My new hobby site: Keeping the Door
July 26th, 2009 • all posts • 1 comment
Good news everyone! I’ve just launched a new hobby blog. Dubbed Keeping the Door, it’s a site devoted to science fiction and fantasy books.
The title of the site refers to one of the least known, but perhaps most important of the nine Roke Island master mages in Ursula Le Guin’s classic Earthsea series: The Master Doorkeeper. An enigmatic fellow, the Doorkeeper is perhaps best known for denying access to the School of Magic to the young Sparrowhawk — until the beginner mage realises he must first surrender any wizard’s most closely guarded secret first. Can you guess what it is?
Basically I launched the site for two reasons. Firstly, for a long time I’ve felt that I wanted to write about science fiction and fantasy literature. It’s such a fascinating area. When you’ve got amazing books coming out like Patrick Rothfuss’s The Name of the Wind, you just feel like you have to tell someone about them, why they’re good, and why, above all, they must read them!
But secondly, I have constantly found myself behind the news when it comes to fantasy and sci-fi releases. For example, I didn’t even know that Robin Hobb’s latest book, The Dragon Keeper was out until I saw it in Dymocks last week. This has happened to me now several times with Robin Hobb, and it’s a situation I’m not happy to have continuing :)
So, to rectify both issues, I’ve starting Keeping the Door.
I will aim to update the site with one review per week, and a few news stories as I get time. The site also has a new Twitter account, @keepingthedoor, which I will use to interact with readers, authors and publishers. I’ll also put some stuff on my normal @renailemay account occasionally if I think it merits wider distribution.
A good question is: How will this change my ZDNet.com.au work? The answer is, it won’t. Keeping the Door will be a non-commercial hobby site I’ll do in my out of work hours … don’t expect me to respond to queries or post during the work day :)
Why Twitter will renew Journalism
June 28th, 2009 • all posts • Comments Off
Last week I spoke at the Insight Exchange’s Twitter’s Influence on Media and Journalism event in Sydney. You can find the full text of the speech on ZDNet.com.au.
In addition, we sent out the speech as a freely publishable commentary to a number of Australian media sites. I’m proud to say that both Mumbrella and Media Hunter published the speech.
The speech got a great reaction. A number of people linked to it, describing it as a must read and providing hope for the future of journalism. Of course, I also had my critics, who broadly described me as arrogant, an accusation I sometimes also level at myself ;)
Upcoming Zen Buddhist Film Festival
June 16th, 2009 • all posts • Comments Off
Something that not everyone may know about me is that I am a practising Zen Buddhist.
The reason I mention this is that I am helping to organise the upcoming Reel to Real film festival, a Zen film festival being held by my Zen group, Zen Open Circle.
The festival will be held on 21 and 22 August this year, in the Sydney suburb of Glebe. It’s the fifth year we’ve held the festival, and it’s normally a warm and welcoming event, but with that edge and insight that Zen brings. This is from the brochure:
What makes our 5th Buddhist Film Festival so unusual? The rarely-seen shorts and features – extraordinary films with a Buddhist flavour – are chosen by our Roshi, Dr Susan Murphy, who brings together her Zen mastery and longstanding expertise in films, from both an academic and production perspective.
Beautiful soups, cheeses, coffee and cake are included, and so are the rich insights that come from audience discussion led by our Roshi.
Some of the great films that will be showed include Fearless by Peter Weir, Man On Wire by James Marsh and Burnt by the Sun by Nikita Mikhalkov. There will also be quite a few Australian shorts :)
I have uploaded the two pages of the brochure here so that you can check out all the details.
The Insight Exchange interviews me
June 15th, 2009 • all posts • Comments Off
I was interviewed here by The Insight Exchange’s Beth Etling. I think this paragraph sums up my view on Twitter and journalism:
As I finished my conversation with Renai, I realised that his position on Twitter is that “Twitter IS the next big thing” and that all media and journalism executives need to embrace the platform to continue to evolve the overall industry. Join us on 23 June for the luncheon session, Twitters Impact on Media & Journalism, and hear Renai explain why he considers Twitter a “playground of pleasure”!
You can read NZ veteran tech journo Bill Bennett’s view on my initial comments on journalists engaging with Twitter here. He agrees with my premise but says many journalists aren’t truly joining the Twitter conversation.
As Beth mentions you’ll hear more from me at their 23 June event in Sydney. I have also been tentatively approached to speak on the same subject at the internal Asia-Pacific marketing meeting of a major multinational. You can follow me on Twitter here.
