By Laura Dunne

Hello all! I hope your Christmas was filled with over-indulgence and friends and family galore as mine was. As the year (and decade for that matter) draws to a close, our focus inevitably shifts to the future and what next year will hold both personally in our careers and private lives to the emerging trends that will define the next decade.

Over the holidays, I’ve had the great pleasure of catching up with all of my favourite blogs and have even discovered a few more gems. One of the most interesting things I’ve read all year was by Yuli Ziv “On Fast Fashion Content and The Importance of Being Earnest”

Following a piece written by Michael Arrington of TechCrunch, Yuli felt compelled to address an issue facing all bloggers- the originality of content. Particularly in the fashion blogging realm, writers often succumb to simply re-hashing content from numerous sources in place of actually contributing to the global discourse.

While sharing content is arguably one of the most essential roles blogs play today, I can’t help but agree with Yuli that we are merely pandering to a culture which favours quantity above quality- where our sole motivation is slotting ourselves into a pop-culture driven machine where fashion bloggers the world-over are “creating” trends seemingly free of influence from the corporate retailers who have controlled what our perception of “fashionable” is for decades.

I would argue that these corporations have more control than ever before through “sponsoring” certain blogger events and “donating” products to fashion bloggers to review on their blogs- how is it that the majority of popular bloggers just so happen to be wearing basically the same clothes no matter how off-kilter they are with mainstream trends?

Yuli argues that bloggers don’t write as such but rather create content as fast as we can to capture the publics interest before others do. While I’m not from any type of creative writing background myself nor have I ever claimed to be, I myself am guilty of posting blogs just because.

What Matters Now

My hope for 2010 is that bloggers will consider more carefully what they choose to write about and find their own voice amongst the masses. The internet should help to create social tribes and friendships which are not dependant on location but rather on mutual passions and interests- this can never occur in any real sense if we are blogging to fit in with a clique of successful bloggers who have honed their craft after years of practicing and hard work. I send you forward to consider the eBook “What Matters Now” as a template for how to face the coming year and to help remind us the power the internet can play in spreading positive messages- each of the 60 featured authors shares a thought on what should matter moving into 2010.

Here’s hoping that the next decade will be a good deal better than the last!

Spotted these cool little badges / pins from FourSquare and was wondering why do adults want badges / pins ?  Why have they become popular again outside the music scene or did I just not notice them for the last 10 years ?  Is it fashion, marketing or something completely different ??

Pictured below are some Connector badges from this summer which now look pretty boring compared to 4sq !

Connector guest post by Laura Dunne –

Re-Dress is “a not for profit organisation set up to move Irish consumers and industry towards more sustainable practices”

Based in Pembroke Road in Dublin, Re-Dress provides information on sustainable practices in the clothing industry for both consumers and those in the industry. As part of their work, they have developed their own social network on Ning where members are free to meet those of similar mindsets and network with fellow professionals to develop new projects and realtionships. More recently, Re-Dress have begun to host events to spread the word that sustainable fashion is the way forward. Ranging from industry networking events such as Re-Connect Live! which took place last week in the Stags Head to the ever popular Crafternoon Tea (with multiple dates in both November and December), Re-Dress is proof of the power of maintaining an active presence online.

If you are interested in taking part in the Re-Dress movement, spread the word to friends and colleagues! Join up on the re-connect network and get invovled.

For those who want to meet the (lovely) people behind Re-Dress, the “French Knickers and Cocktails” night on November 24th promises to be both informative and, more importantly, great fun so pop along!

Thanks to Annmarie O’Connor from I Blog Fashion for the invite to join the collection of fashion bloggers at their monthly meetup.  This month it was a coffee morning in BT2 in Dundrum and I met a nice new bunch of people and enjoyed some tasty breakfast courtesy of BT2 whose marketing team also popped in to say hello.  Well done to BT2 for supporting these bloggers & thanks for the generous €50 gift voucher for BT2.  Nice ! ;-0

Michelle Connor is the lovely wife of EightyTwenty’s David Connor and is making a big name for herself as a professional photographer.  Michelle is very well suited to being the other side of the lense as you can see and as it happens her sister Suzanne McCabe is a well known Irish model.

Michelle is busy organising a night out in Krystle for a small launch party to kick off McDonnell Connor photography next week with her new business partner, the highly accomplished photographer, Tim McDonnell.  The event is on the 15th October in Krystle Night Club and starts at 8pm.

Guests on the night can enjoy having their portrait taken in our portable studio – all images will be professionally edited and available for our guest to see the next day on our fanpage.  We have a top makeup artist there on the night to provide the ladies with last minute touch ups before they hit their shoot!!

Friends of Connector are all invited, especially those with an interest in digital photography & I look forward to checking it out.  If you want to come along, pls RSVP to michelle [@] mcdonnellconnor.com

Their fields of expertise range from Corporate Assignments to family portraits and fashion photography. Special studio opening offer is a full photo session, all images professionally edited and your favorite image supplied in contemporary 12×18 inch bloc – all this for only E100.00 for a limited time only.

