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, Vice President, Industry Relations, MCI Group As a Irish born meetings professional I was obviously thrilled that 3 Irish properties were included in the recent Trip Advisor Travellers’ Choice Top 25 Hotels in the World. 17 countries of the world have properties listed amongst the 25: Greece, Belize, Czech Republic, South Africa,… 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 »
“It’s not about the money, money, money” Leveraging employee engagement and emotional conections for success by Padraic Gilligan, Vice President, Industry Relations, MCI In the November issue of Pharmaceutical Market Europe, Nick Eve, CEO of UK based communications agency, Pumphouse, writes about employee engagement. He quotes recent research that shows the issues facing major corporations… 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 »
FICP – Day 2 by Padraic Gilligan, Managing Director, Ovation Global DMC I’m not going to lie. The transfer from San Antonio to Knibbe Ranch was very, very long. At first it was long enough for me to desperately want a beer but then it became long enough for me to be glad I didn’t… Read more »
FICP Day 1 by Padraic Gilligan, Ovation Global DMC On Sunday 13 November the Grand Hyatt in San Antonio dispatched its share of the 30000 participants at the city marathon and prepared for the arrival of 800 demanding, discerning FICPers. It’s the meeting from hell – you’re simultaneously playing host to your competitors and your… Read more »
by Padraic Gilligan, Managing Director, Ovation Global DMC I’m 51 and I’ve never done it. There. I’ve said it. I talked to Dan Young and I know he’s done it. A good few times, it seems. So has Darlene Catan but not, I think, with Dan Young. And I’m unclear as to whether either of… Read more »