Pure Play

Selling Online Event - tomorrow in Dublin

This one is all about Selling Online. Happening tomorrow in the Burlington in Dublin. I am going to be there

Link & booking is here, speakers below.

2pm Introduction
Joan Mulvihill, IIA CEO, "Content and Analysis to Drive Sales"
2.10pm Content

Part 1: Great Content to "capture" customers
Case study: Darren Grant, OrganicSupermarket.ie
Expert Perspective:  Conor O’Neill, Loudervoice

Q&A

3.20pm Analysis
Part 2: Analysis - Know how to "Work it"!
Case Study: Lorna Sixsmith, GarrendennyLane.ie  & Rosey Broderick, WebResults.ie
Expert Perspective: Laurence Veale, iQContent.com

Q&A

4.45pm Part 3: Your Shop Windows
1.      OWJO  - what makes a great Facebook store
2.      Digital Reach Group - what makes a great Mobile store
3.      PeopleLovePresents  - your online store in a virtual mall

5.45pm Part 4: State of the Store  
The future: get ready for your shop in your customers’ pockets - o2 - Mcommerce

Keith

[disclosure: I am a board member of the IIA]

Silence - it's been quiet around here

I should explain the silence around  here.

For years now I have had my main blog on Typepad and I have reluctantly come to the conclusion that it is a mature and aging platform which I want to leave.

So I am working with Ken McGuire of EventMedia to amalgamate my blog and website and that should be completed in a couple of weeks. The finished job will be hosted at www.keithbohanna.com

In the meantime I have started a new food blog over on www.biabeag.com and a separate food site at www.irishfoodbase.com.

keith

Seedups - beta of new Irish crowdsourcing seed finance startup

via Linkedin:

SEEDUPS Goes Live

Seedups, the new crowd-funding site for entrepreneurs, launched its Beta website in Ireland last week. Seedups uses “wisdom of crowd” applications to match great business ideas and start-ups with a pool of sophisticated high net worth investors. The aim is to enable entrepreneurs to secure funding for start-up businesses faster, as well as offering angel investors access to a wide range of early stage projects to review, follow and invest together in collaboration. The idea is similar to other crowd funding initiatives in the US such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo, which fund creative and lifestyle ideas except it funds start-ups.

Seedups is aimed at improving the chances for early stage entrepreneurs match up with potential investors by providing a free platform to pitch their ideas in a secure environment. The Opportunity SnapShot system allows entrepreneurs to build an easily viewed, rich-media profile which is accessible only to the pre-qualified high net worth individuals and angel investors who are interested in that sector or project type and registered with Seedups. Entrepreneurs can be looking for seed money in order to develop a brand new idea or for larger amounts as they develop and grow their start up businesses.

Seedups is Irelands first crowd-funding website, aims to fulfill a role for entrepreneurs looking to raise small amounts of equity capital and provides the social networking tools to pitch ideas securely to qualified investors.

We are now calling on all enterprise development partners to leverage their networks and refer active start-ups seeking seed or start-up capital to Seedups.com

Any links via twitter and linkedin would be much appreciated.

For further information contact Michael Faulkner at:

Michael AT seedups DOT com
www.seedups.com
www.twitter.com/seedups
http://www.linkedin.com/company/seedups

All activity in this space is good and a variety of approaches and models can only help.

Keith

 

Training in Co Wicklow - Exporting and Pricing

via email from Wicklow CEB:

1)  'How to Start Exporting'

2)  'Figuring out your Pricing Strategy'
 
Course details:
*****************************
 
1) 'How to Start Exporting'
Location: Ramada Woodland Court Hotel, Bray
Dates: Friday 19th & 26th November 2010
Duration: 2 days
Time: 9.30am - 5pm
Cost: €100
Trainer: Peadar Tóibín, CEO of realt* Consulting
This course aims to inform and prepare participants for exporting, including: how to approach market research in a new country, assessing the costs of exporting, freight and logistics, getting paid, contracts and state aid available from embassies and trade missions.

