If you are a blogger in Ireland you may have heard about the launch of the "Blog Awards Ireland" which will be taking place later this year. I had the opportunity to catch up with one of the organisers, Amanda Webb who shares some insights behind how the idea for the awards came about and what we can look forward to.

Krishna: What gave you the inspiration to host the blog awards especially as the former Irish Blog Awards were retired some time ago?

Amanda: I loved what we were doing in the KLCK Bloggers Network and thought it would be wonderful to run a blogging awards.

Damien Mulley had previously organised the Irish Blog Awards but I remembered him saying he wasn't going to run it anymore.

The Blog Awards had become an institution in the Irish social media world and people looked forward to it. It was sad to see it not happening anymore.

It's important for small businesses who are blogging themselves to get recognition for their achievements. Small business tend not to enter big award ceremonies, perhaps mistakenly, because they feel they can't compete but also because of the expense.

So we spoke to Damien to get his blessing and off we went.

Krishna: How will the awards be different (or the same) as the Irish Blog Awards?

Amanda: We always loved the Irish Blog Awards, and my fellow organisers both Lorna Sixsmith and Beatrice Whelan were finalists last year.

We're sticking with the judging process, free entry, a lot of similar categories and the laid back spirit that has always been a big part of the awards.

We are making some changes there are some elements of the event that will be different, we have some new and exciting offerings for sponsors and a few surprises on the night.

We're also going to put the judging criteria live on the site. New categories include Health and Wellbeing, Eco and Green, Best Designed, Best Mobile compatible, Best Video blog and Best Corporate Blog.

We're also doing a special ticket price for the fist 100 tickets for 30 euro. This includes a three course dinner.

Krishna: Who are you hoping will enter the awards?

Amanda: We've tried to include a category for every kind of blogger. We're hoping to get a wide range of bloggers involved from personal bloggers, small business to corporate bloggers. If you’re proud of your blog we hope you will either be nominated or nominate yourself.

Krishna: When will people be able to enter the awards?

Amanda: Nominations will open in June 2012. Entry will be absolutely free and anyone can nominate you (you can even yourself).

Krishna: You have announced there will be 29 categories; what are some of the most unusual categories?

We're quite excited about including a mobile category this year. With an increasing number of online searches in Ireland being made by mobile devices it's crucial that your blog is mobile friendly.

We've also introduced a category for best designed blog, That doesn't just mean it's pretty blog but that it works well, is easy to navigate and enhances personal or business branding. I'm really looking forward to seeing the entries in this category.

Krishna: How will the awards be judged?

Amanda: We've always liked the way that the Irish Blog Awards were judged in the past so we've decided to use the same approach.

Anyone who is interested in being a judge can apply to be on the panel. More details will appear on the website soon.

For the first time we have a "Peoples Choice Award" for best blog post, which will allow the public to choose the winner. We'll be announcing details of this soon.

Krishna: Will you be looking for sponsors and how do people get in touch about being a sponsor?

Amanda: We have 29 categories open for sponsorship are hoping to announce our first big sponsor soon. If you are interested in sponsorship get in touch: sponsor@blogawardsireland.com

Krishna: Do you know where the awards event will take place and when it will be?

Amanda: The event takes place on 13th October in the Osprey hotel in Naas, County Kildare

Krishna: What three suggestions do you have to help people publish content to their business blog more frequently if they find they have limited time?

Amanda: Here’s one from each of us.

What sort of questions do your customers ask you? Answer these in your blog – Amanda.

Having a regular themed topic for a day of the week helps with idea generation and organisation of time - Lorna.

Every time you think of an idea sketch it out so that you always have two or three posts half written, that way your never stuck for an idea – Beatrice.

Keep up to date with news about the Blog Awards Ireland by connecting with them on Facebook  http://www.facebook.com/blogawardsireland and watch the website in the next month for more details of how to get involved as a nominee or a sponsor.

And of course you can follow the Blog Awards Ireland on Twitter.

If you have not already registered to attend, there is still time to book your place at the annual conference for the Sales Institute of Ireland which takes place this week.

In summary, here are the details:

Date of Event: 16 May 2012

Time: 7.30am- 2.30pm

Venue: The Burlington Hotel, Dublin

Investment: EUR 225 (Non-SII Members: EUR 325)

How to book: Book your place online

The theme this yearf is "Sales 2020 – The Future of Selling" and the conference will feature different perspectives on new market dynamics and developments in communications and technology which are changing the business environment for sales professionals.

