The ISME (Irish Small Medium Enterprises) Roadshow featuring Connector is about to start and we can’t wait to get the show on the road! The idea behind it is to share our knowledge and try to connect with people all over the country!

We will be visiting between 10 locations over the next two months, driving there and taking part in business events hosted by ISME.  We will be speaking on why social media and will be joined by 3 other speakers -

AGENDA
- Banking Issues for the SME – Eddie Fitzpatrick, BankCheck
- Online Marketing & Social Media = Better Business – Conor Lynch, Connector.ie
- Employment-Understand your responsibilities and avoid disputes & litigation – John Barry, MSS Ltd.
- Tendering for Government Business- Dos & Don’ts – OPW and Enterprise Ireland

You can see out route map below!  If you would like to attend, please contact conor [@] connector.ie for details or click here to reserve a ticket.

CONNECTOR ISME ROADSHOW

21^st Sept – Fairways Hotel, Dundalk (10am-1pm)
21^st Sept – Stillorgan Park Hotel, Dublin South (5pm-8pm)
28^th Sept – Clarion Hotel, Limerick (10am-1pm)
28^th Sept – Silversprings Hotel, Cork (5pm-8pm)
5^th Oct – Mount Errigal, Letterkenny (10am-1pm)
5^th Oct – Clarion Hotel, Sligo (5pm-8pm)
6^th Oct – Carlton Hotel, Galway (10am-1pm)
6^th Oct – Prince of Wales Hotel, Athlone (5pm-8pm)
12^th Oct – Newpark Hotel, Kilkenny (10am-1pm)
12^th Oct – Clarion Hotel, Liffey Valley, Dublin West (5pm-8pm)

Thanks to Bernie Grogan for her great map design!

The design work I have done for Connector has been an interesting experience. I am caught between the styles and branding that was developed for Connector and my own design and style.  In my design work I like to keep things clean and simple, because I think that is the most effective type of design. Simple design allows for the strongest creativity and at the same time allows for a very straightforward clean message. I guess that’s my design weak point. I need to start developing more complex and interesting design, so that way I have a lot in my design arsenal to use.

Every time I go into creating a design for Conor, I try and do two or three different designs. The first I try to create something consistent with the Connector’s current style. The second I make something I like and I think is cool, and third I make a hybrid of the design I like and the design consistent with the brand. It’s hard at times to create something I like. Time constraints often leave me feeling like there is something left to be desired out of some of my designs. I guess college has spoiled me with a plethora of time to create and refine my designs. Now I am working under short deadlines and desire for high quality. It’s been a bit of an adjustment to this kind of working environment, but I am getting used to it and I am learning where I to focus to save time but still produce decent quality.

Overall the adjustment to office life has been good and interesting. I am still getting used to the fact that my designs are actually being used for the web, proposals, etc instead of for just portfolio development. I hope by the end of this internship I will be doing work on a fast paced basis, I will be able to create a piece that is high in quality but only takes a short amount of time.

Here are a few examples of the work I have created for Connector. Please share what you think about them. Any feed back I can get would be great!

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.

Conor saw this presentation being made for the first time at Bizcamp in Dublin recently.

It covers applying  storytelling techniques to create outstanding presentations for a better engagement with the audience.

Claudio really is a good presenter!

Please take a look and see what your story would be for your next presentation!

Irish companies feel like they are falling increasingly behind the times in terms of advances in digital marketing. While the digital community prepares itself for advances in areas such as location based marketing, the SME community is still unsure as to whether Internet marketing actually works. We need to further establish both positions and how we can bridge the gap between the two.

Mr. Bill Thompson was part of an open discussion at the IIA conference in Dublin recently. In a conversation with Jim Power on the use of social media in business, he was of of the view that companies not embracing social media would cease to exist in a few years. He also added that this may not be a bad thing, as companies who do embrace it will be offering a superior service to their customers.

Mr. Jim Power, prominent economist with Friends First held a conflicting opinion. Jim also runs an economic consultancy practice and has a lot of contact with SMEs. His view was that SMEs on the ground were largely untouched by the advances in digital marketing. He added that SMEs didn’t understand many of the platforms, were wary of privacy issues and were not convinced “social media actually works, and that its not just something fluffy and useless!”

So having established these hugely different viewpoints, who can we say is correct?

Both are correct in my opinion, and bridging the gap between the two is where the way forward lies. Jim is right in terms of SMEs on the ground, they still have a large customer base which is not using social media. Among SMEs who do use social media, their is a misconception that all a company has to do is set up a Facebook and Twitter page and watch the market come flocking. These users are only moderately succesful in their attempts and a general feeling of social media marketing being ‘fluff’ has been created.

Bill Thompson’s viewpoint can be easily backed up using Internet usage statistics and how people are using social search to find products and services. Business in Ireland must follow consumers onto social media.

