Connector Social Media Workshop @ PhotoIreland Festival

by Connector on July 15th, 2010

Designing at Connector Academy

by Andrew Sides on July 6th, 2010

The design work I have done for Connector has been an interesting experience. I am caught between the styles and branding that was developed for Connector and my own design and style.  In my design work I like to keep things clean and simple, because I think that is the most effective type of design. Simple design allows for the strongest creativity and at the same time allows for a very straightforward clean message. I guess that’s my design weak point. I need to start developing more complex and interesting design, so that way I have a lot in my design arsenal to use.

Every time I go into creating a design for Conor, I try and do two or three different designs. The first I try to create something consistent with the Connector’s current style. The second I make something I like and I think is cool, and third I make a hybrid of the design I like and the design consistent with the brand. It’s hard at times to create something I like. Time constraints often leave me feeling like there is something left to be desired out of some of my designs. I guess college has spoiled me with a plethora of time to create and refine my designs. Now I am working under short deadlines and desire for high quality. It’s been a bit of an adjustment to this kind of working environment, but I am getting used to it and I am learning where I to focus to save time but still produce decent quality.

Overall the adjustment to office life has been good and interesting. I am still getting used to the fact that my designs are actually being used for the web, proposals, etc instead of for just portfolio development. I hope by the end of this internship I will be doing work on a fast paced basis, I will be able to create a piece that is high in quality but only takes a short amount of time.

Here are a few examples of the work I have created for Connector. Please share what you think about them. Any feed back I can get would be great!

Irish economic nationalism to take on the world!

by Connector on June 11th, 2010

In recent times I have been lucky enough to meet lots of new people in whole new areas for Connector.  I have found myself miles from my digital marketing homeland and over in what could be best described as an interesting but alien socio-political-economic landscape.  On my travels I have been connecting with an assortment of non-techies, technophobes and luddites which is nice for a change and makes me feel oh-so nerdy!

In 2009, I am sure I was not the only one to be utterly depressed at the sorry turn of global events and the international pounding our once proud celtic tiger economy was taking.  This was in the back of my mind as I set out to become a full time connector in the midst of a recession in February.  I wanted to travel a new road and see where it took me and here are some of the connections along the way as I have ben a very lazy blogger lately!

As a recent graduate of the 6 month long (part-time) Common Purpose Meridian Programme, for the first time I encountered many senior civil servants and politicians and visited several ministeries and even Mountjoy Prison.  Only yesterday at an alumni event we were presented to by the most senior civil servant of them all, Dermot McCarthy, Secretary General to the Government & the Taoiseach.

I was also recently chatting to the Minister for Science, Technology & Innovation, Conor Lenihan TD at the annual showcase for the excellent Computer Clubhouse project in the Liberties (pictured above).  Conor had great craic with the kids and remarked that they were better hecklers than the guys in the Dail!  I was then very happy to be involved in a small way with helping Padraig McKeown promote the Martin McAleese brainchild ‘Your Country Your Call‘ campaign at a Connector Event in the Science gallery – this competition is now at the exciting judging phase.

And now I see I missed the recent launch of Gateway Ireland and on the same day I assume, I walked by Gabriel Byrne and regretfully not running after him to say hello!  This project looks quite exciting too and a welcome offspring of the Farmleigh conference of 2009. I see from their web site & video they are also about connecting the Irish dots … ah now lads, shor I’ve been doing that with Connector for over 2 years now! ;-0  I wish them all the best in their endeavours to promote Irish business, tourism, culture & education and the team of advisors they have assembled is first class.

As another 2009 connection, Colm Long from Facebook, said on the RTE News site, “the company has been working with John McColgan since shortly after the Farmleigh event nine months ago. He says that Facebook got involved because connecting people all around the world is its business. He says that connecting with the country’s diaspora will be key to the success of the site.”

Gateway Ireland – An Introduction from Fountainhead on Vimeo.

So what is it with this sudden burst of  economic nationalism?  While the dire state of the state’s finances is well known, there is a  fight back coming on strong.  There is a very exciting turning of the tide underway and I hope it hits the country’s shores in 2010.

