Ronan Higgins is founder and CEO of Locle.com, a company specialising in location-based social networking. In addition to this he manages and runs Appsie.  Appsie is  a Dublin-based mobile software development team of 4 highly qualified full-time developers who create tailor made mobile applications.

Recently Ronan set up a Bluetooth messaging welcome for the guests at Connector #Appy Hour is also the owner of a great party house in Rathmines where I also reside.  An expert in all things mobile and a nice guy too!  Thanks Ronan and here he is with his business partner Pieter Oonk in April 2009 @ Connector No.9.

This morning I had a very pleasant and interesting morning tea with Marie O’Riordan who is a self-styled international communications & media expert.  Marie has been doing really well of late and carries our speaking and consulting engagements for international clients.

She introduces herself in the video and is a serious connector who was the last interviewer of Mother Teresa.  Marie O’Riordan has also been interviewing & building instant rapport with Hollywood’s Elite & scores of Academy Award winners face to face for many years such as Paul Newman, Michael Caine, Quentin Tarantino, Charlize Theron, Cate Blanchett, Renee Zellweger & many, many more “A list” legends. Marie travels the globe as a Worldwide Communications Excellence Specialist™ & is the Author of ‘66 Secrets To Nailing Any Media Interview.’™

Her next event in Dublin is as follows called the Entrepreneur Marketing Workshop and features the thrilling trilogy of with Debbie Allen (USA), Tracy Repchuk (USA) & Marie O’Riordan (IRL) ;-0

It is on Friday, June 25, 2010 from 8:30 AM – 7:00 PM (GMT) and I hope to check it out.

On Tuesday 22nd April I get the chance to re-connect with my ex-RaboDirect colleagues @ the iia Social Media event in the Clarion Hotel.  As I was saying last week this is a great opportunity to see the multi-award winning RaboDirect team who rarely have the time to share the secrets to their success.  I particularly am looking forward to the presentation from Aoife Mahon who was Offline Marketing Manager  while I was Online Marketing Manager for 18 months.

On top of all that emotional interchange, there are also top speakers from RTE & YouTube so if you are into digital video, this is an event you must not miss!

For discounts, contact events [@] iia.ie and then go to the booking page.

Connector is offering you the chance to win one of the 8 free places at the following Connector Training courses we are running in April:

* 2 free places x 2 Introduction to Social Media Marketing Course (Half day day course on April 1st or April 19th)
* 2 free places x 2 Digital & Social Media Strategy Workshops (Full day course on April 8th or April 20th)

And the winners for the first course are… Nessa O’Hara and Dave Curry!!!  Congratulations! If you haven’t been succesful this time, keep sharing the promotion with your friends and colleagues* and avail for more opportunities to win in the forthcoming weeks:

- Share the link www.connector.ie/social-media-training to your friends and also ‘CC’ training [@] connector.ie
– Share our eZine to friends and also ‘CC’ training [@] connector.ie
– Share on Twitter, please tweet ‘Check out Connector Training www.connector.ie/social-media-training from @connector_ie’

* Of course, no one will receive further communication from Connector unless they opt in.

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.

DEADLINE EXTENDED !! NEW CLOSING DATE FRI 29TH JAN @ 6PM

We’re giving away 5 pairs of tickets to ESB Customer Supply’s exclusive Des Bishop gig at the Button Factory. Want to be one of our winners? Just add a comment to this post or the Connector Facebook Group with a funny link to a joke or a video and be in with a chance to win 2 tickets to enjoy a unique show, on Wednesday February 3rd.

Just find something funny on the the Internet and you could get one of the 5 pairs of tickets Connector has to give away!

After the gig, there will be a DJ on stage and you will have a good chance to connect with the other Connector guests … So what are you waiting for? Send us your links before 18.00 on January 29th.

Indeed this is the finale to the ESB Customer Supply’s Des Bishop Unplugged energy saving campaign. Since last August Des Bishop has been writing a blog when he shares energy saving tips he’s been learning during this time. Additional tickets can also be won on www.desbishopunplugged.ie.

Good luck!

Well Movember is over and I must say it was a weird experience spending just over a month with a hairy face for the first time !  It takes time to connect with your facial hair (boom boom) and I felt a lot more comfortable with a beard as opposed to a mo.

The Movember Gala Finale Party in Tripod on the 3rd Dec was great fun and well done to Matt & Chewy and the guys from Thinkhouse PR for such a fine party.  A few Paulaners were used to lubricate the tache for the first time as it had been a dry month !

I am pictured with the Lynx Minx and enjoying my blue steel moments.  Having a party to reward the moustahioed community was a great idea and Lynx helped to add a bit of badly needed glamour to an otherwise male dominated night out.

It is a fantastic fundraising idea and the Mo’nnector team raised many hairy lip children and approx €350 for Prostrate Cancer.

BIG thanks to Colm Lyons from Realex Payments for supporting the Christmas Connector Party this year – his company have generously helped us put on this event & we hope you make his team feel very welcome on the night !

Colm was the guy (pictured above left) who presented me with my Internet Marketer of the Year award in 2005 & his company is one of the shining lights of the Irish web scene & he is a great supporter of those trying to follow in his footsteps.

In 2005 Colm was acclaimed and rewarded for his leadership when he was a finalist of the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. As an industry figure he was Director and Chairman of the Irish Internet Association for over four years – during which time the association significantly enhanced its position. In 2009 he founded the Internet Growth Alliance in early 2009 to help Irish Internet businesses. Most recently he was awarded the ‘Internet Hero Award’ at the Golden Spiders in Dublin.

The company now employs 70 people in Ireland, Great Britain and France. In addition the company currently has 15 vacancies advertised on its website, as it continues to expand its operations in Ireland and abroad.  They recently announced profits of €720,000 as turnover increase to €6.5 million. The company has experienced year on year growth since its foundation in 2000 & now process payments for over 3500 clients, including Virgin Atlantic, Vodafone, Aer Lingus, Quinn Insurance, Motortax.ie.Wow!