 2) 'Figuring out your Pricing Strategy'
Location: Wicklow County Campus, Rathnew
Dates: Thursday 25th November 2010
Duration: 1 day
Time: 9.30am - 5pm
Cost: €50
Trainers: Tessa O'Connell (marketing consultant) & Sean Fleming (accountant)
A fresh approach to determining your pricing strategy, this course uniquely offers two perspectives on pricing - the financial calculation based on costs, and the marketing angle - figuring out what price your target market are willing to pay.

Book both at www.wicklowceb.ie/training

Keith

Early stage and looking for investors - these Open Clinics may interest you

Received by email:

HBAN are delighted to invite you to our Open Clinic
taking place on Wednesday, 3rd November 2010 Dublin & Wednesday 10th November Cork

If you are an early stage company in the knowledge sector looking for funds, we'd like to hear from you. Working with HBAN will ensure you have the best chance of raising finance.  At present we have 5 investor syndicates actively looking for new investment opportunities; in addition we have access to a large pool of private investors.

HBAN can get relevant opportunities access to these investor syndicates who not only have the capital capacity to invest up to €250,000+ per investment but have extensive business acumen and industry experience which can help accelerate the growth of your start up.
 
Our Criteria
 
For the best chance of getting funded your company should meet the following criteria:
 
•       Product ready for commercialisation.
•       Pre-revenue is considered however some early market traction via revenues is preferred.
•       Management team with relevant experience.
•       Identifiable market opportunity.
•       Internationally scalable business model.
 
Companies with all or some of the criteria above will be considered.
 
HBAN Open Clinic - Dublin
HBAN office, 51 Fitzwilliam Square, Dublin 2
9am - 3pm
 
HBAN Open Clinic - Cork
Rubicon Centre, CIT,
Rossa Avenue, Cork
9am - 3pm

To book a 20 minute one on one consultation with a member of the HBAN Team please contact Eva Keenan, eva AT hban.org or 01-665 0421.

keith

 

 

Up to date Foodcamp Kilkenny speaker list out

Over on the Savour Kilkenny website is the current list of speakers for the Foodcamp happening on Friday 22nd October.

Current talk titles are:

• The next generation of farmers – how can they have lifestyles which are rewarding and enjoyable?
• How and why we got the National Carbon Trust cert.
• Health Tips for Foodies
• The Place of Food Safety in Professional Small Food Businesses
• Food bloggers unite!
• Filling the food market gap – a new cuisine?
• Local Food
• Getting a Product to Market
• Round Table Discussion – Food Regulations
• Social Media, the Web and building your Food Business
• "Digging Ireland out of the recession – Artisan produce, Food  Innovation and Guerrilla Marketing": the after lunch panel discussion

Find out who is giving them and other details here: http://www.savourkilkenny.com/web/?page_id=721

keith

Bizcamp Galway - wrapup from Elaine Divilly

Looks like this event added a lot to the strength of the Bizcamp brand in the SME business community in Ireland. From her post:

Organising this event was an inspiration in itself. The team of wonderfully creative and intelligent guys; Dave Kelly, Ambient Age; Michael FitzGerald, OnepageCRM; Paul Killoran, Starlight Solutions and Mark Campbell, Pocket Anatomy, and I brought together over three hundred Irish entrepreneurs, innovators and ideas people.

The day was a huge success. We had 33 speakers giving presentations on topics spanning diverse areas of business and innovation from App design to venture capital to work-life balance. Each speaker had twenty minutes to share their knowledge and advice with ten minutes at the end for audience discussion. Being the organiser, I didn’t get to see many speakers but heard chatter of praise for many.

Well done to all. Next Bizcamp scheduled is Belfast on Monday 15th November.

keith

IIA October 7th Event - 8 Ways to Sell More Stuff

I have been helping with getting this together for a couple of months - inspired by a relative underwhelming (for me) IIA Congress and with the memory of a couple of great conferences in New York which focused on online sales and how to improve them.

So we have a conference on 7th October in which experienced people share their experience of selling online - for an audience of anyone who has physical products (or possibly services) and wants to sell more of them.

You must be spotting the theme here. Its about sales. Revenue. And profit.

