Stick your oar in! Share your views on Events & Congress 2010

October 9, 2009 · Posted in Congress 2010 · Comment 

Photo by Krishna DeMany of you have completed our recent survey (and there’s still time – it remains open until 5pm today) where we picked your brains on what kind of events, formats and prices you would like to see in our events calendar in 2010. Our events manager, Irene Dehaene, in particular would like to thank you very much.  She and I would also like to  remind you that there’s not only still time but also a chance that you might win two tickets for the 2010 IIA Congress & Net Visionary Awards taking place next May.

Speaking of which we would also love to do a bit of online brainstorming with you, our resourceful readers, here on our blog. What themes would you like to see addressed at next year’s Congress? What are the biggest opportunities for online business that you would like to hear more about? What are the biggest pitfalls that you need more information to avoid? What have you been reading, watching, hearing about  that you think more businesses here need to know about? Have you had a revelatory experience using a new technology that you think would make an awesome case study? Have you heard an inspiring speaker that you think all Irish online business people should have an opportunity to hear? What other questions could I possibly ask to get your brainstorming buds a-tingling?

Don’t worry about what themes we addressed in previous Congresses, don’t worry about whether you’ve attended before or not, just speak (write) your mind.

I have a ticket for next year’s Congress for the best comment below so please stick your oar in!

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Feedback Friday: Pressieport.ie steps up

January 30, 2009 · Posted in Feedback Friday, Uncategorized · 11 Comments 

So the first company in our brand new feature “Feedback Friday” is Pressieport.ie who are also one of the newest members of the IIA. The idea with Feedback Friday is to allow members of the IIA to seek feedback on their site and in fact Fred from Pressieport.ie describes what he hopes to get from it himself:

pressieportPressieport.ie launched in November 2007 and then re-launched in June 2008 on a brand new platform (you live, you learn). We focus on trying to provide our customers with a different and original range of products/gifts than might generally be available on the High Street in Ireland and we pride ourselves on our Customer Service and the fact that we deliver to your door overnight anywhere in Ireland. In addition to this we provide a gift-wrapping service and personalised greeting card service. We are constantly looking for and working on improvements, but being in the thick of it means that sometimes it can be difficult to have objective or detached opinions about different aspects of the site. It is for this reason that we would really welcome feedback and suggestions from fellow IIA members and readers of this blog whether it is negative or positive.

The site can be viewed at www.pressieport.ie. You can leave comments below or pingback from your own blog.  And, if you don’t mind, a few pointers in order to make this a pleasant and constructive experience for all:

  1. We are looking for feedback on the site: on its navigation, usability, accessibility, design, optimisation and any other nuts and bolts aspects that you in your own specialised expert field might notice.
  2. Tell us what you like about the site, not neccesarily the service or goods Pressieport are offering.
  3. Tell us what you don’t like about the site and please try to express exactly what it is that irks you. “I don’t like the photographs.” is not as helpful as “I think photographs that give a better idea of the recommended usage of the product would be better.” (A hypothetical example :) )
  4. Make sure you let us know where you blogged your contribution to Feedback Friday.
  5. Have a look at this wiki from Wikihow.com which I think sums feedback up generally.
  6. If you can ‘t say anything nicely maybe you should go for elocution/ creative writing lessons :)

Thanks!

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A lotto good ideas

July 14, 2008 · Posted in Uncategorized · Comment 

Click here to visit LocalLotto.ieThe IIA welcome their newest member Locallotto.ie. This is, as the Americans say, a neat idea and, based on the roller on their homepage, is paying off for the organisations using it. Basically if your club or organisation run a lotto already locallotto.ie will bring it to a wider audience and make it easier for existing entrants to keep on entering no matter where they are. Their system also allows people entering the lotto to set up their entry for one draw or all the draws in the upcoming year. So even if you don’t win your favourite club or community or voluntary organisation does. If you can’t find your personal favourite there is even a facility to send an email to them telling them about locallotto.ie. You can also catch up on the latest local club or society news on their homepage.

I love writing these little snippets about our new members. It’s a great way for me to get to know a little bit about all these organisations who are joing the IIA and to start a conversation with them. I was thinking about this on my way home from Tipperary on Sunday with a friend who is a web designer. She spotted a company for whom she had designed a site and pointed this out to me and was very curious to see how they were faring. I asked her a bit more about what they did and I swear they couldn’t have got a better sell if they had paid her as a marketing executive! I imagine many passionate service providers are like this about their clients and their work, no matter how far removed it might be from their own experience. That’s how I feel about our members too: I’m genuinely curious about their businesses and, of course, their motivations for joining the IIA. That said it can be tough to write a snippet about a company especially if their business is in an area where I have no experience myself. I do worry that I am misrepresenting some of our new members. I have said it before and will say it again: please use the comment box to correct any erroneous details. I welcome the help in getting it all right.

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