Rather Useful Seminar Program Spring 2014

We are back with a sequence of presentations that are tailored at the professional world. All the presentations are at the same time as usual, 1:15 on Wednesday, but the venue has shifted to Lecture Theatre A on the ground floor of the Robert Blackburn Building.

March 19th

Open Data in Hull – The City Engine – John Connelly C4DI

Turns out that Hull is a really exciting place to be just at the moment. With the interest in the area generated by the successful City of Culture bid, high performance fibre optic networking, new startup incubators and lots of other things coming together the future is very interesting. One fascinating local development is the ongoing availability of lots of local information from Hull City Council. This has the potential to drive lots of new and innovative application ideas. 

John Connelly has been intimately involved with this huge project and will be talking about how the data is becoming available and how you can get involved. We are planning to run a "Three Thing Thing" competition at the very end of this semester where we will be turning everyone loose on data feeds to see what they can come up with.

Personal Presentation – Rob Miles and David Grey

This seminar is a lead in to our Careers and Internships Conference on April 2nd. The event is aimed at any students who are interested in internship and employment opportunities. We've got a lot of employers who are really keen to meet up with students to discuss ways forward.

For the conference  we expect everyone to be suited up and looking their best. In this session Rob and David will run through tips and tricks to look good in these situations and how to present yourself to the max.

You can sign up for the conference (free business cards, info-pack and mug) at this seminar too. 

March 26th

BBC iPlayer and the Video Factory - Phil Cluff BBC

We love it when our ex students come back and tell us what they have been up to. Phil Cluff graduated a few years ago and is now Principal Software Engineer & Team Lead, FM Media Services at the BBC. If you want to find out how iPlayer works, how it was built and where it is going then you should come along and see. 

April 2nd 

Careers and Internships Conference

This is not a Rather Useful Seminar. But we hope it will be more than just Rather Useful. Especially if you are looking for an internship or a job at some point in your future. You might not know this, but Hull turns out to be quite a hotbed of digital based companies who have a healthy appetite for bright young minds. The aim of the conference is to put these two together and get some sparks flying.

If you are looking at the upcoming summer and thinking it might be good to get something lucrative going in the form of a paid internship, or you are looking at your upcoming future and wondering just what goes on in these parts, then you must, must come along. We've got loads of local employers coming along, we'll have talks on local industry and where it is going and you'll get a free bunch of business cards to pass out while you are there. And a nice ceramic mug to serve as a memento of the occasion when your life changed direction. 

This event will start at 1:00 pm on Wednesday 2nd April and run through until around 4:00 pm. We start in LTA with a keynote and presentations before moving upstairs to 312 for a mini-expo.