Connect, Learn, Discover at SITE’s Incentive Summit Europe

By Pádraic Gilligan, Chief Marketing Officer, SITE & Managing Partner, SoolNua Connect, Learn, Discover If one thing is clear from SITE’s Incentive Summit Europe, real people in real time in real places are a force to be reckoned with and will NEVER be replaced by AI, AR or any other two or three letter acronym!… Read more »

Literature and MICE – only The Witches and Small World?

by Padraic Gilligan, Managing Partner, SoolNua In a recent editor’s blog on MeetPie the author refers to Roald Dahl’s The Witches as “one of the few works of literature set in the heady world of the conference and events industry”. And the author is right, of course. There are precious few works of literary merit… Read more »

Smoke on the water, fire in the sky – Ovation Trophy Day 3

Guest Post by Hugo Slimbrouck, Director of Strategic Partnerships, Ovation Global DMC Swiss Trophy Day 3 At 6am this morning, just when his fellow Irishmen had finally stopped singing in the bar, Padraic slipped silently away to attend a family event. He passed the blogging baton to me and this is my account of the… Read more »

Reaching New Heights: Ovation Trophy 2013 – Zurich – Crans Montana

by Padraic Gilligan, Vice President, Ovation Global DMC No Brunello Florian never showed so there was no Brunello for breakfast. But that was the only disappointment in a day that delivered constant peaks of satisfaction as we crossed Switzerland from Zurich in the east to the Valais region in the south west finally ascending to… Read more »

2nd Ovation Trophy 2013 – The Prologue

by Padraic Gilligan, VP, Ovation Global DMC If Carlsberg did travel … The Swiss flight from Paris to Zurich boarded on time, took off on time and landed slightly ahead of schedule. It was packed with efficient suits and brief cases, their boarding passes downloaded to a smart phone. Boarding was swift and easy and… Read more »

Moira Hearn (1949 – 2012): A Personal Tribute

by Padraic Gilligan, Managing Partner, SoolNua I will arise and go now, for always night and day I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore; While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey, I hear it in the deep heart’s core “The Lake Isle of Innisfree”, W.B Yeats Moira… Read more »

Ovation Trophy 2012 – the Epilogue

Ovation Trophy – the Epilogue Yesterday’s activities took us all to such heights it seemed impossible to go any higher. But this is Switzerland, remember, and  the highs are limitless. The morning after the night before came way too soon for some of us but, regardless, nearly all were present and correct at our Sunday… Read more »

Ovation Trophy 2012 Day 1 – Lucerne to Interlaken

“I will not attempt to describe the beauty of this country … I will merely tell you that is is literally impossible to tear oneself away from this lake and these shores ” Leo Tolstoy It didn’t take long for it to start. Once the teams were assembled and the lanyards distributed the new identities were… Read more »

Ovation Trophy 2012 – the Prologue

“Yesterday evening I arrived at Lucerne, and put up at the best inn there, the Schweitzerhof” [Count Leo Tolstoy, “Lucerne”] I looked around the Cirrus as we pulled away from the dock opposite The Schweizerhof, one of our host hotels. What an eclectic mix we were – Danes, Germans, Italians, French, various Swiss, many Brazilians,… Read more »

It’s not about the money, money, money? Leveraging employee engagement and emotional connections for success

“It’s not about the money, money, money” Leveraging employee engagement and emotional conections for success by Padraic Gilligan, Vice President, Industry Relations, MCI In the November issue of Pharmaceutical Market Europe, Nick Eve, CEO of UK based communications agency, Pumphouse, writes about employee engagement. He quotes recent research that shows the issues facing major corporations… Read more »