Keith Shirley

Carlow Enterprise Board are promoting a new workshop for those looking for a new direction to their careers. It’s to be held at Enterprise House on 9 June 2009 and is free (but you must register in advance).

The aim is to receive practical advice on finding and applying successfully for work and looking at other alternatives such as starting your own business.

I met one of the speakers, Yanky Fackler, at Bizcamp earlier in the year and enjoyed his talk. He has recently published a book which I have yet to buy (I’m refusing to buy more until I read what I have).

The opportunity to speak with Brian McQuaid from IT Carlow’s Lifelong Learning dept should also not be missed - there are also some accelerated programs at the IT which might be interesting (although not directly in his department I believe).

Click on the pictures of the flyers for the full size version:

Kudos to Motive8 for running a motivation seminar at the Killiney Hotel where anyone who is unemployed /redundant pays just for lunch ( €20).

Details are on the Blog from Motive8 but in summary:

Date; 27th March 2009
Venue: Killiney Castle Hotel
Time; 10am – 4.00pm
Cost; €120 per person includes lunch
Places limited. Book before 15th March and get 20% discount
Anyone who is unemployed /redundant pays just for lunch ( €20)

“This workshop is about taking action. It focusses on how we go about developing an attitude or mindset that will get us through this difficult period with a little less stress and allot more control over the final outcome.”

If you go then maybe you would like to do a guest post here about it. I want to continue the theme of “Feck The Recession” that we started at BizCamp.

At the same time – let me know if there are any other similar events that are running – I’m happy to provide some link love and publicity.

Thanks to Joy from Flexitimers for bringing this to my attention.

Bizcamp was featured a few times on the news. The sentiment that came across was exactly what we wanted – Feck the Recession – let’s just do business.

I appear in the background a few times.

Is that a claim to fame? My backside appeared in the news?

The RTE Link:
http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0307/6news_av.html?2502888,null,230

The News Report On Youtube:

Caelen King, CEO of ravehealth.com on fundraising

Campbell Scott, CEO of igopeople.com on fundraising

Keith Bohanna, Co-Founder of dbTwang.com on fundraising

I was right - it was a great day. A special thanks to all the presenters and the sponsors for their support and work. The feedback I’ve been getting from the attendees is great.

What did I get from the day? – Passion/ Action / Brass Balls

Passion:

It’s contagious. You need to have it to make your business really successful. If you are not passionate about what yu are doing then you cn’t expect much from your customers or potential supporters.

Action:

Just get up off your arse and do it. Now. Get started and keep pushing. Ideas are pretty cheap – they only become reality when you do something about it.

Now is a great time to start a business – you will learn how to be efficient and concentrate on core business requirements. When things pickup you’ll be in the position to make the most of it.

Brass Balls

Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Don’t be afraid to try something new and quirky. Be brave and confident aboutwhat you offer and make sure people get to hear about it.

I can write an advance review because I know it’s going to be great. I so thoroughly enjoyed Podcamp and Barcamp last year (especially Pat Phelan’s lunchtime chat) that when talk of organising a Bizcamp came up I knew I had to help out.

(insert name here)Camps are very informal but productive conference type events. They’re referred to as unconferences because you’re not going to be lectured at or given sales pitches in the regular sense. A camp has a general theme to bind it together and everyone is free to give short (15 minute) seminars/chats/presentations about topics they feel are helpful.

Helpful is the magic word – the whole point is to get to know people, get some insight into a topic and be helpful. You can pickup a huge amount of info in small chunks and followup later. I promise – you’ll come home with stacks of notes.

Bizcamp is obviously themed around business. The potential topics could range from funding to how to handle the stress. Unlike a normal conference – the agenda is not fixed. Anyone can decide on the spur of the moment to do a session – you just grab a timeslot on the day. Is there something you wish you knew when you started? Now’s your chance to pass on some pearls of wisdom. You don’t need to do a session at all – just come along for the ride.

I’ll be helping to organise the Dublin Event which is on Sat 7 March 2009. There will be a second bizcamp in Limerick on 21 March 2009.

I’ll be writing about this again but if you need more info then call me ( 087 9112027 ) or Email me K.Shirley@Shercom.com.

Yes – That really is my phone number and mail address.

You can already sign-up to Bizcamp or you can see who is going to Bizcamp.  I’m looking forward to seeing you there.

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