by Pádraic Gilligan, Managing Partner, SoolNua The world of the Destination Management Company or DMC has been under-going a radical change over the past 10 years. I wanted to say “kaleidoscopic” change but, on reflection, much of this change has not been pretty, muddying rather than clarifying the value proposition at the heart of the DMC offer. Accordingly, there’s… Read more »
by Pádraic Gilligan, Managing Partner, SoolNua 1966 I was five years old in April 1966 when Ireland celebrated the 50th anniversary of the 1916 Rising. I can still see in the entrance hall of my school the framed copy of Poblacht na hEireann, the famous proclamation of independence read out by schoolmaster, poet and rebel leader Pádraic… Read more »
by Pádraic Gilligan, Managing Partner, SoolNua I recently received a beautiful gift. It’s a turntable or what used to be called a record player. It allows me, now and again, to dust down my precious vinyl from the 70s. I get to listen to well-worn, scratched and cracked records like Carole King’s Tapestry, Jackson Browne’s… Read more »
by Pádraic Gilligan, Managing Partner, SoolNua Sharing Economy? I think the term “Sharing Economy” to categorise the activity of the likes of Uber and Airbnb is actually a misnomer. If I “share” something the implication is that I do so without expectation of financial or other reward and this type of activity has been on-going for… Read more »
by Pádraic Gilligan, Managing Partner, SoolNua A week in Europe’s Green Capital 2016 @Supergreybeard and I have just reached the end of a deeply satisfying week in Slovenia. Over the past 5 days we attended the SITE Incentive Summit and participated at Conventa, the boutique meetings industry trade show that highlights the benefits of Central… Read more »
by Pádraic Gilligan, Managing Partner, SoolNua “Those we can, do …” Throughout Delaney Marketing and Ovation Group years it never occurred to @Supergreybeard or me to hire a consultant. I think we saw consultants as confidence tricksters or shysters, failed entrepreneurs, business versions of the teachers in Shaw’s oft quoted dictum “Those who can, do; those… Read more »
by Pádraic Gilligan, Managing Partner, SoolNua Spotify continues to impact hugely on how we access music these days. This year I found it massively difficult to select the albums that might merit a spot on my Top 10 for 2015 as, in most cases, I listened to playlists and individual tracks and therefore missed the overall… Read more »
by Pádraic Gilligan, Managing Partner, SoolNua Back in the K Club again It was great to be back at the K Club. Neither @Supergreybeard nor I could recall precisely the last time we were there but it was definitely during the Ovation years in the early – mid noughties, before the roar of the Celtic Tiger was silenced by… Read more »
by Pádraic Gilligan, Managing Partner, SoolNua This week the SoolNua team attended a highly impressive, compelling presentation organised by Ireland’s national tourism development authority, Fáilte Ireland. Aimed at the movers and shakers in leisure and business tourism in the greater Dublin area, we got a report card on past progress (lots of A+s), a survey on… Read more »
by Pádraic Gilligan, Managing Partner, SoolNua Brevitur omnia transeunt Since late yesterday evening the extensive temporary infrastructure erected at the Royal Dublin Society (RDS) to support the Web Summit has been coming down to be replaced by still more extensive temporary infrastructure, this time in support of Metropolis, a two day music festival happening at… Read more »