With hi-spec studios in Howth and Ranelagh, they cater for all photography requirements.  Check out their large work showcase at www.mcdonnellconnor.com or become a fan of their Facebook Fanpage.

Last night we had a wonderful opportunity to see some “handbag (or manbag) therapy” in action!

Kildare Village has launched a fun new digital campaign that allows people to upload pictures of the contents of their bags for a chance to win a €1,000 shopping spree. That’s a pretty great prize for revealing the insides of your handbag!

The “What’s in Your Handbag or Manbag”campaign looks like it will be an enjoyable way to interact with others and reveal what the contents of your bag says about you! When you upload your picture others can comment and vote on the contents. The bag with the most votes wins the prize!

Check out this new site >here>>

Debbie Percy is the Handbag Therapy specialist, at the Kildare Village stand, at the forthcoming Ultimate Girl’s Day Out in the RDS on 28-30 August 2009. We got a chance to hear all about this campaign from her via a Skype conference call at the WHPR offices at Ely Place.

A great night of connections and some revealing discoveries about the contents of some very interesting bags! I recommend that you check out this campaign and reveal the contents of your own bag!

A special thanks to the lovely Heidi O’Sullivan and the people at WHPR and Kildare Village!

On the way in to Croke Park, we came across one of the contestants for Total Xposure, a competition to become the next presenter of TV3’s flagship entertainment show Xposé.

The show is down to 3 finalists, Ruth, Sean, and Simon. Simon Atkins was at Croke Park telling people to vote for him for tomorrow’s final voting as he is from Mayo. He was joined by two former contestants, Michael Coghlan and Daniella Moyles.

To vote for Simon for the Total Xposure competition, text SIMON to the 53307 or ring 1513 712 303.

Check out the the site for more information >here>>

Best of luck guys!

Finally I made it down to the Galway Races after years of hearing about the Fianna Fail tent in Ballybrit !  And bejaysus when I got down there was no Builders & Developers Tent anywhere to be seen … very mysterious – might have been trimmed back by An Bord Snip Nua … hmmm ?   Well at least the Owners & Trainers still could have their own private VIP area so with a bit of luck I’ll have connections in there next year ! ;-0

I just had a couple of hours looking around on the Sunday afternoon as it would normally not be my scene but I am always open to trying something new.  My last horse racing day out was in sunny Sydney & a Galway downpour was what we got on Sunday.  Plus I think most of the fillies from Ladies Day on the Thursday had long since departed with their hats & feathers and left the equine variety commanding the attention.

While there I chanced upon the Mad Hatter winner (annual crazy hat contest) & some runners up plus the highly talented young Mulkerrin Brothers who played trad music for a group of rain soaked young fans.  Well done to the lads !

Overall it looked like a very well organised event and I willtry and get to see more of it next year.  And here is my first photo of a horse connection whose name I do not know in case you’re wondering.  And the rest of the weekend was spent with lot of old & new friends in Salthill & Shop Street sampling the wonderful atmosphere that is Galway in the summer.

I met sunglasses.ie recently and they were generous enough to let Connector borrow novelty sunglasses for photos at a Connector events.   Watch out next week for the photos from Connector BBQ (No.12.)

The owner of the company, Niall McCrudden, along with Jon Hanlon are pictured above with a company t-shirt.  This company sells all different types of sunglasses over the Internet.  Sunglasses.ie is  known for great deals as well as reasonable prices.

Coincidently enough, Niall is really involved in social media and connecting with other bloggers as well.  He played a part in connecting Jonathan from Canon with actor Liam Cunningham for the Digital Film Awards.  It’s all about the connections !!!

Check them out @ Sunglasses.ie

A night of circus-inspired revelry commenced with the new Smirnoff Mule in the center ring. Located in the WHPR offices and the courtyard in Ely Place, a host of colorful circus performers beckoned guests to join in the festivities with their extravagant costumes and behavior. The night was all set to “experience the extraordinary” with the Smirnoff Mule.

Thursday’s Launch Party was well equipped with a circus tent, top hats, a Ring Master, flame-thrower, stilt-walkers, and of course the Smirnoff Mule. An exceptional treat of the evening was guest appearance from international d.j. and style icon, Jade Jagger.

The mystique and allure of the circus provided guests with a night of great entertainment, delightful appetizers, and an exceptional drink, the Smirnoff Mule. The music throughout the night was an uplifting mix up of classic and contemporary tunes.

Whether hoola-hooping was your thing or chatting with guests was more your style, the night was a grand party. Come one! Come all! Thursday night was quite the celebration, and the Smirnoff Mule provided an exceptional twist to the fun. The Connector team enjoyed themselves at this event and would like to thank the wonderful people at WHPR for putting on a great show!

To find out more about the Smirnoff Mule check out the site here>>