by Pádraic Gilligan, Managing Partner, SoolNua All’s changed… Regular readers of this blog will have noticed how its byline and biography have changed. They used to say that I was Vice President of Industry Relations at MCI and Managing Director at Ovation Global DMC. About 15 months ago this changed to Managing Partner at SoolNua. When… Read more »
by Pádraic Gilligan, Managing Partner, SoolNua I pulled back the curtains in anticipation of waking in a room with a view and when I awoke there it was, in all its glittering morning glory, the Sugar Loaf, beautifully framed in the floor-to-ceiling window, a modest mountain by world standards, but massive to us who live in… Read more »
by Pádraic Gilligan, Managing Director, SoolNua The rise and rise of content marketing has brought the art of storytelling right into the science of marketing. These days marketers approach new products and services in search of their underlying story more than their features and benefits. Naturally this has extended to destination marketing and it’s causing… Read more »
by Pádraic Gilligan, Managing Partner, SoolNua It’s all about the content In his “Hacking the System” Bruce McMillan recently posted a two part blog on new paradigms in destination marketing. He highlights two new waves that Destination Marketing Organisations (DMOs) – and, indeed, any other public or private sector enterprise involved in Place Branding –… Read more »
by Pádraic Gilligan, Managing Partner, SoolNua Too much choice … This blog started in January 2011 and each year since then I’ve indulged myself by posting my own personal “Best of …” albums from the previous year. Accessing good music today is actually much harder than it was in the early 70s when I first… Read more »
by Pádraic Gilligan, Managing Partner, SoolNua A new business model? My industry friend Dries Jacobus, Managing Director Borealis Incentives, Belgium posed the following question recently on the ADMEI Linkedin Group As a DMC in Belgium (where taxes on labour are high, so staff is expensive) clients very often re-negotiate the staff cost. Sometimes down to… Read more »
by Pádraic Gilligan, Managing Partner, SoolNua The awesome power of brands Volumes have been written about the emotional power of brands but brands connected with national identity can often go deeper, insinuating themselves, almost, into our very DNA. These brands can become powerful symbols and signifiers across the full spectrum of our humanity, connecting us… Read more »
by Padraic Gilligan, Managing Partner at SoolNua Downtown San Francisco “You want to take the Cable Car?” he asked with breezy friendliness. We welcomed his intervention having struggled to understand how the iconic San Francisco system worked. He explained what to do, genuinely delighting us with his helpfulness. But then the hand went out: “We… Read more »
by Pádraic Gilligan, Managing Partner, SoolNua I have had occasion already to engage in on-line debate with James Lancaster, a member of the team at CAT publications and editor of their magazine, Association Meetings International. He’s relatively new to our industry but brings us a fresh perspective and some great writing. Last week James posted a… Read more »
by Pádraic Gilligan, Managing Partner, SoolNua Yesterday the SoolNua crew participated at Site Ireland’s annual summer event and came away inspired, energized and truly motivated. And it wasn’t just the unabated sunshine – temperatures were 25 degree +. Upon reflection this morning I realized the event involved the rather rare perfect alignment of 3 key… Read more »