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!!

Northwest Connects 2009 brought together over 120 entrepreneurs, innovators and business people

Speed-networking kicked off the day

Speed Networking continues

Signing up for the 5x5 talks

Speaker Seamus Farrell of SF Engineering during his talk

Rob Martin of Infacta speaking on e-mail marketing

Johnny Beirne speaking to audience at NWC09

Thanks to Colin Gillen of Framelight.ie Photography for covering the event. We will be uploading pictures to a permanent spot on the site shortly

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.

Surf Seeds are a brand new Irish healthy snack food product based in Drunshambo Co. Leitrim. The man behind the product Tim Rooney developed the idea of using sunflower and other seed varieties as a healthy snack food after developing a range of seeded breads for a large supermarket chain.

To date Surf Seeds has been awarded a gold medal at the Great Taste Awards, successfully pitched to RTE’s Dragon’s Den and proved to be a huge hit at the recent International Food Exhibition in London.

Padraig McKeon is Managing Director of Drury, one of larger public relations and communications companies in the Irish market. He has worked as a communications advisor for almost 25 years both in Ireland and overseas during which time he has advised and represented companies in almost every sector, of every size and every profile of ownership or management.

He looks on communications not just as the publicity piece ‘at the end’ but actually as a core skill that should be planned into every part of any business from the smallest to the biggest and which will hugely benefit those businesses that do.

’Farming Out’ – Cultivating a product design and manufacturing network in the northwest.
11.30am//Share Stream//Full Schedule

Leo Scarff Design is a creative studio involved in lighting, furniture and sculptural structures. We work to commission for architects, interior designers, commercial business and private clients as well as promoting a collection of in-house products available to order direct from the studio.
Established in 1997, we have completed a diverse range of projects from office, retail, hospitality, display, and domestic furniture as well as many lighting installations. Ingenuity, quality, functionality, cost effectiveness and environmental responsibility are some of our design criteria.

At the Launch of Northwest Connects Niall McEvoy Head of Innovation, Innovation Centre, BIC, Liam Kiely Assistant CEO, Sligo County Enterprise Board, Joanne Grehan Regional Development Executive, Lookwest/WDC, Photo Colin Gillen/framelight.ie

On Tuesday October 27^th Northwest Connects was officially launched at the Innovation Centre, IT Sligo. The launch was attended by conference organisers, Open Coffee Sligo members and key sponsors; the Western Development Commission, Sligo County Enterprise Board, AIB and the  Innovation Centre.

The conference will take place on Saturday November 28^th in the Innovation Centre at IT Sligo and aims to connect local creativity and regional networks. Entrepreneurs, innovators and people with business ideas are invited to attend the free day-long conference.

Throughout the day, the event will showcase the expertise in the region through panel discussions and seminars. Attendees will be asked to choose seminars and speakers depending on interests or stage of business.

The event is free to attend, however registration is essential as there are limited spaces available. Registration is now open from our website www.northwestconnects.ie

At the Launch of Northwest Connects Sponsors & NWC Conference Organisers - Photo Colin Gillen/framelight.ie

Key speakers confirmed so far include Drury Communications MD, Padraig McKeon; Robert Martin, CEO of local award-winning emarketing 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 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 Northwest Region.

With a fresh approach to networking join us for the first ever supporting networking conference in the Northwest of Ireland.

A conference with a difference, the event aims to connect local creativity and networks. Entrepreneurs, innovators and the general public are invited to attend the free day-long conference. Throughout the day, the event will showcase the expertise in the region through panel discussions and seminars.

Networks provide a great source of expertise. Heather James of Open Coffee Sligo describes how networking events are proving successful in recent times:

“More people are getting together at events around the country such as Open Coffees (19 currently in Ireland and Northern Ireland, and growing). They’re coming to share ideas, make professional connections, or break the isolation of either working from home or in a small business.”

“Budding entreprenuers and seasoned business people are looking for alternatives to expensive conferences. BarCamps have inspired a rise in casual business networking.”