The fund is administered by the Arts Council for Northern Ireland and is open to all creative businesses here.   Davy Sims spoke to her afterwards.

• The average returns that angel investor backed companies achieve
• Key factors that affect the success of angel backed ventures
• First hand experiences of seed capital investors and entrepreneurs
• An overview of the halo business angel network

Potential angel investors will understand how they can maximize their returns, while entrepreneurs will see what they need to do to sweeten their ‘Dragons’ and win that all important early investment.

The seminar will be led by Alan Watts, the new Director of the halo Business Angel Network

Panelists
• Aidan Langan, CEO Enterprise Equity
• Panos Lioulias, CEO QUBIS

Date: 2009-01-15
Time:
08.00am – 08.30am Registration
08.30am – 09.30am Programme
09.30am – 10.00am Q&A
Cost: Free of charge
Contact: Roisin Clancy, Northern Ireland Science Park
Tel: 028 9073 7920 Email: nispconnect@nisp.co.uk

REMINDER: Invest Northern Ireland Trade Mission to Toronto & New York
15-20 March 2009

Invest NI’s Mission to Toronto & New York aims to capitalise on strong market opportunities in the regions, particularly for innovative & technology driven companies.

For Media Companies, you may wish to know that the 2009 Media Summit takes place in New York on the 18 & 19 March ’09. Please see following link for details www.digitalhollywood.com

To receive an application form and register for this event please contact Colin McCamley or 028 9069 8075.

Speaker: Kate Keyes, Arts Council of Northern Ireland.

Start Time: 08:30
End Time: 09:30
Date: 2009-01-07

RSVP: To reserve a place, email rita.mccaughey@noribic.com

Title: The Next Leap: Competitive Ireland in the Digital Era
Subtitle: Strategic Report on the Trends of Change in the Digital Sector, and Government Opportunities for Action, Based on the IIEA Digital Sector Stakeholders’ Consultation

The Next Leap: Competitive Ireland in the Digital Era is intended to be a useful point of reference as Government considers a new national strategy to maximise Ireland’s competitive advantage in the digital era. It is an exercise in digital foresight that describes: Emerging trends that will characterise the digital environment incoming years; and Government actions that could capitalise on these trend. This report presents a cross-cutting draft plan of action derived from the diverging inputs of stakeholders across the digital sector.

Every page of the report is open to commentshere.

Or you can download the PDF here.

If you’re new to R&D, you could be eligible for 75% assistance with project costs - and this is also available to entrepreneurs who want to establish new and innovative businesses with the potential to export to international markets.

If your business collaborates with universities, research bodies and other businesses, you may be eligible for additional support of up to 15% (the maximum that can be accessed is 80% total).

Applications will be assessed against some or all of the following criteria:

• level of innovation resulting in new or improved products or services
• level of technical risk and R&D challenge
• market need, commercialisation opportunities and ability to export
• competence and skills of project team
• capability to deliver completed project
• ability of project to proceed without grant support
• wider economic and social benefits accruing to Northern Ireland
• potential for creation of Intellectual Property rights.

You do not have to be an InvestNI client to avail of this support but there are some straightforward criteria.

Download the guidance notes and application form from www.investni.com/r+d or email grantforr&d@investni.com.

Minutes from the Digital Circle Steering Group Meeting on Monday the 15th December

The collective will design and deliver an exhibit/performance that will be presented within or in association with the ISEA2009 Symposium
(www.isea2009.org) that shall be hosted by the University of Ulster in August/September of next year. In addition to this, the process of conception and creation will be documented and presented at this event and also in the lead up to it, through an online blog.

Upon completion of the project, it is expected that the collective will continue to operate and evolve into a permanent venture, and opportunity, for local artists wishing to collaborate.

It is my belief that digital art innovation requires a multi-disciplinary approach; it requires a cross-disciplinary exchange of skills and understanding. Through the pooling of talent, we can deliver intricate digital work of great significance that demonstrates to an attentive international audience how much ability is here in Northern Ireland.

Furthermore, this work will illustrate the affable nature of our art scene.

All welcome, please distribute to others who may be interested.
First meeting - Blackbox Belfast this Thursday (18th of December) at 4pm.

Matt Green (SARC QUB)
Cherie Driver (Sch of Art & Design, UU)

Agenda

• Mixing Music - using Ableton Live (courtesy of Sonic Academy). Sonic Academy were one of the winners of the DETI Broadband Initiative. They provide standardised, accredited and bespoke training for aspiring DJs both face to face and delivered from their web site. Sonic Academy also scooped the Creative Industries award at the Belfast Business Awards in November and were also interviewed on the Digital Circle podcast.
• Troubleshooting and Housekeeping - keeping your Mac running during the Credit Crunch!

The venue is Windsor Lawn Tennis Club which is located on Windsor Avenue in Belfast. There’s plenty of parking.

We’ll definitely have tables, WiFi and seats. Mac-Sys did buy a Projector we can borrow as well. The meeting will starts at 7 pm and we’ll aim to finish up at 9 pm. The format is still very fast and loose. We still want volunteers to give demos. The turnout will be the best gauge of success!

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