Vote early and vote often (just not in the same category twice, okay!)
The 2008 IIA & Enterprise Ireland Net Visionary Awards voting is now open! Please take the time to choose your favourites among those shortlisted. I really think it’s a representative shortlist and that is down to all of you who took the time to nominate earlier this month. As previously mentioned on this blog we had an unprecedented volume of nominations this year.
You can vote once in every category and please do vote in every category if you feel like it.
Oooh the excitement: Net Visionary shortlist to be announced soon
In preparation for this week’s announcement of the shortlisted nominees in the 2008 IIA & Enterprise Ireland Net Visionary Awards badges have been created which you can add to your site when you read that you are shortlisted…
All those years in the Guides weren’t wasted on me…
On a PC Right-click and choose “Save picture as…” to save the badge for the category in which your company is nominated.
On a Mac Ctrl+Click and save the image from the contextual menu.
Winning Style: Dos and Don’ts for the Net Visionary Awards
I asked Elizabeth Greehy, Editor of www.stylebible.ie, and IIA member, for a few tips for those of us racking our brains about what to wear at the upcoming IIA & Enterprise Ireland NetVisionary Awards 2008. I look forward to seeing you all looking fabulous on the big night!
Winning Style:
The countdown has begun for the IIA & Enterprise Ireland NetVisionary Awards 2008, (30th Oct) with next week (the 29th of Sept to be precise) seeing the announcement of the short-listed nominees. If you are one of the ‘Chosen Ones’ then you might be in need of a few style tips to ensure that you are, most definitely, ‘Dressed to Win’ on the big night!
Well, winning is a state of mind (so a seasoned winner once told me) and as we all know, style is also a state of mind with ‘subtle confidence’ being the ultimate common denominator in both. So it goes without saying really, that a winner will not only be confident in his or her approach to their career but also in their approach to dressing… but be careful, this doesn’t give you free reign to be over-confident!. You want to stand out, of course, but for all the right reasons.
The Awards Ceremony is a Black Tie event. So what exactly is Black Tie? Well, simply put, it’s formal! So guys, you have it relatively easy – basically, a black tux (although I will go into more detail later for the boys) and ladies, well, you are now faced with the predicament of ‘finding the perfect dress’. This, as all ladies will know, is no mean feat. There are so many choices and decisions to be made.
Here are a few things to take into consideration before embarking on your shopping trip.
- Be aware of what you like. By this I mean, flick through magazines and try to determine which style of dress really appeals to you as it helps bring your mind in a certain direction.
- Be aware of what suits you. Do you know what styles best suit your body shape? For instance, if you are very top heavy, a dress with a sweetheart neckline or a V neck is very flattering on a full bust and so on. Knowing what does, or more importantly, what doesn’t, suit your body shape, will eliminate certain styles and help you to focus on the style you need.
- Being Black-Tie, the occasion is strictly formal. For ladies this generally means a floor length gown. It was definitely the case that dresses which come to the knee, were once seen as ‘semi-formal’ however, over the years, cocktail dresses have become much more prevalent and acceptable now at Black Tie affairs. But this can still sometimes depend on the occasion in question and indeed where it is being held.
- Shopping for the dress. Although most ladies will enjoy the experience of trawling the shops and trying on dresses and granted, it’s the best way of determining look and feel, it’s also worth considering the other options available i.e. getting a dress tailor made for the evening… yes, sounds pricy but there are lots of accessible Irish designers and the feeling of having something tailor made that fits you like a glove is priceless. Marion Murphy Cooney, (www.marionmurphycooney.com) is a hip young designer, renowned for making Irish celebs such as Lorraine Keane and Karen Koster etc, look fabulous on the red carpet. She is well known and reasonably priced.
- Considering you are all involved in the online world, then we certainly can’t over look all the excellent online shopping websites at our fingertips (literally).
www.netaporter.com for all you label obsessed girls – pricy yes, but definitely a little slice of luxury.- www.click-2-couture.com for more amazing labels (Gucci, Miu Miu, Prada etc), but at much more accessible prices (and it’s an Irish website)
- www.estyleme.ie for unique dresses and exciting American and European labels; this website will certainly help you find the perfect evening gown. (inset: long satin fishtail dress, with sweetheart beaded neckline and chiffon bodice €399 from www.estyleme.ie )
- www.asos.com everything from high street to high glamour
- Or if you fancy the exclusivity of one of Ireland’s many boutiques, check out www.irishboutiques.com or indeed www.mybeautifulboutique.com for online listings of our amazing boutiques countrywide.
