I'm a firm believer that technology should be fun. So, I'm on a mission to test out my theory that people take best to new technologies if introduced while they are having fun.

I shall be setting off from my Huddersfield base for a couple of months to introduce people to new technologies for the first time in the midst of celebration events, and I want to convince people who are only occasional users of such technologies that they can enhance their lives and become important to them.

At the same time, I want to bring local traditions and cultures to a wider audience – just think of some of our great northern customs and then think global!

Regular readers of The Northerner might remember the Lancashire venture I did last year - Twicket. It grew out of a wacky idea to live broadcast an English village cricket match over the internet as a demonstration of what can be done with a fast internet connection, and to highlight the problems of poor rural broadband.

Worldwide interest

This turned into a very high profile occasion with national newspaper and radio interest, coverage from regional television, and thousands of online viewers and listeners. I was even interviewed about it on Radio New Zealand. Twicket was a great success in highlighting some serious issues, but it was the unintended consequences that were perhaps more intriguing.

These included the commentator, Brenda, who had never considered technology as being important in her life, becoming a cult star on the internet!

While Twicket was undoubtedly a one-off, there are heaps of equally wonderful events happening in communities across the north which could become a Celebration 2.0

Carnivals, festivals, animal shows, May Day parades, well-dressing
pub quizzes who knows what's coming up near you?

So please let me know, then if you have a celebration event that you think would benefit from the Celebration 2.0 treatment. Your event needs to be between now and the end of May 2012, and you have to be prepared for me to turn up and do one or more of the following:
- live video streaming
- live audio streaming
- recorded video via Youtube (or similar site)
- recorded audio via Audioboo (or similar site)
- video and audio interviews
- live blogging
- Facebook pages
- event blogs
- securing and utilising internet connectivity in difficult places

I've got one or two events potentially lined up to be part of the programme, but there is plenty of room for more at the moment so come and be part of the Celebration 2.0.

* Celebration 2.0 is a project funded by Nominet Trust in conjunction with Talk About Local. To suggest an event you can leave details in the comments below, add it to the project calendar or post an event on Celebration 2.0 noticeboard.