Connector US Interns 2010

by Connector on June 30th, 2010

Connector has two interns working with them from the States this summer. Shelsea and Andrew have joined the team last week and will be with us for six weeks. They have come through EUSA, a not-for-profit internship organization that every summer brings 300 interns to Dublin so they get work experience in Irish companies.

Here it is some more background about Shelsea & Andrew: More

Connecting Italian flavours with a dollop of DCU & Media 2020 …

by Connector on April 30th, 2010

This week I connected with a bunch of great people and somethat I have not mentioned yet are here for you to check out.  The first photos is the Flavour of Italy team in Pinocchios Ranelagh who treated me to a fantastic Italian meal while we chatted about their great Italian food and travel businesses … grazie! ciao! grazie!

Then I was interviewed by Sheena O’Dowd & Damien O’Ceallaigh as part of their Masters project in New Media in DCU.  And finally at the bottom, I was at the Media 2020 conference at Croke Park where my housemate Ronan Higgins had his head beamed onto the big screen while answering questions about mobile apps.  Coincidentally, speaking about mobiles, apologies for the grainy photos which are a bit iPixelated.

Lots of new connections and lots of new ideas cos you can’t beat having your finger of the pulse! ;-0

Connector @ The Entrepreneur Show

by Nicola OReilly on April 27th, 2010

Connector showcased its new training courses and connecting philosophy at this year’s Entrepreneur Event, Friday 23^rd to Saturday 24^th April.

Connector’s team helped man the stand for the weekend, making loads of new connections and spreading knowledge of the 10 C’s.

A huge part of the show this year were the bright and lively discussions that took place in the “Think Tank” and “Invest Test”  auditoriums which Conor helped chair as well as take part in.

One of the highlights of the show was hearing some of the Irish and UK dragons take part in these discussions. The connector team also had the pleasure of meeting Sean Gallagher who had his photo taken with them at the Connector stand.

Connector’s bright and inviting stand design, along with its engaging video content was down to the planning and hard work of new recruit David Dungan who has taken to his role with enthusiasm and gusto, as well as Sarai Fernández hard work managing the connector team and Connector’s Entrepeneur Networking Event at Lillies on Friday night.

Overall it was a busy but rewarding weekend at the stand for the Connector team and it will be a busy week again following the amount of interest shown at the show.

Connector College – Career Connections Event

by Diarmuid ORiordan on April 21st, 2010

Connector college brought together speakers from Google, Microsoft, Careers Coach and Connector. The event for students took place at the Science Gallery and was themed around ‘I have my qualification, now what?’. It had some great insights for students in attendance on how to brand yourself, networking and job application techniques.

To organise the event, Connector collaborated with DCU masters student Roisin Lyons. Roisin did a really great job in organising the venue, bringing together our speakers and publicizing the event. Well done and thanks Roisin!

Bryna McCool works as a Senior Recruiter at Microsoft Ireland. She began proceedings and spoke about the process of graduate Recruitment. She continued on with some great interview tips before handing over to Careers Coach, Greg Fry.

Greg set up Careers Coach in March 2009 with the aim of assisting people with their Career Transition. He focused on using social media to build your personal brand, and urged attendees to bring these connections offline also.

Lindsay Brown continued the evening. Lindsay is a Recruiting Specialist. She recently moved to an in-house recruitment role with Google, having previously worked on the agency side. She gave great advice to students on dealing with recruitment agencies, techniques used by recruiters, networking and personal branding. Check out Lindsay ‘s great blog.

Conor Lynch rounded up proceedings and had a few hard acts to follow!  Conor capped off the evening with some good advice for students and information about how Connector gives students a chance to get great work experience and make connections . We collaberate with students, graduates & interns to run events, marketing campaigns and much more.

The ‘Career Connections’ event helped Roisin Lyons gain valuable project management experience, improve her personal brand and make some great connections. If any students would like further information about joining the Connector Team, don’t hesitate to contact conor [at] connector dot ie

‘Career Connections’ connect with Microsoft and Google

by Connector on April 14th, 2010

Connector has organised a very special event ‘Career Connections’ on Tuesday 20th April @ the Science Gallery, Trinity College.

