160 billion emails are sent daily, the first public mobile call was made on 3rd April 1973. there are more than 4 billion mobiles in use and 3 million are sold every day.
The Gathering is a unique chance for us all to join a countrywide, citizen-led initiative to reach out to Ireland's global diaspora and bring them home for an unprecedented year-long celebration of all that is great about Ireland, Spread the word!!
The G Hotel in Galway will today join an elite group of only 12 others in Ireland to be awarded five stars by the AA.The hotel's restaurant -- Gigi's -- has been awarded two AA rosettes in recognition of its fine dining. The hotel achieved its five-star status following a series of unannounced visits by AA inspectors -- and last week learned that it had made the grade. "This really is a very prestigious award for the hotel," said a delighted Triona Gannon, general manager. The hotel opened in November 2005 and was designed by renowned milliner Philip Treacy, from Ahascragh, Co Galway.
To-day April 23rd sees the re-release of ABBA's last studio Album, ABBA - THE VISITORS!
I remember it the first time around and still have the original vinyl released in 1982!! The Visitors, as a Deluxe Edition is not only the original album, you also get seven bonus tracks and a exclusive DVD compromising of rare and previously unreleased material. The Visitors, as an ABBA record, is somewhat different to what you might expect. Gone is the “lighter” music of Waterloo and Mamma Mia! and its place we have When All Is Said And Done, a song that depicts Benny and Frida slowly going their separate ways. The Visitors, the opening song, does a tremendous job of allowing you to know within the first few bars that this record is more “mature” than previous releases with the instinctive synth and pulsating beat. Head Over Heels and Slipping Through My Fingers are more fine examples of this. The major hit single is One Of Us, with its beautiful intro to an amazingly catchy chorus.
Here's a link to "When All Is Said And Done!" Released in April 1982, 30 years ago, it stills sounds as fresh today as it did back then !!
The bonus tracks is where you get to embrace what this Deluxe Edition is about. Songs like Should I Laugh Or Cry, previously a B-Side, Cassandra and The Day Before You Came are the picks here. They all fit in perfectly with the original album. We are even giving a very special track, From A Twinkling Star To A Passing Angel. It may only be a demo, however what it most definitely isn’t is filler as this is the standout song from the extras.
Enjoy!
Sunday, 22 April 2012
Recently,
After 2 days locked away in the Fitzpatrick’s Castle Hotel, Killiney, Co
Dublin, A team of 5 students, representing Shannon College of Hotel Management
was selected as the outright winner of the Irish Hospitality Institute (IHI)
Business Management Game 2012, in association with Champagne Taittinger and
Fáilte Ireland. Congratulations Shannon and commiserations to my fellow team
mates, at DKIT! We did ourselves proud!!
The 5 Golden Rules of Social Media
Facebook page? Check! Twitter account and dedicated hastags? Check!
Competitions, discounts and giveaways? Check! Any real, measurable and abundant
ROI from social media campaigns?
Guys,
A recent EyeforTravel survey of APAC travel brands shows that despite 67%
claiming to have deployed social media initiatives, more than half admitted
confusion or inability to effectively rack and measure ROI.
One respondent describes ‘For all its potential, social media keeps me up at
night.. It feels a little bit like jumping in at the deep-end without arm-bands
and being expected to swim’
Social media experts explain how brands can move beyond deploying social media
for ‘engagement’ or to ‘raise awareness’ and instead concretely generate
incremental revenue and real ROI. Excerpts below;
Hotel Social Media and Review
Analytics for Service and Sales 1) Identify where social media will
save you money
Social technology can increase efficiency. Using social media and review
analytics could also save you substantial amounts of money in customer surveys,
business intelligence, and market research. Exposure from social campaigns
could replace some of your investments in advertising and PR, saving money from
budgets there as well.
2) Count inbound leads from social
media
Many hotels are using social media listening tools to pick up on conversations
with people looking to buy what they are selling. Hubspot research showed
companies that blog generate 88% more inbound leads than those who do not blog.
3) Measure for sales conversion
improvement
Social media - and online customer reviews in particular - play a key role in
optimizing sales conversion rates." Brian Ferguson, EVP at Expedia,
quantifying the ADR impact as well: “A 1 point increase in a review score equates to a 9% increase in average
daily rate (ADR).” Measure the increase in revenue
directly attributable from using social media in the sales process.
4) Track progress towards business
KPIs and strategic objectives
Insights from the social web can play a key role in reaching strategic business
goals such as improving guest satisfaction or increasing the percentage of
direct bookings. When you understand the financial impact of reaching larger
business goals such as these, quantifying the contribution of social media
towards reaching that goal becomes easier.
(EyeforTravel and Greg Tilston published a good overview of social KPIs on the
EyeForTravel blog.) “The online reputation of each of our
brands is a key success indicator for us. Online reviews not only give us
insights into our daily operations, they also directly influence our revenue
and profitability.” – Luis del Olmo, EVP and CMO of
Melia Hotels International
5) Measure campaigns
Driving email newsletter subscriptions? Need to increase the number of inbound
links to your website for SEO purposes? Want to increase visitor time on your
website? Campaign or project-based ROI might ultimately be the best measure of
return on investment. Especially if you compare the cost associated with
reaching a goal with what it cost you in the past using other tactics. Martin
Soler at WIHP wrote a good article if you want to learn more about this: