Guest Post by Joan Eisenstodt Asking the hard questions A few years ago at an ethics seminar I facilitated for an industry organization chapter, international students from a nearby college were puzzled by how to apply the industry standards set by US-based meetings/hospitality organizations when they moved back home to improve the economies of their… Read more »
by Padraic Gilligan, Vice President, Industry Relations MCI On Boycotting Since August there has been a sustained campaign calling on sponsor corporations of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, like Coca Cola and McDonald’s, to boycott the games in protest at the host country’s appalling treatment of the LGBT community. The meetings industry press has picked… Read more »
by Padraic Gilligan, Managing Partner, SoolNua Most readers of this blog know that Patrick and I are leaving MCI at the end of 2013 but staying in the Meetings Industry to work in the areas of strategy, destination marketing, training and advisory boards. As the two decade arc from Delaney Marketing to Ovation Global DMC approaches… Read more »
by Padraic Gilligan, Vice President, Industry Relations, MCI A Black and White Issue? The furore around Arthur’s Day now stretches from domestic dining tables to the snugs of public houses, from office canteens to staff rooms in schools, from the letters pages of the broadsheets to the screaming headlines of the tabloids. It’s all over… Read more »
by Padraic Gilligan, Vice President, Ovation Global DMC The debate about the future of Destination Management Companies has crossed the Atlantic and has generated good commentary on the pages at MeetPie, the excellent on-line platform of CAT Publications, publishers of Meetings and Incentive Travel magazine amongst others. In his comment there my good friend David… Read more »
by Padraic Gilligan, Vice President, Ovation Global DMC Way down South Way back in the late nineties I completed a programme in Tourism Marketing at Boston College. During the programme they flew us for a weekend to Savannah, Georgia to visit a city where inbound visitor numbers had increased significantly, apparently on the strength of… Read more »
by Padraic Gilligan, Vice President, Ovation Global DMC Padraic is disappointed I’ve posted twice recently on technology and the DMC sector and while there has been some reaction and commentary I admit to being somewhat disappointed by the overall response. Maybe it’s silly season ennui or vacation time detachment but other than some Retweets, Tahira’s… Read more »
by Alison Hall, Editor, MeetingsNet That’s what Padraic Gilligan was left wondering after reading our sister publication Special Events’ annual “Top 25 DMCs” list, which included some reporting on what destination management companies view as their sector’s main trends and challenges today. Gilligan, who is vice president, Ovation Global DMC, agreed with the top three… Read more »
by Padraic Gilligan, Vice President, Ovation Global DMC Trends in the DMC sector The publication in the last few days by The Special Events Magazine of this year’s Top 25 DMCs provides some interesting summer reflections on our sector and, in particular, on how some of us see future trends. Not all companies and consortia… Read more »
by Padraic Gilligan, Vice President, Industry Relations, MCI A wild gene in the corporate DNA On Friday last week the entire MCI Dublin office decamped to the rather dishy Gibson Hotel and spent most of the day dreaming. Dreaming is often the illicit, unapproved by-product of the endless meetings that comprise an average day in… Read more »