Swift – Apple’s new programming language – has just turned 2 – and is already at Version 3.0. It has undergone significant development, including now being fully open-sourced! It’s had one of the fastest adoptions of any new language ever (for reasons we’ll discuss) and has been turning the world of Apple development on its head.
But what’s different about it? How does it fit in with other modern languages? Is it a functional language, as some rumours have suggested? Does it have any unique features? Should you care about it at all if you are not in the Apple eco-system (or even if you are)? We’ll look at answers to at all these questions and get a flavour of the language itself.
Phil Nash
Phil is a semi-independent software developer, coach and consultant – working in as diverse fields as finance, agile coaching and iOS development. A long time C++ developer he also has his feet in Swift, Objective-C, F# and C# – as well as dabbling in other languages. He is the author of several open source projects – most notably Catch: a C++ and Objective-C test framework.
6.30pm – Free beer 7.00pm – Intro 7.10pm – Swift for the Curios – Part 1 7.55pm – Free beer 7.10pm – Swift for the Curios – Part 2 7.55pm – End
The Double Nelson charity cycle ride hasraised more than double it’s original target of £1000 with thefinal total now standingat over £2200 raisedfor the Jubilee Sailing Trust’s training ship Lord Nelson. The ride was completed by ten cyclists including Chamber memberMark Greenwood of advertising and design agency Greenwood&Bell.The cyclists started at Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square on a July Saturday morning at 6am.140 miles and 14 hours later they pedalled up to Nelson’s Monument in Great Yarmouth.
Mark Greenwood said “We’re tired, sore but very proud. We want to thank everyone who helped, especially Greenwood&Bell clients, friends and family who have donated so generously”.
The money all goes to the Jubilee Sailing Trust who own and operate the Lord Nelson and Tenacious, the only two tall ships in the world designed and built to enable people of all physical abilities to sail side-by-side as equals. The more able bodied crew members work alongside the less able,resulting inonce in a lifetime experiences that really dochange people’s lives.
Bigger, Better & Bursting with even more content,Nor(DEV):con 2017is set to be our biggest yet so bare with me as we go through what’s on offer in 2017!
Naked Element Ltd.is proud to present Nor(DEV):con, theNorfolk DevelopersTech, Agile & Business conference in the heart of Norwich. 2017’s Nor(DEV):con will take place on between Thursday 23rd February and Saturday 25th of February at theKing’s Centrein Norwich with keynote speakers Dom Davis on Thursday, Seb Rose and Russel Winder on Friday and Juliana Meyer on Saturday 25th February 2017.
Last year we successfully extended the conference to include extra workshops on the Thursday and extra sessions & workshops on Saturday to compliment our core Friday programme. We welcomed a record breaking 650+ delegates over the three days. This year we have a whole day dedicated to young people & schools aspiring to be involved in the technology industry. Dom Davis will be speaking for the keynote and this will take place on Thursday 23rd February 2017 alongside our extra workshops which this year include “Seb Rose – BDD Fundamentals” & “Kevlin Henney – Paradigms Lost, Paradigms Regained: Programming with Objects and Functions and More”. Tickets for these workshops are on sale now via this website or eventbrite.These are priced at£21.79 incl. fees.
Limited numbers of Super Early Bird Tickets are now on sale for£57.84 incl. feesand they’ll sell out fast, to find out more about conference, Thursday workshop sessions and tickets take a look around our website and follow ourtwitteror join our mailing listto keep up-to-date as we announce our agenda and our speakers in the coming weeks!
With sponsorship packages starting from just£275, as a sponsor you’ll have unique access to a broad range of business leaders and influencers whilst casting your company onto the biggest technical stage in the county. The conference provides the perfect platform for business and technology experts to come together and explore the fundamental role technology plays in the East of England’s economy whilst making valuable connections in the wider tech community, increasing the support directly to your business.
Every year we kick off Nor(DEV):con with our pre-conference session at the King’s Centre which isfreeto attend, we start early at 5pm with two 30 minute sessions, with all the usual refreshments, this will be followed by our pre-conference dinner which is attended by some of the speakers and the organisers of the conference.
