In the seanchaí tradition, tales were
 never written down. They were passed on by word of mouth by a seanchaí
 through storytelling conventions peculiar to the Irish folk tradition, 
fusing all the imaginative skills and lyrical power to keep the
 audience engaged.

For the seanchaí, storytelling was a business. He 
used his skills to earn his living. A glimmer of those old seanchaí
ways is re-emerging in the new networking phenomenon, Ignite the West – a new series of talks to showcase the region’s resources of
imagination and entrepreneurship which kicks off at 8pm on Friday 7
May at the The Mill Times Hotel in Westport.

Ignite the West promoters Steve Daley and Dermot McCabe are bringing 
the sensational Ignite formula – that has spread like wildfire across 
over 200 cities across the world – to the West of Ireland. Ignite The
 West is a cabaret event that harnesses our collective imagination to
 champion new business opportunities, inspiring lessons learned,
 ambitious social projects and some hilarious gibberish to make
 everyone laugh at breakneck speed. Ignite aims to become the social 
event in the West’s calendar for those who want to share new ideas 
over a beer; encapsulated in the Ignite motto: “Enlighten us, but make 
it quick.”

Speakers have 5 minutes to get their idea across – with twenty slides 
which revolve every 15 seconds on the screen. There’s no time for
 waffle. You get up there and tell your tale.

The range of speakers at the first Ignite The West gig is guaranteed 
to fire your imagination.

Here’s just a few of our intrepid speakers
lined up for the opening night:

Ex-drummer with the Saw Doctors, Johnny Donnelly, will be rattling off
 his personal story of Galway’s Volvo Ocean Yacht stopover in 2009. As 
founder and managing director of event productions company Arcana, 
Johnny was responsible for the hugely successful celebrations that
 showcased Galway as an entertainment mecca second to none in the
world.
All the way from Dublin, the man steering the national ideas 
competition Your Country Your Call – PR man Padraig McKeown of Drury
 Communications – will be explaining what makes a PR man tick; as will
 the inimitable brand guru Mark Conguista, Head of Interactive at Irish 
International BBDO and Proximity in Dublin. Web technologist Alastair 
McDermott – a native of Newport – will be enlightening us on his own
 journey from programming geek to internet entrepeneur.

Mayo woman Clare Carroll will be sharing her vision for oddjobgiant, a
new website that helps you find local tradesmen for odd-jobs at home
and in the office. Furniture designers Alan Flannery and Colin Gannon
- who don’t take either the world or themselves too seriously – will
 showcase ideas behind their new start-up Groove Furniture. Then Travis 
Zeray, founder of ClewBayOutdoors.ie, will whizz through his vision 
for outdoor tourism in Mayo.

Achill artist and surfer, Shane Cannon, will enlighten us on the zen
of creativity. Before local optician Clodagh McGovern makes a
spectacle of herself. Other Mayo speakers will include Fintan Conlan
(One Man and His Van), smart energy pioneer Colm Rochford of 
Powersavvy, and Fiona Hoban who wants to take a weight off your mind! 

Justin Knecht, a self-described design evangelist and entrepreneur,
born in the US but brewed in Ireland since 2006, is based at the 
Centre for Design Innovation in Sligo and will be revealing how good
 design can help you find the perfect pint.

Other confirmed speakers
from the North West include creativity trainer, Heather James; serial
 entrepeneur and social media trainer, Johnny Beirne of 
downloadmusic.ie; and telecoms & broadband evangelist, David Mullins.

Ignite the West is for anyone who wants to laugh, talk and be
 inspired. Whether you want to start your own business, find local
partners for a new opportunity or have a wild and wonderful passion
 that you want to share, – or simply fancy a fun Friday night out; 
these talks are designed for you. Come along and enjoy the buzz!

Admission is a nominal €5 – and the enlightenment is free!

An Explosion Of Ideas Promises To Enlighten The West Of Ireland

As an organising committee – we hoped we had left nothing to chance in the run up; our greatest concern was whether anyone would turn up? We had nearly 130 confirmed registrations and had assumed a natural attrubution rate of up to 30%.

In the end, we had over 120 people attending throughout the day – and to all of you – a huge Thanks – you are the ones that made it a success.

So – What Next?

We’ve taken some time this week to pore over the comment forms – here are some of the overriding themes that are emerging :

• There is lots of positive energy, ideas, inspiration and confidence to be gained from informally mixing with other folk and talking about business and entrepeneurship
• There are clever people and clever businesses in the Northwest – it would be great to interact with them more.
• You don’t have to be alone – lots of 1 and 2 person companies out there.
• Lots of help from people who have been there.

With regard to what people learned on the day, points raised included :

• The amount of support and help that is available if you look for it and take advantage of it.
• The importance of the elevator pitch to your potential customers and indeed anyone that you come in contact with – “what do you do?”
• Others have have faced these same problems – find out what they did?

Some of the best comments came around the question of what did attendees wish there was more of :

• More networking and conversation time other attendees and afternoon speed networking session, for those who missed the morning.
• More 5 by 5 sessions, as well as more breakout sessions after speaker presentation (there was a particularly good, accidental breakout session after Fergus Callagly’s Permission Markering talk – this was just before the afternoon coffee break, so did not interfere with other slots).
• More focussed sessions for different types of businesses – and other speakers from the wider business commmunity.

Finally – onto your thoughts on what you would like to see more of in the future, and other tips and reccomendations :

• Top of the list was definitely for this event to happen again; it looks like NWC10 – due to popular demand – will be a runner.
• More focus on core business topics such as finance, business planning.
• More flexible slots for speakers – barcamp style; on the day, put your name down for a talk – a longer version of the 5 by 5 if you will.

The organising committee (part of Open Coffee Sligo) are currently evaluating all of the comment and feedback, talking with panelists and sponsors – and establishing a plan and format for NWC10.

We would be delighted if you could get in contact with us, if you haven’t done so already – and share more thoughts with us!!

The one-day conference aims to connect local creativity, innovation and regional networks and will showcase the expertise in the region through panel discussions and seminars.

Seamus Farrell, MD of SF Engineering, and Sligo Chamber of Commerce Business Person of the Year, is today confirmed as another speaker for the event. Farrell adds to an impressive and dynamic range of speakers that have been confirmed so far including Drury Communications MD, Padraig McKeon; Robert Martin, CEO of local award-winning e-marketing solutions company Infacta; Innovation and Social Media Consultant, Johnny Beirne; Surf Seeds MD, Tim Rooney; and Justin Knecht of the Centre of Design Innovation.

Northwest Connects acts at a grassroots level to promote innovation, learning and networking for the region. Entrepreneurs, innovators and people with business ideas are registered to attend the event this Saturday in Sligo.

The conference has a strong education and innovation theme, with many networking opportunities set up, three streams of speakers throughout the day and informative and set-to-be lively panel discussions throughout the afternoon.

The conference is being organised by members of Open Coffee Sligo, a casual networking group who are eager to highlight the creative and innovative work of companies and individuals in the North West Region.