Posts Tagged ‘JCI’
Thursday, June 10th, 2010
I landed in Copenhagen last night at 21:00 and had a nice walk around the city. It was raining a little and I did not expect that but I guess I should have checked the weather.
This morning I got the 7:50 fast train from Copenhagen to Aarhus and really got to see the splendid countryside of Denmark. There were many lovely lakes and lots of great bridges.
Five of the JCI Ireland delegation are staying in an apartment that is just around the corner from the conference Centrex and hotel. International director Marie did an excellent job finding the accommodation and everyone is delighted with the find.
The opening ceremony saw acrobats performing death defying feats on stage that really amassed everyone. As national president I was called up on stage as the Irish chief delegate and they had a short presentation on Ireland.
The night then kicked off in style with the first big party of the week and the beer was flowing freely. The price of beer in Denmark is quite expensive so everyone was delighted with the free bar that is included in the price of the conference ticket at the parties.
Up early tomorrow morning and off to general assembly where we will start to make some decisions on the direction of JCI in Europe. I hope to get some good ideas on launching branches around Ireland from my fellow JCI National Presidents.
Mark
Tags: Aarhus, Active Citizenship, conference, european, ireland, JCI, Leadership, Young
Posted in JCI Ireland President's Blog | No Comments »
Tuesday, June 8th, 2010
Last weekend saw members and non members from around Ireland attend the national TOYP awards. This was an excellent event that has gone from strength to strength over the last few years. I was so proud to be able to present awards to this years seven outstanding young people. I would like to really thank Michelle and her team for doing a splendid job in organising the event.
I am just sitting in the Airport now typing up this post getting ready to jet over to Denmark and attend the 2010 JCI European conference. I love the opportunity to get to European and World events to meet up with my JCI international friends. I hope to do some video blogs from the conference so you can experience some of the good times also.
We are going to do a marketing campaign at this years JCI Ireland national convention that is being hosted by JCI Fingal on the first weekend of October. I am hoping that we can tempt some of our good international friends over for a great weekend. This years convention theme is “Leading Together“
I would like everyone to keep new branch launches at the front of their minds an also Active Citizenship week
www.fifty-ways.com
Tags: Active Citizenship, JCI, Leading Together, Leasership, TOYP
Posted in JCI Ireland President's Blog | 1 Comment »
Monday, May 24th, 2010
Last week I was at the JCI Dublin Friendly Business Awards that were hosted by The Lord Mayor of Dublin in the Mansion house on Dawson street. These excellent awards recognise those excellent companies in Dublin who are going that extra mile in customer service & friendliness. If you would like to have a look at this years winners please visit
http://www.friendlybusinessawards.com
At the weekend I made the now short trip up to Belfast to meet up with some of my friends from JCI Belfast. They were hosting JCI UK presidents day and they did a splendid job of it. There were a few of us from JCI Ireland who made the trip and we really enjoyed the treasure hunt around Belfast city. And got to meet Jim Larkin on route 
Next weekend JCI Limerick are hosting training day and I am really looking forward to the political awareness training and the training on ballroom dancing. In the evening we will announce the outstanding young people who will receive a JCI Ireland TOPY award. I really enjoyed and was inspired by the stories of this years entrants and I am sure you will be inspired also.
See you on Saturday
Mark
Tags: Business, Dublin, FBA, Friendly business awards, ireland, JCI
Posted in JCI Ireland President's Blog | No Comments »
Saturday, May 8th, 2010
Last week I had the pleasure of attending the launch of the JCI Galway tourist guide. This is an excellent project that has been running for over 40 years in Galway. This project creates local, national & international impact and creates positive change. Have a look here and perhaps visit Galway http://www.galwaytouristguide.com/
At Galway Tourist Guide Launch
Later this month we have the finals of the 2010 JCI Ireland TOYP finals. This year we have a record number of entrants and I am really looking forward to judging these. If any of you were listening to 2FM on Thursday you would have heard them mention TOYP and the fact that Elvis won this award in the past. Hope to see you in Limerick on the 29th of May for this excellent event.
Thanks to JCI Dun Laoghaire and their excellent networking training I managed to get on the Radio last week. You can have a listen if you like here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6mk80nltZE I have not listened to it as don’t like listening to myself on the radio.
Lastly training day will also be in Limerick on the 29th of May also and I know this will be an excellent day.
