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Learning from your peers
Into the gap left by the State’s underwhelming provision of national training programs (see my last post) come individuals from the ICT (Information and Communication Technology) sector in Ireland. The only drawback is that the events organised by this group are usually more relevant to internet and technology start-ups – however they are a valuable resource for that group of IIA members.
Share IT
Spawned by Damien Mulley, the Cork based journalist and Irish Blog Awards founder, comes this free initiative to deliver day long training to those entrepreneurs in the early stages of ICT businesses. Last Saturday nearly 20 people turned up to hear presentations from and discussions with some Irish businesses on topics such as:
- Bootstrapping a small independent software vendor
- Effective communications
- How to use outsourcing to grow a small IT business.
- Marketing research for Tech Startups
- Search Engine Optimisation for your website
- Managing web projects.
- Sales in the IT environment.
The next one is scheduled for Dublin on April 28th – see www.businessadvisory.ie for more
Barcamps
These free conferences are based on the willingness of entrepreneurs to share their experiences and learning with each other. There have been 2 held in Ireland in the last 6 months – 30 Sept last in Cork and 20 Jan in Waterford. See here for the schedule for the next year.
The format? Nothing to do with bars! A couple of people take it on themselves to organise a venue and date. The conference is announced and as the attendees sign up some of them also offer to do talks. So in both Cork and Waterford there were 3 streams of talks happening all day long combined with some great panel discussions. Wouldn’t it be great to see the IIA supporting barcamps?
keith
Uncategorized
Internet training for small business
One of the many challenges facing any entrepreneur in a small to medium sized business is the requirement to keep up to speed with the internet. Structured training is one way of doing that – and in the ideal world that training would be presented in a variety of options.
Introductory talks
Aimed at businesses with limited knowledge, but a strong appetite for learning, these talks are shorter than evening training (1 to 1.5 hours long) and address basic aspects of the internet (how do I set up POP email. What is POP email? How do I find things on the internet)
Longer, one off sessions
These sit between the introductory talks and training that happens over a number of evenings. A typical session would cover the area of dealing with website developers – what should I expect in terms of cost, managing the process, preparing for the initial contact etc
Structured training
Taking place over a couple of evenings or days these courses are relatively in depth and could cover areas such as email newsletters, website design or being found by search engines.
Mentoring
This would allow a business to receive impartial advice on which internet tools are suitable for a business at this stage of its development, and for its current business objectives.
Networks
A network of experienced internet users (who are non-technical) would allow the experiences and knowledge of the group to be shared and evolve together.
In reality the complete structure above would be impossible to deliver in all locations – there is a critical mass needed for some training that will not be possible in smaller counties and towns. However most SME’s will find that almost no aspects of the training above are available in their areas – or that the courses available are offered in a general context and are not tailored for the needs of small business.
The three obvious mechanisms for delivering this training are City and County Enterprise Boards (CEB’s), Leader Groups and Skillsnet. The CEB’s are the only ones with universal coverage so the following applies to them.
- Is there a system of structured internet related training nationally? No
- Is there uniform delivery of at least elements of the above requirements across all CEB’s? No
- Is there national guidance and support available from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment for any CEB that wants or needs guidance in this area? No
In fairness all of the above applies across the board – the CEB’s are deliberately set up as independent entities and allowed to develop training for local requirements. However the complexities of internet training mean that a national program should be in place and that is not the case.
Small businesses around the county will find it almost impossible to find relevant training in the absence of such a national program. Some great training is provided in some areas – however is the exception rather than the rule.
keith
[disclaimer – I deliver elements of this training on a local basis in a number of CEB’s so my commentary is at least partially informed. The introduction of a national program could mean the loss of business for me in the face of competition from larger providers more capable of meeting national guidelines]
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Mobile Payments Explored: Is my product suited and how do m-Payments work?
Sponsored by
Panel Members
Donal McGuinness, Alphyra mPayments Eamon Hession, PucaSinead Morrissey, Vodafone
Session Details
This session will address the following five key topics:
- Is my product/service suited to mobile payment?
- What are the pitfalls?
- How does it work and how do my customers pay?
- Do people need to register?
- Explore multi channel mobile payments (IVR, SMS, Java handset Apps).
