Connect with Colm Lyons from Realex Payments

by Conor on December 1st, 2009

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!

Magners seeking a new TV Presenter

by Conor on November 3rd, 2009

The Search is on!  WANTED: Magners League Professional Fan
Magners League announces search for Ireland’s first ever spokesfan.

Magners League is offering the opportunity of a lifetime to one lucky
job-seeker to become the ‘Magners League Professional Fan’ for this
current season 2009-10.  This unique position is diverse, fast paced and
demanding.  The many benefits include seats at Magners League games,
meeting rugby stars, getting to know team managers and trainers, travel,
(some) fame and the appreciation of  new-found fans.

The ideal candidate will be available to attend Magners League matches on
each match weekend from December through to the ML Grand Final next May.
Developing relationships with key personnel and media from each of the
provinces, the successful candidate will work with the Setanta Sports
production team in interviewing players and fans and providing in-match
summaries, in addition to maintaining their own blog and continuously
looking for opportunities to drive the profile of the League.

The chosen candidate will have strong communication and interpersonal
skills and be able to build relationships with all Magners League
partners.  He/She will have strong presentation skills, will enjoy working
with people and will be innovative and creative with a can do attitude.

Orlaith Fortune, Marketing Manager Bulmers said, “If you think you have
what it takes and you want to be part of the League’s most exciting season
ever, then all you have to do is apply… If you are passionate about sport,
hard-working and not shy in front of a camera, then this is the job for
you!”

The 2009/10 Magners League has all the makings of another all-action
tournament brimming with clashes high in both intensity and quality
between teams from Ireland, Scotland and Wales.  With the introduction of
play-offs for the four leading sides, this season promises to be one of
the most thrilling ever.

For details on how to apply before November 24th 2009, click here >>

Connector Event Managers

by Conor on November 2nd, 2009

If you were down at the Connector Halloween Party on Thursday night, you will no doubt have been very impressed with the event presentation.  Hats off to these 3 girls who planned, promoted & managed this event with some guidance from myself.

Pictured are Mallory McSweeney, Sarah Bell & Emma Greene, the latter two being Event Management students from DBS. They were also responsible for liaising with the venue, party entertainment and our sponsors Bulmers Light and Marks & Spencer.  A BIG thanks to the girls !

Connector @ Windows 7 launch party

by Conor on October 28th, 2009

This was a BIG launch party given the state of the Irish economy !  Thanks to Piaras from Edelman for the invites to the eagerly awaited launch of Windows 7.  The event was held at the Button Factory and the highlight was this ’80′s tastic’ performance by Spring Break !

Connector Lunches

by Conor on September 21st, 2009

Connector is setting up a mini Connector Meetup over lunch this Wednesday / Thursday TBC in Dublin.  There is an open invite and your hosts will be myself (Conor Lynch) & Claire Boyles & Rob Cumiskey.

We’re looking for a nice Dublin city centre restaurant who wants to welcome us for lunch this week with some generous discounts or freebies in return for some coverage on Twitter & blogs !  So far we have over 4,000 Twitter followers among the 3 of us who we will tell our friends about how your restaurant rated.

http://twitter.com/connector_ie
http://twitter.com/claireboyles
http://twitter.com/venntertainment

Maybe a €5 lunch for anyone else who joins us 3 ?  Any social media savy restaurateurs out there ?!

Here’s one we made earlier @Saba.

Connector Music @ The Pod

by Caoimhe Stack on September 11th, 2009

With less than five days to go, things are shaping up very nicely for the first ever Connector Music Event in the Pod, Harcourt Street this September 16th at 7pm. The evening will kick off with welcoming drinks kindly sponsored by Heineken. The fantastic guest speakers, to discuss the Irish music industry in the digital age, will include Today FM’s Alison Curtis, Phantom FM’s Simon Maher, Pod Promotions Siobhan O’Dowd and Hard Working Class Heroes Angela Dorgan.

This will be followed by live acoustic sets for emerging Irish talent such as Reader’s Wives, The Minutes, Hitman Lord and Stefan Gelt. And then DJ Pete Pamf will take us into the night with some smooth and funky tunes.

This is the ideal opportunity for music fans to have a rare insight into the workings of the Irish music scene and to enjoy some seriously cracking music. At just €10 in it is a night no music nut should miss!

And for all of you Connector regulars, this is the time to see old friends and to make a bunch of new ones too!

Looking forward to seeing you all there!!

Guinness 250 Arthur's Day connections

by Conor on September 8th, 2009

With just seventeen days to go until the Arthur’s Day celebrations begin in Dublin on the 24th of September, GUINNESS is today revealing the latest impressive line-up of artists, A-list presenters and international broadcast partners taking part, as the countdown begins to the global festivities.

