Hull Digital Developer Group - July Meetup

We are delighted to announce our next Hull Digital meetup.

Location: Fudge cafe restaurant (http://www.fudgecafe-restaurant.com/)
Date: 7th July
Time: 6:30pm

Big thanks to Rosie and the staff of Fudge for having us. Don't forget there will be food and drink available to buy on the evening, so no need to grab a bit before the meetup!

The event will be held in the upstairs area of Fudge, so please go straight up.

Who will be talking?

Richard Gate

About Richard

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Richard has been in IT since 1982. For the first 12 years of his career he ran IBM main frame systems, Technical and Operations teams providing services to Comet, Shell, a couple of local authorities, etc. He then moved into PCs and Servers providing services to various national retailers including B&Q and IKEA.

For the last 18 months Richard has been running his own company and taking time to research his interests in Open Source systems and becoming what his head of marketing sells me as, an "Open Source Expert" whatever one of those is. During the last 6 months Richard has also been appointed as the Technical Director for CommunityUK.net (http://communityuk.net/). The company was featured on BBC Click at the end of last year and is providing a Wireless Broadband service, including free subscriptions, to a 12,000 household estate north of Portsmouth.

The Talk

Richard plans to present on some of his observations on Open Source, including some details of a couple of Server based systems that he has particular interest in.

The talk may stray into questions like; "Must we all be developers to use Open Source?" "How can we make money from free stuff?" "Will Open Source kill Microsoft?"

Simon Crosby and James Greenwood

About Simon and James

Simon Crosby and James Greenwood have been colleagues and friends for the last 15 years having written software for the retail industry.

Simon is a Director at BSC Solutions Ltd (http://www.bscsolutions.co.uk/) and James is a Director at http://Strawberry.co.uk

The Talk

In their current roles, their respective businesses work as partners developing bespoke eCommerce software which is currently in use by 13 clients across the country. When their wives spotted a niche market and suggested that they should try and actually run an eCommerce store, there were many reasons which pointed at it being a daft idea. However, there were some reasons which suggested it might be worth a punt and might not only work but benefit their existing client base. Simon and James will reveal the benefits of having a "side project", the issues faced and how working with your wife is not for the faint hearted!

We'll have the normal great chat and networking before and after the speakers. The talks will be commencing at 7pm.

See you there!

John