With all my talks to small businesses recently including at the Entrepreneur Show, I see a realisation that the time to energize and digitize the nation is now, as Joan Mulvihill iia CEO championed  so well recently.  People are fighting back and connecting with each other at networking events the length & breadth of the country.  However thankfully the country’s heavyweights seem to be up for the fight and are grouping together to collaborate.  The international connections with the Irish diaspora hold the key but it is us at home who must do the hard work.

A final new connection this week was a really enjoyable conversation with Andrew McLaughlin who is the Director of the Masters in Organisational Behaviour in the IMI.  On Thursday he just published a very timely and fascinating research report for the IDA called ‘Innovation & the Irish Mind.’  As Steve Jobs from Apple said, “creativity is just connecting things” and Andrew has found that the Irish executives and entrepreneurs have a unique mindset that could be just perfect for the ‘conceptual age’.

In a great supporting article in Decision magazine, Andrew writes that the ‘conceptual age’, from Daniel Pink’s book ‘A Whole New Mind‘, will require new skills of which Ireland might be perfectly equipped to prosper once more.  The Irish entrepreneurs have a preference for social connections and associating with others who have larger social networks.  They also have a tolerance for ambiguity which indicates independent idiosyncratic innovative minds!

I am doing a disservice to this vast subject area and 80 page report by summarising it into a paragraph via a 2 page article, but the full report was co-written by Megan Burgdorf and can be found at ‘Innovation & the Irish Mind.’ However as the government has also produced an several ‘knowledge economy’ style reports, it is the actual implementation of good ideas that will get us back to our rightful place punching above our weight on the global stage.

The fact that this community of Irish economic nationalists has formed is very encouraging and will it have the desired impact?  If you have any comments or messages of support for these initiatives, please leave a comment below.

Words by Conor Lynch / Photo by Pavla K Smidova

Connecting with Des Bishop

by Sarai Fernandez on February 4th, 2010

Yesterday our 10 contest winners, Conor and I went to see Des Bishop at The Button Factory, sponsored by ESB Customer Supply. The gig was excellent, where Des Bishop talked about many things, among others his father’s illness, with his unique style making hilarious things that other people could find uncomfortable to talk about.

After the gig we have the opportunity to do a short interview to Des, who told us some tips for young comedians on why they should engage in social media. The video of the interview is coming soon, but for the moment here are the photographs we took with him.

This event was the final point in the campaign Des Bishop and Jim have run to encourage people to save energy during the last 6 months. We want to thank Des for his time which we enjoyed, to ESB Customer Supply and McConnells for the tickets and Eleanor for a wonderful warm-up at the event.

Tradfest connects you with Irish culture

by Sarai Fernandez on January 25th, 2010

One year more Tradfest is taking over the Temple Bar streets’ to bring the best of Irish tradition to the city centre. The fifth edition of this festival, organised by TASCQ (Traders in the Area Supporting the Cultural Quarter Limited), will run from 27th to 31st of January.

During 5 days Temple Bar will be full of activities suitable for all publics and some of them will be free! Tere will be workshops, concerts, film screenings, a photo exhibition and even a market.  But the most of the activities will be concerts, as this is originally a music festival, where the irish traditional music is the star.

Here it is a little advance… The Kilfenora Céilí Band, who performed at the launch of the Tradfest days ago at The Clarence Hotel.

Culch.ie – Connector 'Tribe of the Year 2009' (Shortlisted)

by Conor on November 30th, 2009

As part of Tribes Week, we are featuring all of our shortlisted Tribes on the Connector Blog today. Each of these Tribes have been shortlisted for the Connector Tribe of the Year award. The winner will be announced at Christmas Connector.

Culch.ie is a new and growing group blog, the main  theme being pop culture. The site also features information about different events around the country as well as features on gossip, movies, newspapers, photography, radio, politics, etc.

Connector would like to recognise the fantastic work that Darren Byrne has put in over the last year in creating a fantastic Pop Culture resource and community.

