I was delighted to be invited by Caitlin Duffy to attend the annual conference for The Ireland Funds in the fabulous surroundings of Drumoland Castle on Friday last. 

The Ireland Funds are a global fundraising network for people of Irish ancestry and friends of Ireland, dedicated to raising funds to support programs of peace and reconciliation, arts and culture, education and community development throughout the island of Ireland. The Funds exist in 12 countries around the world, the largest member of the network being The American Ireland Fund.  The global chairman of The Ireland Funds is Tony O’Reilly. They have raised over $350 million for worthy causes in Ireland and around the world.

The conference included a great selection of Ireland Funds team management, team members, social entrepreneurs and supporters.  I met so many new people I can’t list them here but it was also nice to bump into old connections  Paddy Cosgrave and Senator Mark Daly.  The guests of honour included the President Mary McAleese, Senator Martin McAleese and the Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore.  The meetings for the Young Leaders were really interesting and you can see a video here >> with more soon to follow.

Congratulations to Kieran McLoughlin and Hugo McNeil and the team for the work and for making me feel so welcome at  this event which felt a little like a big family re-union.

The Ireland Funds Annual Conference 2011 is a post from: Connector

When I plan events, it’s always more fun if it is planned for a good cause. There is something to be said for doing an event with the purpose to help another. With this intern event, Barnardos was our charity partner.  Barnardos mission is to challenge and support families, communities, society and government to make Ireland the best place in the world to be a child.

To help this intern charity event come together we received sponsorship from The Church, Jameson and Shamrocker Tours. The Church allowed us to invade their club downstairs while providing us with welcome food and a free glass of wine or beer.  Shamrocker donated a trip for three days around Ireland, a chance for an intern to see other parts of the country. Jameson graciously donated several bottles of their famous whiskey, along with a lunch for four, and an 18 year old bottle all for us to raffle off; along with providing our guest speakers a bottle of their gold whiskey.
Our speakers for the night were Orla Tighe and Neil Leyden.

Orla Tighe is the fundraising manager for Barnardos. She told a moving story about a little boy she had met that is in programs at Barnardos, she talked to the struggles that he has in his life and how Barnardos helped this boy and his family move towards a better life.

Neil Leyden is the project manager at Gateway Ireland. He spoke to what Gateway Ireland is striving to do. They are focusing on promoting Ireland to the world and harnessing the vast majority of people in the world with an Irish connection. He focused on people with an Irish connection around the world and how they can bring these people together for a common purpose through various social media outlets.

The event all in all was a success; we talked, mingled, danced, enjoyed ourselves, and most of all did it for a great cause. We learned about the cause and we learned about how vast the Irish culture is spread no matter where you are in the world.

We would like to give a big thank you to all of our sponsors and our speakers for coming out last night. It was a great time and we could not have done it without you.

And thanks also to Jason Roe from BTW who kindly helped us raise more money for Barnardos at his event also in The Church.  Their collection brought in approx €250 which is brilliant for a meetup and much appreciated by us and Barnardos.

Connector Intern Event 2010 Review is a post from: Connector

There are many intern groups here in Dublin this summer and the interns here at Connector have been hard at work planning an intern event for all them. We wanted to create a night that brought everyone together, is fun, educational, and for a good cause.  Check it out here on Facebook.

The intern event will be benefitting the not-for-profit Barnardos, a local Dublin charity that serves the people of Dublin. The event will be on July 28^th from 6pm – 10pm at The Church. There is a suggested donation of €4 and every cent will go towards Barnardos. The Church has kindly donated a free welcome drink and finger food to all the interns that come and show their support for Barbardos.

We will also have several speakers for the night; a representative from Barnardos to talk about the work that they do, Bobby Kerr an entrepreneur that started the largest coffee company in Ireland, and Neil Leyden from the exciting new Irish global marketing project called Gateway Ireland.

We will be raffling off great prizes as well, including but not limited to a great 3 day trip around Ireland courtesy of Shamrocker Irish Adventures, 1 Bottle of Premium 18 year old Jameson Whiskey and much more!  We hope to see all the interns that are here in Dublin out for this special night of fun, community, and excitement.

You will receive a raffle ticket for every €3 donation or two raffle tickets for €5.

Andrew and Shelsea will be the MCs of the event for the evening and can’t wait to see you all there.

Connector Intern Dublin Event featuring Bobby Kerr from Dragons’ Den is a post from: Connector

Africa Day! What a sunny and colourful day it was. The festival in  Iveagh Gardens last Sunday brought a  new energy and vibe to the city. The day was filled with music, dance, performances and overall it was a celebration of the diversity, potential and unrivalled energy of the continent.