Students and graduates are facing an uphill struggle to find a job these days.Sadly, Connector cant help you all ‘connect with a job’, but we do have the connections to help you get ahead of the pack in the hunt for a job.

This promises to be a great night, showing students how to pursue careers in the competitive job market.

Speakers include Bryna McCool: Senior Recruiter at Microsoft HR Ireland, Lindsay Browning: recruitment specialist at Google and expert careers coach: Greg Fry. Conor Lynch, the founder of Connector will also be along to talk about the use of social media to market yourself to employers.

Focusing on the theme ’you have the qualifications…now what?’ Connector wants to give students the best chance to land a job when they get out of college.

The event kicks off at 7 with doors open at 6.45. The event will conclude with some networking and a chance to meet the speakers.

Remember to bring your student cards, as this is a student only Connector event.

Check out the presentation below and register on our Facebook page to attend.

Rosin Lyons, DCU

Connector Training – Course No.1!!

by Sarai Fernandez on April 1st, 2010

Connector has gathered together a diverse group of people keen to learn the basics of social media marketing and how to get the most of it.  Today Connector is running its first training course, called “Introduction to Social Media Marketing” at Cassidy’s Hotel in Dublin 1.

We are looking at the Connector blog,  Conor’s Facebook profile, the Connector Facebook Fan Page, and friends of the Facebook Group; Conor’s LinkedIn profile, where we joined the Connector LinkedIn Group, Connector Twitter and WordPress.

Two of the attendees, Nessa O’Hara and David Curry, were the lucky winners of 2 free seats. Connector is still giving your the opportunity to win 2 free seats in the next 3 courses which are being held in April. To find out more about the contest, click here.

Gain social media work experience with Connector

by connector on March 2nd, 2010

Are you interested in Digital Media, Social Media, PR, Marketing, or Event Management? Would you like to gain work experience?

Connector is looking for volunteers willing to gain work experience contributing to Connector.ie content and assist in our offline events.

The areas of activity would be digital and social media marketing, blogging, digital video/ web TV production, contact database and eCRM management, PR and advertising, mobile marketing, sponsorships, attending events, networking & administration.

So if you have excellent communication skills, have  IT skills & experience using the Microsoft Office suite, the ability to work in a team environment, good attention to detail & accuracy and enthusiasm in emerging technologies, send a cover letter and CV to conor@connector.ie.

You can get more info about Connector Campus, which shows the work we have done up to now within the colleges.

South African Connections

by connector on February 22nd, 2010

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.

Connecting with Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia Founder

by Conor on November 29th, 2009

I was at a great talk by Jimmy Wales on Friday night at Trinity College as organised by the hugely impressive young entrepreneur Paddy Cosgrave of Lectures Ireland.  Jimmy Wales is the man behind 2 of the world’s most used web sites Wikipedia & Wikia & we chatted afterwards and found him to be very interesting as you would expect!

Key takeaway statements ‘ Culture is getting smarter’ & ‘New media means new communities’.

Connector Halloween Roundup

by Emma Greene on November 5th, 2009

It was a spooky October night in Purty Kitchen Temple Bar. People came to the door some in costume some not, but all eager to meet new people and make connections.

The room was decked out to the full with lanterns, balloons and cobwebs. Not only was it full with decorations but also some delicious treats supplied by one of the nights sponsors Marks & Spencers. These lovely treats were washed down happily with an ice cold Bulmers Light another one of our very generous sponsors. Purty Kitchen also donated platters of delicious food on the night.

One of the main attractions of the night was Facebooth “Video Booths for Every Occasion” the attendees were able to leave a video comment on their experience of the night. It was highly successful. This was the first time Facebooth has appeared in Ireland and it was quite the achievement getting them here.

Entertainment on the night, besides the DJ was the up and coming comedian Marcus O’ Laoira who has only been on the comedy seen since June of this year. Marcus has appeared in comedy festivals such as Kilkenny Cat Laughs and the Bulmers Comedy Festival. Other than tonight’s gig he will be appearing in six others. The crowd loved him and his energy, he preformed a music comedy and was ably supported by Greg Marks.

Overall it was a fantastic night, looking forward to next years already!  Thanks to Jason & BTW for coming down and making it such a goodnight of connections – Conor & Jason are pictured about &  more pix here >>