by Pádraic Gilligan, Managing Partner, SoolNua The Hospitality Model v the Transactional Model @Supergreybread and I had a fascinating conversation with a legacy hotelier recently who shared this interesting story with us. Consultants were brought in to analyse and categorise the service ethos across a range of hotels in Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England. They… Read more »
by Pádraic Gilligan, Managing Partner, SoolNua Inflection Point for Global Hotels We’re right in the middle of a curious inflection point for global hotels. Just when we were about to declare the victory of the independents over the global chains, Marriott buys Starwood and Accor buys Fairmont to create two global behemoths with almost 50 individual brands between… Read more »
by Pádraic Gilligan, Managing Partner, SoolNua Occasionally I indulge myself by posting on something unrelated to MICE or Business Events but this post has been a hardy annual since I started the blog. It’s the annual “best albums” post where I dress up as a rock journalist and list, in no particular rank or order, 10 new albums that I… Read more »
by Pádraic Gilligan, Managing Partner, Soolnua That MICE thing again Every time I use the term MICE to describe Business Events I feel there’s an angry torch-carrying mob about to lynch me and hang me from the highest tree. That the mob contains some of my best MICE friends like Vancouver’s amazing Claire Smith, only… Read more »
by Pádraic Gilligan, Managing Partner, SoolNua By now most meetings professionals are on social media with Linkedin, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter accounts. Linkedin has endless groups for meeting professionals and many of them are excellent with great content being shared and useful contacts being made on a daily basis. Instagram, too, with its strong optical orientation, is a… Read more »
by Pádraic Gilligan, Managing Partner, SoolNua “Let me take you down as I’m going to Strawberry Fields. Nothing is real.” It’s ironic, as I leave Las Vegas, that the theme for this week’s blog post is authenticity. In the constellation of words that might be used to describe this astonishing town, authenticity is unlikely to… Read more »
by Pádraic Gilligan, Managing Partner, SooNua The Tipping Point In The Tipping Point, the book that catapulted Malcolm Gladwell to stardom, the author examines how some social patterns, phenomena, trends and fashions evolve from minor to major. They start as decidedly minority interests in tiny, peripheral communities but then reach a “tipping point” that takes them mainstream, gives them mass appeal, causes… Read more »
by Pádraic Gilligan, Managing Partner, SoolNua My good DMC friend Fran Rickenbach has been pursuing me for some time now. I won’t deny that this frightens the daylights out of me. Those who know Fran know why. She’s a formidable lady, a “mountie who always gets her man”, in a manner of speaking. You see… Read more »
by Pádraic Gilligan, Managing Partner, SoolNua Norway It’s extraordinary how impactful first impressions can be. I was reminded of that this week when I visited Norway for the first time and, within minutes of deplaning, had two “service” experiences that would make any hospitality organisation blush with pride. Both positive impressions were with the “Flytoget”… Read more »
by Pádraic Gilligan, Managing Partner, SoolNua This week’s blog post is not about destinations or matters of interest to the meetings industry. It’s a once-off piece following the death this week of a childhood friend whom I haven’t seen for over 40 years. It’s offered in his honour. The huge crowd spilled out the front… Read more »