Up early for a meeting to help mediate a problem between two parties that I know well that were about to go through a silly court process, gave a social media course to a group of business owners, drove to Dublin for a big pitch to a potential prospect – I feel it went well, fingers crossed!
We headed for an early bird to Chez Max on Baggot Street with our crew and were joined after by friends for a few drinks and some fun.
We ended up in 37, Dawson Street for more fun and then Burger king of course.
There was a beautiful full moon hanging over Dublin on this gorgeous night as we strolled back to our hotel. Our usual haunt was booked out so we ended up trading up to the very fancy, Merrion Hotel. Hotels in Dublin are clearly getting busier, which is a great sign for our economy.
As we made our way back to the hotel I noticed the bodies nestled in their sleeping bags alongside doorways just off Stephen’s Green. At least tonight it was dry and not too cold, which is a small blessing for those unfortunate enough not to have a roof over their heads for the night.
I glanced into one doorway where i noticed there were two people sleeping alongside each other.
To my surprise a bright face was staring up at me. For a brief moment we connected “How’s it going?” he said in a soft friendly voice. “Not bad at all, thanks”
We made our way back to our hotel and put our heads down for the night.
Today it’s off to Dublin Airport as we are taking a flight to Sicily for a well earned rest and some sunshine – it should be great, we’ve never been.
I wonder what my bright faced friend is doing today.
Greg Canty
Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion, Marketing & PR with offices in Cork and Dublin
I was listening to George Hook on Newstalk as we were travelling down from Dublin. He was broadcasting from San Francisco and he was chatting about some politician and he described him as being a “Leo Varadkar type of politician“.
Immediately you know that he means a politician who will give a straight answer to a question when asked.
When you think about it this is quite an incredible and simple attribute to be known for!
In assigning such an attribute to a politician you would imagine that no one single name should stand out – surely there are plenty who demonstrate this attribute on a regular basis either currently or in the past? Can we name them?
In truth there should be so many with this quality, that describing the straight talking/answer a question when asked attribute by mentioning a single politicians name would be confusing!
How is it that the youngest member of the Irish Government carries this torch?
Is it youth, is it not enough time in politics to be ultra cautious, is it a lack of fear of making an error against party policy, is it 100% confidence in his own ability and capability, is it not caring too much about politics and being prepared to simply say it as it is?
Is it his upbringing or the career he had before he became a full time politician – he lived in a relatively good part of Dublin, he studied medicine in Trinity and he worked in hospitals before opting for General Practice.
As a doctor do you get used to answering questions when asked?
Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Leo Varadkar of the Fine Gael party was appointed by the Taoiseach, Enda Kenny in March 2011. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann in 2007 and prior to this is served as a member of Fingal County Council since 2003. He received the highest vote in Ireland in the Local Elections of 2004.
Did his constituents like him because they saw him as someone who was prepared to answer their questions?
It is a great thing to see him doing really well and to see someone with these attributes progressing effectively in the Government but it is a very poor reflection on our recent political history that being prepared to answer a question is something that makes you unique!
Is there a lesson in this for all our politicians?
We’ve been privileged to have been working on a really interesting marketing project in conjunction with Colliers International,Placematters and Location Connections for the Cork region, which was commissioned by some of the key stakeholders.
Destination branding is something all cities and regions must now consider as they must market themselves in a clear, concise and consistent way to all target audiences they wish to attract. How a region markets itself must be believable and true so that the actual experience matches the reality.
As part of this marketing process you must first understand what the offering is, decide what parts of this offering are attractive to relevant target audiences and then package this offering in a clear brand description for the region.
All the subsequent marketing of the region should be consistent by all stakeholders so that maximum return on investment is achieved and that target audiences develop a clear understanding of the unique offer from that destination.
As part of the research work we conducted about the Cork region we discovered that many people are attracted to the size of Cork, “it’s not too big and not too small“, they love how quickly you can get from the city to the country, they love the nearby coastline and they also love the friendliness, humour and warmth of the people.
It is easy to understand the physical attributes of the region but the people dimension is one that is more difficult to pinpoint.