Room Number
Suite 8 "Oscar Wilde" – Business Centre
Panel Biographies
Donal McGuinness,Alphyra mPayments– Managing Director Donal Mc Guinness is Managing Director of Alphyra mPayments. In 1999 Donal co-founded Itsmobile Ltd. which pioneered mobile payments in Ireland over the last 7 years. Itsmobile was acquired by Alphyra Group in 2004. Alphyra mPayments provide a range of multichannel payment services (Web, SMS & IVR) to clients in Europe, USA and Australia.Back to top
Eamon Hession,Puca – Founder and Chief Executive Eamon Hession is the founder and chief executive ofPuca. Puca provides mobile marketing, business and payment solutions to a variety of leading brands in the marketing, media and content sectors. He founded the company six years ago and it now employs 35 people in Ireland, the UK and China. He is also chairman of the Mobile Messaging Forum which promotes industry standards and best practice. Back to top
Sinead Morrissey,Vodafone – Product Marketing Manager Sinead Morrissey is the product marketing manager for Premium SMS and third party enabling services at Vodafone. Premium rate SMS has more than doubled since she took over role in 2002 and is held up as best practice within the Vodafone Group. Back to top
Return to the IIA Congress Breakout Sessions page Return to the IIA Congress 2007 homepage
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Can you make money out of Blogs and Podcasts
Sponsored by
Panel Members
Michele Neylon, Blacknight Solutions
David B. Johnson, Google
Richard Delevan, Sunday Tribune
Richard Hearne, Red Cardinal
Room Number
Suite 2 “James Joyce” – Business Centre
Session Details
This session will address the following key topics:
- What is Blogging and Podcasting?
- How to monetise a Blog and successful examples in Ireland
- Can Podcasting be used as a marketing channel?
- Are there restrictions on Podcast content?
- 10 tips for making your Blog into a money machine
Panel Biographies
Michele Neylon, Blacknight Solutions – Managing Director and Founder
Michele heads up the Irish hosting and domain registration company, Blacknight Solutions. He has been involved in the Internet industry since the mid 90’s, when he tinkered with computers whilst getting an honours degree in European Studies with languages in the University of Limerick. Michele was shortlisted for an IIA Netvisionary Award in 2005 and 2006 and was nominated for the Irish Blog Awards both in 2007 and 2006.
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David B. Johnson, Google – AdSense International Manager
David Johnson is a graduate of Trinity College, where he studied History and Theology, and has worked for the last 8 years in a number of Sales and Operations Manager roles in the Telecoms and IT industries for groups including Conduit Europe, BT Ireland (formerly Ocean Communications), Comcast Cable Communications (the largest Cable Television operator in the US) and, since 2004, Google Ireland, where he manages the AdSense online advertising product for Europe. He has also served on the management committee of Sustainable Ireland, helping to organize the Convergence Festival, Ireland’s premier ecological festival.
Richard Delevan, Sunday Tribune – Business Editor
Richard Delevan is business editor of the Sunday Tribune. Prior to that he was a columnist for the newspaper and had previously written for various publications including the Evening Herald, the Sunday Business Post, the Irish Independent and the Irish Times. He is also a keen blogger. He is a native New Yorker who arrived in Ireland to work in tech PR just in time for the dotcom crash.
Richard Hearne works with website owners helping them to connect directly with the people who are actively searching for their online services, products and information and, crucially, helps them convert visitors into customers.
Richard is an avid blogger and through his blog provides a resource and a channel for transferring knowledge on all things related to Internet Marketing and search engine optimisation (SEO).
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Security: Does the world have your credit card number?
Sponsored by Microsoft
Panel Members
Dave Northey, Microsoft Ireland
Conor McGoveran, Realex Payments
Eamon Martin, permanent tsb
Paul Hogan, Ward Solutions
Room Number
Suite 5 “Samuel Becket” – Business Centre
Session Details
This session will address the following key topics:
- Virus and Malware Prevention: Viruses, spyware, worms, botnets, rootkits, phishing and fraud – what does it all mean?
- Business Practices: We take a look at compliance, security policies reporting and accountability
- Implementing Defense in Depth: We examine identity management, access control and unmanaged PCs
- Security Management: Let’s look at security updates, system identification and configuration as well as security policy enforcement
Room Number
Suite 5 “Samuel Beckett” – Hotel Business Centre
Panel Biographies
Dave Northey, Microsoft Ireland – Principal Systems Engineer
Dave joined Microsoft Ireland eleven years ago and has worked in both Consultancy and technical Pre-Sales. He currently works within the Developer and Platform Group, where he focuses on the underlying infrastructure (Windows Server & Client, Active Directory, Management & Security Products). He became one of the first one hundred Microsoft Certified Systems Engineers in the world whilst working for AT&T in the UK as a country support specialist within their networking team. Dave has a wealth of knowledge and experience to offer, as has been working in the IT industry for over a quarter of a century.
Conor McGoveran, Realex Payments – Security & Infrastructure Manager
Conor is Security and Infrastructure Manager with Realex Payments, Ireland’s leading Payment Service Provider (PSP). Realex Payments provides card authentication and authorisation services to merchants such as Aer Lingus, Motor Tax Online, Party Poker and CD Wow. Conor is responsible for Information Security across the Enterprise and Infrastructure Technology design and development and has been with Realex Payments since October 2002.
Prior to joining Realex Payments, Conor worked for a number of blue chip Internet service providers, including AOL, Eircom and Wolrdport Communications. Conor has an Honours degree in Mathematics from NUI Maynooth, and is CISSP certified.
Eamon Martin, permanent tsb – Online Content and Development Specialist
Eamon’s role within permanent tsb has developed from managing Internet content to managing all aspects of the company’s online developement. Hights of his time in this role include the 2005 Golden Spider for Best Financial Website, increasing the Open24 Internet Banking transaction numbers to over 1 million per month and formalising the company response to ongoing online security threats. Eamon has been with permanent tsb for 8 years, unlike his mortgage which has been with them for 10!
Paul Hogan, Ward Solutions – Director
Paul is a well recognised security technologist, with over 20 years experience in the development and deployment of information security technologies. Paul specifically focuses on identity management, web access management and authentication technologies, as well as single sign-on, provisioning, public key infrastructure, cryptography, directories, security architecture and operating system security.
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Web Analytics: Measuring the success (or failure) of your website
Sponsored by
Panel Members
Brian Donohue, iQ Content
Maeve Kneafsey, Elucidate
Tara O’Neill, Vodafone
Session Details
This session will address the following five key topics:
- How do you know if you’re getting value for money from your web analytics application?
- How do we figure out if we are watching the numbers that matter most?
- What are the top 2 or 3 metrics/reports that could make a difference for your organisation?
- Who should own analytics within an organisation and how much time should it take?
- How do you get people to pay more attention to web analytics in your organisation?
Room Number
Suite 7 “Jonathon Swift” – Business Centre
Panel Biographies
Brian Donohue, iQ Content – Senior Analyst
Brian is a Senior Analyst and usability expert with six years’ experience working with web technologies. Brian heads up iQ Content’s web analytics services.
In 2005, Brian designed and delivered Ireland’s first dedicated web analytics training course, as part of iQ Content’s Boot Camp training event. As Ireland’s leading Google Analytics expert, Brian has helped numerous organisations use web analytics to effectively measure online activity, improve website performance and increase conversions.
Based largely on Brian and his team’s expertise, iQ Content has recently been selected to become Ireland’s first certified Google Analytics partner.
Maeve Kneafsey, Elucidate – Managing Director
Maeve Kneafsey is widely regarded as Ireland’s leading expert in online business, web usage and strategy. She has worked with large corporations and government agencies on maximising the web to promote their services or products.
A Trinity college graduate, Maeve has, for the last 20 years worked with some of the world’s largest international communications companies in the US, UK and Ireland. Maeve has also worked with the majority of leading Irish media companies as CEO, Marketing Director and Commercial Director. She established Elucidate in 2003.
Clients that Maeve has worked with include permanent tsb, First Active, eircom, ESB, Ireland.com and Tesco. Government agencies including An Post, Department of the Taoiseach (eCabinet), Department of Finance (etenders), the Civil Service and Local Appointments Commissioners, COGG and Safefood and the Arts Council. She is a regular guest contributor on online issues at both conferences and in the media.
Tara O’Neill, Vodafone – Web Analyst
Tara is a web analyst for Vodafone Ireland. As part of her role she manages web analytics for www.vodafone.ie. With a Masters in Software Design and Development she has four years experience working with web technologies.
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How to eCommerce-enable your website
Sponsored by
Room Number
Suite 3 “Patrick Kavanagh” – Business Centre
Panel Members
John Mitchell, Strata3
Gareth Dunlop, Tibus
Dermot McNally, Directski.com
Session Details
This session will address the following five key topics:
- Is eCommerce the right move? – product suitability and potential demand
- The Purchase Cycle – easy steps to the transaction
- Integration & Fulfilment – stock control, CRM (Customer Relationship Management) and ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning)
- Security – Managing credit card and customer information
- Upsell & Marketing – promotion, storing and using CRM information
Panel Biographies
John Mitchell, Strata3 – Sales Director
John Mitchell heads up the business development & consultancy services for Strata3. Prior to this John worked as a Financial Analyst in the Telecoms & Emerging Technologies Division of Chase Manhattan (Global Bank) in New York from 1996 to 1999. John subsequently returned to Ireland to co-found hiTouch.com; a technology firm specialising in software development for Telecoms and Banks, where he worked as Commercial Director with domestic clients such as BOI, AIB, Eircom and Vodafone. In 2000 John joined Orbiscom Business Payments Group, to head up the business development and consultancy duties of this Irish-based global e-payments provider. Based primarily in the U.S., John combined his knowledge of financial services and IT to consult, and successfully sell to leading International entities such as MasterCard, Citibank, and Wells Fargo. Since joining in 2002, John has managed the sales team as well as the key client relationships for the company.