The speakers include:

• Ireland - The Comeback Economy - Frank Ryan, CEO, Enterprise Ireland
• The Changing Sales & Distribution of Financial Services Products - Pat O'Brien, CEO, Liberty Insurance
• Reports of the Death of the Salesman have been Greatly Exaggerated - Dr. Susi Geiger, Director of Research & Innovation, UCD Business School
• The Changing Face of FMCG Retailing - Malachy Hanberry, Sales & Retail Advisory Services Director, BWG Foods
• Creating a Commercially Effective Sales Team for the Future - Ciaran Budds, Commercial Effectiveness Director, Diageo Ireland

• Social By Design - Rick Kelley, Sales Director EMEA, Facebook

• Social Ka-ching! - What has, should and can social change about selling? - Leo Ryan, Group Head of Social@Ogilvy, London

• The Importance of Technology, Mobility and Social Media in Driving Successful Sales Performance Orla Sheridan, Consumer Channel Group Director, Microsoft Ireland

The re-structured current affairs, new journalism guidelines, editorial standards and training for RTE Ireland's national broadcaster.

These guidelines are posted here for students on the journliasm and digital media programmes that I deliver for ease of access

Access the original report from the RTE site here http://bgn.bz/rtejournalismguidelinesinterim and http://bgn.bz/rtejournalismguidelines

You are never too old to be an entrepreneur!

Exploring the Wicklow County Enterprise Board Website for information about their forthcoming digital marketing programme the following event caught my attention.

Programme: 2 day residential programme - download a PDF of the programme here

Location: Killeshin Hotel, Portlaoise, Co Laois

Date: 8-9 May 2012

Objectives: The aim of this interactive 2 day residential workshop is to give entrepreneurs aged 50+ the opportunity to develop a business plan to guide the establishment of their new business.

It is suitable for those with an idea, on which they would like to base a new business, who would like assistance in taking their idea from concept to commercial reality.

Programme Objectives:

- To assess the feasibility of their business idea
- To undertake market research
- To develop an action based marketing plan
- To acquire the knowledge to complete 1 – 3yr sales and expenditure projections
- To develop practical skills for achieving their projected sales targets
- To understand how to manage cash flow in their business
- To identify the amount of capital required to start their business
- To gain awareness of the supports available to new businesses
- To identify appropriate exit strategies.

Cost: €75 to include all training material, food and accommodation (single occupancy) in the hotel.

How to apply: You can book online or over the phone 0404 30800

You must be aged 50 or over and have an idea for a business that you want to start.

My Personal Perspective

I think this 'Start Your Own Business for Seniors' programme is a great initiative though I do wonder how people will feel signing up for a programme for the 'over 50's'?

Perhaps it is just me, but the older I get the less I want to be stereotyped.

I know that the idea of going to an 'over 50's event' as are hosted by Senior Times would be enough to make me stay away (I'm not in that age group yet!).

In my experience, there are significant genrational differences between the young baby boomers (born 1964-1946) who are closer to Gen X in many respects for example in relation to the use of the Intenet versus those of the Silent Generation (born 1925-1945) use as we can see from this research by Pew Internet study. I wonder if that is being taken into account when developing the programme?

What do you think about the title of the programme - how would you feel being called a 'senior' if you were just turned 50 years of age?

I hope that people will be encouraged to register for the programme and not let the 'title' put them off.

I would be interested to know what research was done before naming the programme though - and if there are insufficient registrations perhaps a bit of a brand makeover would be in order?

Here is a nice collection of social media case studies from the Board Gais Energy 2011 social media awards featuring the award winners.

I hope this inspires you in your social media marketing in 2012.

 

Here is an event that unfortunately I am not able to attend but I know a number of you will be interested in.

This conference is aimed particularly at social media practitioners and will bring together journalists, academics, politicians, and business people with an interest in web-based technologies to look at some of the complex issues facing Ireland's economy.

The European Commission Representation in Ireland is supporting a one day conference in Galway for social media practitioners  "The Challenges facing the Irish Economy ".

In summary the details are as follows:

Date: Saturday 24th March 2012 - registration from 10.30 am

Venue: Aras Moyola Building, National University of Ireland, Galway

The following people will be leading discussions at the conference:

• Professor John McHale, Professor and Head of Economics at the National University of Ireland
• Dr Alan Ahearne, Lecturer in economics at the National University of Ireland
• Seamus Coffey, Lecturer in economics at the University College Cork
• Ronan Lyons, Independent economist

For more details you can visit the conference website.

Entry is free but places are limited - register to attend by sending an e-mail to Sarah.Pearcey(at)ec.europa.eu

How do you communicate to prospective clients how you differ from your competitors?

You can listen to my thoughts that I recorded on SoundCloud today.

How do you differentiate yourself from your competitors by KrishnaDe

This clearly is a fine line that we must tread.

Some organisations build their reputation on being confrontational.

This weekend I noticed a full page advert in one of our national broadsheet newspapers - The Irish Times - and the advert was placed by the national radio station Newstalk.

Their advert was aimed at making a point about their standards of journalism and how they differ from RTE our national broadcaster who operates acriss both radio and TV.

It references a Tweet that had been aired on RTE at the time of the irish Presidential elections.

