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Around the Town with Conor |
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It has been a great month for events, and we got to see some NEO members in full swing. Everyone shall have to forgive my poor photography abilities though.
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IIA Congress gets packed out |
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On the 17th May Sarah and I went off to the Fitzpatrick Killiney Castle Hotel for the Irish Internet Association Congress. I had no idea what to expect but I was completely surprised, Irene (pictured on the first page with Sarah and myself) and her team had done an amazing job. One of the novelties of the day was the Realex credit card. Everyone got one and you went up to their stand and swiped it. Sarah won the seventh season of the West Wing and I got the new album from The Fray, all courtesy of CDWOW, great stuff! |
Eventznet were hosting a breakout session on E-marketing entitled:
Monetising your Email Marketing - make it work for you! Sarah led a crack team of experts in the field; Denise Cox of Newsweaver; Niall McKeown of Ion Technologies (that's them on the right) and Julian Lynch from Interactive Returns (he's up there with Sarah).
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| Niall had been having car trouble on the day so I hope that it is all fixed. The speakers for the conference were fantastic, and I had a great time listening to Mark Charkin (Head of sales for Bebo Europe) give us all a little insight into Monetising Bebo. |
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SMILE Conference really does make me smile... |
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The SMILE conference on the 24th May coincided with a very important day for NEO Ireland. So important that our Managing Director even put money down on it. For those who didn't know (and forgot to send cards/presents) it was my birthday and I had a fantastic day at the Guinness Storehouse enjoying from the hospitality of Gerard Tannam (Islandbridge), Alex Gibson (The persuaders) and Cyril McAree (Hotel and Restaurant Times), the organisers of the Smile Conference. Well done lads! This was a fantastic event with some great speakers.
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Ciaran Lally- MD ebookers UK & Ireland
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I got to network with some new (and old!) people too, which is always a bonus (it is in the job title after all). Sitting beside me was Sinéad Barden from the Dublin Tourism Center. And next to me at lunch was the Sales & Marketing Manager of one of Dublin's hotels. I first met this person at Tricia Murphy's networking salon on the 20th March, way back when I was only a wie baby in NEO. It is always nice to see a familiar face at events. |
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NEO members the Fitzpatrick Hotel Killiney seem to have been everywhere this month. Hosting the IIA, speaking at the SMILE Conference and exhibiting at the TallHouse exhibition (see below). Nicky Logue, their General Manager gave us a brief history of his career in the hotel industry and what works and what doesn't and how important it is to support your team. He even included a brief goodbye to one of his own within the presentation, showing that great management is as much to do with doing as well as saying. Oh... and thanks for the free ice cream Nicky. |
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Regency Relaunch
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On the 31st of May the Regency Hotel Dublin Airport re-launched their conference facilities to a select number of clients and interested parties. All I can say is wow! They really have outdone themselves with a conference room that can hold up to 700 people theatre style. I was given a tour of the bedrooms and the leisure facilities (lockers you can actually fit into) and I was sold.
The property was comfortable and the facilities were state of the art, whilst not taking away from the
natural architecture.
We were treated to dinner also, which was scrumptious and given a free pass to the gym for the next time we visit. I do not think I could do the Regency justice on the amazing job that they have done. If you would like to know more about the Regency, or have a tour yourself, send Catherine an e-mail, I am sure she would be delighted to hear from you.
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TallHouse Expo |
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The 31st May was a busy day indeed. On this day TallHouse were also hosting their first ever Reward and Impress expo in Citywest Hotel. I ventured out hoping to find some new members for NEO, and to see what Emma and the team at TallHouse had achieved with their hard work. I ended up meeting a lot of seasoned NEO members too. Emer from the Fitzpatrick Killenny Castle was there. It was great that I could give some more feedback on the amazing work they had all done while hosting the IIA congress the week before. Citywest were exhibiting also, as was MasterChefs. I even got to hold a gun at the CourtLough Shooting Grounds stand and I was very surprised at how comfortable (natural!) it felt.
Laura Horrigan, Emma Kennedy and Brenda Kennedy
of Tallhouse Event Management
All in all this was a very successful day and one that I hope to see continue. For more details on who was exhibiting you can get in contact with Laura at TallHouse. |
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Click here to view the first ever MPI feature.... |
