Wednesday 27 April 2011

Developing Your Marketing Plan

This week we will have Marketing Consultant, Kevin O'Malley talk through 'Developing Your Marketing Plan'. Kevin will present the important considerations when developing your marketing plan for either a new or existing business or for a product or service.

Kevin will bring us through the various elements which make up the plan and will discuss the importance of each section in context of the overall plan.

Saturday 9 April 2011

Jobs boost as Avaya announces seventy five new posts...

Galway received a significant employment boost on Tuesday when Avaya announced it is creating 75 new positions at their offices in Mervue Business Park. The jobs are part of the company’s new Customer Experience Centre, which opened with a special ribbon cutting ceremony by Michael Bayer, president of Avaya’s field operations in Europe, Middle East and Africa, and Barry O’Leary, CEO of the Industrial Development Authority Ireland.

 See rest of story on: http://www.advertiser.ie/galway/article/38408/jobs-boost-as-avaya-announces-seventy-five-new-posts Fas Jobs

Monday 4 April 2011

Compliance Issues for SMEs

This week we will have a training session on the important topic of Compliance Issues for SMEs and this will be delivered by Gert O'Rourke and Ralph Smith.

Background:
Running a business is difficult enough, without worrying about whether or not your company is compliant with legislation affecting Small and Medium Enterprises in Ireland. Keeping up to date with the latest compliance acts is a must for every company, small or large.

Compliance is an investment. Responding to government agency queries, investigations or audits is a crippling burden for many SMEs. Management time is better spent on revenue generation tasks. Compliance, however, applies to HR, finance and legal activities undertaken every day by SMEs. Are you sure that your company is compliant?

• Income Tax, VAT, PAYE/PRSI
• Universal Social Charge
• Employment rights and legislation
• Employers obligations and HR costs

Finance Training is a company focused on compliance training for companies in Ireland. It provides training in areas such as Anti Money Laundering, Consumer Credit Directives and Tax compliance.

Training is delivered by Ralph Smith and Gert O’Rourke.

Ralph Smith is the managing partner of Do My Books Ltd incorporated public accountants. Ralph is a practicing incorporated public accountant and has over ten years front line business.

Gert is a qualified trainer in Entrepreneurship and Business Development. She has nineteen years’ experience in the development and delivery of training programmes.

Tuesday 22 March 2011

Want help with starting your business?

This week (Friday the 25th of March) we will have a practical look at the steps you need to consider when setting up a business from an operational and legal point of view. Our two experts: Cathy Scanlon and Claire Shaughnessy will guide you through the myriad of things you need to know when taking your first steps...

Setting Up/Operating a Small Business?

Cathy Scanlon with a background in business, human resource management and materials management is going to provide an information session on "Some Practical Guidelines for Success"that small business start-up’s/existing businesses can apply today.

Based on her experience working in a multinational, managing a family business and working with a number of small businesses, Cathy will talk you through simple steps to consider.

STARTING UP, STARTING RIGHT

A practical look at some of the legal matters for consideration when starting up your own business

Claire Shaughnessy, Solicitor will talk about:"Starting Up, Starting Right; a practical look at some of the legal matters for consideration when starting up your own business".

Starting off on the right foot in business is crucial to the success of your venture and seeking professional advice from the outset will prove invaluable down the road. With so many matters for consideration in the organisation of your business, what suits your individual circumstances should you form a Partnership or a Company? We will be taking a look at the popular types of legal entities moving on to the matter of employees and independent contractors and your obligations as an employer. We will also briefly turn to the protection of your own ideas and investment in intellectual property, the importance of consumer law and finally debt collection.
NOTE: This presentation is not a comprehensive statement of the Law or Practise and is not in any way to be construed as legal advice. If advice on the law is required on any matter all persons should seek professional legal advice. The author does not accept any liability for error or omissions.

Tuesday 15 March 2011

ZeniMax: creating jobs in Galway.

ZeniMax Online Studios, a ZeniMax® Media company, today announced its plans to open a customer support centre in Galway.

The new facility will provide customer support for players of their future massively multiplayer online games. The development is anticipated to create hundreds of jobs over the next several years.

Under the leadership of the company's current president Matt Firor, ZeniMax Online Studios was founded to create online role playing games.

Rich Barham, director of Customer Support, will lead the global customer support initiative at the studio. Barham previously worked with Blizzard Entertainment, and was a major contributor to the management of in-game support needs, customer care, and retention for World of Warcraft. He was also a key team member in establishing customer service centers for North America and Europe.

“We are excited to be building an experienced team, led by Rich, which will focus on providing superior customer support for our games. Galway has world-class educational facilities, is a beautiful place to work and live, and offers a wide variety of benefits for our employees. Our ability to provide superior customer service for our future products is firmly on track,” Firor said.

Adding to today’s announcement Minister for Enterprise, Jobs and Innovation Richard Bruton TD, said “ZeniMax Online Studios is a premier developer and publisher in interactive entertainment and a very important addition to the thriving games industry in Ireland. This investment was won for Galway by IDA Ireland in the face of stiff competition from other European locations and as such it demonstrates yet again to the global investment community that Ireland continues to attract high-quality foreign direct investment.”

“The company will be a significant employer in the West of Ireland hiring multilingual customer support agents and technical support staff and will contribute to the further development and attractiveness of the Region. We welcome ZeniMax Online to our business community and look forward to continued partnership in the years to come” concluded Minister Bruton.

Speaking from New York, IDA CEO Barry O’Leary welcomed today’s announcement, saying “ZeniMax Online Studios’ decision to locate its European customer services operations in Galway acknowledges Ireland’s delivery of services’ excellence in the digital media sphere and its position of strength in the global gaming industry. They are a very welcome addition to a cluster of companies across Ireland in a sector which is witnessing rapid growth. IDA Ireland’s strategy, Horizon 2020 recognizes the global growth in services and today’s announcement by ZeniMax Online further embeds Ireland’s reputation as a European digital capital.”

Monday 7 March 2011

Social Media for Job Seekers

Kevin O'Malley, marketing consultant with a background in social media is going to provide an information session on 'Social Media for Job Seekers". Kevin will talk through each of the social media tools: Linked In; Facebook and Twitter and show us how you can use these tools to position yourself in the jobs market.


He will demonstrate how you can use these tools to identify opportunities and also how you can position yourself for an opportunity. He will also demonstrate how each of the tools can be used effectively to complement each other.