by Padraic Gilligan Berlin, Early Morning, 7am The room is already flooded in bright light when my alarm squalls into life at 7am. I think my vintage football shirt might be appropriate in Germany’s capital, now that Arsenal FC has signed Poldolski so I wear it for my morning march. I try to capture on… Read more »
Posts Tagged: Destination Management Consultant
“Berlin: coolest city on the planet?” At Site EMEA Forum 2012
Site EMEA Forum 2012 The last 4 weeks or so have had me all over Berlin – Potsdamer Platz, Unter den Linden, Pariser Platz – but it hasn’t been as exhausting as may seem: Berlin was the key setting for two recent novels that I read – William Boyd’s The New Confessions and Esi Edugyan’s… Read more »
Memphis lives! Final tales from ADMEI
by Padraic Gilligan, VP, Industry Relations, MCI and VP, Ovation Global DMC A perfect job Many of us would like to be Kevin Kirby. Kevin has had a series of very fun jobs – Universal Studios, Disney and, for the past 6 years, Director of Global Sales for Hard Rock Café. He obviously understands the… Read more »
Memphis: Destination King
by Padraic Gilligan, Managing Partner, SoolElla “I’m going to Graceland” So, like millions before us, we headed to Graceland. For me it was like participating on the Santiago di Compostella Camino or visiting Our Lady’s Shine at Lourdes. Snatches of songs from U2 ( “… early morning April 4 shot rings out in the Memphis… Read more »
Walking in Memphis – Tales from the ADME Annual Conference
by Padraic Gilligan, VP, Ovation Global DMC We arrived early in Memphis having managed to blag our way onto an earlier flight and avoid payment of the $50 dollar fee which Delta said they’d charge but then , for some reason, didn’t. For me this was small compensation for a nasty airline experience which I… Read more »
Global DMCs – a beautiful oxymoron?
Global DMCs – a beautiful oxymoron? by Padraic Gilligan Allegedly, when asked for his favourite oxymoron Irishman, global entrepreneur and former international rugby player, Tony O’Reilly, said “Great Britain”. But it may be regarded as crass and unfair to explain the meaning of oxymoron by reference to O’Reilly’s wicked quip (although given the current rumblings… Read more »
40 years of growth: the art and science of the DMC
By Padraic Gilligan, Managing Director, Ovation Global DMC [First published in Kongres Magazine, December 2011] According to a recent exchange on Linkedin the term “DMC” or “Destination Management Company” was coined by either Tom Risbecker, Gunter Roleff or Phil Lee. Tasso Pappas and Ralph Holt, both DMC legends in their own right, opt for Europeans… Read more »
Do you know weird and wonderful people? Key Attributes for DMC success.
The late, great Jack Franchek once told me that success as a DMC was all about cultivating relationships with weird people. And Jack being Jack exaggerated that contention to the nth degree: “Unless you’ve got a whole bunch of outcasts and weirdos in your Rolodex (this was a pre-Internet age!), you’re as useful to me as… Read more »
Hero or Villain? The true identity of the DMC!
At an industry function recently I found myself seated between two agency executives. I spent a fascinating and frightening evening listening to war stories about their experiences with DMCs around the world. In roughly half of the stories the war in question was won as a result of incredible acts of heroism and valour on… Read more »
“Flash Mobs in Bangkok: is this Thailand?”
“Flash mobs in Bangkok: is this Thailand ?” by Padraic Gilligan, Managing Director, MCI Dublin and VP Ovation Global DMC I thought I was in the middle of a Flash Mob. It was evening rush hour and I had just gotten off the Skytrain. I could hear music playing all over the station and people… Read more »