Details here: http://www.iia.ie/events/event/297/8-ways-to-sell-more-stuff/

And with tickets at 99.99 they will be snapped up. Can't believe we are able to sell them at that price. Never mind the first 20 at 79.99. You are killing me here - may as well give them away. Easy there.

keith

iGAP2 - applications open (for 2 weeks only). Get yourself kickstarted

iGAP - a joint production of Enterprise Ireland and a bunch load of very experienced and successful entrepreneurs - has opened applications for the second program.

I did a post recently on Web2Ireland with details.

Andyou can get more information and apply for iGAP here.

Any questions just ask.

keith

Java Script Coder required (not for me, for managing-safety.com)

From a contact:

I need help with programming in Java Script for risk assessments forms.  I need a code that works in Adobe Life Cycle Designer.

I need the script to calculate figures in specific cells.  The figures will be represented in a graphical format.

The graphical format I want to use is similar to a thermometer.  A low risk will be shown as green, medium risk yellow and high risk red.

If anyone can help please contact me at: vinny AT managing-safety.com.

keith

Bizcamp Comes West: Galway on September 11th

From their email:

Entrepreneurs, innovators and people with ideas in the West region are invited to get involved as both speakers and learners for an upcoming conference with a difference.

Organised by entrepreneurs, for entrepreneurs, Bizcamp Galway is the first event of its kind to be held here in the West on September 11th. Based in the NUI Galway, the day long event follows the model set by previous events held in Dublin and more recently Limerick with great success.

And a really interesting panel discussion:

The Power of Failure
Irish people and entrepreneurs alike are often plagued with a fear of failure. A fear so great that it can often cripple some of our best ideas and prevent us from putting ourselves out there in case we don't succeed.

One of the highlights of Bizcamp Galway will be a panel discussion between a number of well known successful entrepreneurs on the idea that "failure is good." The panellists will share their own failure stories and explain how these failures taught them valuable lessons that became the bedrock of their eventual success.

This theme promises to raise some interesting debate and will hopefully leave delegates with the thought that, "if they've never failed, then maybe they haven't reached their full potential?"

Find out more here.

keith

New dbTwang service live :-)

We have just launched our new service - www.dbtwang.com/guardian

After working with our group of initial users for months - listening to them and using questionaires (thanks to the iGap participation for that) we found a key issue which the majority of them identified with - getting back lost or stolen guitars.

In short the new verison of dbTwang does that - both by allowing subscribing members to record their guitars in details and also by offering a very effective one click alert service if an instrument is lost or stolen.

Have a look:

Now comes the marketing and selling.

We had a lot of help from Richard Hearn with the design of the new home and landing pages and will cover that iteration in a post later this week.

keith

 

GTD Training in Dublin - 1 day workshop 20th August

• Find you constantly loose track of stuff?
• That you are regularly stressed and cannot relax?

You need to take back control of your life! Put your stuff where it belongs and stop letting it rule your days.

Getting Things Done (developed by David Allen) is a great methodology for stress free productivity.

During this one day workshop you will be worked through the theory of GTD - and spend time  in a  practical session where you work through the workflow stages of GTD and develop your understanding of how it will help you.

Full details here and booking: http://www.eventelephant.com/gtd

In summary 

• Friday 20th August, 9 to 5
• €225 including lunch and a copy of David Allens Getting Things Done book.

Any questions let me know and looking forward to seeing you on the day.

Keith

Serious Play with Lego helps to unleash your creative side - 12th August

Rory O'Connor is running this training course in Waterford using an accredited trainer coming in from Copenhagen.

I took part in a shorter version of one of these workshops at a Creativity conference in that city in 2008 and it is a really good approach/methodology.

Some details:

"LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY™ is a facilitated process which assists participants to develop powerful and compelling solutions to business problems. The methodology is based on extensive research and has been used by some of the worlds leading organisations and the process enables teams to address complex issues in a hands on, powerful and practical way.

Who Should Attend

The LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY™ methodology is suitable for facilitators, trainers, project managers, consultants, academics, researchers, educators, coaches or leaders.  The foundation program is particularly useful to those who wish to understand the theory underpinning the methodology and to learn how LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY™ facilitation can be applied to real life issues.

