Connector Weekly – 19th April

by Nicola OReilly on April 19th, 2010

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.

Learn how to promote your business @ iia Online Video & Podcasting Event

by Conor on April 4th, 2010

The Irish Internet Association (iia) is running an event in Dublin for those interested in learning more about how to promote their business using Online Video & Podcasting.  The event features a fantastic lineup of expert speakers from RTE, YouTube, Rabodirect, Mason Hayes & Curran and Channelship.

The event is organised by the iia Social Media Working Group (SMWG) and as the current Chair of the SMWG, I will be there on the day helping out and available to answer any questions you might have. The SMWG is a group of social media professionals who will also be on hand to ensure this is an excellent event for you to learn more about digital content.  We will also have some cool prizes to giveaway and an opportunity to network during the event and maybe afterwards too.

Event Details

Event Date : 22 Apr 2010
Time : 1.30pm – 5pm
Location : Clarion Hotel IFSC, Dublin
Price per person : €75.00
iia Members price per person : €45.00

Speakers and Agenda

Speakers will include a mix of case studies and strategic advice and include:

13:00 – Registrations

13.30 – Welcome & Introductions – Conor Lynch, Connector.ie

13:40 – Lucy Campbell, Marketing Manager, RTE Player

14:10 – Aoife Mahon & Gina McCrudden, RaboDirect

14:40 – Online Video on a Budget – Fred Caballero, Channelship

15:10 – BREAK

15:40 – Digital Content and the law: Points to consider – Peter O’Neill, Mason Hayes+Curran

16:10 – Sebastien Missoffe, YouTube

16:40 – Panel Q&A

17:00 – Close

IIA members should log into the site to avail of the member price.  For more info on bookings of tickets please click here>>

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.

Connect with the Comedy Crash Course

by Connector on March 26th, 2010

Here are the guys Conor got to spend the weekend with trying to learn to be funny!  Have a look at the video and check out what Conor learnt during the Comedy Crash Course.

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!

Support Mo'nnector & the Irish Cancer Society

by Conor on November 7th, 2009

Last weekend I saw the Movember campaign and thought, I should do that this year – it is a fantastic idea and a great cause and to top it off, they even do events !  I am not a fan of facial hair … well on MY face anyway and I have never had a beard or moustache so this is weird for me … below is Day 7 …

So I am the only bloke on my team as I fancied creating my own Mo’nnector team – I now have some Mo Sistas and appreciate any help in supporting my page and maybe even donating a few quid.  If you are not into donating money online don’t worry, we will accept donations at the November Connector event.  all proceeds will go to the Irish Cancer Society for Prostrate Cancer.

Support the Mo’nnector Team

Content is King

by Conor on November 2nd, 2009

This is a conference for anybody who wants to learn exciting new things about how to create winning websites, viral movies, compelling blogs, and outstanding podcasts.  Conor Lynch from Connector will be going along to learn from the panel of experts and this does look like a great collection of speakers lined up !  More Info >>

It is sponsored by the Guinness Storehouse, where the conference will be held, and chaired by leading Irish journalist John Murray, presenter of ‘The Business’ show on RTE Radio One.  There is an inspiring mix of international and domestic speakers who will be giving excellent presentations and engaging in lively panel discussions.

Attendees will see several successful viral videos, and exploring what it is that gives them that viral ‘je ne sais quoi’. They will be getting an insight into the story of the T-Mobile Liverpool Street Dance, from Ben Robinson of Freud Communications, who led the creative team which made it.

Panelists will be attempting to answer the million dollar question ‘What makes a video go viral?’ and attendees will hear from Irish Youtube phenomenon Sophie Merry talk about how a dance in her friend’s back garden made her famous.

Date: 17th November 2009 Time: 8.30am – 3.20pm Venue: Guinness Storehouse, Dublin 8

If you quote Connector when booking a ticket you will get a €50 discount, bringing the price down to €245

* Go to www.mediacontact.ie
* Click on Buy Now
* Public relations and media training
* Select Content is King from the drop down menu
* Use the discount code ‘connector’
* Click redeem in order to avail of the special rate

Connector Lunches connects with Truvo.ie

by Conor on October 13th, 2009

As you may know, Connector was set up as a social blog about people & communities connecting in Dublin but ended up as a group organising monthly networking events.  These events are normally on the last Thursday evening of the month & have helped many people make new contacts.

