One man who’s giving mobile blogging from Glastonbury a go is James Whatley. Not wanting to rely on phones like the one in this picture, he’s got a load of equipment together. His stash includes two Nokia N95s and an E61i as backup, plus a solar charger and lots more. He seems to be quite successful so far. You can find his blog here.

Meanwhile, several charity workers at the festival are using their phones’ GPS to post updates as to what they’re doing around the site. Alfie’s Blog has a map that allows you to follw their movements. As more devices become location-aware in the coming months we’ll be seeing a lot more of this kind of thing. Techcrunch has information on an upcoming iPhone application that uses GPS to allow people to gossip about what’s happening in the area directly around them, for example.

When it comes to an events like Glastonbury, mobile blogging and location services can give an extra dimension to the experience for those of us who can’t make it. We can always watch it on TV, but that’s not quite the same. Most of the BBC’s TV coverage centres on the bands, with only occasional ‘look at the freaks’ packages where they show crusties juggling, people falling in mud and Michael Eavis saying “We’re coping better than we did last year”.

As someone who’s never been to Glastonbury (when I was a student I couldn’t afford it, now that I work I can’t get time off to go) seeing frequent updates from the festival makes me feel a little less left out. Let’s just hope all these mobile bloggers have a plan for what to do when their batteries run out!

[Image Credit: whiper on Flickr]

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I had no idea what would actually be taking place at the event. An email sent out a couple of days before the event listed a load of times with famous Manchester names, from Steve Coogan to Frank Sidebottom, next to them. What would these people be doing and how would the 200 people who successfully applied to be there be involved? That was far from clear.

So, it was with a sense of excitement that I arrived at the Hard Rock Cafe at the Printworks in Manchester yesterday morning to sign in. Taking my name badge, I was just in time for the opening speeches from former Happy Mondays and Simply Red manager Elliot Rashman, leader of Manchester Council Sir Richard Leese and former Factory board member and graphic design god Peter Saville. Grabbing what looked like a free glass of orange juice (but was actually Bucks Fizz, apparently – I thought it tasted odd!) I consulted the list I’d been given. Everyone attending had been given a ‘Creative Connection’ – someone the organisers thought it’d be worth you meeting. Mine, one Laura Frame, was nowhere to be found so I chatted to the few familiar faces I recognised and waited for everyone to decamp to the big tent across the road.

Before the event I’d been frustrated that cameras and phones were to be banned. The advance email said these would have to be stored in a locker inside Urbis for the duration of your stay. In reality, while photography was strictly banned and phones had to be switched to Silent, no-one was searching us on entry.

Session One was a conversation between Peter Saville, Steve Coogan and Manchester International Festival curator Alex Poots. My fears were almost immediately confirmed – this appeared to be the same old faces giving the same old Wilson anecdotes while the 200-strong audience (us, ‘The Talent’) just sat and watched those on stage (’The Experienced’). There was, however, some insight. Steve Coogan, away from his characters and scripts, comes across as quite a shy guy. He made the point that using put-downs of friends and family as an expression of love is a uniquely Mancunian trait. I’m not sure if that’s true but it was clear from that point on that amid the nostalgic indulgence that Manchester has become a little too fond of over the last few years, there would also be some interesting debate.

Session Two featured radio stalwarts Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie chatting about nothing in particular for an hour. Although their conversation didn’t particularly go anywhere, their wit and chemistry made it highly enjoyable. After two hours in a tent listening to people talking I fancied a little interaction. The problem, it seemed, with The Tony Wilson Experience, was that it didn’t allow much interaction. Sure, people could offer questions from the audience but a bit more face-to-face contact with ‘The Experienced’ would have been appreciated.

Heading for my free lunch (Sausage & Mash) I was invited to do a quick interview for the BBC’s The Politics Show. I haven’t seen it yet, but I’ll post it up here ASAP (all three seconds that they apparently used).

Sadly, a little later I had to head off (a train to catch!). According to The Manchester Evening News‘ coverage of the event the debates got a little more heated later and things became a little more relaxed. It’s a shame I had to go so early but it was still a pleasure to be part of it. I found it quite inspiring, to be honest. Simply that fact that something like that could happen anywhere outside London is brilliant. Sure, it wasn’t perfect, but it’s events like The Tony Wilson Experience that attracted me to living in Manchester in the first place.

As for my ‘Creative Connection’, Laura Frame? Well I never did meet her at the event, although she has sent me a Myspace friend request this afternoon. You really should have a look at her website – her drawings are great!

Unfortunately, many of Manchester’s technology-minded population were at the b.TWEEN08 conference at the Museum of Science & Industry so it wasn’t the biggest of turnouts. Still, the Guardian had laid on free coffee and nibbles (including some impressive looking Scotch Eggs!) and there were lots of interesting people to talk to about all things tech-ish.

My problem was ‘how do I introduce myself?’. I don’t run a digital media company, I’m not a programmer, hell, my blog only launched this morning. So, besides giving 14sandwiches a plug I mentioned my day job running a school’s media facilities and creating video and audio content for its website.

This led to some interesting conversations about the slow pace of digital innovation in education. Seriously. Sometimes getting teachers to embrace video and audio can be a struggle (but it’s getting better). Shaun Fensom of Manchester Digital was talking to me about the importance of Manchester’s tech firms recruiting at Further (rather than Higher) Education level. Apparently the main difference with a Higher Education graduate is they cost more!

Hugh Garry from BBC Radio One shared his frustration at trying to get popstars to play Guitar Hero against their fans at the recent One Big Weekend event. That led me to consider how interesting it would be to test how technically proficient pop singers really are using Singstar. Something tells me many wouldn’t be too keen!

The subject of education came up again when I was talking to Aleks about her PhD on using games in education (or more broadly “examining the relationship between communication patterns and group processes in the diffusion of information through an online community” – phew!). There’s loads of potential there. I’d love to see Super Monkey Ball for the iPhone used as a co-ordination trainer for young children. That accelerometer coupled with rolling monkeys would really get them engaged. Or how about Wii Sports for when the PE Teacher’s ill and the supply teacher has to take the class?

I demonstrated Qik to a couple of people from Lewis PR. As you can see here, it wasn’t my best camerawork but ignore the vomit-inducingly fast panning and shots of chairs and you can hear me demonstrating Qik’s features and explaining who Robert Scoble is while Aleks interviews Paul Robinson in the corner for next week’s podcast. When they return to the table there’s a bit more Qik-related chat at the end of the video.

Finally I chatted to Paul about this weekend’s Tony Wilson Experience. I was glad to hear he shares my frustration that the organisers have invited 200 of Manchester’s most creative people to an event and denied the the chance to take video and photos while there. Seriously – you have to put all your stuff in a locker when you get there!

More on that soon. I’ll be down at The Tony Wilson Experience for its kick-off at noon on Saturday.