and @andrewcheeky who attended as well:

@persephone101 and myself

@andrewcheeky and @dmitridawkins

Mark Linehan Digicel’s CEO welcomed everyone and made a brief speech on the impact that Digicel 4G will have on the country’s development and GDP. I was glad, because I blogged about what impact 4G could have last week. Afterwards he introduced a new commercial and video, myself and a few others were a bit upset at the video, since it was a ripoff of a viral video launched in 2008! Considering the video has 11 million views on youtube, they must realise people will have noticed. The replaced each frame that has “Did you know?” with “Digiknow” in company colours. Shame. See the original video below:

The night’s live musical entertainment started off with a live stream from disc jockey @pjbutta in LA. Everyone was skeptical of the stream because of the great sound quality but when @pjbutta looked at his watch and told us what the exact time was, we knew it would have been hard to sync that. Kudos to Digicel on using a live stream over 4G service. Tami Chynn shortly followed live on stage afterwards singing several numbers, getting the crowd to actually move. While she was performing I was thinking to myself I wish Tami’s sister, Tessanne, could perform tonight as well.

Tami Chynn

The next live stream over Digicel 4G was to Junction St. Elizabeth where Wayne Marshall was performing. This time the audio quality was not as good as @pjbutta but it was still good, the stream didn’t lag at all. After his performance my wish was granted as Tessanne Chin graced the stage, can you say win? What was even better was when both sisters performed a new single from Tessanne’s upcoming album.

Tessanne and Tami

Overall the night was great, thanks to Digicel for inviting me, you guys sure know how to throw a party, ahmm I mean launch a product!

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Your Name is Your Brand

// August 17th, 2010 // No Comments » // Life, Social Media Marketing, Technology

Search engines, everyone uses them and now people are using them to find you. When you start a new job or project and people first hear your name their first instinct is to look you up online. If someone searched for you online what would they find? For most people the first page is their Facebook account. Other social networks like linked in, twitter, myspace, youtube, formspring, foursquare may also show up. Some people may have personal blogs which will also be featured in the search.

So what do those pages say about you? After all you want to give the right impression to those searching for you. Do your top search results include items which you would prefer to be invisible? With social networking becoming more and more integrated personal information and activities are available online.

To help reduce your visibility online I suggest you adjust your privacy settings on Facebook, only share what is necessary and only to your friends. Also if you have a blog or account with questionable content, then share it using an alias (nickname or different last name). Most blogs also give you the option to turn off search engine crawling, which prevents search engines from indexing your blog. Also search for yourself regularly, don’t wait for something embarassing to pop up before you do something about it. Remember your name is your brand, protect it, once it loses integrity it is hard to reclaim.

For more information and tips subscribe to @DM3Tips and @DmitriDawkins or click like on Facebook!

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Jamaica: The Digital Era

// August 10th, 2010 // 3 Comments » // Life, Technology

Jamaica is being ushered into a new digital era. Never before has the country had so much opportunity for development. For years Jamaica has developed more and more business based on information and communication technologies (ICT), but this is now about to explode. Today with the launch of the first 4G data service Jamaica will soon be recognised for how ICT can turn around a Caribbean country.

When computers were first made, hardware was the limiting factor, after the cost of hardware fell and capacity increased, programming languages were the restriction. Shortly after that the limiting factor was people who could use these computers. Currently the limiting factor is access to the internet. In Jamaica many people have access to computers, broadband access however is still limited in rural areas. The more people get access to the internet is the greater the nation will be developed. Access to the internet is the opportunity for a paradigm shift for the nation.

When someone first gains access to the internet they realise what was impossible is now possible. This does not only apply to ICT based businesses, but to everything Jamaica has to offer. The music artist or filmmaker who thought he could never get a big break can self publish on Youtube. A photographer can post his photos on flickr and gain an international audience. Local professionals and businesses can leverage the internet in a multitude of ways.

For decades Jamaica has needed to increase exports and the local economy. Jamaica needs to make digital products and services the number one export. Wages in Jamaica are low compared to the UK or US, the country can provide services at a lower cost than first world counterparts with the same or better quality. Also exporting ICT products is less restricted than physical products that have expiry dates or are subject to high tariffs.

Already there are thousands of people in Jamaica who are using ICT at home and in their businesses. In the next ten years, a new generation of professionals will be ready to join the workforce to do jobs that don’t exist today. They will have grown up using the framework which will allow them to do the (currently) impossible (the Internet). Jamaicans by nature are innovative, they always know how to get things to work, to bend the system so to speak. Broadband availability in Jamaica is now very high, thanks to service providers Flow, Lime, Digicel, Claro, Dekal Wireless, equipping our current students to learn faster, gain more exposure and do things never done before.