Now, one year on, Connector Lunches is a new experiment by Connector aimed at bringing a small group of people together over lunch in Dublin.  Meeting your friends over lunch is nothing new, but these lunches will hopefully offer you the opportunity to make some new personal & professional connections.

So for the next 4 weeks we are going to have weekly Connector Lunches in Dublin and see how we get along.  And the good news is that we have attracted a generous sponsor who are willing to help us share some FREE lunches … hmmm sounds tasty huh ?!!

Truvo.ie, the people who brought us the Golden Pages, came to Connector with a really interesting idea.  Truvo.ie is a site where you can discover some of your city’s best-kept secrets and exchange your local knowledge with like-minded people.  Because when you’ve found something truly great, it’s only right to spread the word.

Starting from now, if you go to Truvo.ie & review any Dublin restaurant, café, bar or club and send us a link to your review (minimum of 50 words) you may get a €10 lunch for FREE at the next Connector Lunches meetup. Please email your review to events[@]connector.ie & we will give away up to 15 free lunches per week to reviewers.  If you want to buy your own lunch, that is totally cool too !

Our next Connector Lunch meetup is on Friday 16th October at 12.30 & we are considering going to Carluccios on Dawson Street … any thoughts or any other suggestions ?

Note – If there are more than 15 people eligible for their free lunch in any of the next 4 weeks, we will judge based on the number & quality of reviews including photos etc.  The starting date for reviews is  today October 14th and the closing date is the 6th November 2009 for the final lunch in this series when we will review this generous offer with Truvo.

If you are a restaurant and would like us to come and visit, please contact events[@]connector.ie

Thanks again to Truvo for supporting this initiative to help get people together over lunch & sharing knowledge & connections, which is what Connector is all about.

Connector Lunches No.1 & No.2

by Conor on October 3rd, 2009

Connector Lunch No. 1 @ GBK, South William Street, Dublin 2.

This first Connector Lunch was enjoyed by Conor Lynch, Claire Boyles & Jason Roe as we had a couple of late cancellations.  It was in the Gourmet Burger Kitchen or GBK on South William Street.  Our lunch was enjoyed while sitting out in the sun and it was good to catch up with Jason & Claire.  GBK do €5 burgers before 5pm and a lunch menu from only €10 if you want to check it out.  Thanks guys !!

Connector Lunch No.2 – Jo’Burger, Rathmines Road, Dublin 6.

This lunch in Jo’Burger was courtesy of Joe Mack vis Joe’s friend Sinead Ryan.  They just wanted to let everyone know that the Rathmines restaurant is open for business and serving  a new menu from next week. I was joined by Greg Fry & Rob Cumiskey & we had a good old natter about the projects we are working on together. Thanks for lunch Joe !

Lunches No. 3 & Lunch No. 4

We also have offers from The Church, MYO in the IFSC & The Purty Kitchen in Dun Laoghaire.  We are happy for anyone to come and join us for lunch – we will randomly pick who gets the free lunches and negotiate a great deal for anyone else who turns up from restuarants want to participate.

Lunches will be on Thursday or Fridays for the next couple of weeks & please email conor [at] connector.ie for more information or follow connector_ie on Twitter.

Connect with the EU

by Conor on September 22nd, 2009

This is a cool idea from Phillipe which seems to be going very well judging by the qualityof the video entries to the competition.  I’d like people to check out these great videos from good friends of Connector Martin Moylan & Dan Dalton who came first & second respectively in the recent Canon Digital Video Contest we ran.

The Proposition …  Make a short film, inspired by the notion of Democracy & Dialogue. Go on… It doesn’t matter if you record it on your mobile phone, a state of the art digital video camera, or create your own DIY animation – the idea’s the thing. Make it a comedy, a tragedy, a documentary, an animation – whatever takes your fancy. It’s about self-expression. And if it gets people thinking, even better.

The Prize … The winning entry will win a state of the art HD Digital camera worth €1400 and have their work screened this October at the 2009 Darklight Film Festival. There are also runners up prizes for highly commended entries.

Here are the videos from the lads and give please them your support by viewing it, rating it & passing it on if you like their work.

Just 1 Vote – Martin Moylan

Green People – Dan Dalton

Be Heard – Martin Moylan