This is a truly historic party in Dublin and one our intrepid Connector will be checking out & blogging from so please watch this space & check out www.guinness.com

Joining previously announced artists Sir Tom Jones, Estelle, Sugababes and Kasabian at the Dublin Arthur’s Day celebrations are Roots Manuva, Paolo Nutini, The Magic Numbers, OK Go and White Belt Yellow Tag, along with some of the best live acts in Ireland today including The High Kings, Jerry Fish and the Mudbug Club, General Fiasco, Spring Break, David Kitt, and Oppenheimer.

Around the world amazing talent will perform at Arthur’s Day events including Sean Paul as headlining act at the live show in Lagos, Nigeria and The Black Eyed Peas performing at celebrations in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. These remarkable global events will see over 60 artists performing more than 60 hours of live music in just one day at events in cities around the world

Hosting the event in Dublin will be Cat Deeley and Ronan Keating who will take to the stage in the St. James’s Gate Brewery, and will be joined by Colin Murray, Michelle De Swarte and Michelle Doherty who will be presenting live from the four studio venues. The Arthur’s Day celebrations will be beamed across the globe from Ireland, UK, US and Africa via broadcast partners TV3, SKY, ITV2 and DirecTV

Publicans and their customers all across the country will be joining in the Arthur’s Day celebrations by raising a GUINNESS to Arthur and witnessing the live music events which will be broadcast live into pubs and bars on the night via an exclusive channel on the Sky TV platform.

The Arthur’s Day celebrations, to mark 250 years since Arthur Guinness signed the 9,000 year lease on the St James’s Gate Brewery in Dublin, will begin in the Irish capital at 17:59 local time with a toast to Arthur and carry on around the world in Lagos, Kuala Lumpur and New York.

In Dublin, 33 events will take place simultaneously, including a major performance at the St James’s Gate Brewery and four studio venues as well as 28 intimate gigs at pubs around Dublin hosting local acts and surprise guest artists from the A-list line-up. The full line-up for Dublin studio venues and local acts for pub venues has also been announced today.*

New artists announced today are: Born Blonde, Concerto for Constantine, David Kitt, Fiona Melady, Fionn Regan, General Fiasco, Jerry Fish and the Mudbug Club, Leopold, Lumiere, OK Go, Oppenheimer, Paolo Nutini, Roots Manuva, Sean Paul, Sharon Shannon, Spring Break, The Coronas, The High Kings, The Infomatics, The Magic Numbers and White Belt Yellow Tag.

As part of the Arthur’s Day celebrations The Guinness & Co. has pledged to donate €6 million to the Arthur Guinness Fund which will be active from September 2009. Arthur Guinness and his family were responsible for some of the most well known acts of philanthropy in Ireland and to honour and continue this legacy we are establishing this fund with the goal of enabling and empowering individuals with skills and opportunities to deliver a measured benefit to their communities.

For more information on the GUINNESS 250 celebrations please visit www.guinness.com

Connector on BalconyTV

by Jamie Richardson on August 12th, 2009

Connector would like to give a big shout out to our buddies at BalconyTV!

We  are honored to be the first sponsor for their music shows which have had over 6 million views in the last 3 years !!

Check out their latest show with Lunasa with the Connector logo sitting proudly at the start of the video, all resplendent in yellow!!

GAA Matches & Connections @ Croke Park

by Jamie Richardson on August 10th, 2009

Sunday was quite the busy day down at Croke Park with the GAA All Ireland Senior Football Quarter Final & Hurling Semi Final. With crowds from all over the country, the stadium was bursting with excitement and pride for their supporting teams.

Thanks to Toyota for the tickets, we got to enjoy the Football Quarter Final with Mayo up against Meath. What a match! The stadium was brimming with both Mayo and Meath supporters alike, but in the end it was Meath that beat out the favored team Mayo.

Next on was the Semi-Final Hurling match between Kilkenny and Waterford. This was another great game, it ended ultimately with a win from Kilkenny.

Overall it was an excellent afternoon for enjoying some great Irish sports! Thanks again to GAA Football’s sponsor Toyota for the tickets!

Check out a video from the day:

Connections @ Bulmers Live at Leopardstown

by Jamie Richardson on August 10th, 2009

Last Thursday evening the Connector team was off to the races at Bulmers Live at Leopardstown! Thanks to some free tickets from Bulmers, we got to enjoy the horse races and a great outdoor concert from The Coronas!

The night was spent watching the horses, eating some food from the Bulmers feast, making some connections with the jockeys, and moving to the beat of The Coronas’ great performance!

For more on the summer concerts for Bulmers Live at Leopardstown, check out their site >here>>