Hybrid Events and the new event participant

by Padraic Gilligan, Vice President, Industry Relations, MCI “It’s not who attends your event, it’s who participates” Sebastien Tondeur, CEO, MCI Samuel Johnson, or Dr Johnson as he was more commonly known, had a wonderful ability to summarise a universal truth in a single, simple sentence. His aphorisms are both sublime and ridiculous: “Integrity without… Read more »

Coming Home – Revisiting Ireland’s Incentive Icons: Killarney Park, Europe, Dromoland, Adare

by Padraic Gilligan, Managing Partner, SoolNua I’ve greatly enjoyed the opportunity over the past 4 weeks to re-acquaint myself with Ireland as an incentive destination. A combination of familiarisation trips and live programmes brought me, in quick succession, to two of Ireland’s premier locations for corporate meetings and incentives, the Shannon area renowned for its… Read more »

Killarney, Destinations, Hybrid, Delta

Walking in Killarney For 10 years now the Gilligans have spent Easter at the Killarney Park Hotel. This year was no exception but for two things: one, no Gilligan child had an excuse to absent herself from the dreaded mandated family activities due to pending exams and two, Master Shea Gilligan, aged 8 months, became… Read more »

Focus on fake reviews V Focus on what REALLY matters: More on Trip Advisor

Having posted on the extraordinary inclusion of 3 Irish hotels on the Trip Advisor Travellers’ Choice Top 25 Hotels in the World I was obviously intrigued by Conor Pope’s story which appeared on the front page of Monday’s Irish Times (30 January). Apparently Pope had sight of internal correspondence authored by Jean O’Connell, Director of… Read more »

Irish boutique hotels on Trip Advisor’s Top 25 – lessons in on-line marketing

by Padraic Gilligan, Vice President, Industry Relations, MCI Group As a Irish born meetings professional I was obviously thrilled that 3 Irish properties were included in the recent Trip Advisor Travellers’ Choice Top 25 Hotels in the World. 17 countries of the world have properties listed amongst the 25: Greece, Belize, Czech Republic, South Africa,… Read more »

An Island Story – in the footsteps of J.M. Synge

by Padraic Gilligan, Managing Partner, SoolNua Heavy showers quickly clear to reveal a bright blue early autumn sky as you arrive at Connemara Regional Airport. There are no lines at the airport, no endless security queues, no loudspeaker announcements, no numbered boarding gates. Instead you’re subjected to a “weigh in”, the results from which determine… Read more »