Is it really true that Cork is a friendly city just as the Lonely Planet Guide declared in it’s Top 10 List of cities to visit? The guide praises the city saying ‘Cork is at the top of its game right now: sophisticated, vibrant and diverse, while still retaining its friendliness, relaxed charm and quick-fire wit.‘
How can you explain this friendliness?
Do Corkonians really have this special “friendly” gene in their unique DNA?
In our research in Cork we conducted questionnaires with many foreigners working in the Cork region and they consistently told us how they had no intention of staying initially but this is now home and they would not be leaving. Cork is great fun and the people are very “friendly“.
As much as this proud Corkman would like to think people from Cork do not have a special gene, no more so than people from any other part of Ireland.
If it’s not a special gene then why do we behave in such a manner?
In Cork you can enjoy a good career with small SME’s or with large multinationals without the big commute.
You and your children can receive a great education right on your doorstep
You can enjoy a vibrant and friendly city where strangers still chat to each other that is easy to access
It’s a relatively safe place to live, visit or go to college
You can be in the country or walking on a beach within half an hour
You can enjoy a lively, entertaining, art loving, multicultural place where independents can still thrive
The food and entertainment offering is diverse and top class
You are connected to the world and major city hubs via an airport that is 10 minutes from the city centre.
On the very practical side of things Cork is a significantly cheaper place to live than Dublin and a more economical place to do business.
While the career opportunities aren’t as great as in Dublin or London, an internet world makes this less of a problem and the overall sense of well-being from an exceptionally better life balance makes the Cork region a very clever place for people to choose to live their lives.
So why are people from Cork friendlier, warmer and wittier?
Maybe this ideal sized region with an abundance of natural attributes just makes us happier?
It was bucketing out of the heavens as we stared out the window of our hotel in Garda in Italy during our summer holidays. It hadn’t let up for over an hour and it showed no signs of stopping anytime soon.
We had planned a leisurely stroll into the lakeside town and a nice meal on the waterfront but that was impossible – the tummies were groaning at this stage and the hotel restaurant was shut.
The restaurant that was directly across from the hotel (we were about a mile away from the lakeside strip) didn’t have the views that were on the lake but it didn’t seem to stop the steady stream of locals using the place since we had arrived.
Day and night there was a constant stream of Italian cars in and out of the place – it must be good if the locals were going there we reckoned. I checked on Four Square (a phone APP where you can leave tips about places) on my phone and the restaurant had some quite good reviews left by previous diners.
We decided to make a dash for it and despite it being just across the street we did get fairly wet.
Hostoria La Cross gave us a warm greeting as we entered but after doing so the waitress left us standing there – two minutes later she came back to us with two glasses of prosecco .. “welcome!“.
Wow – we were given a gift on the house before we had sat down or ordered anything.
It put us in great form and we had a fabulous meal (despite every second dish being laced in truffle oil..can’t stand that smell!)
Of course we left a big tip after our special night but really appreciated the “tip” the restaurant gave us at the start of the meal.
The last few times I have taken taxis in Dublin and in Cork I have noticed that each time the driver has “rounded down” when it has comes to the fare “€10 is fine” when the fare clocked €10.70.
The simple gesture is a big change to how it used be and it shows the appreciation of the business and invariably you end up leaving a good tip.
Last night after our meal in Bacco in Ballincollig we were offered a Limoncello on the house as we were settling the bill. They showed their appreciation for the business …”Thank you, we’ll be back”
Giving the customer something they are not expecting is a clever way of saying thank you and building customer loyalty.
We are working on a project at the moment and as part of this exercise we asked people a very simple question: “What do you love about Cork?”
As you can imagine we received all manner of responses, which are quite revealing about our great City and County.
One particular response from Fiona Whyte is worthy of special attention as it is so brilliant:
“What I like most about Cork are the ghosts, the ghosts of the older city, guarded behind the imposing presence of Father Matthew.
Move away from Father, over the bridge, along the quays and up Shandon Street, you leave behind the modern city and its quest for sophistication. Here, in amongst ebony skinned youths and pink-haired girls, the ghosts emerge from steep steps and lane ways.
