I’ve mentioned the work of Old Trafford-based LetsGoGlobal.tv a couple of times before but Friday 8 February sees their annual talent showcase at MohoLive on Tib Street:

Come and help us set the mis-en-scene for a FREE explosion of films, music, bands and DJ’s. Lets Go Expo 08 is an exciting showcase of filmmaking talent and will be broacast LIVE online and into SecondLife. Featuring live music from RYNA, THE HIDDEN REVOLUTION, SALTY LIPS and FRAZER KINGS.

A selection of films will also be broadcast on the BBC Big Screen Manchester from 8pm. More information here.

Meanwhile, according to this comment, Manchester’s online TV community just grew some more:

Welcome to Manchester-live.tv, the UK’s first local-based online television service. Here you will find everything and anything related to Manchester, from the origins of Northern Soul to the latest celebrity events.

But possibly the greatest thing about Manchester-live.tv is that you are able to contribute by uploading your videos and show the world your own broadcasting skills. A group has just been formed on Facebook - Manchester Live TV! - Please join.

It’s early days but there’s already plenty of interesting stuff up there including historic footage of a Manchester Beatles concert, Frank Sidebottom’s excellent Manchester Medley and New Order performing at the Hacienda (check out Hooky’s lovely hair!).

I’m not a big clubgoer myself - I’d rather see music played in the flesh - but I’m well aware of Manchester’s big clubbing tradition, which I guess dates back to 1963 when the Twisted Wheel opened. And we don’t even need to mention the H word, do we?

But while Thursday’s Metro, Friday’s CityLife and, occasionally, Saturday’s Guide do a reasonable job of previewing a few of the dozens of nights going on around Manchester each week, print space dictates that the coverage is far from comprehensive.

The folks over at Northernights have realised just this and have decided to bypass trivial things like word limits by doing it all online. They’ve got the main site - containing a club directory, previews, features and a calendar - plus a blog, which is updated a few times a week, and the obligatory MySpace and Facebook group.

What’s particularly handy, however, is the weekly mailer they’ve started sending out. ‘WARNING - CONTAINS SOME MAJOR PARTIES THIS WEEK,’ it declares. And indeed it does, as it goes on to list a couple of dozen club nights happening around town - thus saving you the effort of hunting through half a dozen other sources.

Northernights is still pretty new but I like the sentiment and I like the service they’re providing (for free, let’s not forget). It goes to show that it doesn’t take much to build something useful in Manchester - just an idea and some time.

Wordpress. It’s my all-singing, all-dancing blogging platform of choice. If you’re a geek you can set up your own souped-up blog, as per Mancubist, or alternatively they can host one for you at Wordpress.com - try it out.

A week today (Wednesday 16 January, 5.30pm until 7.30pm) the MDDA on Portland Street hosts the first Manchester Wordpress User Group meeting. It’ll cover designing for Wordpress and security issues, it’s free and refreshments will be provided. For more information email MDDA’s Alan Holding or phone 0161 224 8211.

Elsewhere, Vice (a free, often controversial international magazine available in Vinyl Exchange and other places) will be bringing three trendy new bands to town on Thursday 31 January.

Jacksonville’s Black Kids, plus Metronomy and Ipso Facto (both from London, naturally) will be playing at Mint Lounge on Oldham Street - and, best of all, it’s free. All you need to do is sign up on the Vice Live website. If you’re attending and use Last.fm, visit the event page here.

Still on the events front, Showclix.com now lists over 100 upcoming gigs in Manchester - though I still much prefer Last.fm’s Manchester gig calendar - and Skiddle.com lists more general Manchester events. I’m trying a feed from the latter on Mancubist’s sidebar.

Finally, I hear next Saturday’s blogging workshop - also at MDDA - is now fully booked up!

I’ve been contacted by Alex Davies, who co-edits the experimental poetry website Openned. The name’s a combination of ‘open’ and ‘penned’, apparently.

Anyway, Alex recently had the good sense to move oop north from London and is now expanding the site to include Manchester. Here’s what he has to say about it:

It’s called opeNned (see what we did there, so clever us poets eh) and it’s just getting off the ground, but it would be a big boost to us if you wouldn’t mind posting on Mancubist about it with a message along the lines of ‘contact the editors if you are interested in being involved in opeNned’.

Besides publishing a rather hefty PDF anthology, they also run poetry nights in London - and it sounds from the website like they may well start doing the same here.

In the meantime, if you fancy getting involved, read the guidelines here and then email submissions [at] openned [dot] com.

The newly renamed Northwest Vision + Media has announced the follow-up to its entertaining Digital Futures conferences and seminars, which took place earlier in the year.

Its Digital Academies will comprise two three-day residential courses at Manchester’s City Inn in July. Here’s how they’ll work:

We will support a handful of creatives and entrepreneurs to work in partnership with the region’s top production houses on real projects adapting innovative content for new formats, applications and platforms.

Successful candidates will receive professional industry advice and coaching in the application of creative thinking, idea development, pitching and selling. They must have bold ideas and new approaches to creative content.

The production houses in question are Multi Media Arts, Hat Trick North, Channel M, Centini and All Out Productions. Between them their briefs, available on the Digital Futures website, cover online, mobile, radio and - primarily - television platforms.

Thirty successful candidates will be selected for the academies - five of whom may be invited to continue their work with paid placements. Proposals should be submitted by July 4.