by Pádraic Gilligan, Research & Consultancy, SITE & Co-Founder, SoolNua I travelled to Athens recently to speak at a gathering of meeting and incentive travel professionals, organised by Hosts Global, one of our industry’s foremost and leading DMC consortia. I was asked by my friends Kurt Paben and Tina Gaccetta to speak on trends and… Read more »
Pádraic Gilligan, Chief Marketing Officer, SITE & Managing Partner, SoolNua AI is not new on the Wild Atlantic Way AI is not at all new in Ireland, at least not along the Wild Atlantic Way or in Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands. Since the 1940s, it has been a thing in rural Ireland where I have deep… Read more »
by Pádraic Gilligan, Managing Partner, SoolNua & Chief Marketing Officer, SITE. In the MICE business we’re used to things going viral. These things, however, are usually to do with the mildly embarrassing occurrences that happen at events, like the CEO doing his Dad-dance at the company Christmas party. Who knew we’d be dealing with a… Read more »
by Pádraic Gilligan, Managing Partner, SoolNua Earlier this week the excellent Irina Trofimovskaya aka The MICE Blog posted a long-form, thoughtful piece on Influencer Marketing in the MICE Industry. Towards the end of a well reasoned article she sets out a suggested fee structure that “influencers” might charge clients. This prompted me to tweet: … Read more »
by Pádraic Gilligan, Managing Partner, SoolNua Congress Destinations In the late 80s when the iron curtain opened to reveal what used to be called Eastern Europe, Prague and Budapest were the first actors to take to the stage and assume protagonist roles in the theatre of Congress Tourism. Initially they were unsteady and gauche, like the actor in Shakespeare’s… Read more »
by Pádraic Gilligan, Managing Partner, SoolNua The more I travel the more I realise how much a nation’s past constantly informs its present. Some countries more than others – either out of economic necessity, human curiosity, plain colonial greed or evangelical zeal – have tended to look beyond their own borders and set sail for… Read more »
by Pádraic Gilligan, Managing Partner, SoolNua Reputation, Reputation, Reputation I haven’t seen the movie “Hostel” (2005) but it does for the reputation of Slovakia and its capital what “Midnight Express” (1978) does for Turkey. To add insult to injury not a single frame of the movie was actually shot in Slovakia but in the neighbouring… 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 Padraic Gilligan, Managing Partner at SoolNua In the field of destination marketing Venice is Coca Cola. It’s up there, profile-wise, with New York and London in the super-brand category, known and recognized all over the world for its utterly unique topology, its ubiquitous gondolas, Carnevale, cruise ships and crowds. Within MICE it’s the incentive… Read more »