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 Padraic Gilligan, Managing Partner, SoolNua Destination MICE Despite changing demographics and new generational preferences the filter for destination selection still pivots around crucial infrastructural categories like hotel, formal and informal venues and unique destination experiences. I recently re-visited Belfast and was hugely impressed by how far it has come as a MICE destination in… Read more »
by Padraic Gilligan, Vice President, Ovation Global DMC Mythologising our memories For over two decades meetings and events professionals congregated in Chicago in late September / early October to attend the IT&ME show. It remained IT&ME for many of us long after it was renamed The Motivation Show but our memories of the show, and… Read more »
by Padraic Gilligan, Vice President, Industry Relations, MCI A wild gene in the corporate DNA On Friday last week the entire MCI Dublin office decamped to the rather dishy Gibson Hotel and spent most of the day dreaming. Dreaming is often the illicit, unapproved by-product of the endless meetings that comprise an average day in… Read more »
by Padraic Gilligan, Vice President, Industry Relations, MCI There was a sense of homecoming. When I thought about it I realised it stemmed from a unique alignment of time and place. The 100th year anniversary of the birth of my Dad on 28 Feb rooted my thoughts around the Gilligan family and Annie, my Dad’s… 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 »
by Padraic Gilligan, Vice President, Ovation Global DMC “LAs fine and the sun shines most of the time …” The approach by air into Los Angeles takes you over miles and miles of urban sprawl leaving you wondering whether there’s a heart in this city at all. And when you process in your mind decades… Read more »
by Padraic Gilligan, Vice President of Industry Relations, MCI and Vice President Ovation Global DMC The Venetian, Las Vegas Last Thursday I over-nighted at The Venetian in Las Vegas. Built in the mid 90s and opened in 1999 it broke new ground in Vegas as a fully integrated luxury MICE resort with extensive gaming, retail… Read more »
by Padraic Gilligan, VP, Industry Relations, MCI Shanghai and Las Vegas When you visit Shanghai sooner or later you think of Las Vegas. They have much in common. The pace of development is one thing. The scale of the construction projects is another. The audacity of the buildings is a third. The palpable sense of… Read more »