Martin Wright.tv

Over the past couple of months the following services have been trialled:

• Google Page Speed – analysis of web page performance and guidance on improvements – runs from within Firebug
• Yahoo YSlow – analysis of web page performance and guidance on improvements – runs from within Firebug
• Quixapp – bookmarklet allow easy access to Pingdom
• WebPageTest – analysis of web page performance which provides alternative download locations and video playback
• SpriteMe – tool to merge all graphics from a page into a single file to improve page performance
• Performance Advent Calendar – links to articles on improving web site performance

2009 turned out to be pretty remarkable year that charted a path unexpected 12 months ago.

Being involved with Twestival by arranging the Nottingham Twestival in February was the trigger for much of the rest of the year. The event was a modest success and introduced me to people who would become friends over the coming months. Meeting a great crowd of creative and techies at Nottingham Twestival led me to setting up a regular event, Web 2.0 Surgery. The event was  a great excuse for a meetup and this also coincided with a other events starting up and gaining popularity in Nottingham in 2009.

Our 3 week trip to Peru was an amazing experience which took us to Machu Picchu and everywhere in between. This was also a key reason for using Kiva to issue loans in Peru.

September brought Twestival Local which raised money for The National Autistic Society and there is another event planned for March 2010.

There was a great turn out for the last Web 2.0 Surgery of 2009 and with co-operation with the eBusinessChampions initiative it looks to be even better in 2010.

Happy 2010 to all!

I’ve been wanting to give Kiva a try for a long time and the trip to Peru was encouragement enough. I issued a few loans when we got back and was very impressed. Its great that as a microcredit service you get to choose who the money goes to and you receive the money back for reissue on loan completion. This gives more long term involvement with lending than many other lend-and-forget microloan services.

I recently decided to use some of my unused 0% interest free credit limit to increase my Kiva lending. While slightly risky there seemed little justification for not going trying it out. The money could be much better used by people that need a loan, than by sitting unused on my credit card statement. I chose loans which would be repaid in less than 6 months and only loaned $25 per per person to spread the risk of any delinquent payments.

Follow the progress of my loans and consider lending yourself.

There was a fair amount of activity on Twitter happening at Think Visibility. Here’s some pointers on how to make the most of Twitter at an event like Think Visibility.

Buildup

Watch the #thinkvisibility hashtag
Follow the event Twitter account @thinkvisibility
Join in the conversation
Follow the speakers
Follow interesting people

At the event

Those you have followed will now appear in your Twitter stream
Continue watching the event hashtag
Continue following interesting people as they appear
When talking to people, ask them for their Twitter name and follow them

Post event

Catch up with your new followers and follow them
Post Tweets about the event
Find to presentations being posted about Think Visibility with Twitseek.

Nottingham Twestival is taking place at 7.30pm on Thursday 10th September 2009 at Muse, Hockley. This time round the very worthy charity is The National Autistic Society – Nottingham.

Volunteer meetups are currently taking place with much more help than last time, thanks all! With the venue agreed it is now the interesting part of finding sponsorship, getting raffle prizes and choosing bands.

To find out more about Nottingham Twestival , check the blog and follow @nottstwestival.

Web 2.0 Surgery is going from strength to strength with the fifth event.  There is another great line up of experts ready to answer questions on everything Web 2.0 and internet related.