- Have your hair done. Treat yourself to a sexy up do or some gorgeous GHD curls for the big night.
- Get your nails done. If you normally have manicures and or acrylic / gel nails, treat yourself and get some delicate nail art done – perhaps a diamante or two?
- Find the perfect pair of shoes. The shoes, especially if you are wearing a knee-length dress, are vital. Getting a pair that co-ordinates with your look but has that extra special ‘stand out’ feature, will certainly help you look and feel like a ‘winner’.
- Jewellery. Well, ladies, the old adage ‘less is more’ really rings true in such an occasion. Whatever jewellery you decide to wear, don’t over do it. You definitely DON’T want to be upstaged by fussy jewellery. If you do have an extra special piece that you want to wear, just make sure it compliments the neckline and colour of your dress – the same goes for your bag – a small and delicate clutch purse that compliments your look is ideal.
- At all times, think style over high fashion. Fashionable quirks won’t always translate into flawless elegance.
- Although confidence is, as I mentioned, important in all winners, over-confidence is not an attractive trait. Remember to watch your decorum on the night. Demureness and modesty will go a long way towards winning the hearts of those around you. Style and elegance has a lot to do with how you conduct yourself.
THINGS TO AVOID:
Over tanning: This is very important; the streaky orange look is NOT good.
Too much make up: If you don’t trust your own skills, get your make up done professionally for the night – go for a nice smoky eye, perfect for night time looks.
Showing too much flesh: There is a fine line between subtle sexiness and just ‘too much’. Avoid any dress that might facilitate body parts popping out at inopportune moments!
Getting Drunk: This is acceptable at the ‘after party’ in an awards ceremony, especially if you are celebrating, but no matter how nervous you are over dinner, avoid using ‘Dutch Courage’ as a means of preparing yourself. There is nothing worse than a winner who is slurring over their acceptance speech.
And for the gentlemen!
So you might not have as much to think about as the ladies do, but sometimes ‘dressing to win’ can take a bit more than lashings of Brut and a self boosting ‘Go Get ‘Em’ wink in the mirror before you leave the house. Flawless sophistication doesn’t come easy you know!
- Perhaps you already own a Tuxedo, but if you don’t, remember that you can simply rent one from any good tailors for the night.
- It is important to get fitted properly before either renting or purchasing your Tux so make sure all the relevant measurements are taken including sleeve lengths and inside leg.
- Chose your style of shirt carefully as there are many different types – plain, ruffled, ivory buttoned etc. and remember to consider your partners outfit when doing so.
- Choose a cummerbund that compliments either your suit (black satin) or your dates outfit.
- Don’t forget the all important black bow tie.
- Accessorise with a nicely chosen pair of cufflinks.
- …..then do your self boosting ‘Go Get ‘Em’ wink in the mirror and you’re good to go!
Surveyors of all they survey
The IIA would like to welcome Ayla Quantity Surveyors to the fold. Ayla hope to
Reduce your construction costs by up to 20% on any given project with sound advice and accurate estimating with a close emphasis on cost control and value for money for the client.
which is always good to hear in these recessionary times.
State of the Net Issue 10 now available
State of the Net Issue 10 which is compiled by Amas in association with the Irish Internet Association is now available online (Download PDF, 863k)
This issue includes information about marketing budgets, broadband uptake, ICT use in Education, Internet Usage across Europe, popular Irish online fora and more.
- Aileen O’Toole, Managing Director, Amas, reviews the results of the 2008 Irish Online Marketing Sentiment Survey conducted by Amas among members of the Marketing Institute of Ireland (MII). This includes the interesting development that 56% of marketing professionals spend over 10% of their budget online.
- Fiachra Ó Marcaigh, Director, Amas examines the reasons why marketers are choosing to move their budgets online finding that reach, low cost and accountability are among the main reasons.
- You will also find clearly represented statistics about
- broadband uptake in Ireland;
- the use of ICT in Education at primary and post-primary level;
- the most popular discussion fora and threads in Ireland;
- Irish Internet power users;
- internet usage in Ireland as compared to our European neighbours;
- and the Eurobarometer results for use of internet telephony.
If you would like a printed copy or copies please email me at roseanne @ iia dot ie with your address. If you are planning to attend Fingal Day of Enterprise next Thursday 25th September or Podcamp Ireland on Saturday 27th Septemeber I will be there too and will have copies with me for all! We also distribute State of the Net at all of our own Events.