Participants should have experience in facilitation (or similar fields).

What are the details for the Program?

The program will take place on the 12th of August 2010, at Arc Labs Research and Innovation Center, Waterford Institute of Technology, WIT West Campus, Carriganore, Waterford. 

The day will commence at 08.30 and finish at 17.00 and a light lunch and refreshments will be provided.  More details and how to book can be found at www.roryoconnor.ie "

keith

Stuff, Balance and Stress - last Fridays GTD training session

I really enjoyed this session last Friday - a half day overview of Getting Things Done in which we covered both the theory (focusing on the 5 stages of workflow) and also had time for a short session where we worked through 4 of those stages.

Theses are some of the slides I used:

Gtd training waterford institute of technology

View more presentations from Keith Bohanna.

Key points for me from the session:

• Even with mastery of email (and there were 2 participants who were very much on top of it) GTD adds an essential layer of context with the incorporation of Projects and Areas of Responsibility in the regular reviews.
• That context helps us to avoid the Busy Fools syndrome
• There was a strong diversity of tools already in use with the group - I had anticipated a cluster of users around Outlook but happily that was not the case. Very much Windows mind you!
• One of the participants had adopted the practice of rigid organisation of her paper filing and both herself and one other replicated their filing categories and projects across into their digital organisation
• While online tools such as Gmail and calendaring were know about fewer were using services like Evernote for reference materials

I am looking forward to tweaking the content and flow of the session and then doing it again. If you are interested leave a comment.

keith

Dublin Milkman - like this a lot. Sunday Bliss

Back in the day there were milkmen - and still are. But not as many. Kieran Loftus emailed me about his new startup - which brings affordable luxury to those of you living in Dublin.

How could you not want fresh bread from the Bretzel Bakery, a newspaper (and milk) delivered on a Sunday morning. All it needs is a fresh espresso and this could be heaven.

 

For the moment it is fixed - Sunday, 1 litre, 1 loaf, 1 Sunday Times

Simplicity is good. And who knows where it will end up.

Check it out at http://www.dublinmilkman.ie/

keith

Hothouse 20 recruiting, closing 30th July

This programme is probably the best of the series around the country by virtue of being the longest running - f you have an idea which you have done some work on it is seriously worth considering.

keith

By Email:

We are delighted to announce that we have commenced recruitment for the 20th Hothouse Venture Programme which will start in September.  Closing date for receipt of applications is Friday 30th July. 

If you come across any entrepreneurs with tech-based start-up business that may be suitable participants I would be grateful if you could give them my contact details.  If you have any questions at all you can reach me on 01 2401 307. The website is http://www.hothouse.ie/
 
I look forward to hearing from you.
 
Kind regards
 
Sara
 
Sara Hogan
Programme Manager
 
http://www.hothouse.ie/

Seedcorn Competition - 3 new Equity Workshop dates

In an email from them:

           "HOW TO RAISE EQUITY WORKSHOPS"

Help your business take off! - 3 NEW DATES!

Start-up companies across the island are being offered the opportunity to learn more about how to cash in on a €280,000 prize fund in the InterTradeIreland All-island Seedcorn Business Competition 2010.

InterTradeIrelands equity advisers will talk about the benefits of entering the competition and how to prepare a business plan to attract potential investors during a series of free workshops.  In addition, a previous winner will talk about their own personal experience of the competition.

The schedule of workshops is:

Waterford   
22nd June 2010   
8.30am   
Ramada Hotel, Waterford

Birr   
22nd June 2010   
6.00pm   
Birr Technology Centre

Limerick
23rd June 2010   
2.00pm   
Enterprise Accerlation Centre, LIT

The session lasts around an hour and refreshments will be provided. To register your interest, email sarah.sneddon AT intertradeireland.com or tel 028 3083 4138 (048 from Ireland). 

keith

Marketing by monkeys - or how Havok, Demonware and Jolt games used Guerilla Marketing

Paul Hayes talks at the Dublin Web Summit about effective marketing & PR.

