So yesterdays Flickr meetup went quite well, I’d say. A turnout almost hitting double digits meandered around the Spring Market at City Hall, before heading towards Botanic Avenue, Queens’ University then Stranmillis - finishing off with a refreshing round in Cutters Wharf. Hopefully we can make these a monthly occurance - with even a sniff of promotion it doesn’t seem too difficult to bring in larger numbers - perhaps a field-trip is next in line …

You can see a few of my favorite shots after the jump - or check mine or everyones’ together in the Belfast Flickr pool. Keep your eyes peeled for info on the next outing!
(more…)

One of the first Belfast Flickr meetups to happen for quite a while took place yesterday lunchtime. While it was only the four of us, it was actually really interesting to poke round some of the lesser spotted areas of the city center (read: we dug around in alleyways) and get a bit of practice in for the meetup in a few weeks time.

It’s interesting how people - not too long ago - were happy to tout that the internet would completely destroy standard social structures as people flocked to social networking. Not too much time has passed between those statements and the advent of Flickr meetups, OpenCoffee and even local Mac User Group meetups - all of which would never have started without the internet as a bootstrap. Support the movement - NIMUG on the 19th, OpenCoffee on the 21st and Belfast Flickr Meetup on the 24th!

The meet-up scene in Northern Ireland is growing rapidly, with groups interested in the emerging technology industry, startups, Apple and photography already in full-swing. One more to add to the pile can’t hurt - so I’m planning on organizing a regular monthly meet-up in South Belfast for those interested in the lighter side of tech - a group meeting to talk about blogging, community and social networking, programming, design, and lolcats. I’m keeping it deliberately broad - the Belfast blogging community alone is still quite small, so now seems like the best time to get everyone together before we can’t fit into a coffee shop anymore …

If you’re interested, obviously show up. But if you can, please re-blog this, fire it on your profile places and Twitter feeds, and spread the word to your friends. Charlies is open to 9pm, but if we get a good crowd there are plenty of pubs nearby!

Charlies Coffee Shop* (map)
Thursday 7th February, 6pm.
and continuing every second Thursday of the month.

*Charlies Coffee Shop on Bradbury Place is fully equipped with high-speed wireless broadband, as well as delicious coffee, buns and sandwiches.