B.A. (Hons) Economics, University College Dublin
M.Econ.Sc, UCD / European Institute, Italy
Gareth Dunlop, Tibus – Managing Director
Gareth Dunlop is the Managing Director of Tibus, an all island internet agency, with offices in Belfast and Dublin. Tibus specialises in web development (and related disciplines) and network services (primarily hosting and broadband) for businesses, throughout Ireland and the UK. Tibus’ internet software specialisms include systems integration, content management and usable interface design. On the networks side, the focus is on providing business-grade broadband and hosting, along with personalised support services, for businesses of all sizes.
Gareth writes and lectures extensively on internet related matters, authors a regular monthly column for Business Eye magazine in Northern Ireland, and has previously occupied a regular column for Business Plus magazine in the Republic of Ireland.
Prior to joining Tibus in 1997, Gareth worked as a programmer in AIB Bank, Dublin, where he was part of the software team which launched Ireland’s first online personal banking project, 24hour-online.ie. Gareth has a BSc in Computer Science from Queen’s University, Belfast.
Dermot McNally, Directski.com – CTO and Co-Founder
Dermot McNally became involved in the Internet industry by sheer accident in 1995 and never looked back. He has had a varied career, from small ISP to large multinational. He spent some years in Munich, during which time he became an avid skier. In 2000 he returned to Dublin to co-found Directski.com.
Directski.com is an Internet-based winter-sports Tour Operator selling full package ski holidays, mostly on the British and Irish markets. In
2006/2007 the company sent 30,000 skiers on holiday, and Internet technology has been the key to this rapid growth. Directski.com is a brand of Traveldev Ltd. which now employs 65 people in its offices in Dublin and Belfast and over 70 staff in its ski resorts.
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Online Payment Methods
Sponsored by
Panel Members
Dermot Nolan, Bank of Ireland
Gary Conroy, Realex Payments
Alex Boothroyd, PayPal
Niki Akhurst, 3V Transaction Services
Session Details
This session will address the following key topics:
- How to start getting paid online
- Online Payment Methods’ susceptibility to Fraud
- SEPA (Single Euro Payment Area) – what does it mean for online payment methods
Room Number
Suite 1 “WB Yeats” – Business Centre
Panel Biographiess
Dermot Nolan, Bank of Ireland – Head of Payments Strategy, Planning and Change
Dermot Nolan is a career banker with Bank of Ireland Group, joining in 1992. He has worked in a variety of roles including branch banking, credit, marketing and operations. Prior to his present position, he was Head of Business Marketing and was responsible for marketing to SMEs including the development of a new proposition specifically for Irish start-ups. Dermot joined the Group Payments division in late 2006 and is responsible for strategy, planning and change across all payment products and services.
Dermot has a Marketing Degree from Trinity College Dublin and an MBA from University College Dublin. He is member of the Institute of Bankers in Ireland and the Marketing Institute of Ireland. He is also a Director of the Irish Internet Association and the Irish Payment Services Organisation.
Gary Conroy, Realex Payments – Operations Director
Gary Conroy runs Operations for Realex Payments. Realex Payments is Ireland’s leading Payment Service Provider (PSP), providing card authentication and authorisation services to merchants such as Aer Lingus, Motor Tax Online, Party Poker and CD Wow. Gary has responsibility for managing Customer Service and Support, Account Management, Quality Assurance, Change Management and Network Operations.
Gary comes from a International Financial Services background, having worked in the industry for 10 years. Gary has managed Commodity Operations with London-based investment banking giants Goldman Sachs International, and has delivered Banking Software Implementation projects around the globe for MISYS / Kindle Banking Systems.
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Alex Boothroyd, Pay Pal – Senior Director of European Operations
Alex Boothroyd is Senior Director of European Operations with online payments provider, PayPal. Founded in California in 1998, PayPal processes payments for online retailers, auction sites and corporate users. The company was acquired by eBay in 2002, and opened its European headquarters in Blanchardstown in July 2003. eBay employs 1,200 staff in Dublin where it also runs PayPal operations. In 2006, PayPal processed global payments totaling $37 billion and has over 130 million accounts in 103 countries.
