300 events professionals discuss the Event of the Future at Croke Park

300 events professionals discuss the Event of the Future at Croke Park

Events in the future will be immersive, engaging and technologically driven. Yet face to face is going nowhere and the more sophisticated our tech, the more we’ll crave the tactical reassurance of real people, real places, real time.

These were the key messages about the Event of the Future heard by over 300 corporate, association and agency events professionals gathered at Croke Park on Thursday 20 July to explore the power of live events and how they’re evolving in the future.

Held two days before U2’s triumphant homecoming concert, attendees also enjoyed a privileged “behind-the- scenes” look at the band’s technical set and sampled the events team’s newly launched “Stadium Street Party”, an innovative take on the more traditional summer barbecue.

Debuted in New York City in February and conceptualised by Sli.do, a cloud-based platform that facilitates audience engagement during live events, The Event of the Future (EOTF) introduces meetings and events professionals from associations, corporations and agencies to insights, ideas and inspirations from best-in- class global practice in meetings and events. The Croke Park Meetings & Events team along with agency-partner SoolNua expanded the original concept into a half day conference.

Speakers included Kevin Jackson, “the most influential person in the UK events industry”, PJ Kenny, General Manager at The Hoxton and Paula Reynolds, Project Manager – Jameson Brand Homes | Irish Distillers Pernod Ricard. The event was moderated by Pádraic Gilligan Managing Partner at specialist agency SoolNua while David Meade, one of Europe’s most sought after keynote speakers closed the conference with a high-octane, energetic presentation.

Sinéad Heneghan, Head of Sales at Croke Park Meetings & Events commented “The reaction to “The Event of the Future” from attendees has been phenomenal. With attendees from the diverse corporate, association and agency sectors, our challenge was to create an event relevant to all. From the overwhelmingly positive feedback we received I think it’s safe to say we achieved our objective”.

Patrick Delaney, Managing Partner at SoolNua commented “We’re so proud to have played our part in creating this extraordinary event. The reaction has been truly encouraging and we’re already being asked about #EOTF18. The entire Croke Park Meetings & Events team – Sales, Catering and AV – deserve huge praise. We’re also grateful for the support of registration partner Tito, audience engagement platform Sli.do and, of course, our great friends at SEA who provided entertainment for the Stadium Street Party”.

 

#SoolNua #CrokePark #MICEnews #MICEchannel

Millennials in the Meetings Industry launch new network

Millennials in the Meetings Industry launch new network

A new network aimed at young professionals in the Business Events industry has been launched. Called Meetings + Millennials, the network aims to be the place where young professionals from the meeting, incentive travel, conference, event and exhibition sectors can gather to learn, connect and advocate. The network will operate as an on-line community (see http://www.meetingsandmillennials.com) with informal face to face meet-ups at all major MICE events.

“Meetings + Millennials started when three of us attended the ICCA Forum for Young Professionals in Barcelona in 2015. The forum was excellent. It brought us all together but, once it was over, there was no formal setting to meet again and develop the connections. Meetings + Millennials provides us with that important place and – importantly – it helps us dispel the cliché that we’re an ‘entitled generation’ said Gráinne Ní Ghiollagáin, Business Development Manager at Croke Park Meetings and Events, and co-founder of Meetings + Millennials.

“Thanks to Martin Sirk, executive Director at ICCA, we were asked to co-ordinate a session at the ICCA World Congress on millennials in the workplace. Coming together to create the presentation for ICCA was a wonderful experience and made us realise how the voice of our generation is not yet heard in our industry the way it would be in the start-up sector or Tech, for example. By creating this network, we believe we can change that” added Anne Berrevoets, Events Coordinator, European Association for International Education and co-founder of Meetings + Millennials.

“We’ve created an on-line hub to learn from each other, share our experiences but also to advocate for our sector and to highlight the unique perspective we bring to the work that we do in meetings, incentives, conferences and events. Since we presented at ICCA we have been asked to conduct sessions at conferences in Paris and Frankfurt. These platforms allow us to educate corporations, agencies and associations on how to get the best from their millennial team members” said Aoife McCrum, Social Media & Digital Marketing Manager at SoolNua, and co-founder of Meetings + Millennials.

