by Pádraic Gilligan, Managing Partner, SoolNua & Chief Marketing Officer, SITE Incentive Travel Industry Index 2018 Last week Society for Incentive Travel Excellence (SITE), Incentive Research Foundation (IRF) and Financial & Insurance Conference Professionals (FICP) released their eponymous joint survey for the Incentive Travel Industry. Another welcome example of associations working together for the greater… Read more »
by Pádraic Gilligan, Managing Partner, SoolNua FICP: the Aftermath It’s mid afternoon in mid November and I’m mid flight, returning to New York from Nassau where I attended the annual conference of the Financial & Insurance Conference Planners (FICP). Many of my fellow passengers aboard jetBlue 1222 were attendees at the event too but most… Read more »
by Pádraic Gilligan, Managing Partner, SoolNua From New York to DC The moody June of New York City followed me to the Finance and Insurance Conference Planners’ (FICP) Education Forum in DC, adding soaring temperatures to the on-going atmospheric instability. The cool, air conditioned interiors of our host hotel, the newly refurbished and exceedingly good J.W. Marriott on… Read more »
by Padraic Gilligan, Managing Partner, SoolNua Back in Hawai’i This year’s conference of the Finance and Insurance Conference Planners (FICP) took place at the magnificent 62 acre Hilton Waikoloa Village on the Big Island, Hawai’i. It was FICP’s first time back on the islands since ICPA did Maui in 2004. Selecting an off shore location… Read more »
by Pádraic Gilligan, Managing Partner, SoolNua The Marvels of Motivational Travel Many of us in the Meetings and Incentives Industry run successful businesses and make a good living because corporations know that extraordinary travel experiences motivate employees to achieve outstanding workplace results. Because this is our job and we’re not actual participants on these amazing… Read more »
by Pádraic Gilligan, Managing Partner, SoolNua “Culture eats strategy for breakfast” Peter Drucker I’ve been thinking a lot recently about workplace culture. In fact it’s been the leitmotif recurring in all our projects since SoolNua launched 6 months ago, back in January. The entry point for these projects may have been strategic direction or product development… Read more »
by Padraic Gilligan, Managing Partner, SoolNua “And you shall know them by their airports …” Airports are usually your first point of physical contact with a destination but Destination Marketing Organisations (DMOs) frequently miss a golden opportunity to turn these crucial first impressions into memorable destination experiences. Nashville is an exception in this regard. No… Read more »
by Padraic Gilligan, Vice President, Ovation Global DMC Measuring what matters Tangible measures such as financial return can never properly calculate the total benefit you get from attending a well organised meetings industry event. This thought was already in my mind as I tried to assess the positive impact for me and, crucially, for those… Read more »
by Padraic Gilligan, Vice President, Ovation Global DMC Learning, Connecting, Being Inspired In his seminal book Meeting Architecture, Maarten Vanneste identifies education, networking and motivation as the 3 pillars around which successful meeting outcomes are based. Thus we go to conferences to learn, connect and be inspired but the selected conference location contributes significantly to… Read more »
by Padraic Gilligan, Vice President, Ovation Global DMC Roger Dow: From Life Guard to Life Saver Roger Dow’s presentation to FICP on Tuesday AM was informative, inspiring and visionary and highlighted just how lucky the meetings and events industry is to have such a figure amongst its ranks. As President of USTA (United States Travel… Read more »