The Irish Tech News Podcast

Great interview with Garry Connolly, one of the originators of the Irish DCs for Bees initiative. More about DC's for Bees An industry initiative led by Host in Ireland to help save Ireland's declining bee population. The people of this industry are looking to make a difference. This initiative gives them the opportunity to not only make an individual difference but the tools to educate, advocate, create awareness and take action. https://www.hostinireland.com/dc-s-for-bees Garry is the President and Founder of Host in Ireland, a strategic global initiative created to increase awareness of the benefits of hosting digital assets in Ireland and Irish companies delivering international data centre projects. A self-proclaimed “stubborn digital optimist,” Garry is a much sought-after keynote speaker, panellist and moderator at global industry events.

Interesting interview by Melanie Boylan with Joel Hansen who is a Marketing Advisor. 2-Time TEDx Speaker, Linkedin advisor and Creator with 10m+ views. Also at BoardofTrade, CYP Comms Chair. Canadian Entrepreneur and Coffee enthusiast. More about Joel I'm an entrepreneur, recognized marketer advisor and social media speaker focused on helping CEOs/Executives grow their personal brand to drive real life impact in their community. I currently work as a Marketing Advisor, Communications Chair for the GVBOT, Linkedin as a Youth Editor and regularly advise leaders of recognized brands on how they can start and grow a successful personal brand📱 By having the opportunity to speak on the TEDx stage in Vancouver and Romania (virtually) and partner with brands like Uber, Amazon, Slack, Microsoft, Adobe, Hootsuite and Airbnb on unique initiatives, I've learned how brands can articulate their message to attract and empower their community 🚀 In the last couple years, I've directed events and large scale conferences, like CIMC, which brought together 600+ marketing execs and 45+ speakers. With my background, I've worked with over 300 vendors/speakers across North America. On Linkedin, I've produced content on an individual and corporate level that's earned 10m+ views with some stories gaining 1m+ impressions alone (featured below). On the project front, I've collaborated with brands such as the LA Clippers, Translink, Best Buy, Vancouver Canucks, Prezi and Adobe to develop initiatives that drive brand awareness and earn media attention 💻 More about Melanie Over the years I have worked with SME, FMCG and State Bodies I'm delighted to say I now support and train all sizes of business and my business has grown with my clients. I provide Adult Education and support for people in Business. With my many years of experience in promoting services and charities in Ireland and the UK; I have been very fortunate to establish a strong network of contacts and over the years have learnt how best to promote a business online and improve their social media scoring. Creating a professional image and maintaining it is the crux of a great marketing plan and is instrumental in today’s climate in making your business stand out, I can tailor my services to your requirements. Over the last few years I have started working in other areas I have a genuine passion in. I have been avid writer for a number years and started working as a Freelance Writer with Irish Tech News since 2016 and StartUp Mindset since October 2019.

We interview Gavan Wall, co-founder of The Change, a new, Northern Irish based VC fund aiming to inspire and catalyse innovation through strategic investments and mentoring. The Change is a leading Venture Catalyst supporting Leading entrepreneurs in the creation of world changing vision. We invest in people with ideas that have the potential to change the world. We're currently raising a £50M for our Tech & Science Fund. If you're a founder and your values match ours: Leadership, Legacy, Quality and Sacrifice and you have a £billion mindset then The Change VC is for you. If you're an Investor who wants to invest in an experienced Team seeking high growth opportunities with The Change Venture Fund then get in touch. Websitehttp://www.thechange.vc See more about Gavan on linkedin here https://www.linkedin.com/in/gavanwall/ and on twitter here https://twitter.com/gavanwall

After our written interview with Nell Kruger earlier this year we figured it made sense to capture her unique insights and voice in this podcast interview. Nell Kruger lived on Cape Clear from 1986 to 2018 and saw many interesting events and changes on the island. She worked as an artist, ceramicist and cofounder of the Cape Clear Storytelling Festival and resident on the island for four decades. See more in this interview also https://irishtechnews.ie/island-life-perspectives-nell-kruger-cape-clear/