Guerilla Marketing on a ShoeString Budget - Paul Hayes - BeachHutPR.com - DWS - Video Presentation Produced by PathPacific.com from PathPacific.com on Vimeo.

keith

Bizcamp South-East tomorrow - great speaker lineup

I am looking forward to the day on the Carrignore campus tomorrow. Scene of Irelands 2nd ever barcamp way back this time round it is being used to host the first bizcamp in the South-East (or South for that matter as the Corkonians have not gotten around to one).

The organisers have gone for 30 minute slots and I will be interested to see how that pans out. The latest version of the speaker lineup is - http://www.bizcamp.ie/southeast/images/BizCamp%20SE%20Schedule.pdf 

I am doing a talk on dbTwang's experience of the iGAP program - which I need to write this afternoon. Unfortunately that puts me head to head with Edward Hendrick from Sonru who I would like to have seen.

Otherwise I will go to: 

Tom Dalton's "Starting a brewery: blood, sweat and tears" - Dungarvan Craft Brewery

Claudio Perrone's talk on storytelling in presentations - this one got an enormous amount of feedback after Bizcamp Dublin 3.

Crafting Outstanding Presentations - Storytelling Techniques

View more presentations from Claudio Perrone.

Bernie Goldback's Guide to Video Podcasting would be good as well and Michael Maddocks "How Halo Works will also be on the agenda for me.

Thats it - hope to see you on the day. Check out the bizcamp site and register - it's free.

 keith

Innovation Bootcamp - no website?

Received via email:

The Ryan Academy for Entrepreneurship in association with Invent DCU will run the ?Jumpstart? two-day innovation and entrepreneurship bootcamp in Dublin City University on the 18th and 19th of June. This is an intensive crash course which is designed to prepare participants to hit the ground running with the skills and resources needed to start a new venture or contribute innovative ideas to more established companies.

With practical workshops covering the key aspects for both innovative thinking and new business start-ups, the Entrepreneurial Bootcamp will provides participants with an intimate knowledge of the processes and challenges that any entrepreneur or innovator will face.

Delivered in a practical way, these executive modules are delivered by a group of peers with a strong entrepreneurial background, either working on a daily basis with entrepreneurs or with a serial entrepreneurial background of their own.

Special discounted rate of €210 for the entire programme or €125 per day.

To book places for either of these workshops, please contact Niamh at niamh.collins AT ryanacademy.dcu.ie
or by phone on (01) 700 6762

keith

Bizcamp Dublin - full speaker schedule and panel details

Thanks to Alan O'Rourke and Emily Tully in particular who are putting in the hours in advance of Saturdays bizcamp.

Here are the speaker details (600kb pdf): Download Bizcamp_10_schedule_web

And the details of our panel discussion.

“You’re never too young to start a business”

2pm - Guinness Storehouse

Moderator: Gavin O’Flaherty - Mason, Hayes + Curran

Helen Treacy, P.G.Dip. B.D., CEO & Founder of Cognitive Science Partners

Helen Treacy is the founder and CEO of Cognitive Science Partners.  CSP was formed in November 2009 to bring science to life. CSP have engaged with a leading psychology researcher and president of the European ABA Association to develop an evidence based, online teaching application for children and adults with autism. Since incorporation, CSP have secured first round investment and are currently working with their DA in EI HPSU to maximise funding opportunities.

C.S.P. currently employs 5 full-time and one part-time employee and are busy recruiting two more full-time developers to ensure our September 1st product launch.

Cognitive Science Partners’ mission is to launch three evidence based products successfully in the market in five years with an estimated turnover of 10 million by 2015.

John Matthew Holt, (29) CEO Waratek Ltd.

John Matthew Holt is the Co-Founder and CEO of Waratek Ltd, and principal inventor of Waratek's RAIS technology.  He founded Waratek in Sydney, Australia in

2002 to research a radical new design for high-performance computing 

 (HPC) systems, opening a Silicon Valley research and testing office in

2006.  Through 2002 to 2007 the company invented and prototyped a radical high-

 performance computing architecture called Redundant Array of 

Inexpensive Servers (RAIS), which it tested around the world with 

 leading IT vendors, analysts, and academics.  In 2008 Waratek closed a

Series A investment round with Mangrove Capital Partners of Luxembourg 

 and in December 2008 re-incorporated Waratek from Australia to Ireland 

to drive the world-wide commercialization of Waratek's RAIS technology.  Today Waratek Ltd operates with staff and associates in 

 Dublin, London and Sydney, and will be shipping its first RAIS 

computing systems to early-adopter customers in Q1 2011.

