by Padraic Gilligan, Managing Partner, SoolNua I’ve greatly enjoyed the opportunity over the past 4 weeks to re-acquaint myself with Ireland as an incentive destination. A combination of familiarisation trips and live programmes brought me, in quick succession, to two of Ireland’s premier locations for corporate meetings and incentives, the Shannon area renowned for its… Read more »
“I will not attempt to describe the beauty of this country … I will merely tell you that is is literally impossible to tear oneself away from this lake and these shores ” Leo Tolstoy It didn’t take long for it to start. Once the teams were assembled and the lanyards distributed the new identities were… Read more »
by Padraic Gilligan, VP, Industry Relations, MCI and VP, Ovation Global DMC A perfect job Many of us would like to be Kevin Kirby. Kevin has had a series of very fun jobs – Universal Studios, Disney and, for the past 6 years, Director of Global Sales for Hard Rock Café. He obviously understands the… Read more »
by Padraic Gilligan, Managing Partner, SoolElla “I’m going to Graceland” So, like millions before us, we headed to Graceland. For me it was like participating on the Santiago di Compostella Camino or visiting Our Lady’s Shine at Lourdes. Snatches of songs from U2 ( “… early morning April 4 shot rings out in the Memphis… Read more »
by Padraic Gilligan, VP, Ovation Global DMC We arrived early in Memphis having managed to blag our way onto an earlier flight and avoid payment of the $50 dollar fee which Delta said they’d charge but then , for some reason, didn’t. For me this was small compensation for a nasty airline experience which I… Read more »
Global DMCs – a beautiful oxymoron? by Padraic Gilligan Allegedly, when asked for his favourite oxymoron Irishman, global entrepreneur and former international rugby player, Tony O’Reilly, said “Great Britain”. But it may be regarded as crass and unfair to explain the meaning of oxymoron by reference to O’Reilly’s wicked quip (although given the current rumblings… Read more »
Padraic Gilligan, VP Ovation Global DMC and VP Industry Relations, MCI Behind me a guitar was being tuned. The tuner then addressed the crowd and launched into the Rod Stewart version of “Sailing”. He was truly terrible and gave the lie to Tanenbaum’s thesis that music on the underground leads to a decrease in crime…. Read more »
EIBTM 2011 – Behind the Scenes by Padraic Gilligan, VP, Ovation Global DMC and Global VP, Industry relations MCI 2010 v 2011 What a difference! What a difference a year makes! Exactly one year ago most of Europe lay under a thick covering of snow making travel in and out of Barcelona extremely problematical. This… Read more »
By Padraic Gilligan, Managing Director, Ovation Global DMC [First published in Kongres Magazine, December 2011] According to a recent exchange on Linkedin the term “DMC” or “Destination Management Company” was coined by either Tom Risbecker, Gunter Roleff or Phil Lee. Tasso Pappas and Ralph Holt, both DMC legends in their own right, opt for Europeans… Read more »
The late, great Jack Franchek once told me that success as a DMC was all about cultivating relationships with weird people. And Jack being Jack exaggerated that contention to the nth degree: “Unless you’ve got a whole bunch of outcasts and weirdos in your Rolodex (this was a pre-Internet age!), you’re as useful to me as… Read more »