 

#YoungProfessionals #ICCA #MICEnews #MICEchannel

SoolNua releases 2015 city and country rankings

SoolNua releases 2015 city and country rankings for SoolNua World ICECREAM Index

Monday, 14 September – Today SoolNua released the 2015 city and country rankings in the inaugural SoolNua World ICECREAM Index. Top of the list was Slovenia, followed by England with Iceland in third place. The initiative was launched in May 2015 at IMEX Frankurt and nominations for locations all over the world serving the best ice cream were accepted by SoolNua until 17 July. From then until 1 September (00.00 GMT) voting lines were open and nominees engaged proactively with their communities and fans seeking votes on the dedicated website. Voting closed on 1 September and then the international judging panel evaluated the entries with specific focus on the campaigns they conducted.

“ICECREAM is a universal treat yet each destination around the world has its own unique recipes and flavours. The SoolNua World ICECREAM Index is really telling two stories – one story is about great ICECREAM and where you can find it, the other is about pride of place and community engagement and how destinations can build profile and presence in unique and unusual ways” said Patrick Delaney, joint managing Partner at SoolNua.

“We were overwhelmed by the reaction to the initiative with nominations coming from all over the world. The last two weeks of voting were like an exciting end-to-end football match with constant changes on the leaderboard as nominees tried new ways to increase votes. The overall winner, Slovenia, impressed the judges with their impressive tally of votes (almost 10,000) but also with the systematic ways they worked together around vote management, creative initiatives to increase votes and sheer, unbridled commitment to winning!” added Pádraic Gilligan, joint Managing Partner at SoolNua.

Full rankings for individual stores, cities and countries are available here. The 2016 SoolNua World ICECREAM Index will launch again at IMEX Frankfurt in April 2016. Further details at www.soolnua.com

Contact:
Aoife McCrum
Manager, Social Media & Digital Marketing
aoife@soolnua.com

Slovenian Convention Bureau appoints SoolNua

Slovenian Convention Bureau appoints SoolNua
to advise on Strategy and Marketing for MICE

The Slovenian Convention Bureau has retained Ireland-based Meetings & Events consultancy SoolNua to advise them over the next 12 months on strategy and marketing for the lucrative meetings, incentives, conferences and events (MICE) sector.

Announcing the appointment, Miha Kovačič, Director of the Slovenian Convention Bureau, said “After a decade of promoting and positioning Slovenia as a MICE destination it is time to go into a higher gear. We want SoolNua to take us to the next level. SoolNua owners Patrick Delaney and Pádraic Gilligan have immense industry experience and can help us drive forward with an compelling, engaging story of Slovenia as a MICE destination”.

SoolNua Managing Partner, Patrick Delaney said “We started as a DMC in Ireland and, from the outset, realized our first challenge was to build destination awareness. Slovenia has made great strides as a MICE destination but remains a shy, hidden gem. It needs to amplify its voice and tell its wonderful story with confidence and conviction. We are truly privileged to play a part in bringing this about”.

Gilligan added “During our recent trips to Slovenia we’ve been impressed by the quality of the MICE product. Slovenia may be small country but it offers extraordinary variety from city to countryside and mountain to maritime. Most of all there’s a palpable energy about the place, an easy friendliness in its people, a sense of welcome, a can-do attitude. As MICE buyers look increasingly for experiential authenticity, Slovenia is destined to emerge strongly”.

About the Slovenian Convention Bureau
The Slovenian Convention Bureau was established by the industry in 2004 to develop, position and promote the Slovenian meetings industry in the international market place and to represent the voice of the industry to the National Government. The Slovenian Convention Bureau is also the organiser of of Conventa, a trade show and exhibition that showcases the “New Europe” to international meetings and events planners.

About SoolNua
Established in early 2014 by Patrick Delaney and Pádraic Gilligan, SoolNua works with destinations, hotels and venues on MICE related matters including strategy, marketing and training. Delaney and Gilligan are former directors of MCI and the founders of Ovation Global DMC.