Tags: Galway, JCI, Radio, Tourist Guide, TOYP, Training Day
Posted in JCI Ireland President's Blog | No Comments »
Monday, March 15th, 2010
Last week JCI Ireland launched the results of our free time survey with the results that people have less free time even though we are in the middle of a recession. This initially was a bit of a shock to me but after thinking about it, it makes sense that people need to spend more time making themselves more employable. You can have a read of the press release here. http://www.jci-ireland.org/website/index.php/News/Less-work-less-free-time.html
I attended JCI presenter that was hosted by JCI Fingal to award certificates on Saturday evening and I have to say they did a splendid job. I got loads of great feedback and I would like to thank Alison, Brian and the two excellent JCI trainers Helen and Catherine you did a splendid job.
As this is still March and our first impact month I have been keeping an eye on the papers and I was delighted to see local coverage in Limerick, Fingal and Tullamore. It was also excellent the nationally our free time survey got into some of the national papers and we got into some good websites.
Mark
Tags: Free time survey, JCI, Presenter, Training
Posted in JCI Ireland President's Blog | No Comments »
Sunday, March 7th, 2010
Victoria from JCI Galway organised the Galway Bay hotel to host this event and it was an excellent venue with great food and facilities. Thanks Victoria.
The day started with our trainer Catherine Laffey and all the members of National Executive going through some excellent exercises that helped all the members get to know each other. This was excellent and I found out loads of things about friends that I thought I knew quite well.
In JCI and in work sometimes we can focus just on projects and events and not think about what people do outside of this environment. At your next JCI meeting or in work why not try and find something new about one of your colleagues. Perhaps the name of their first Pet, I learned that Andrew’s first pet was Patch the Dog.
Tags: JCI, projects, team building, Training
Posted in JCI Ireland President's Blog | No Comments »
Saturday, March 6th, 2010
Just a quick update from the NEX meeting and team building here in sunny Galway.
All the NEX, President Mark Kelly, Louise Walsh, Andrew Shorthall, Emmeline Searson, Marie Mitchell, Orla Ryng, Marieanne Clifford and myself Michelle Daly.
We did a team building training with Catherine Laffey on the 5 steps to highly effective national boards.
Also we had some lovely buns, scones and lunches at the Galway Bay Hotel.
Afterwards we had a highly discussive meeting deciding a number of national issues and we are now looking forward to Spring Conference.
Looking forward to updating you again soon.
Tags: JCI, National Executive, team building
Posted in Community | No Comments »
Friday, March 5th, 2010
This March is the first JCI impact month for 2010 and JCI Ireland is looking to make some impact all over the country.
I would ask you as a supporter of JCI Ireland to recommend JCI to at least one person this march. If you are reading this blog you know the great benefits of getting active and involved with JCI.
Lets make March a great month for JCI all over Ireland and create some positive IMPACT!
Mark
Tags: Impact, ireland, JCI, Leadership
Posted in JCI Ireland President's Blog | No Comments »
Friday, February 26th, 2010
I was at the launch of the JCI Dublin Friendly Business Awards (FBA) and I had an excellent night. The night was really professionally run and JCI Dublin are now looking for entrants in the competition for more info http://www.friendlybusinessawards.com If you know of a business in Dublin that is bucking the trend and doing something extra special you should nominate them.
Last night I had the pleasure of being on a team at the annual JCI Fingal table quiz. I really like these events as they help stimulate the grey matter between my ears. Darrell did an excellent job as MC although he did not pick my ticket out for the raffle and I see a career starting for him in public speaking or debating.
I am looking forward to the National Executives first Skype conference call tomorrow night. We are moving with the times and this will help save us some time.
Keep up the great work everyone I can really start to see things picking up steam around the country.
Mark
Tags: Awards, Business, Debating, Dublin, Friendly, JCI, public speaking, Table Quiz
Posted in JCI Ireland President's Blog | No Comments »
Thursday, February 18th, 2010
The main part of today’s event was a brain storming session to find out the common issues that are affecting young people all around Europe. This event was chaired by Marco the president of Austria. You can see him give a summary of the results here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdnvumpUhKw
The main issues that the JCI European members will start to work on together and speak with a common voice are the following.
- Getting people around Europe to be more active.
- Looking to find new ways educate people politically and economically.
- Find new ways to foster entrepreneurship around Europe.
- Helping with the debate in finding new and renewable sources of energy.
- The integration of all people into Europe.
You can see some of the preidents voting in the picture below.
Tags: Europe, european issues, issues, JCI, young people
Posted in JCI Ireland President's Blog | No Comments »
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