There are innovative online marketing solutions being devised here in Ireland. However there is a danger if SMEs are not informed and trained, revenue streams will dry up and this could impair the advancement of these solutions and Irish business in the next number of years.

Mutual dialogue must be initiated between the two groups and the government must also be involved in the roll-out of broadband. Marketing through social media is all about listening to the conversation of customers, the digital community must listen to its customers for the benefit of all Irish business in the coming years.

Yesterday Conor took part in an Enterprise Ireland podcast about Micro-Blogging, i.e. Twitter etc.  This was for Irish SMEs and we will link to the podcast shortly.   Pictured are Conor with Ralph Averbach from ENN’s and Andrew Townley from Archistry in the studio off Mount Street. Thanks to David Scanlon from EI for the invitation and the very nice lunch!

Connector Top Tips
- Use a downloadable application like Tweetdeck or Hootsuite if you want to use Twitter to its full potential
- Use Twitter as a great social media listening tool even if you don’t want to join the conversation
- Why not follow these guys on Twitter? @connector_ie / @dscanlon / @ralphenn / @atownley

On the 22^nd April 2010 the IIAs Social Media Working Group held an event entitled Audio Video Culture: Behind the scenes of audio & video content online.  Conor the current Chair of Social Media Working Group at the IIA was the chariman for this event.

Speakers from RTE, RaboDirect, Channelship, Mason Hayes and Curran, CEUD NDA, Google Ireland and YouTube all spoke at the event and helped to make it a great success.  Pictured is Sebastian Missoffe from YouTube in action from Conor at the top table!

There was very positive feedback with most feeling they learned a great deal about  audio and video content online.

We’re delighted to announce that we’ve  added a new Connector Training Video to the training page of our website. The video introduces Connector Training in digital & social media.

Produced by Progressive Productions, the short video features some nice effects and innovative use of graphics, text and footage, not to mention an appearance by Conor Lynch himself who narrates with class and style!

Connector is set for another busy week of connecting! Here is a roundup of the main events for this week:

On 20th Connector will hold its Digital & Social Media Workshop. This strategy workshop will help participants understand how social media is changing our culture, and importantly, the way consumers share information and make buying decisions.

After that, Connector will also be hosting Career Connections a event only for students at the Science Gallery at 6:30 pm. With this event Connector is helping to connect graduates with potential employers. Many graduates this year will find it hard to get a job but those at the Students Event won’t be amongst them. Recruitment experts from Microsoft and Google will give advice about graduate programs, career choices and personal branding. Greg Fry from Careers Coach will be speaking at the event too.

Public Affairs Ireland presents a half-day event in Dublin on the 21st. It will be of interest to people who would like to have a better understanding of how new media, the web and email can enable better access of information and provision of services to the public.

Conor, as the current chair of the IIA, will introduce the Audio Video Culture: Behind the Scenes of audio and video content online on Thursday April 22nd. This will offer an in-depth look at how to maximise the impact of video and audio content for your business.

More updates next week.

Things are beginning to warm up for The Entrepreneur Show which will be held in the RDS Dublin on April 23rd and 24th. It is set to be two days of the biggest networking and business knowledge gathering event ever seen in the country. Connector will be present at the event with a stand and with Mr. Networker himself Conor will be taking part in some of the panels and discussions about building new connections.

The Entrepreneur Show is designed to inspire visitors to do new and better business. It will host an array of speakers from all sectors of business, to inspire you in your business development.  It will give the opportunity to  learn and develop new business ideas and the necessary skills to put them into practice.

Not only does it give guests an opportunity to do some serious networking, it will also feature over 80 guest speakers from some of the most knowledgeable business minds like the UK’s Dragons Richard Farleigh and Rachel Elnaugh, the Irish Dragons Sean Gallagher, Bobby Kerr and Gavin Duffy and the Entrepreneur of the Year Terry Clune.

The show is made up of five different areas,the Inspiration Chamber will host an inspiring group of Entrepreneurs speaking about their journeys through their business life.  The “New Ventures” Arena will feature recently developed companies sharing their journey through the early stage of their business, this will educate visitors on how beneficial mentors and investors are to a new business and also tips on what qualities to look for when investing.

The “Think Tank” Auditorium is a new feature to the show which  involves different business sectors participating in the show and a live audience of entrepreneurs, enaging in panel discussion and audience interaction. One of the most exciting areas for visitors to the show is the “Invest test” Sessions which will feature businesses looking for investment and will be judged by a live panel of experts including the UK Dragons. The Exhibitor’s Area will demonstrate the tools and services needed to develop your business development these demonstations will over vast areas including mentoring, life coaching and design services.

Two day tickets to the event are priced €35. Proud sponsors Google are giving the first 10,000 visitors who purchase tickets online €75 worth of free Google ad words to kick start marketing their business online.
Those who purchase tickets online before midnight on Monday the 12th of April, will enter into prize draws for Entrepreneur show hampers sponsored by companies such as henparty.ie, hairybaby.com and many more.  For more details, click here>>