A man in a long brown coat tips his hat at me as he passes by and I swear it’s Frank O’Connor. Shop fronts cry out Polski. A teenage girl at the bus stop checks out her Facebook updates on her smart phone. But the buildings can’t cover their origins of decades and decades ago and everywhere the music of the Cork accent rings out loud, louder even than the bells at the top of the hill.
Going past the North Cathedral and down Cathedral Walk – my mother still calls it Chapel Lane – children in the school yard are shrieking as they fly from a pig-tailed pursuer.
Girls are whirling ropes and one chants rhymes as the others skip. I think she’s my grandmother. I learned those same rhymes from her, and No. 3, the house where she was born, is just nearby. Its walls have been recently painted white but this cover up of its natural grubbiness is temporary, I’m sure.
What’s more, I’m certain now that if I walk through the front door, beyond the heavy curtain which separates the three foot square alcove from the not much larger living area, I will be greeted with a welcoming if toothless smile from the tiny woman who inhabits the chair in the corner. Her white hair is pulled back in a bun. Her black skirts reach the ground and a heavy black shawl is wrapped tightly around her. She holds court from the corner, though she rarely speaks. But all eyes are trained permanently in her direction, for just above her head, perched on a sloping shelf, is the miracle box, a chest of moving black and white images accompanied by muffled sounds. My grandmother’s mother, she lived to be ninety-six.
Leaving Cathedral Walk, I turn back to town and treat myself to a Moroccan couscous lunch in Cafe Bendec. I look out the window, content that here on Pope’s Quay, amidst the scurry of vehicles and pedestrians, the ghosts continue their eternal patrol”
About six years ago we wandered into the city of Siena in Tuscany while on holiday. To be honest we had no idea what to expect as we entered this gorgeous city with narrow cobble stone streets and old buildings with history in every brick and wooden door.
We noticed that many of the people wandering around the town were wearing scarves and it took a while to realise it was to do with a famous horse race and not a soccer match!
Sitting in a cafe on one of these narrow streets doing our share of people watching and soaking up the atmosphere we started to hear some drumming and a crowd chanting …. this chant got louder and louder and a pattern emerged. You could hear males chanting this song, then women, then children and then everyone together and the magical sequence started again.
Louder and louder the chanting seemed to get closer to where we were sitting – eventually the group were led by some flag wavers and a horse with a trainer, followed by hundreds of men, then children and then women all continuously chanting.
The hairs stood up on the back of my neck and this was the moment I fell in love with Siena and the Palio.
Il Palio
The Palio di Siena (known locally simply as Il Palio) is a horse race that is held twice each year, on July 2 and August 16, in Siena, Italy. Ten horses and riders, bareback and dressed in the incredible colours, represent ten of the seventeen contrade, or city districts.
The race itself (after hours of pomp and ceremony, believe me!), in which the jockeys ride bareback, circles the Piazza del Campo, on which a thick layer of dirt has been laid, three times and usually lasts no more than 90 seconds. The race is frantic with jostling between jockeys who are often thrown off their horses while making the treacherous turns in the piazza. The winner is greeted by incredible celebrations from the supporters from that contrade.
This year was the forth time we have come to Siena for both the beautiful place (the city is beautiful and it is located in the middle of Tuscany and the Chianti wine growing region) and the festival and I wonder why do we keep coming back when there are so many other fabulous places to be discovered?
Is it the pomp and the ceremony, is it the beautiful city or is it the excitement of the race?
This year I think I finally figured it out … All of the things that I have mentioned make Siena and the Palio very special and if you look at the pictures or the clips on YouTube you will get a sense of it.
What you won’t see online is the incredible sense of togetherness, community and belonging of the people that you will only witness when you experience the event for yourself.
They say in Siena you are baptised twice – once in Siena and then in your Contrade, which is your part of town. This is the part that means everything to you.