Last years pre-conference dinner atthe Librarywas such a success we’re going back for seconds.
Wine Reception, Conference Dinner & T-Shirts
We are pleased to announce we’ve extended the capacity of our wine reception which is sponsored for a second year by “Wines & BusinessClub”. This, for the first time, will take place in the main Auditorium at the King’s Centre. This event is still free to attend so don’t forget to add the ticket to your order so we can keep the wine flowing until our wonderful conference dinner which is still limited to 80 places.
Every year our conference dinner offers an intimate opportunity to network with our speakers and other delegates. This is an event for those interested in engaging with other business decision makers and those wishing to gain valuable insight into where the digital economy trends are heading in a relaxed setting with a stunning three course meal. Guests are shuffled around the various speaker tables ensuring each course is accompanied by different opportunities to network and socialise. Dinner includes 2 glasses of wine and a choice of courses from the menu, all for£42.39 inc. fees.
Conference Dinner tickets can be purchased from our websitewww.nordevcon.com.
Conference T-shirts arefree, so to get yours just add the ticket to your order and collect them with your delegate pack at registration on the day.
Good Cause
This year, the local good cause we shall be supporting is based in the partly cobbled streets of Colgate, The Women’s Centre offers women a wide range of opportunities and support services to offer women support for homelessness, domestic violence, mental health issues and range of other important social issues facing the women in the city of Norwich and wider Norfolk, the centre has become a haven for those who have felt or faced social exclusion, whatever the circumstances. Women can receive free advice on accommodation, access to education and counselling as well as access free skills development and employment supportive services and we hope to increase support for this valuable yet little known deserving cause.
We’ve Crammed Nor(DEV):con full of great content. Your only challenges now are to choose which sessions to attend and convincing your boss to pay!
Communications agency TMS Media beat off seven other companies to win a contract to promote a £6million regional grant programme encouraging innovation in offshore renewable energy.
Great Yarmouth-based TMS will use its skills in publicity, social media, video, online marketing, events and exhibitions to promote the SCORE programme, which provides grants of up to £50,000 to businesses developing innovative technologies.
Steve Scott, managing director of TMS, said: “We were extremely pleased to have been awarded this contract against very stiff competition. SCORE is an important programme that’s designed to encourage small and medium sized companies in Cambridgeshire, Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk to solve problems and drive innovation in the burgeoning offshore renewables sector.
“It’s a significant pot of money and our job is to ensure that eligible companies operating in offshore wind, wave, tidal and other renewable fields know that it’s there to help them bring their great ideas to fruition.”
The new SCORE programme is part financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and delivered by OrbisEnergy, the renewables innovation and incubation centre in Lowestoft, Suffolk, and in partnership with enterprise specialists Nwes, energy industry experts Nautilus Associates, and the national Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult centre. It aims to support 200 innovative businesses and create 100 new jobs. The previous £2.5million SCORE programme, which concluded last year, invested in 40 projects, supported more than 50 companies and helped to generate 70 new jobs in the region.
Johnathan Reynolds, of OrbisEnergy, said: “TMS Media pitched for this contract against some very strong competition. They have a great deal of experience in the energy sector and an in-house team that can deliver every aspect of the SCORE contract, so we are confident that they will be successful in helping us get our message out there.”
TMS Media was formed in 1989 and has a broad portfolio of clients. In the energy sector these include Fred. Olsen Windcarrier, Sembmarine SLP and the East of England Energy Group. The agency also works with companies and organisations such as New Anglia LEP, Nwes, Bateman Groundworks, Britannia Fire and Norwich Inns. Earlier this year, TMS was commissioned to provide publicity services for Great Yarmouth tourism.
If I could give my 20 year old self one piece of advice it would be:”GET A QUALIFICATION!”
But wait a minute, I think my parents did tell me that and I think I completely ignored that advice! Many years later, we at TIPS for Good Management (a CMI Approved Centre) are passionate about convincing new managers and young people coming into industry that gaining a management qualification will put them towards the front of a lengthy queue…..