Rob Ryan (26), LadyUmbrella Ltd.

Rob is the co owner and director of LadyUmbrella ladies t-shirts (http://www.ladyumbrella.com) which launched in January 2010. He has been involved in every aspect of the business and is an advocate for social media as a marketing tool. Using social media Rob has been able to get the word out about LadyUmbrella and has resulted in LadyUmbrella being mentioned in national papers both here and abroad. Outside of his work with LadyUmbrella he blogs about social media and is also a member of an international podcasting group which discusses effective use of social media.

Stephen O’Leary (26), O’Leary Analytics

Stephen O’Leary is the 26 year old owner of O’Leary Analytics, an online media and social media monitoring and analysis company. Having gained a degree in Journalism and Media Communications from Griffith College Dublin, Stephen spent a year working with The Irish Examiner in Cork, before returning to Dublin to take up a role with Meltwater News, a Scandinavian Media company. He worked in London and Amsterdam, and returned to Dublin to join Green 17, as a sports agent. In November 2009 he set up O’Leary Analytics, an online media and social media monitoring and analysis company. Using a range of monitoring and analytical tools, they track and report on coverage from over 120,000 online news-producing sources, and over 220 million social media sources – including Blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, and Message Forums. 

John O’Dea, Manager of Enterprise Ireland’s Start-up Division

John O’Dea is manager in the Start-up Division of Enterprise Ireland, with responsibility for early stage projects in various industrial sectors.  Enterprise Ireland promotes entrepreneurship provides advisory and financial support to High Potential Start-Up (HPSU) businesses.  EI has supported and invested in a wide range of new businesses and we believe Ireland has huge further potential to generate significant numbers of new, world class, start-ups. As an engineer with an MBA, John has worked in a wide range of sectors, mainly in early stage companies.

Bootcamp for Entrepreneurs, or those with an itch

From DCU:

The Ryan Academy for Entrepreneurship in association with Invent DCU will run the ?Jumpstart? two-day innovation and entrepreneurship bootcamp in Dublin City University on the 18th and 19th of June. This is an intensive crash course which is designed to prepare participants to hit the ground running with the skills and resources needed to start a new venture or contribute
innovative ideas to more established companies.

With practical workshops covering the key aspects for both innovative thinking and new business start-ups, the Entrepreneurial Bootcamp will provides participants with an intimate knowledge of the processes and challenges that any entrepreneur or innovator will face.

Delivered in a practical way, these executive modules are delivered by a group of peers with a strong entrepreneurial background, either working on a daily basis with entrepreneurs or with a serial entrepreneurial background of their own.

Special discounted rate of €210 for the entire programme or €125 per day.

To book places for either of these workshops, please contact Niamh at niamh.collins AT ryanacademy.dcu.ie
or by phone on (01) 700 6762

keith

Do you have a business angel who is above and beyond?

The main business angel network in Ireland is run by HALO and they have launched Ireland's first business angel award.

The Irish Venture Capital Association http://www.ivca.ie have published figures for 2009 which show that angel investors invested in the region of €45m euro last year representing a significant source of financing for business. 

This competition is run to highlight the strategic value a business angel can add to an early stage business.  Often the expertise a business angel can offer is more valuable than the financial contribution made by a business angel.

 HBAN wish to promote best practice in Angel Investing and seek to professionalise the Irish Angel Capital Industry.  With this aim HBAN would like to honour Ireland's Angel Investor of the Year and need your help in identifying Ireland's Best Angels. 

More here: http://www.hban.org/index.php/business-angel-of-the-year/

Business Angels are a crucial part of the start up scene in Ireland (especially for technology startups) and they are individuals who take high risks with their cash.

