by Padraic Gilligan, Vice President, MCI and Vice President, Ovation Global DMC I have always believed in “giving back”. One of the easiest ways to do this is to participate in industry associations. The meetings industry space is well populated with associations seeking your membership so it’s sometimes difficult to decide where to spend your… Read more »
by Padraic Gilligan, VP, Ovation Global DMC Insights Over 5 years ago, during my happy years on the Site Board, Brenda Anderson, then Executive Director of Site, led the Board through the fascinating “Insights Discovery” programme, a personality profiling system inspired by the work of Swiss psychologist Carl Jung. Insights fuses modern psychology with centuries’… Read more »
by Padraic Gilligan, Vice President, Ovation Global DMC Origins of the Species I’ve always regarded passion as an integral part of being professional. Words with Friends enthusiasts (Hi Jurriaen, Sean, Alison, Andrea, Rhonda, Joan!) will immediately spot that all the letters of the word “passion” are contained in the word “professional”. You cannot be a… Read more »
by Padraic Gilligan, Vice President, Ovation Global DMC In 1662 Irishman Robert Boyle made a scientific discovery that eventually allowed us to voyage to the bottom of the sea; 8 years later the exact same discovery was made by the Frenchman Edme Mariotte. The “multiple independent discovery” principle is well documented and includes Newton’s and… Read more »
by Padraic Gilligan, VP, Industry Relations, MCI and VP, Ovation Global DMC The novelist Nick Hornby perfectly nails British Gen X male psychosis in High Fidelity (location moved from London to Chicago in the US movie version by Stephen Frears). Protoganist Rob Fleming (named Rob Gordon in the movie) is a musical elitist and anal… Read more »
by Padraic Gilligan, Vice President, Industry Relations MCI and Vice President, Ovation Global DMC On Saturday I leave for Los Angeles where I’ll be attending – and blogging from – the annual conference of FICP, the Financial and Insurance Corporate Planners Association. This will be my 7th FICP conference and I am looking forward to… Read more »
by Padraic Gilligan, Vice President, Industry Relations MCI and Vice President, Ovation Global DMC Remembering the Days of the Old Schoolyard I was always good at rote learning. I found it easy in school to memorise quotations from Shakespeare, formulae for maths class or lyrics to songs. I can still remember chunks of Julius Caesar… Read more »
by Padraic Gilligan, VP, Industry Relations, MCI Aisle or Window? I’m an aisle man through and through. Quick access to over-head lockers, fast track to the loo, it affords me the illusion of control in a place where, ultimately, I have zero control. For this trip I book very late and end up in a… Read more »
by Padraic Gilligan, VP, Ovation Global DMC and VP, Industry Relations, MCI How do you create demand? Previously on this blog I’ve stated that you need to know weird and wonderful people to be truly successful as a destination management company. DMC legends like Laurie Sprouse in Dallas/Fort Worth or Patrick Sullivan in NYC are… Read more »
by Padraic Gilligan, VP Industry Relations, MCI I recently attended the Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band “Wrecking Ball” tour and was left with 2 over-riding impressions. Firstly, music is a powerful, indispensable source of healing, salvation and redemption (themes, incidentally, that recur like middle eights in Bruce’s oeuvre). Secondly, as MCI’s CEO, Sebastien… Read more »