ArabNet Day 1

23 Mar, 2011  No Comment

Blog post by Josh from the ILQ team over at ArabNet in Beirut.

The first day at Arabnet is in the books. The day’s theme was focused on addressing the big question: How the Middle East region can better support an entrepreneurial ecosystem. According to Peter Kellner, Managing Partner of Richmond Capital, a global VC, it all starts with education. Universities are where entrepreneurs are created. After education, its about mentorship. Tareq from Endeavor Global, a global non-profit that promotes high impact entrepreneurship, put it another way:

“We’ve found that two things are required for a succesful entrepreneurial ecosystem – 1. the right entrepreneur and 2. deep and tailored support. The biggest barrier to entrepreneurship isn’t capital.”

Interesting stuff, and encouraging news for Qatar. Education City and Qatar University are churning out highly skilled graduates every year. Incubators are popping up for seed stage startups. How can Qatar offer “deep and tailored support” in addition to capital, back-end services, and office space?

Digital Reversal. Calling Bloggers. A new magazine.

4 Oct, 2010  3 Comments

Sorry for the ‘radio-silence’ all. Besides working hard on trying to get the new version of ILQ up and running after losing 3 months of work due to my hard disk failing after the electricity getting cut WHILE it was backing up and thus corrupting the OLD backup (yup!) I’ve also been working on a number of ventures. This includes a project which I call ‘Digital Reversal’.

Before I explain what that is, (don’t you just hate it when Entertainment Tonight does that?), if you’ve got a blog, drop me a comment below so I can share it with everyone in ILQ’s next newsletter. You’ll find some blogs in the footer of this blog or you might also be interested in these past blog posts:

The problem with blogs

Qatar blogs

Qatar’s top blogs

This leads onto the Digital Reversal project. Now blogging was born out of two cosmic collisions; The fact that getting it was easier to post on the digital medium known as the blog and people’s preference to read nonprofessional journalism because… well…. the blogger usually doesn’t have anything to gain and it’s most likely going to be honest and free.

Now what I’d like to do is encourage these bloggers and columnists to write for a magazine which is going to become the most widely circulated magazine in Qatar; hence the digital reversal.

If you’re opinionated, it’s a great way of getting your views, ideas, and opinions out there. If you’re passionate, it’s a great way of sharing what give’s you goosebumps or motivates you to live life. You might even have the goal of inspiring people through a number of topics. You decide.

So if you’re interested in writing a column, getting your name out there, getting some experience, making a name for yourself, or simply honing your hobby, then drop me a line at contact  (@) iloveqatar.net

I’m arranging a meeting on Thursday at 7:30pm (I’ll email you more details). So far there are 7 passionate people coming along.

Happy Blogging!

Read the rest of this entry »

In the Abode Blog

18 Mar, 2010  No Comment

I should have mentioned this sooner, however I totally let this slip under the radar. If you’re wondering a bit more about Mr. Q, they asked me some pretty random questions.

If you’re interested —> Visit Mr. Q on the Abode Blog

I’m in Abode magazine ^_^

7 Mar, 2010  2 Comments

I was pleased when Abode magazine contacted me because they wanted to hear what my views were on blogging and the blogosphere in Qatar. All I had really done was share my view (in English) so that people can read up on what one Qatari thinks.

Has this blog inspired you to become more vocal? Start up your own blog! Sign up to WordPress or Iktib.com !

Still prefer reading? Then pick up a copy of Abode magazine at a nearby store!

Blog update

22 Feb, 2010  No Comment

With all the updates going on at ILQ, I thought it was about time we tweaked the blog a bit.

On the right hand side, you’ll now notice a few changes. 1) There’s a tag cloud so you can find the most common tagged terms, there’s my twitter feed, and there’s the Qatar Events twitter feed.

For those who don’t know there are a few great ILQ powered Twitter channels.

QatarEvents – http://www.twitter.com/qatarevents

It’s updated with the latest events and happenings in Qatar.

QatarNews – http://www.twitter.com/qatarnews

Grab important news from a variety of sources related to Qatar.

Qatar Blogs

30 Oct, 2008  5 Comments

Do you think you’ve got a good blog? Are you down to earth, honest, and feel you can relate to readers (and/or vice versa)? Then leave a message on this blog post with your blog. I’ll be scouring the net and listing my top 3 favourite blogs in / on Qatar.

Those top 3 will also receive a nice goodie bag!

Update: I think I’ll leave this open for one more week and then get to posting my top 3 favourite :)

Freedom of Expression

    Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which the Qatari Government is a signatory of states: Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any medias and regardless of any frontiers.

    The Emiri Decision Number 86 of the year 2007 on the establishment of the Doha Free Information Centre marked yet another step towards establishing a State of rights and freedom of speech. The decision stipulated that the Centre be a non-profit organization, headquartered in Doha City, and have the authority to establish other affiliated centres inside and outside Qatar. It is worth mentioning that His Highness the Emir issued a decision in 1998 annulling the ministry of information, giving birth to a new era of freedom of speech where censorship was removed from local media.