The festival was organised by Irish Aid which is the government’s overseas aid programme. Working on behalf of Irish people, they help to tackle Africa’s most pressing issues such as poverty and hunger. Throughout May Irish Aid is supporting events celebrating African culture and the Irish African community.

So far Connector has been involved in various fundraising events in aid of Temple Street Children’s Hospital, Haiti and Movember.

As May in Ireland is blooming with African rhythm and beauty, Conor Lynch & the team have partnered with Emma Doherty, Will Lynch and Aidan Killian to show support to the Beautiful Gate – an NGO based in Cape Town, South Africa.

To raise funds, we’re hosting a comedy night at The Good Bits on May 28th. Till then Hakuna matata folks!

Dublin goes to Africa! is a post from: Connector

Connector Comedy Cabaret for Charity is a post from: Connector

On Friday night I found myself at a South African business networking event in the Green Isle Hotel outside Dublin asa  guest of Patrick Dunne from Brand Experience.

The highlight was meeting some amazing kids who have some serious get up and go attitude !  I met Brittany & Robin Windvogel & their parents – Brittany (12) is a published business author alreadywith her own web site.  Her brother Robin (8) has been on trial at Manchester United so muct be one hell of a hot shot! Well done to the parents for raising such talented & ambitious kids & please see below the Soccathon organised by their dad Rowan.

South African Connections is a post from: Connector

The Champagne Bar in Ron Black’s on Dawson Street was buzzing with the sounds of new connections being made last Thursday evening as Connector No. 18 brought together dozens of people for a few drinks, a few laughs, and of course  plenty of social networking!  To check out the photos, click here >>

January’s event featured several rounds of speed networking for those interested in making several connections in a short amount of time as well as a few tables of Connect 4 for more casual connecting.  I think there was a record number of business cards exchanged at our eighteenth event!

Connector also raised (money) for Haiti at this free event, which will be donated through Adrian Garry’s trip to Haiti.  And of course thanks to our great volunteers from DIT Event management (1st years) who helped us on the night.

Connector No. 18 Review is a post from: Connector

It’s only hours for the Connector Christmas Party, one of the greatest events in the whole year and a must-be if you want to be connected.
As all you know Connector runs monthly meetings where people can make professional and personal connections offline. But we want people to keep their connections online as well and to encourage that, we will raffle two wonderful social mobile phones, and all the benefits will go to the Temple Street Children’s Hospital.

The winners will get an INQ Mini 3G, courtesy of the mobile network 3. This little treat that we are offering has an authentic Twitter application, which will let you be always on’ and send tweets and retweets via the internet rather than using SMS.
It weights only 90 gr., has a 2 megapixels camera, usb and bluetooth and it also includes a ‘plug and play’ HSDPA modem enabling high-speed wireless broadband on PCs and Macs. And all this things in a tiny candy bar shaped phone with the coolest design!

Connect online by phone is a post from: Connector

Coming to the Christmas Connector this evening … is the uber exotic Roisin from Appolinia Tribal Belly Dance !

Connect with Tribal Belly Dancing … is a post from: Connector

A long time ago, in 1872 some good people from Dublin founded a tiny hospital for poor children. It had only 8 beds. But the idea was so successful that only 4 years after that, there was such an increase in activity that they had to ask The Irish Sisters of Charity to run the busy hospital.

Over time, this hospital grew and grew, andis now known today as The Temple Street Children’s Hospital, one of the most important hospitals in the country, which leads investigation and treatment in several areas such as neurological, eye, craniofacial, kidney, airways and metabolic disorders. The great success of this centre is that they’re always involved in new projects to improve the experience of staying in a hospital for both the children and parents.

Now this hospital is raising funds to develop a new dedicated Cystic Fibrosis and Respiratory Out-Patient Unit, that will cost €2.7 million. They are also looking to buy new equipment, some machines which can help in the diagnosis or in the treatment of ill children.

The fundraising office for Temple Street Hospital has thought of 12 ways that everybody can help the Hospital, and therefore the children and their families. At Connector we would like to join this good cause and that’s why we are going to fundraise at our Christmas Party. So if you also think that healthy children is something worth to fight for, join us on thursday’s evening at Lillie’s Bordello: make connections, have fun and connect for a good cause.

Temple Street Children's Hospital

Connecting For a Good Cause is a post from: Connector