The point is, ICT is not only a business model, but a tool and framework that we can use to develop our existing industries. The tourism and music industries have already started using the web to promote their products, how can you use it to sell yours?

Are you making the most of what is available?

Living the life on $500

// February 6th, 2010 // No Comments » // Life

Well last night I was out on a mission, have a blast for $500 or less. First stop was Acropolis Gaming lounge in Barbican, Acropolis has a Friday special where they sell a cue of rum for $250 and the chasers are free. This meant that me and my group of ppls could all sit and par for a while, the music was good and the overall vibe was nice. After being there for about 3 hours we left and went to a friend’s house, where we pooled our remaining resources and bought some Pepsi and snacks and continued hanging out. I got home at 2:30 AM. At no point did I feel the need to spend more money or that we were in any lack. One person who wasn’t drinking at Acropolis bought food and we all had the fries.

All in all a very nice night, I will try something else next week. Please note this didn’t include food or gas because no matter where you go you will have to buy food and gas (you have to eat dinner everyday don’t you?). This was calculated based on money spent on entertainment. Fact is, you don’t need to spend $5k at a party to have fun, you just need the right people and the right place.

Embracing Social Media with Jamaican Hospitality

// January 26th, 2010 // No Comments » // Life, Technology

The internet has changed in so many ways since I first used it in 1996. From early on I realised the importance of branding yourself online. I created my first hotmail account with a phrase people would relate to me, followed by variations of one username for different forums and websites. It was only three years ago that I became aware of the true concept of online branding. Since then I have setup several blogs and websites to some degree of success.

2010 is a pivotal year because I plan to make this, a year of fruitfulness. Taking all of this online experience of trying different things and actually making it work. In December 2008 I launched my first major website RaceJamaica.com I was surprised at how quickly it took off and honestly was not prepared for that level of growth. During the past year it has had its ups and downs, with issues updating content fast enough and the quality of content on the site. The difference between this site and others before it, was that it is designed with social media marketing in mind. User contribution was supposed to be the main content generator for the website. Unfortunately my user base was just not ready to contribute. This year I plan on re-launching the website for the 2010 Jamaican motorsports season. Not only am I relaunching RaceJamaica.com but I am also launching a whole new online assault.

Besides all the goodies I have planned for RaceJamaica.com I am also working this year on properly branding myself. Recently the main question people ask me is “What is this social networking thing and how can it help my business?” followed by “Do I need to be on Facebook and Twitter?”. There is no basic answer. As a Jamaican I appreciate social networking, because that is how most business deals are carried out locally on a who-you-know and who-knows-you basis. People are the main reason why companies constantly support each other, whether it be a family, social, or background tie. Online social media works the same way.

What else is in the works? Well I have four main projects this year, that I plan to stick to, as time goes by and they are further developed you will hear about them. You can also check out my Official twitter page @dmitridawkins or keep checking this blog for updates, but the majority is yet to come! Don’t worry though, if all goes as planned, you will be hearing about it.  Ciao! Thanks for reading!

Facial Hair

// January 25th, 2010 // No Comments » // Humour, Life

Ok this is the type of post that I hate on personal blogs, and I normally wouldn’t comment on the issue, except I found this hilarious pic. So recently I was considering re-growing my Mustache, I doubt I will, not that you care, but according to the following pic I am a nerd:

My mother is a techie

// January 17th, 2010 // No Comments » // Life

About a year ago I came to the realisation that my mother is a techie. It was very hard to understand because outside of using OpenOffice, Firefox and the occasional Solitaire she didn’t know how to do much else. She has been using a Macbook for her day to day computing for nearly 4 years now and is a fierce Apple fanatic.

What makes her a techie is the things she takes for granted. The fact that she uses Virtualbox to host a virtual pc running Windows XP to do her taxes (Jamaican tax form programs are Windows only). She uses a dual head screen setup to work on her book and Google ig to manage her rss feeds and to preview her email. She also uses open source software like OpenOffice and Firefox, and knows what open source means. When she asked me to start designing a website for her, she insisted that it have integrated social networking capabilities and wanted it to scale dynamically on this new cloud computing she had heard of. On the mobile side she uses her “Google phone” a G1, which runs android and She uses the built in GPS to not only give her directions in traffic, but also to use Google Latitude to update locations with my sister and I.

I am pleased at her progress considering where she is coming from, and even though if you asked her about certain things she will say “I dunno” she most likely is already using it in some way or form without even realising it. Way to go Mom!