magnificent 7 return ?

27Jun07

The first meeting of the Advisory Board for the nc4c took place on Tuesday 5th June last in Kilkenny.

The 7 initial members on the Board are:

1. Fergus Cronin (KIDCo). Fergus is current Chairman of KIDCo – the Kilkenny Industrial Development Company, which was set-up in 1998 by local authority, community and business interests in Kilkenny for the purpose of promoting local community economic development projects. Among his many other interests, Fergus is also the current Chair of Kilkenny Arts Festival;

2. Declan Rice (BNS LEADER – www.bnsrd.com). Declan has been a strong supporter of the concept of the nc4c since the beginning and he was instrumental in encouraging us to make application for seed funding to ‘fit-out’ the Maltings annexe building;

3. Jim Dunne (Enterprise IG – www.enterpriseig.ie). Jim is co-founder and managing partner of Enterprise IG, Dublin. He is involved in advising clients on managing corporate and brand reputation, which involves managing effective and aligned communications across all media from print to on screen and into physical spaces. Jim was previously Manager of the Kilkenny Design Consultancy, a Government body established to promote design in industry. He has written about and delivered position papers on design for national competitive advantage and the branding of Ireland for Tourism and Foreign Direct Investment. Jim has also chaired or participated in many industry initiatives to develop and promote design in Ireland;

4. Michael Dee (Enterprise Ireland – www.enterprise-ireland.com). Michael is a regional executive with Enterprise Ireland (EI) based in Waterford. He has an extensive background in stimulating the development of local community based development initiatives. Among his many interests, he regularly delivers workshops and seminars on stimulating ideas and developing creativity;

5. Patrick Munden (Ryan Academy for Entrepreneurship, DCU – www.ryanacademy.ie). Patrick, as Director of the South East Business Innovation Centre (SEBIC), was one of the originators of the nc4c concept. He joined the RyanAcademy in December 2006. He has extensive experience in the support and development of entrepreneurship. Patrick was previously Chair of the Association of EC Business & Innovation Centres in Ireland and a Board member of the European BIC Network and Irish BIC Seed Capital Fund.  Patrick’s role in the RyanAcademy is the development of relationships with National and International organisations working with entrepreneurs;

6. John Purcell (KCLR96FM – www.kclr96fm.com). John is a native of Kilkenny. After a period with leading Dublin public relations company Gilmore Communications, he joined Radio Kilkenny as General Manager in 1993. While at Radio Kilkenny he was actively involved in radio industry initiatives and served as a founding Director of Independent Network News (INN). He is currently Director of NewsTalk 106, and is a board member of Beat 102 -103. John is also Chairman of CK Broadcasting and Chief Executive of KCLR 96FM, the new radio service for Kilkenny and Carlow; and

7. myself (of course!)

So this could be the return of the magnificent 7 – albeit we are not purporting to be cowboys ! As in those western classics, we feel as if we have departed on what right now seems to be a mission where all the odds are stacked against us, but we are confident of success!

We recognise that the Advisory Board as it currently stands has a ‘gender balance’ issue. However, I can assure you we are intent on redressing this sooner rather than later.

I was certainly excited by the level and breadth of discussion that took place at the first meeting of the Advisory Board. There was a very healthy critique of our draft strategy and re-examination of the focus of the centre. We have come away with a number of tangible actions that our project manager, namley Keith Bohanna is currently developing further and will report back to the next meeting of the Advisory Board scheduled to take place during the Kilkenny Arts Festival. I will keep you posted……

Sean.

www.kceb.ie

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