Alex joined PayPal in May 2004 as Director of European Services (Customer Services), and in June 2005 took over the management of EU Operations. Prior to joining PayPal, Alex spent 10 years with the European arm of America Online, a joint venture between AOL and German media group Bertelsmann. At AOL, Alex held a number of positions including Director of European Billing, and Director of Customer Operations for the UK AOL business based in London. Latterly, Alex spent two years at Bertelsmann with arvato financial services as Director of Operations, based in Dublin.
Alex holds Bachelor of Science degree in International Business and Information Technology.
Niki Akhurst, 3V Transaction Services – European Commercial Director
Niki joined 3V in October 2005, after working as a consultant in the prepaid and mobile payments space with Alphyra and various start up ventures, to develop and implement the commercial and marketing programmes in order to rollout 3V across Europe.
She has extensive commercial management, strategic business development and marketing experience gained in both international and domestic markets with particular emphasis on developing new market opportunities, products and revenue streams both for global organisations and startup companies.
Prior to her involvement in the European e-money space, Niki has worked across e-commerce, financial services, FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) and online gambling industries including the launch of the UK National Lottery with Camelot, various European lottery projects with Gtech Ltd, the UK government on the Millennium Date Change programme and with various blue-chip clients including British Airways, Diageo and P&G whilst at Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising in London.
Uncategorized
Chasing the tail: A night of Blogging
A 100 industry people attended the IIA and Fleishman-Hillard event – “Blogging: New Media, Business and the Law” – which took place on March 21st in the Shelbourne Hotel.
Read ENN’s report on the event.
To access the event podcast click here.
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Monetising your Email Marketing
Sponsored by
Panel Members
Sarah Carroll, Eventznet
denise cox, Newsweaver
Niall McKeown, Ion Technologies
Julian Lynch, Interactive Return
Session Details
This session will cover the following five key topics:
- Monetising E-Marketing – Direct Marketing or Brand Building?
- Response Rates – Rating your metrics against others
- Best Practice in Email Marketing – Tips from the professionals
- Top 3 challenges facing those doing email marketing
- The good, the bad and the ugly! – Industry classics
Room Number
Suite 6 “JM Synge” – Business Centre
Panel Biographiess
Sarah Carroll Eventznet – Managing Director
Sarah Carroll is managing director of Eventznet.ie Ireland’s leading software as a service provider for the events and hospitality industry. She loves the internet, is an email junkie and what really floats her boat is conceiving, realising and bringing to market new software products and services. Her career spans 3 decades working with businesses small and large in a variety of disciplines. Sarah is also technical director at donationpoint.ie, founder of NEO Ireland and a member of the Marketing Institute of Ireland.
denise cox Newsweaver – Email Newsletter Specialist
denise cox is Newsweaver’s Email Newsletter Specialist and has extensive knowledge in email from best practice, marketing know-how to content. In 2002, the Irish Internet Association named her a Net Visionary. Involved in email marketing since 1996, denise provides practical consultancy to Newsweaver’s clients, enabling them to maximise their investment in email.
She also publishes The Business of Email – one of Europe’s leading email newsletters specialising in email marketing, and a blog, email matters!. denise is also a regular speaker at conferences/seminars, as well as a contributor to publications, both in the UK and Ireland, on the subject of email marketing.
Niall McKeown Ion Technologies – Founder and CEO
Niall McKeown is the founder and CEO of ION Technologies. Started in 1999 the company has grown organically to become one of the leading providers of email marketing solutions world wide. With customers including Goldman Sachs, the European Bank, Adecco, Jet2.com and the Dublin Tourist Office, the Company has won many export and innovation awards.
At the outset ION started it’s early days creating high capacity mail servers before morphing into a full services email marketing software provider. With over 400 Enterprise and Agency customers world wide, ION are regularly cited as Irelands leading innovator in the email marketing space.
Before starting ION, Niall worked for Apple Inc. Niall is a dedicated long distance runner and devout technology advocate.
Julian Lynch Interactive Return – Account Director
Julian Lynch is an expert in the areas of email marketing and has been involved in email marketing since its inception. Having spent three years with NewWorldIQ specialising in their e-CRM platform, he has travelled internationally lecturing on and hosting email workshops and tutorials. Julian has been the Email Marketing Manager in Interactive Return for 4 years and is responsible for the conception, design, development and deployment of client’s email campaigns. He holds a B.Sc (Management) from Trinity, an Advanced Diploma in Marketing from DIT and a graduate diploma in IT from DCU.