LeMay: Surname of champions
June 15th, 2009 • all posts • Comments Off
Great news everyone!
I just found out that my surname, “LeMay”, dates back to medieval France! Apparently it’s quite a famous surname. I quote here from the House of Names website page on the surname LeMay:
“The family name Lemay has made many distinguished contributions in France and New France to the world of science, culture, religion, and education.”
There is also a Facebook group entitled “LeMay, surname of champions”. I have joined this group. Apparently, the image to the right is our family crest. There are 214 members from all over the world!
LeMays rock!!!!!
Speech to the CIO Network
June 8th, 2009 • all posts • Comments Off
On 13 May this year I gave a speech to open The CIO Network’s Sharing Best Practice to Improve Organisational Efficiencies conference.
The speech focused on the fact that I remain optimistic about the future of Australia’s ICT industry, and I put this down mainly to my conversations with chief information officers and IT managers over the past five years.
You can find a modified transcript of the speech, which I really enjoyed giving, published here on ZDNet.com.au.
Twitter’s impact on media and journalism
June 8th, 2009 • all posts • 1 comment
On 23 June I will be speaking at an event held in Sydney by fledgling (but innovative) Australian events company The Insight Exchange on the impact of Twitter on media and journalism.
The full panel of speakers for the event hasn’t been confirmed yet, but at least two other speakers will be there; futurist, inventor, writer and educator Mark Pesce (you might have seen him on the ABC television show The New Inventors) and Paul Colgan, managing editor of News Ltd’s new Australian site The Punch.
The event will discuss such weighty matters as whether Twitter is journalism (my opinion: it is) and how the new medium is impacting the way traditional media providers capture and deliver the news (my opinion: it and other online technologies are renewing our society’s journalism, which had stagnated).
To be honest, I’m really looking forward to this event. In my opinion, it’s hard to underestimate the profound impact that Twitter is currently having on Australia’s media, and society in general, and we need more such events where we can debate the associated issues.
I haven’t worked through my comments in full yet (and no, I’m definitely not going to use PowerPoint slides), but I know where I’m going to start.
My comments will start from the perspective that fundamentally, journalists are not simply “using” Twitter to promote their own work and get news tips. This is nowhere near to being the whole truth.
In fact, audiences are using Twitter as a powerful tool to engage with journalists directly and force a renewal of journalism and media along lines that audiences have long demanded.
Some journalists, generally the ones who see themselves as the servants of their audiences rather than their masters, have started to ride that wave of audience power as a means of reinvigorating their publications through community energy.
Others (and sometimes entire media outlets) are foolhardedly trying to stem the tide or react in traditional ways.
Over the past year I’ve been engaging strongly with Twitter and have developed a strong (almost 2,000!) following of mostly Australian Twitter users, most of whom use technology in some way in their professional lives.
In my speech I’ll try and tease out some of the ways in which that community is impacting on, and in may ways guiding my own work. Stay tuned for the full speech, which I’ll post here after the event.
Thanks for a great year
December 22nd, 2008 • all posts • Comments Off
Just wanted to write a quick post saying “thanks!” to everyone who has helped me in my professional life this year, I’ve had a great one — writing articles for Fairfax Business Media and then switching halfway through the year to being the News Editor at ZDNet.com.au. It’s been a blast, and you, my colleagues and friends, have helped me all the way. Here’s looking forward to a great 2009 — in the meantime, let’s all enjoy a welcome break :)
Merry Christmas!
Renai
I have a new ZDNet blog
August 10th, 2008 • Uncategorized, all posts • 1 comment
As part of my new role as News Editor at ZDNet.com.au, I have in the past few weeks started a new professional blog on the site. Named ‘bootstrappr’, it will exclusively focus on the Australian tech startup scene.
Its tag line is: “From boom to bust, from unconference to Barcamp and beyond, Renai LeMay tracks the fortunes of Australia’s startup community.”
You can find the blog here. So far I have featured several startups, interviewed some of the highest profile Australian twitterers about Twitter security, and written about initiatives to boost tech startup activity in Australia.
Updated contact details
July 7th, 2008 • Uncategorized, all posts • 21 comments
I have commenced a new position as News Editor at ZDNet Australia and no longer work at the Australian Financial Review or MIS Magazine. My new e-mail is renai dot lemay at zdnet dot com dot au. My new phone is 02 8514 9907.