Here’s why, straight from the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), the leading organisation for Leadership and Management Qualifications in the UK.
CMI qualified managers and leaders make a positiveimpact on businesses helping them to grow and thrive. Research shows that management and leadershipdevelopment leads to 23% increases in organisationalperformance and a 32% increase in employeeengagement.Chartered Managers on average deliver£391k of value to their organisations.CMI membership and resources makes you a bettermanager and leader, improving your career prospectsand getting you to the top of your profession.
Professional Qualifications and Chartered status are crucial if individual managers and organisations are tosucceed.Holding a professional Qualification leads to additionalearnings of £81,000 over a career for individuals.A professional Qualification makes individuals 9% moreemployable.
It’s easy to see the positive benefits of a management qualification, but without it you may well be starting at the back of a very long queue when it comes to career opportunities. We offer personal coaching together with affordable and accessible learning. Queue jumping was never made easier!
Start your qualification today. Don’t hesitate, call now, enquire via our website or e-mail us.
Three former newspaper colleagues have been reunited in an expanded publicity department at Great Yarmouth-based TMS Media.
Richard Batson, a former chief reporter and community editor with Archant, joins fellow journalists Rachel Moore and Steve Scott at the agency.
The three have more than a century of experience behind them. Rachel Moore, TMS Media’s PR and communications manager, is a former news editor of the Norwich Evening News and an Eastern Daily Press chief reporter. She still writes a weekly column for the EDP.
Steve Scott, managing director, was a journalist at what was then Eastern Counties Newspapers for 14 years, half of that time as chief reporter of the company’s Cromer office, where Rachel began her career as a trainee reporter. Richard, who lives in Southrepps, was community editor at Cromer for four years after serving as chief reporter for 23 years.
Formed in 1989, TMS Media is a 12-strong full-service agency that provides graphic design, website development, photography and exhibition management alongside its publicity work, which has more than tripled in the past year. Four major contracts awarded in the space of four months for clients in construction, energy and tourism prompted the move to expand the PR team.
“The success of our publicity service centres on outstanding relationships with the media and well-written press releases,” said Steve Scott. “So in looking to expand the service it was absolutely vital to recruit a journalist who could write our clients’ news stories in the editorial style that hard-pressed newsdesks are looking for. Richard has huge experience, is an excellent writer and a great asset for us and our clients.”
Rachel joined TMS in August 2014, succeeding another former Archant journalist, Roy Strowger, who was PR and communications manager for seven years.
We are delighted to introduce Sabine Sargeant as Senior Consultant to the Delta-Simons Manchester office. Sabine has previously worked for Resource and Environmental Consultants (REC) and Integra, gaining project management experience through a wide variety of planning projects which involved Phase I/Phase II site investigations, remediation strategies, coal mining risk assessments and validation reporting.
Sabine will be responsible for the management, financial and technical input to projects, including provision of proposals, project planning, site monitoring, reporting and financial performance.
Richard Lawless, Unit Director for the Manchester region, said “Having someone with Sabine’s experience join our growing Manchester team reflects our ongoing commitment to our clients within the Northern Power House.”
Sabine gained her BSc. (Hons) in Geology at Manchester, and obtained her MSc. Environmental Hazards at Lancaster.
Long term campaigns increase brand awareness and with BBA Digital Media’s business sector exclusivity offering you can corner your market. Norwich Accountancy Services have done just that – joining us for a long term campaign and letting all of Norwich know about their comprehensive service packages.
Need help with your tax return? Your situation may be very straightforward: youmay just need some advice to help you complete the return. Or perhaps you feel that your tax affairs are complex, and that you need a specialist to sort them out for you.
Well, the good news is, Norwich Accountancy Services have helped hundreds of individuals and companies like you to sort out their tax affairs and complete their tax returns –www.norwichaccountancyservices.co.uk
Their digital-out-of-home campaign can be seen across our network screens reaching 750,000 people per week. Look out for their ads over the coming months!
