The trouble with the Welsh (and the Scots and the Irish)...

So, I am back from the Celtic Media Festival -fully refreshed, but slightly jealous that I missed out on the two big parties at the event (the closing Ceilidh tonight and the opening DJ set on Wednesday night)!

I met some fantastic people and heard about some great ideas and things happening in various parts of Welsh, Irish, Scots, Manx, Breton and Cornish media. But being there reinforced my feelings about what the Celtic media (and people to a certain extent are really bad at).

The Celtic media are really bad at one thing - marketing themselves. They don't shout enough about the great achievements they make or the power they have collectively to be a strong player in European media. These countries have consistently punched above their weight  in the media arena in years.

Say what you like about S4C (and it does have its issues), but no other indigenous broadcaster in the world has produced an Oscar nominated movie and helped to create companies sold to giants like Disney. RTE and BBC Wales have produced shows that have sold around the world and STV and UTV are trying out some pretty interesting stuff online.

To say creative talent oozes out of these nations is an understatement. But you wouldn't know about that potential judging by some of the hand-wringing that goes on in the press or even over post-session cups of coffee at the CMF. The upshot of that is that people outside the Celtic media industry have a lower opinion of us,  both as a public perception and an industry perception. This is why we are thought of as the country bumpkins who play at tele or radio or digital with state money.

Thankfully, events like the Celtic Media Festival blow that right out of the water. So, not only should we take the CMF to Cannes and Hollywood, but it should act as an inspiration for us all to do two things all year-round.

1)Shout louder - we all need to market ourselves better. That means talking and promoting on as many channels as possible (and yes,of course that means everyone in Celtic media upping their game digitally)

2) Working together - the amount of co-working or co-productions between Celtic media companies is pitiful and frankly shameful.

If we can't help each other, how can we change perceptions? There is so much common interest, either in the technology we need or the content we need for it. Moreover, there is one big common challenge to Celtic media - funding. Think how much further that money would go if media companies from our nations pooled their cash for part-funding of projects. We would all become innovators.

So, in the spirit of Stornoway, let's set a new deal for Celtic Media. I promise to turn this blog into a place where I shout about all the great things we are doing in the digital spaces.

SO, COME ON WELSH,SCOTTISH, IRISH, CORNISH, BRETON AND MANX MEDIA COMPANIES...HERE'S SOME FREE PUBLICITY. TELL ME YOUR GOOD WORK AND I'LL BLOG IT HERE.

And if you want to work with a media company in those countries, post your details here.