According to Peel, “I’m delighted to be given the opportunity by Victor Harwood to speak at this important event and to present the cluster of Northern Ireland companies that are developing bleeding edge broadband-enabled web solutions.  I have already had considerable interest from LA based firms that are active in the digital content space who want to hear the ‘Northern Ireland story’.  I also hope to be able to hook up with representatives from other regional digital media clusters – such as SE England.”

Jeff will be based in Hollywood from October 30 to November 4.  If you would like to set up a meeting please email him on jeff [at] quadco.co.uk (leave out the spaces and replace [at] with @). 

Note: crea8ivity.com is the brand that represents the Northern Ireland creative content industry.  Check out www.crea8ivity.com for more information.

At a time when consumption of online entertainment continues to surge, there is a huge demand for new comedy.  ConstantComedy is designed to meet that need and those of the comedy fan, the professional comedian and the amateur comedy performer.

ConstantComedy is one of six showcase projects that have been selected to demonstrate the best of Northern Ireland’s creative digital talent to the world in association with crea8ivity.com. Crea8ivity.com launched earlier this year to attract interest in Northern Ireland as a creative digital hub and to stimulate local creative & IT talent to seize the vast and emerging commercial opportunities that the global demand for online content presents.  The crea8ivity.com web site was built by and is maintained by Quadriga Consulting.

At the core of ConstantComedy is an exciting new way to enjoy online content – Synchronized Interactive Comedy – a breakthrough technology which ensures that you and your friends are watching and voting for the same video at the same time (second by second).  Each video gets shown for 20 seconds before voting starts.  After that, if the crowd rating drops below 30% for more than five seconds, the video is voted off.   While you’re watching, you can post live comments – to be seen instantly by other viewers.

Anyone can upload their performance onto this service, monitor crowd ratings and build up a fan base, You can also browse the video archive and bookmark and share your favourite videos with friends.

Phil Morrow, MD of Belfast based Wild Rover Productions, is excited about the possibilities that ConstantComedy offers performers and fans:

“This is a great new venue for both viewers and makers of comedy – the internet has liberated performers – if you’re funny, you can get your stuff out there and be seen by a worldwide audience – and if you love watching comedy, then this is the place where you can meet like-minded people and discover new acts together”

Fuelled by increasing self-confidence and a growing local economy, a new campaign will shortly be launched by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (DETI), showcasing the best of Northern Ireland’s digital broadband content.

This follows a competition last year to find the region’s best creative content for broadband use. Six proposals for world class online creative content by local companies were chosen and will become available online over the next few months. The awareness campaign, based around these six projects, will promote Northern Ireland as a creative digital hub and highlight the wealth of creative and technical talent there.

Paul Robinson, Project Manager at DETI said: “The awareness campaign, which kicks off in June will show a global audience, including international buyers and providers of digital content, that Northern Ireland can produce world class broadband products.”

“The six companies have created a range of superb broadband content. This includes tuition in painting with watercolours, interactive services to golfers while on the golf course, training in music production and DJ skills as well as continuous professional development training for the medical and pharmaceutical professionals across the world.”

The awareness campaign also aims to stimulate more local businesses and creative professionals to exploit the vast and emerging commercial opportunities that broadband presents.

Paul Robinson continued: “There is a growing demand for digital content online and across platforms – as the level of consumers with broadband access continues to increase. Northern Ireland is the leading region in Europe with 100% broadband access and it is now time to exploit that and use it to show a world-wide market the wealth of creative talent here.”

The awareness campaign will run from June 2007 to March 2008 and will include both traditional and innovative web based marketing tools.

The launch of the awareness campaign and the locally created digital content, follows on a DETI broadband content competition in 2006, which saw six companies chosen for their designs.  The six winning projects that are being showcased as part of the awareness campaign are:

Dermot Cavanagh (Moy, Co Tyrone) – Awash on the Web  – Online tuition in painting with watercolours by well known local artist

Stream on (Belfast) – Edcast Medical – Online continuous professional development training for the medical and pharmaceutical professionals throughout the world.

Tibus (Belfast) – I Golf Pro – Interactive services to golfers while on the golf course

Sonic DJ Academy (Belfast) – Sonic Academy Online – Online training in music production and the skills required to be a DJ

Wild Rover (Belfast) – The Always Show – 24 hour broadband television entertainment show

Dark Water (Londonderry/Derry) – Air War- online interactive aerial combat computer game

The initiative is part of the UK government’s  £35 million Skills and Science Fund for Northern Ireland, launched in early 2006 by the Northern Ireland Secretary of State, Peter Hain MP.

For further details of the international awareness campaign, contact Jeffrey Peel of Quadriga Consulting.