Wrightway Health Ltd is East Anglia’s largest independent Occupational Health provider. Whilst the bulk of their operations are in Norwich and Gorleston, Wrightway Health continues to expand across East Anglia. With reported gloom in the economy and many companies putting expansion on hold, Wrightway Health is bucking the trend and cementing their commitment to serving the region.
Wrightway Health decided to join the Norfolk Chamber since it forms a hub for key businesses in the county. The Chamber’s member events give businesses straightforward access to one another and provides opportunities for networking that are unparalleled.
Occupational Health focusses on maintaining the health and well-being of employees, which in turn helps employers keep their staff at work. At a time when the UK’s productivity gap is at its highest level since records began, more and more employers are looking at how Occupational Health can help them meet regulatory health-monitoring requirements whilst managing staff sickness absence and ensuring employees are taken care of.
Launched by Dr. Lindsey Wright MFOM and Alison Mackway in 2013, Wrightway Health Ltd (previously Abermed) has grown to offer Occupational Health services to a variety of local, national and international businesses, providing specialist services to a range of sectors, including energy, science and chemical, agriculture, transport, construction and healthcare amongst others.
Wrightway Health has five accredited doctors and a team of Occupational Health nurses and technicians available to offer medical assessments, sickness absence assessments, drug and alcohol screening, fitness to work medicals, health surveillance and bespoke Occupational Health assistance.
At a time of reported economic uncertainty with many businesses freezing investment, Managing Director of Wrightway Health Alison Mackway is upbeat about the economic future of Norfolk.
“Norfolk is at the heart of the UK’s agriculture and energy sectors. Businesses in these sectors present specific challenges to monitoring and safeguarding employee health, and our growth in the region stems from employers realising that.
It’s encouraging in times of uncertainty that we’re in a position to continue growing, but also that employers value the health of their staff. There’s a growing understanding that investing in Occupational Health is a real benefit to reduce levels of sickness absence from avoidable medical conditions.”
John Claxton is our latest employee at The RedCat Partnership. John who previously worked for the Health and Safety Executive for the majority of his career has joined the team as a Health and Safety Consultant.
Saturday Morning Yoga Sessions
We have two more Saturday morning 90 minute yoga sessions with Ann Reed taking place at No.8. The first yoga session will be taking place on 20th August…
Skincare Masterclass
Louise Thomas-Minns from U and Your Skin will be hosting two skincare masterclasses this October from No.8. The two masterclasses will cover ‘The Art of Cleansing’ and ‘How to look younger’.
Marie Curie Tea Party
No.8 will be hosting a Marie Curie Tea Party on 19th August. All proceeds will be going to Marie Curie Norfolk. Our tea party will include tea/coffee & cakes. Bookings are now being taken….
WIN 80 Prizes in 80 Days with Premier Travel this summer
To celebrate our 80th birthday, we’re giving away 80 prizes in 80 days in a scratch card competition.
Still left to win:
Weekend break to Washington DC for two from Premier Holidays
With United Airlines flights and staying at the Loews Madison hotel
Holiday to Crete for two with Classic Collection
Staying for a week at the Aldemar Resort
20 x boxes of chocolates
14 x£80 off your holiday vouchers
18 x Afternoon tea for two at Harriet’s Tea Rooms
13 x bottle of wine
1 x £100 hotel voucher
To enter, all you need to do is book your holiday with Premier Travel before 21 September. You’ll be given a scratch card – simply scratch it off to see if you’ve won!
Trading since 1936, the independent, privately-owned Premier Travel first began operating bus services between local market towns, expanding over time to include express coach services and offering holidays to coastal resorts around the country.Most of the coach booking agencies were then converted to travel agency branches during the 1960’s, and in the early days, Premier Travel operated holidays from Cambridge Airport to the Channel Islands out of its first branch in Cambridge.
Long-haul holidays came next, when core destinations such as the USA and Asia were introduced to the portfolio, followed by Australia, New Zealand, Canada and South Africa – all of which are still sold across the company today.
Premier Travel now offers holidays worldwide and has 17 travel agency branches around East Anglia, the most recent of which were added in May this year (St Neots) and in September 2015 (Bury St Edmunds).