So go ahead and nominate someone who deserves this reward.

keith

The Creative Island - Your Country Your Call

This is the summary posted by Alec Taylor, a client of mine, on Your Country, Your Call. There are many ideas submitted around this area and a number that deserve consideration. Will be really interesting to see which 20 out of the 9,000 odd submissions are shortlisted.

THE CREATIVE ISLAND

Ireland’s creative talent has achieved greater visibility in the world than most other countries.  In Literature, Music, and the Arts especially.  We have a reputation to be proud of.  Less so, in products and services.

Hidden Below the Surface
Most of our creative talent is never used.  It lies hidden below the surface.  This is true of individuals, companies, organisations, and communities.  Raising it is not that difficult if we are given an opportunity, given a nudge.

Releasing our Creative Potential
There is now, as never before, an urgent need to take greater advantage of Ireland’s creative potential, to create jobs with it, to speed up our economic recovery with it, to build confidence in communities with it, to export it in the form of products and services.  To become the world’s ‘Creative Island’.

Creativity Centres as Catalysts
There is a way to do it.  An initiative to be started, a strategy to be implemented.  Based on the fact that we are all multi-talented, and waiting for the chance to discover these talents, express them, and apply them. 

We need Creativity Centres throughout the island of Ireland.

Link to his submission here.

keith

Free Bizspark event in Dublin next Monday

I cannot make this event (my dbTwang bootstrapping still requires me to do consultancy work) but it looks worth attending. Late sharing this with apologies:

Microsoft BizSparkCamp
Where and When?
·         Monday, March 8th – 9am to 7pm (including PitchSlam & Networking)
·         Radisson SAS Royal Hotel, Golden Lane in Dublin’s city centre.
Registration Details
·         If you would like to register for this event click here.
·         If you do not have a live ID please email us to register for this event by clicking here.

Event Overview
As part of the local BizSpark programme, Microsoft Ireland and Enterprise Ireland are delighted to announce BizSparkCamp 2010 featuring Innovate! PitchSlam – an event designed to help accelerate Irish Startups’ businesses and provide the opportunity to be identified as one of the world’s most promising technology start-ups. This day-long conference will run on Monday, March 8th (doors open 9am) in the Radisson SAS Royal Hotel in Dublin’s city centre. Entrance is free of charge.

BizSparkCamp Sessions/Speakers:
The agenda is still being finalised, but here is a selection of confirmed speakers covering key topics:
·         Through the new BizSpark EUGA program, Microsoft Ireland are providing support for BizSpark companies interested in accessing local and EU grants, providing a facilitated application process to make applying for these funds easier.  Grants covered by EGUA include ICT infrastructure, training, R&D and recruitment. Nicky Martin from Affect Network will be covering how BizSpark can help you access these grants.
·         Mike Sigal from early stage analyst firm Guidewire Group, organisers of Innovate!, will be giving an overview of the Guidewire Group’s G/Score Assessment Methodology, an analytical tool to help you understand your competitive strength and market position.
·         Brian Caulfield will be joining us once again to give some key insights into the local VC landscape with tips on how to maximise your chances of securing VC funding.
·         Caroline Egan and Nigel Turner from The Open Borders Group have worked with many Irish companies helping them to enter the UK market and partner successfully with the Microsoft UK channel. They will speaking on how to expand your business internationally and the best ways to build partner strategies.
·         In addition, there will be speakers from Enterprise Ireland and other BizSpark Network Partners to provide more advice for getting access to capital and new markets (UK, US and further abroad). More details to follow.

keith

More changes afoot for the City and County Enterprise Boards?

Received this today from a friend of mine:

_____________

From: dan.kenny AT enterprise-ireland . com
Sent: 01 March 2010
To: ******************
Subject: eTenders - Notice Cancelled

A notice that you have registered an interest in has been cancelled. The
notice details are shown below.

  Notice ID: JUN120916
      Title: Grant Management Information System
  Authority: Enterprise Ireland

Reason:
The tender process for procurement of a Grant Management Information System for the County Enterprise Boards has been cancelled. We delayed the procurement process in September 2009 in the expectation that it would proceed this year. We apologise to prospective suppliers, but unfortunately we are unable to proceed pending a decision on the future of the County
Enterprise Boards network.