On Friday The Irish Times reported:

RTÉ has formally admitted it broadcast a bogus tweet concerning presidential candidate Seán Gallagher during the crucial final television debate between candidates last year.

The State broadcaster has told the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) the provenance of the tweet read out on the show was inaccurate, according to correspondence seen by The Irish Times .

RTÉ also says it has expressed its regret over the broadcast of the tweet, though it is resisting Mr Gallagher’s claim that it failed to broadcast corrective information when it could have.

You can see the advert here:

What do you think of the Ad? Would you take a similar approach for your business?

Here is an interesting initative that I came across today - the launch of Hireland.ie.

They have established a website and are encouraging small and medium enterprises in Ireland to pledge to create new opportunities.

On their website they published some research that had been undertaken with 150 SME's in Ireland (average number of employees was 36) to ask them about their recruitment plans for 2012 in Ireland. The survey took place between 9-12 January 2012.

I have certainly noticed a lot of new opportunities in the technology sector being announced of late.

Employment opportunties in SME's in Ireland forecast to increase in 2012

The results of the Amarach research are interesting read and not what I expected to find based on the conversations I have had with businesses this year:

• 52% of SMEs plan to hire one or more new employees this year
• Of those planning to hire they expect to recruit 4 new staffSMEs expect to employ an average of 4 new staff.

I personally have not met owners of SME's who have told me that they are planning to increase the number of positions in their organisations, but if research is born ot in new vacancies being created that is going to be great news for employment opportunties in Ireland.

The research also reported that the benefit they were looking forward to was the 'potential for better customer service'. Don't get me started on customer service (or lack of it in many cases). Great customer service is not dependent on number of staff - it's about education, culture and a employing talent in your organisaiton who have a mind set and desire to deliver great service.

But back to Hireland.ie - this is an initiative you can get involved in and pledge your support to increasing employment opportunties - check them out at http://www.hireland.ie.

Speculative job applications can lead the way to unadvertised opportunties

One quick tip for those who are finding it difficult to find an opportunity - don't give up on the speculative enquiries. I recently met with a young graduate who has spent their last 2 years in paid internships.

They wrote a speculative job application to an SME last Summer who were impressed with their experience, held onto their CV and called them for an interview when an opportunity arose in their company.

So yes there are opportunities to be found and more often than not the vacancies are not advertised.

As an ex-boss of mine used to say 'Keep the faith' - in this case with your job search!

Heading towards the holidays, your office party has taken place, perhaps you are now reviewing how your career progressed in 2011 and what your hopes and aspirations are for 2012?

You might think this is not a good time to search for career opportunities, but it is a great time to get your CV or resume tidied up in time for the January uplift in the job market.

I was sent details recently of an iPhone app for FindAJob.ie where you can event browse jobs on the move - or of course nore discretely than looking up new opportunities on your computer!

(Findajob.ie is the new name for LoadzaJobs.ie and is a part of Ireland’s leading print and online media group, Independent News and Media (INM).).

As an employer you can also post a position - you will see their advertising packages here: http://advertise.loadzajobs.ie.

In summary it is worth checking out though I do think that FindAJob.ie need to do some work behind the scenes to improve the useability of the app - see for example when I did a search for the organisation 'Microsoft', rather than it shortlisting vacancies for the Microsoft organisation it picked up positions which included the word 'Microsoft' in their posting:

When looking at some of the vacancies, they were difficult to read due to lack of formatting:

If you come across a vacancy that you are interested in you can request details to be emailed to you:

And if you think the vacancy would be a great fit for your friends and social networkg contacts you can share it on Facebook, Twitter and by email - a notable missing for me is the ability to share on LinkedIn:

So if you are looking for a new role in 2012, check out the iPhone app for FindAJob.ie for the opportunity to check out vacancies in your 'down time' - but of course don't forget that your network online and offline is also a great way to unearth opportunities that may never be posted at all!

 

 

 

Are you looking for some last minute stocking fillers without breaking the bank?

Thanks to WHPR I received a little gift bag this week with a selection of things from a store I had not come across previously - Dealz.ie.

In my gift bag were some bows which I am sure Santa will find handy when coming to our house tomorrow, some Christmas lights and tree decorations, a pottery money box and a pottery mug filled with sweets.

Checking their website you will see that they are part of the Poundland Group who are Europe’s biggest single price discount retailer with 347 stores in the UK and they also stock some well known brands.

All their products are priced at €1.47 in Ireland where they have 6 stores at Blanchardstown, Portlaoise, Letterkenny, Killarney, Newbridge and their most recent store opened in Limerciak earlier this month.

And you will also find them online at:

http://www.Facebook.com/DealzIreland

http://www.Fwitter.com/DealzIreland

So if you are looking for last minute gift ideas or stocking fillers without breaking the bank or your budget, you just might want to check out the offers instore ar Dealz.ie