As Darren and Rick say themselves:

The idea was a simple one – a few months ago we thought it’d be fun to start a group blog project (well, everyone seems to have one these days), the theme took a little bit longer. To be fair, pop culture is one of the few common threads that runs through almost all of us and Ireland doesn’t have a  huge, enormous pop culture review site/aggregator/news place (can’t you see we’ve researched the lingo here?) so we decided to give it a go.

Check out Culch.ie’s presentation at Connector Tribes event in May:

D Light Studios – Connector 'Tribe of the Year 2009' (Shortlisted)

by Conor on November 30th, 2009

As part of Tribes Week, we are featuring all of our shortlisted Tribes on the Connector Blog today. Each of these Tribes have been shortlisted for the Connector Tribe of the Year award. The winner will be announced at Christmas Connector.

D-light Studios were opened in February 2009 by a talented Polish photographer, Agata Stoinska, to be used for professional photography, film and television production, product launches, exhibition space and events. The studios came about initially as a response to the lack of inspiring, practical photographic studios available to rent in Dublin.

As they say themselves:

The flexibility of d-Light Studios is truly unique in the Dublin – our philosophy is to let clients themselves push the boundaries of what is achievable in this space. Uses for the studios include professional photography, film and television production, exhibition space, product launches and events. But really d-Light’s use is limited only by our clients’ imagination. We therefore invite you to arrange a visit and come and see our studios for yourself.

Check out their presentation at Connector Tribes:

Taste of Darkness in Frankfurt

by Izabela Zelazna on November 26th, 2009

‘Taste of Darkness’ exhibition in Frankfurt’s Dialog Museum was an unique experience. By introducing me to the world of blindness, it opened my mind to other sensations.

Stepping into the darkness was intimidating, overwhelming and dangerous experience. My brain switched to alert mode, sharpening other senses to the limit. Out of my comfort zone of the world I know, I found myself feeling panicky and anxious. However, I had the other senses to guide me: hearing, taste, smell & touch. It made me realize that the more grown up I become, the more I explore the world with my eyes only. Unlike a little child, who wants to touch and sample everything within reach.

The exhibition was exciting and fascinating. My favourite part was when we were asked to lay down on the floor and enjoy the music. It was amazing how I could feel the bits tickling my feet, experiencing the music as a sort of a sensation going through the body, awakening the muscles and nerves.

In another ‘room’, I could even touch emotions, like friendship, anxiety and loneliness; curved in wooden blocks. Even Pepsi tasted sophisticated, pleasing the taste buds on my tongue…

I think that the communication between people should be inspired by the ‘Taste of Darkness’ experience as it shows that engaging messages which stimulate all the senses, will be exciting and memorable. That creating playful and interactive content will bring a positive outcome, be the opportunity to learn and understand.

This 1,5h journey, however, left me wondering how the online world deprives people from other senses. How poor is the virtual reality as it merely depends on what we can see&watch.

In Connector we are bringing the online into offline as we believe that they are complimentary to each other. Join our upcoming event and find out yourself.

Celebrate Art @ Zero Gravity

by Rob Cumiskey on November 23rd, 2009

Connect with Peter Pans @ D-Light Studios

by Conor on November 10th, 2009

My mate Gingerski has invited me to come and check Peter Pans out and I hope to see you there too – should be interesting as always from d-light studios.  Congrats to Agata for a great write up about her in the Irish Times on the weekend.

Choreographed by Anna Gáciarz, Peter Pans explores the syndrome of the same name, a generation of people who don’t want to grow up, who find it difficult to express love. Peter Pans – people with the body of an adult but the mind of a child…

Peter Pans is the debut performance of 50% Male Experimental Theatre. A combination of physical theatre and contemporary dance theatre, the company comprises of 3 female and 3 male performers.

Cast: Monika Bieniek, Niamh Creely, Anna Gáciarz, Barnaba Dorda, Krzysztof Kminikowski, Tomasz Laskowski
Directed by: Anna Gáciarz
Music: Asian Dub Foundation / Yann Tiersen / Novika (remix) by Marcin Macuk