During the Palio practically every man, woman and child from each place comes out, participates in the blessing of the horse, the marching and the chanting. And every night (there are a few rehearsal days in advance of the “big” race) the groups get together in their part of town for a feast – you will see thousands of people all gathered, sharing food and drink proudly celebrating their colours and where they are from.
In most other countries the event would be commercialised and sponsored – in Siena it has and will always be untainted.
On the night of the Palio this year after the race was over we found ourselves walking in the middle of the crowd from a particular contrade who happened to be heading in the same direction – we listened to the chanting and we watched as people waved from the windows, even a nun was hanging out her window frantically waving her flag and cheering!
The hairs stood up on the back of my neck once again – I love Siena because for a moment you feel the power of community, you see people who are proud to march and show their colours, you feel part of something and sense the power of being together.
The sun was shining, we bought ice creams and headed off in the car in the direction of Kinsale and turned the music up loud ..
We chatted about music, work, life, the universe and a few bits in between.
We did the coastal walk from Charles Fort as far as we could go until nettles got the better of our bare white legs – shorts were not a good idea for that stroll!
I watched as my son, this young man walked ahead of me …how did he end up being 24 so quick?
We chatted some more about music, work, life, the universe and a few other bits in between.
“I’m starving” he declared … how about that guy on the bridge past Kinsale on the way to Garretstown who goes fishing a few days and then sells what he catches the other days?
Catch of the Day didn’t disappoint as we sat in the glorious sunshine on the wooden bench and munched down the Haddock, Hake and chips …. the wait was punishment (we were famished!) but so well worth it.
We chatted some more about music, work, life, the universe and a few other bits in between.
We moved onto the Speckled Door pub on the way to the Old Head of Kinsale and Brendan bought the drinks … we enjoyed a pint of Murphy’s and Bulmers respectively out the back as we looked out over the incredible view of Kinsale and watched a few young couples play with their kids (I remember when he was that young). It’s a pity Ellen (my fab daughter) couldn’t be with us today.
We chatted some more about music, work, life, the universe and a few other bits in between.
Last stop was the incredible Old Head … Brendan took me to a spot at the side of the cliffs. We stumbled upon two girls sunbathing topless and tried to walk past discreetly – I was so discreet I slipped and fell on my backside (big red face)!!
I politely stood up and continued on my way pretending I was all “cool”…
We sat and watched over this stunning view and pondered… we listened to and watched the birds (different types!) swoop in and out of the cliff face.
We watched the waves roll into the cliff face and contemplated how the thousands of years of activity has eroded the rock. The water was crystal clear.
We chatted some more about music, work, life, the universe and a few other bits in between.
Eventually it was time to go … we drove back to Cork and went back to our other lives.
We had the greatest father and son day, we didn’t quite drive a JCB but we did chat about music, work, life, the universe and a few other bits in between.
Thanks Brendan …let’s make sure we do that again sometime soon x
Ten past eight and I’m still lying in the hotel bed in Achill Island contemplating the day ahead.
My alarm went off over two hours ago – Yep, 6am is the first alarm setting and I have a second one set for 6:15, which is when I normally get up. The very odd time I might allow myself the luxury of another 15 minutes and then get up ..busy, busy!
That’s just the way it is these days – Monday to Friday I work my socks off , including most evenings and there is always some work to be done at the weekend. The joys of self employment!
Ten past eight ..I’m not here on holidays, I’m on Achill Island to deliver three days of social media training to the local business people, most of whom are involved in the tourism sector.
I have loads to do but the wifi only works in the reception area and my modem doesn’t have sufficient coverage to get any work done.
Breakfast isn’t served in the hotel until 9am – I’m not kidding!
There is plenty of time to do everything including taking in the most spectacular scenery you have ever seen in your whole life.
The sign at reception used say breakfast is served between 8:30 and 10 am but this was changed with a temporary sign changing the 8:30 till 9am. Yesterday morning I thought I would pop down and just grab some cereal but the dining area was all locked up – nothing for it but back to bed.
I give the course at the local IT centre from 10am – things don’t start too early around here.
Today is my last day and I’m starting to get to know some of the group quite well. The group is made up of born and bred locals, Julien the kite surfer (Pure Magic)from France, Ute from Germany, Padraig who jumped out of the rat race in Dublin and a bunch of other immigrants from all over Ireland.
