I SPENT A DAY listening and learning to start-ups sharing stories in Tralee, County Kerry. The hour-long panel discussion in the Audioboom clip below, four pages of notes I scribbled and scrolling info about #WASupKerry on Twitter point to things I should do when enhancing the creative multimedia Honour Degree programme on my home campus in Clonmel.
Like most of the attendees, I enjoyed the folksy humour and business savvy presentation of Edmond Harty, the congenial man behind Dairymaster. By my count, Edmond has twice as many patents as the number of students who sat in the audience listening to his Entrepreneur of the Year back story.
Conall Ó Morain (shown above), the voice of TodayFM's Sunday Business Show, suggested several tactics we might explore to improve the business potential of students in our creative multimedia and digital animation production programmes at the Limerick School of Art & Design. Conall also had sage advice that might help our Youth Media Team achieve greater reach. Chatting with him between sessions was like getting 30 minutes of special consultancy services.
After seven years of following each other on Twitter (and more than 15 years watching competitive moves in the space of mid-range computer systems), I finally met Chris Byrne face-to-face. We will not go another seven years before meeting again because there are several compelling reasons we should link up to finish things both of us independently started.
Barry Meehan, the Clonmel cyclist who has not succeeded on getting me back on a rejuvenated 10-speed, brought The Cycling Blog to Tralee. There's strong potential for collaboration involving cycling routes, online media, and tourism. Some of that collaboration parallels work Paula Kelleher is doing with Car Safari programming for young people.
In my role as a lecturer with Sport & Conditioning students, I'm very intrigued by the work shared by Aoife ni Mhuiri at Salaso. If all goes to plan, Aoife will meet dozens of sports students in LIT-Tipperary and explore ideas about physical therapy, minimising injuries to top players and following a programme of best practise.
As I review a page of tick-off items inside OneNote, I feel deeply indebted to Shane McCarthy and Karen O'Connell, the two key organisers of WASupKerry. With any luck, we'll bring the WASup Road Show to Questum in Clonmel, County Tipperary--along with the energy and passion of advocates who help make the Irish start-up culture brilliant. And if WASupClonmel happens, I hope Tracy Keogh and Ed Fidgeon-Kavanagh bring their energy and enthusiasm from Dublin and light up Clonmel as brilliantly as they did in Tralee.
Audio clip of opening panel with Conall O Morain [59 minutes]
[Bernie Goldbach is the senior pilot creative multimedia lecturer in the Limerick Institute of Technology.]
