Vodafone Smart Start-Ups Launch, Dublin, September 20th

QED was proud to be involved in the launch and provision of training for the launch of the Vodafone Smart Start-Ups initiative at the Vodafone Experience Centre in Leopardstown, Dublin this past Thursday evening. With a turn out of 40+, the evening was considered a great success by all.

 

Joanne Hession – facilitator on the night

 

After an opportunity to network at the beginning of the event, complete with food and beverages, Joanne Hession took to the stage to explain the evening, as well as to introduce the two guest speakers for the evening: Grainne Barry, the managing director of anotherfriend.com and maybefriends.com, and Sean Sullivan, creater of MapInfo and head of Avego, as well as appearing on RTE’s “Dragon’s Den,” who each gave presentations about lessons for start-ups, as well as answering questions from the audience.

After the presentations and Q&A were over, the participants moved downstairs for some “speed mentoring,” 15 minute slots with a QED trainer on a particular subject field – the three on offer being “Social Media,” “Marketing,” and “Business Productivity.” After the 15 minutes were up, they had to move to another table. This happened three times, before the evening drew to a close. Check out some of our trainers deep in conversation with the participants:

Noel Davidson – Trainer on Social Media
Phil Kidea – Trainer on Marketing
Steve Thompson – Trainer on Business Productivity

The Vodafone Smart Start-Up Initiative moves now across the country, where QED will provide training in the cities of Cork, Galway, Limerick, and Leitrim, before finishing up in Dublin again in March. If you’re interested in attending, all you have to do is click here to visit Vodafon’s dedicated site for the initiative, and register for the event which interests you. You can also see some videos of start-ups around the country providing the hints and tips, as well as seeing some advice from Sean and Grainne.

In the mean time to whet your appetite, check out some of the photos taken on the night!

Grainne Barry
Sean O’ Sullivan