During one of our numerous tea breaks (with gorgeous homemade scones) one of the immigrants explains to me how the place “gets a hold of you” and you just don’t want to leave.
Besides being very relaxed and friendly it helps when the suggestion of a visit to Lynotts pub (the greatest little pub ever) is accepted warmly.
I was expecting one or two to turn up for a pint but a good few came with their friends – the guitar was produced and we had songs in English and French ..well done Julien and Liam.
Dee is just after coming over to me as I am typing this “You’d get used to the pace of life here”.
As usual we headed off for our early Sunday morning walk with the four legged one.
Just around the corner from our house we passed a hard working volunteer from the Ballincollig Tidy Town Committee who was busy, head down engrossed in the job of picking up bits of rubbish from the side of the road.
This always amazes me …this man and all the other dedicated volunteers get up on a Sunday morning and they pick up rubbish that other people have left behind.
“Well done” I say to him, just to acknowledge that I think what he is doing is great.
I can’t get my head around the exceptionally great and selfless choice that these people make every Sunday.
We continue our walk and take a route that runs alongside the river.
Just as we are walking over a gorgeous old bridge I notice an old couch that someone has just thrown over the wall. On closer inspection I notice that an old TV is on the ground next to the couch!
Can you get your head around how anyone could make such an exceptionally selfish and awful choice to just dump something in such a gorgeous spot, how someone could dump their stuff anywhere. How could they?
Why is it that the exceptional choices by great people are needed just to deal with the exceptionally bad choices of others.
Imagine how special our world would be if all exceptional choices were great ones..
“Everyone is happy” we heard the old gentleman say to the person he was with as we walked past him on the street.
“Everyone is happy” he repeated, this time a little louder to make sure what he was saying registered with his buddy.
This was the main street in Tipperary town, and the “It’s a Long Way to Tipperary” Festival that our client , Tipperary Co-op were sponsoring was in full swing.
We had just left the Tipperary Co-op Hardware store, or Top Creamery as the locals know it and there was a great buzz with threshing, old kids games, people enjoying the BBQ and of course plenty of banter. I spoke to a friendly gentleman from Rossmore called Liam O’Dwyer who was giving a blacksmith demonstration – he had an incredible display of old signs and as part of this was an old “Death Penny” from World War 1 (I’ll tell you about that in a separate blog!).
In our stroll down the town the locals were in full spirits, stopping to chat and enquiring where we were from. A old woman stopped me and I had to sign a book that apparently promised her a dance later! We popped into a small shop that had a full display of war memorabilia including war posters and a full history of the iconic song. Once again we were overwhelmed by the friendliness and warmth of the people there. The immortal song was made famous during World War 1 by the soldiers all over Europe.
Making the whole festival (which was celebrating 100 years of the iconic song) really special and great fun was that many people in the town were dressed in costume from that era.
Altogether now ….
(Imagine the anniversary of this famous song passing without marking it in any way – in Fuzion we refer to this as “Never Wasting a Good Story” – there is a huge PR tip for you!)
When we arrived in the town we had parked at the other side and walked all the way through. There were vintage cars, old tractors and motorbikes, people dressed up, everyone posing for photos, posters and banners and a fabulous, genuine “feel good atmosphere“.
Before we left the town we popped into the Tipperary Co-op owned SuperValu, which had its own exhibitions, competitions and the team there joined in the spirit of the festival wearing clothes from that era as well – all except for Pierce, the manager of course!
When we were there we were chatting to the guys from Tipperary Co-op, Richard, Pierce and Tom. They were thrilled with how their sponsorship of the festival had worked out but more than that they explained how the festival seemed to “unlock” a sense of spirit and fun in the town that seemed to have disappeared over the last few years through a mixture or recession, bad weather and general worries.
Maybe, everyone took a step back and grabbed onto some old values from a time when life was a little simpler.
As the old gentleman had said ..”Everyone is happy“.
Greg Canty Fuzion Blog 