_____________

This may reflect nothing more than the ongoing general uncertainty around a lot of Government programs but it would be useful to have that clarified - with many unemployed people turning to CEB's at present for support in moving towards self-employment that overhanging threat could be counter productive.

Keith

F**k The Recession - YourCountryYourCall and Gateway Ireland

We kinda fudged the F**k The Recession when we launched bizcamp.ie last year - but it is what we meant :-)

Your Country, Your Call

Over at www.yourcountryyourcall.com they do not use those kinda phrases - not with the president and her husband Martin involved. They do have a prize fund of 200k though - and a hint of up to 500k available for implementation thereafter.

What are they about?

The goal is to pick two truly transformational proposals so big that, when implemented, could secure prosperity and jobs for Ireland. Proposals that could help change the way we do things, allow businesses to grow, employment to be created and prosperity to flourish.

Interesting stuff - 8 categories involved so you should be able to find one you fit into.

Website is kinda disappointing mind you - a strong branding exercise takes up half the screen throughout the site leading to small fonts and tiny video clips in the active half. Also in Firefox on Mac the last of the 8 categories is not visible. Update - there is a subtle scroll bar to the left of the box - have just noticed it. Appears to be an unfortunate example of what would appear to be a print designer running amock on the web.

It is also not clear exactly what a Proposal could be - avoiding being prescriptive could result in possible ideas not being put forward. Closing date is 17th February - any money on academics who are experienced at quickly putting project proposals together being dominant? I hope not.

I met with Padraig McKeon before Christmas (at his request) as he wanted to give me a heads up on this. The call and meeting was appreciated and glad to help spread the work - however the site needs to be reworked a little IMHO.

More information in their pdf which you can download by clicking here: YCYC Brochure.

Gateway Ireland

A second approach to this revitalisation of Ireland is the one suggested at Farmleigh by John McColgan - an online connection with the diaspora from what I can remember.

They are looking for a web specialist to drive all technological and technical aspects of taking the project from concept to a fully-specified feasibility report to be submitted at the end of May.

More in the pdf which you can download by clicking here: Technical Spec for WebmasterWeb Lead.

Update - contact details for Gateway Ireland

[email protected]

Tel:  +353 1 889 4900

Gateway Ireland Project
13 Merrion Square
Dublin 2

No website yet that I can see

keith

New CEB grant types from 1st January - much more flexible

This is the first information I have seen on the new City and County Enterprise board grants:

Priming Grant

Maximum -50% of investment below €160,000, or below €300,000 if projects clearly demonstrate potential to graduate to Enterprise Ireland and/or to export internationally.  Where part of the investment comprises employment, a maximum of €15,000 based on €40,000 salary per full time job created shall apply, or scaled back grants for lower paid positions, with €7,500 for jobs at minimum wage.

Business Expansion/Development Grant

Maximum – 50% of investment below €160,000 or below €300,000 if projects clearly demonstrate potential to graduate to Enterprise Ireland and/or to export internationally.  Where part of the investment comprises employment, a maximum of €15,000 based on €40,000 salary per full time job created shall apply, or scaled back grants for lower paid positions, with €7,500 for jobs at minimum wage.

Feasibility/Innovation Grant

Maximum-€20,000 or 60% of investment below €33,333.

These are a lot less restrictive than the old Capital and Employment grants and the feasibility grant is now 4 times the old maximum level.

It will be interesting to see how the flood of grant applications will be managed by the boards - these new ones will mean a lot more potentially eligible businesses out there.

Contact your local CEB for details - but be warned that there will be areas of uncertainty for them until a couple of months in when they see how their evaluation committees assess applications using these grant heads.

keith

Contrast - party, party, party

I may have to temporarily get over my dislike of being around talented young people if I get to the Contrast 1 year old party on Friday evening.

Either that or just stay grumpy and quote shitmydadsays for the evening :-)

"I'm having a Makers Mark, you want one? What? 7up? I ain't mixing fucking makers with 7up. Might as well put a lil' fucking umbrella in it"

"You're being fucking dramatic. You own a TV and an air mattress. That's not exactly what I'd call "a lot to lose."

keith