On Tuesday night I’ll be watching the Bays and the Heritage Orchestra performing at the RNCM. The electronica quartet will be improvising, with the orchestra following suit, for what is guaranteed to be a truly unique performance.

If I wasn’t there I’d be at the Northern pub on Tib Street where the Social Media Cafe, a new monthly event, will be launching. It’s designed ‘for anyone involved or interested in social media as a means of reaching new audiences, collaboration and sharing skills and experience’.

If you’re reading this, chances are you’re just such a person. And, based on Sarah Hartley’s post on her MEN blog, there are plenty of interested individuals - with Mindy from IndieCredential, Dave Carter and Adrian Slatcher from the MDDA, and Black Country Grammar’s Jonthebeef just a few of the recognisable names listed.

Here’s the programme for tomorrow:

18:00 Doors open
18:20 Introductions what we are and who we are
18:30 Panel discussion ‘Is blogging dead?’ (Craig McGinty, Martin Bryant, Chi-Chi Ekweozor (tbc), chair Sarah Hartley)
19:00 Questions
19:30 Networking
20:30 Round up and close

For more information and to register your interest, join the Google Group.

There’s a bit of buzz going around Manchester blogs and news sites about Manclopedia, a new wiki community for Manchester. I got a tip-off from a reader just under a week ago, and a couple of days later Kenan Bailey sent me this press release:

Manclopedia is a free, non-profit, open content encyclopedia project that aims to collect and summarise every single aspect of Greater Manchester (including it’s history, culture, politics, people and places) in hope of becoming the most comprehensive online collection of information regarding Manchester and the surrounding areas.

As well as serving as a source of learning, Manclopedia also hopes to work as medium for promotional interaction between Manchester-based projects and businesses and the general public as whole. By allowing Manchester-based artists and entrepreneurs to publish autobiographical articles Manclopedia hopes to serve as a platform to kick-start the careers of its most talented inhabitants whilst at the same time broadcasting the universal qualities of Manchester to the wider world.

Kenan admits that the site isn’t as populated as he wants it to be - a result of being ‘rumbled’ by the blogging community a month before its planned launch. Still, if people get involved it may soon be a useful resource - Chester’s wiki, also powered by MediaWiki, is something to aspire to. And, of course, there’s already a substantial Greater Manchester community on Wikipedia itself.

Manclopedia is ‘owned and operated’ by Hive, a web-based collective that runs Hive Central - a Ning-powered social networking site that promises a digital art gallery, music and videos, event information, venue locations and classified ads.

They’ve also launched a ‘Mad about Manchester’ toolbar. It’s an interesting tool that offers the latest posts from various Manchester blog (including Mancubist) - plus headlines from the MEN - within one click.

What with No Point in Not Being Friends, Reverberate, If P then Q, Transmission, the Manchester Review, the literature festival and so on, are we already in danger of hitting saturation point for the city’s literature scene? Hopefully not, especially as two more magazines will be launching here soon:

We Are Young And We Are Trying: ‘We are an art and literature zine with a cause. Each volume includes a piece of writing and a piece of art from ten different people. Five of which are primarily writers, five of which are primarily artists. Many creative people who primarily make images will write or have an idea towards writing but think “oh well, I’m not much of a writer” and will not build on their work. Similarly, many writers will make images or have an idea towards doing so but think “oh well, I’m not much of an artist” and will not build on their work.’

‘This is not the case. We believe that all creative output should be valued and we try to encourage young people who are doing something. It is important.’ Visit their blog for more information on what to submit and where to submit it.

Martyrdom Is The Lowest Form Of Wit: ‘A new magazine showcasing the best writing, graphics and photography that Manchester and the North West of England has to offer. Get in touch (via Facebook) if you want to contribute - aiming to have the first issue on the streets by December 14.’

Seems to be the peak time to launch a literature project with a long-winded name! Even their respective acronyms (WAYAWAT and MITLFOW) are a mouthful.

I haven’t unveiled the literature project I’m currently working on yet, partly because there’s so much happening in the city right now. More on that soon - but for now here are a couple of brand new things for those literary of heart.

Today Manchester University’s Centre for New Writing launches an online journal, The Manchester Review. As well as a cracking name, it’s got a great exclusive: the first chapter of Booker Prize-winner John Banville’s forthcoming novel The Sinking City. No wonder the Guardian’s Books section made it Site of the Week.

Issue one of the biannual journal features 16 pieces in total, from a short extract of one of Chris Killen’s poems to a video of RNCM composition teacher Larry Groves’ setting of a poem for contemporary music and theatre ensemble Psappha. And that’s not a one-off, with ‘a mix of new music, public debate, visual art and video as well as fiction and poetry’ promised for future issues.

Also at/near the university today, a poetry night called The Other Room is taking place in The Old Abbey Inn (the lesser-known Kro) on Pencroft Way from 7pm. It’s organised by the same people who run the Openned experimental poetry website, which I wrote about in January.

Tonight’s free event features David Annwn, Caroline Bergvall and Joy as Tiresome Vandalism.

There’s an unusual initiative launched in today’s Metro by default vodka brand Smirnoff:

Smirnoff Original Nights is proud to present Night Vision – a groundbreaking new initiative to discover, support and celebrate aspiring nightlife promoters of all kinds, from live music to clubs via cabaret and arts-based nights.

Night Vision operates on two levels:

• A hub on Facebook for advice and information from our expert partners
• A bursary scheme; the chance to apply for funding towards your night

So if you’re a talented promoter or simply have an idea for a great night, go ahead; think big. Be original. Make it happen.

The bursary scheme is particularly appealing - four awards of up to £10,000 are available to anyone in Manchester who wants to set up ‘themed nights, concept clubs or pop-up parties in out-there places’. Judging the entries are two of the city’s biggest clubbing names - Unabombers and the Warehouse Project - plus Urbis and Northern Quarter-based arts mag Flux.

There are also 10 monthly awards of £2,000 available to anyone in the UK.

The deadline for Manchester Night Vision submissions is Friday 3 October, so if you’ve had an event idea at the back of your mind for a while, now’s the time to get it out. Visit the Facebook page for more information.