Great interview with force of nature Mary McKenna, co-founder of @AwakenHub, Irish entrepreneur, pollinator, people collector, blogger, MC, connector, non exec, cheerleader, friend, investor, mentor, mentee See more on here blog here https://kickingassets.co.uk/about/ Mary is a technology entrepreneur & these days angel investor. She co-founded wildly successful online learning company Learning Pool in 2006 on the back of a long local government career and a spell as a Silicon Valley dotcommer. She exited the company in May 2014 in order to get back into startup land. She is interested in helping start & grow indigenous Irish & British tech companies and especially in working with young and female entrepreneurs. One of Said Business School's (University of Oxford) Resident Experts, an Entrepreneur in Residence at Catalyst Inc (formerly the Northern Ireland Science Park) and a trustee of CAST (the Centre for Acceleration of Social Technology). She loves the arts and have been a non executive director on the board of Derry’s Millennium Forum & Theatre for many years. I'm also a trustee of the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE). On the London board of the Irish International Business Network and proud member of the Global Irish Network. In the 2014 New Year’s Honours she was awarded the MBE by HM the Queen for services to digital technology, innovation and learning - which you have to admit is pretty darned cool. Right now interested in talking to people about non exec positions in tech startups or scaleups and happy to speak at relevant events or write articles for publication on any of her specialist topics - how to build a kick ass network, how to scale your startup, how to build a digital business, how to build a company with a great culture She has sat at Buzz Aldrin's feet & listened to his stories, disco danced with Leonard Cohen at Coachella and joined Robert Plant in singing gospel songs with Wanda Jackson at Pappy & Harriet's in the Californian desert. Follow me on Twitter at @mmarymckenna

We interview Martin Eastwood, CEO of Wide Variety, we cover his entrepreneurial origins to online marketing and the importance of taking care of your mental health and why Tik Tok is the next coming thing in terms of social media platforms. See more on his website here https://www.widevariety.eu/aboutus

Interesting conversation Wally Blennerhassett, long time bee keeper and ambassador for Host in Ireland's DCs for bees initiative. See more about the program here https://www.hostinireland.com/dc-s-for-bees An industry initiative led by Host in Ireland to help save Ireland's declining bee population. DC's for Bees The people of this industry are looking to make a difference. This initiative gives them the opportunity to not only make an individual difference but the tools to educate, advocate, create awareness and take action. All-Ireland Pollinator Plan https://pollinators.ie/ One third of our bee species are threatened with extinction from Ireland. This is because we have drastically reduced the amount of food (flowers) and safe nesting sites in our landscapes. The All-Ireland Pollinator Plan is about all of us, from farmers to local authorities, to schools, gardeners and businesses, coming together to try to create an Ireland where pollinators can survive and thrive. The first Plan covers the period 2015-2020 and a new version will be developed to cover 2021-2025. Title image sourced from this fantastic resource https://www.instagram.com/usgsbiml/

Ronan talks to Helmut Spitzl GSA, Galileo Service Manager for Search and Rescue and Emergency Warning. Helmut talks about his background, what the Galileo system consists of, how Galileo enables global positioning, navigation, timing and search & rescue and some of the upcoming Galileo services.

We learn more about a series of exciting and positive initiatives to support female entrepreneurs with mentor and career jumper in chief Mary Carty. She is an award winning entrepreneur with a background in art, education and startups. She has have worked with leading international companies, cultural institutions, universities and non-profits. Her background has given me a unique insight into building companies, products and services. https://twitter.com/marycarty https://www.linkedin.com/in/marycarty/ http://www.wilsonkeys.com/

Interesting and positive interview with Simon Zadek, Head Secretariat of UN Secretary General’s Task Force on Digital Financing of the SDGs. We cover this new positive initiative, and it's impact on Zimbabwe, global forestation via the AntForest project and potentially many other areas of the world also. Dr. Simon Zadek is currently Head of Secretariat of the UN Secretary General’s Task Force on Digital Financing of the Sustainable Development Goals, based at the United Nations Development Program. He was until recently Senior Advisor on Finance in the Executive Office of the UN Secretary-General, and Co-Director of the UN Environment’s Inquiry into Design Options for a Sustainable Financial System. He founded and was founding Chief Executive of the international think tank, AccountAbility, and before that Development Director of the New Economics Foundation, founding Chair of the Ethical Trading Initiative and on the founding Steering Committee of the Global Reporting Initiative.