I’ve just lost my Wired City Reconnected virginity, having attended one of their networking events for the first time this evening. Run by those friendly folk at Alba Associates, these handshake events are aimed principally at people working in the digital and creative industries

As Shaun Fensom - Chair of Manchester Digital and an impressively switched-on chap - said during our short chat, the current buzzword may be ‘innovation’, but there’s still a huge amount of value in ‘collaboration’ - and that’s really what Wired City is all about, providing a space for people with different skills and projects to meet, be introduced to each other and hopefully create collaborative opportunities and relationships for the future.

The introduction element is a key part of Wired City’s events, as you get to see a list of the attendees beforehand and choose one or two (or ten) who you’d like to speak to. The organisers - Les, Immy and Fiona - then make sure that they introduce you to those individuals over the course of the evening.

Once you get used to Les popping up on your shoulder and asking if you’re ready to move on yet (I did at one point think he was about to blow a whistle in a speed-dating stylee, only to realise he’d just popped a pen lid in his mouth whilst writing something down) this is actually a really useful way to get people moving and talking to as many other people as possible. Plus, I think it’s going to make me more likely to follow up with those people who I did speak to, if only to carry on the conversation that we left off slightly abruptly!

So yes, I shall be along at the next Wired City event. And no, it’s not just so I can get another free glass of wine… (although yes, it always helps…).

Does your website answer these five questions?

1. This is what I’ve got
2. This is what it can do for you
3. This is why you should get it from me
4. This is why you should believe me
5. This is how you can get it

If there’s someone on your Chrimbo pressie list who hasn’t got anything against their name yet (i.e. everyone, if you’re as organised as me), you might want to consider an old favourite that’s back in the top slot after two decades in the wilderness.

Apparently the game that’s all about words, Scrabble, is once again the nation’s favourite board game.

And the irony is that it’s all being accredited to Scrabulous, the online version of the game that took Facebook by storm - and caused more than a storm in a teacup over at toy-makers Mattel and Hasbro, who ordered Facebook in no uncertain terms to remove the online game designed by Jayant and Rajat Agarwalla, which they did earlier this year.

Some say its proof that the old-fashioned favourites are still the best… others that it’s proof of the contemporary power of “social meeja” when it comes to setting trends that affect not only the virtual world, but the “real” one too.

As for me, after reading a few articles about the topic, it’s made me really, really want to play Scrabble while 13,000ft up in the air…

I love it when new words are invented and last night I had the pleasure of picking up a corking new phrase, ’sweded’. I was watching, Be Kind Rewind (which was an interesting expression I’d forgotten with the demise of VHS). Sweded is (according to Urban Dictionary), “The summarized recreation of popular pop-culture films using limited budgets and a camcorder. The process is called sweding. Upon completion the film has been Sweded.” I’d highly recommend this cute and quirky film, watch out for other ‘interesting’ uses of language.

There are some words and phrases that just grind on me. Researchers at Oxford University have complied a list of the top 10 most irritating expressions, including a few of my pet hates. No 5, With all due respect - which means you’re about to tell me something which is incredibly disrespectful and this is your attempt at an arse covering exercise. Also worthwhile reading are the responses from Daily Telegraph readers.

Sitting, wistfully dreaming of becoming a writer? In case you missed it The Guardian recently had an excellent series on how to write - on everything from comedy writing to script writing.

Can the copywriters craft be compared to great literature? Check out Beanz Meanz Rhymz.