Welcome to another edition of the Betanuggets, your guide to some of the stuff going on in the North East.
Did you know that every Rolo sold in the UK is made in Fawdon?
See, don’t ever say I don’t tell you anything interesting. Unless that fact is wrong, in which case it was all someone else’s fault and my account was hacked.
Anywaaaaaaay…
THE IRON PLAYLIST
The death of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has caused a ruckus right across the political spectrum, resulting in a wave of tweets, articles, blogposts and Facebook discussions. Interestingly, according to Boldon’s own ShareMyPlaylists, it’s also inspired a few people to create Thatcher-themed playlists too.
Here’s one, focusing on songs inspired by The Iron Lady. It’s got some decent stuff in there, from Billy Bragg to Mogwai.
TALKS ON TEESSIDE
Tomorrow’s Refresh Teesside event in Middlesbrough is shaping up to be a doozy. The monthly meetup of Teesside creatives will feature the usual drinking and socialising, but also a number of five minute speakers. We’ll hear about freelance photographer Adam Parkin’s upcoming exhibition, hear some home truths about home-working from Matt Kirwan, the return of film-maker and Refresh veteran Jay Moussa, a quick word from Searchcamp accelerator director Bobby Paterson, and a talk from Ignite100 director, Appysnap co-founder and world traveller Paul Smith.
It’ll be at Sassari on Linthorpe Road from 6pm. Register your interest here.
LEARN ABOUT LEAN
Lean North East is back with an event at Newcastle University Business School on April 22. The gathering for people who want to chat and learn about lean startup principles is back on Barrack Road later this month with talks from Ryan Foster and Umar Usufu. Ryan is a UX designer who will be sharing examples of how he’s used lean principles while working with startups in the USA. Umar is working on MySpot, which builds mobile apps for the entertainment industry.
You can book tickets by going to the Eventbrite page here.
ON BETAROCKET
Sunderland Software City headed down to London for a meeting at Downing Street yesterday, and marked the occasion by releasing their strategy for the next seven years (Sunderland’s 2020 Vision)
BLOGPOSTS THAT ROCK
LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman has some advice for entrepreneurs on launching, planning and taking risks (LinkedIn Founder Reid Hoffman’s Advice for Entrpreneurs)
10Gen’s Matt Asay writes in ReadWrite about the challenge of attracting developers into the tech sector (The Tech Industry’s Massive Marketing Problem)
The New York Times explores how deal-makers put a value on startups (The Logic (or lack of it) In Appraising Startups)
A FEW ANNOUNCEMENTS
Following its successful debut conference at the Tyneside Cinema, PHP North East user group returns to its regularly scheduled programming on April 16. Well, almost “regularly scheduled”. In fact, it’s now being held at Clavering House, and will feature Newcastle developer Chris Kemper talking about the micro-framework Silex. For more information and booking, go here.
Industry Conference makes its debut at the Turbine Hall in Newcastle on April 23 and 24, and you can still get tickets to the Acamedia Conference at the University of Sunderland’s David Puttnam Media Centre on June 28.
There’s a Skeptics in the Pub at The Bridge hotel on robots tonight.
Remember, you can share your own news or list your event by emailing john@betarocket.co.uk. Go on go on go on go on go on go on go on go on