You are all individuals*
But 100 of you are following the IIA. While you might think this can cause problems in cars, lifts, and in other enclosed spaces there is no real need to worry. I am referring to those 100 people who chose to follow the IIA tweets which I hope have been proving useful. I have decided to celebrate this and although it doesn’t compare to Krishna De’s pending 1000 followers I think it’s pretty good going because of my non-intrusive follow policy whereby I will never set the IIA channel to follow a Twitter user unless they choose to follow the IIA on Twitter first. I decided to do this because unlike my personal Twitter channel the IIA channel will be used to offer services and to encourage people to attend events and to get involved: essentially I am using it to market the IIA. It also ensures that anyone who is following the IIA channel has done so without any active prompting from us. I also think that because of the corporate nature of the IIA channel, it is possible that I, Roseanne, might not always be the voice behind the channel and so I didn’t automatically approach all my followers on my personal Twitter.
But back to the celebrations! In order to celebrate this momentous event and also the success of yesterday’s Blogging, Microblogging and Podcasting IIA event in Dublin which I have no doubt had something to do with the final push to 100 I am offering a 50% discount on IIA membership for one week only. To avail of this discount just use the code “twit100″ when applying here. Looking forward to welcoming you to the association!
*Having 100 followers makes scenes from the Monty Python file ”Life of Brian” flash through my head!
And that makes… Wow a whole lot!
We’ve just finished counting the nominations for the Net Visionary Awards and my how busy you have all been! We received more nominations this year in all categories (especially the new ones :p) than ever before. The judges are going to be busy between now and 29th September!
So a big thanks to everyone who took the time to nominate their Net Visionaries for 2008. The free-to-all aspect of the nomination and voting is an element of our awards that sets it apart from other online business awards and really allows your internet peers to give you the kudos you deserve and for you to get the kudos you have been craving, dreaming about, for which you have been preparing your thank you speech, for which you have dry-cleaned your gorgeous guna/ tux etc.
I don’t know about all of you but I am excited about the Net Visionary awards. Can I sustain this level of excitement until October 30th? Wait til you see me in Christmas mode! 
Hi ho hi ho it’s off to co-work we go
I’ve just finished a really interesting conversation with the director of one of our newer member companies, EchoLibre*. Eamon Leonard, the company director, is looking for some people to join him in a coworking space. If you don’t know what coworking is there’s a wikipedia entry on it which will explain all.
As Eamon himself explained to me:
“Basically, it’s office sharing with a community element to it. By that I mean that participants are open to the sharing of knowledge and ideas with the people they share the space with. Typically, a coworking space is made up of freelancers from varying backgrounds and technologies.”
He had been participating in a co-working arrangement for the last year, but it’s recently been wound down and he’s since started up EchoLibre, and they are planning to move into new office space in early October.
Eamon really feels that coworking benefitted him and as he feels that it can foster creativity and innovation, he is going to make some of the office space available to freelancers – designers, developers: he’ll consider all types!
The office is on South William Street and consists of two rooms – one will be for EchoLibre, the other for coworking. Already one coworker is on board (“Web Standards legend, Ken Stanley” as Eamon describes him!), and there is space for two more.
Coworking isn’t for everyone, but if you think it’s something you’d be interested in, and you want an office in a nice part of town for a very affordable price, then drop Eamon a line at eamon @ echolibre dot com.
*EchoLibre are very new indeed and will launch their own site soon in case you are wondering why they don’t get a link!
A unique videoview-point
A big welcome to Videoview who just joined the IIA. Videoview create rich video marketing for broadcast online, via DVD and on television. While they still haven’t cracked the old television puts on ten pounds chestnut but they are offering packages to suit all budgets, which allows any size company to avail of their interactive solutions for TV/Broadcast, Web Video, and DVD production.
Don’t come crying to me…
Generally I’m a very sympathetic type of person. However, please don’t come crying to me when the Irish owned website/ digital company/ entrepreneur/ innovator you absolutely love and recommend to everyone you meet isn’t in the shortlist if you didn’t nominate them. Expect me to say, “Well did you nominate them?” and not a word more on the matter. (If you did nominate them and the judges don’t shortlist them, I’m staying out of it You can download the rules from www.netvisionary.ie)
Don’t leave it up to someone else. Get involved and make sure those who deserve an award, get a chance to compete when voting opens on September 29th.
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