Enoy the Long Weekend!

And don't forget to read "The Four Hour Work Week" for next Tuesday's Book Club!

Synergy is The Business

John Murray of RTE Radio's "The Business" visited us today and met with a number of our entrepreneurs to find out what goes on here at Synergy Centre. He spoke to Seamus Kilmartin of UltilitySaver, Karen Bolger of HowtoProjectManage, Conor MCGoveran of Onformonics and Dave McDonnell of VisualID. The rain just about held off for an external interview after which John and Alan (producer) were heading over to the newly opened Tallaght stadium. Tune in this Sunday morning at 10am to hear more! http://www.rte.ie/radio1/podcast/podcast_thebusiness.xml
[Synergy interview is at 21 mins].

Free Online Marketing Advice

Check out www.digitalmarketingschool.ie for a new website that aims to bring us all up to date on the terminology and techniques behind online marketing. starts right at the beginning without being patronising - v. interesting. The brains behind it - Andrew Jenkinson and Niall O'Driscoll - have been at this online marketing business for years and have the experience, understanding and industry plaudits to prove it.

Make Yourself Heard

Win a €15k promotional campaign with 4FM, Unique Media and the Sunday Business Post. Now is not the time to be experimenting with advertising as a small business - the funds involved make the risk/reward ratio too unattractive. I'd argue, in fact, that in a business2business market it rarely makes sense to spend big bucks on advertising. HOWEVER - if someone will pay for it for you, it gives you a tremendous opportunity to build brand awareness. The pr package attached to this prize also offers an opportunity to work with Unique Media (who do all of Synergy Centre's PR work) to develop a national media presence. When all that is required is a 500 word submission, what have you got to lose?!? For more info visit http://www.4fm.ie/competition.asp.

A Day of Deep Breathing

It's been a day of deep breathing from the get go here at Synergy Centre. We kicked off at 8.30 with a breakfast session with Martin Toner, the golf specialist. Martin not only worked on our golf game, but also showed us the importance of switching between left and right brain activity to achieve optimum results. Focus, passion, preparation and understanding are what we must bring to bear in all aspects of our lives to be happy. Our March intake of EPP participants were given a chance to put it all into practice during their 6 month "Dragons Den" - style sessions with a panel of mentors. Each made a 20 minute presentation followed by a 40 minute Q&A session. Deep breaths all round - managing the nerves in advance, answering questions under fire, dealing with the constructive criticism, and then - most importantly - taking time to rethink, redirect and refocus. Passion, Preparation, Understanding & Focus.

Tallaght - Centre of the Universe

It's official - Tallaght is, according to An Bord Snip Nua, the place to be. The recommendation by Colm McCarthy's review group is that Blanchardstown Institute of Technology and the three DIT sites be relocated to our own campus here at ITT Dublin. This runs alongside proposed swingeing (what a great word!) cuts to R&D funding and serious rationalisation of the Enterprise Development arms of the state including the subsuming of the County Enterprise Boards into Enterprise Ireland and a reduction of 200 staff in that latter entity. While it is inevitable that every man/woman/entity will defend their own right to continue in existence, and these pleas fall largely on sceptical ears once one steps outside one's own realm, it is to be hoped that cuts in R&D and enterprise development are made with one eye to the future. As Enterprise Ireland's recent publication on the Technology Transfer Strengthening Initiative highlights - it can take a while for funding to translate into outcomes - particularly when the funding is there to create a serious shift in strategic outlook and approach.

Seedcorn: Effort & Reward

Synergy Centre will host a presentation and Q&A from Intertrade Ireland on Monday lunchtime as part of our Brown Bag series. The topic will be the agency's Seedcorn Competition which offers decent cash prizes and much kudos in the business start-up/investor world. The competition mimics an investment decision-making process: It demands a succinct (25 pages), believable, goal and growth oriented business plan in the first instance. This presents a challenge for many entrepreneurs - even those who have a solid business plan. Whittling it down to a useful 15 pages can be difficult - particularly for those who are technology focussd and want to describe in detail the nuts and bolts of their massive invention. The trick is to focus on the outcomes - for the clients, for the company, for the investor. The next step, having been shortlisted (hopefully), is regional rounds of presentations and, following that, national rounds. These presentations are tough - the Q&A sessions are incisive and challenging and those who emerge from the room are inevitably exhausted. So the question is - "Is it worth it?". And the answer? Yes it is - not based on the prize sums involved, but rather the prestige of the competition, the access to potential investors, and the discipline of the process itself. Come along on Monday for more info or visit www.intertradeireland.com/seedcorn .

Scary, Speedy Summers

A sign of the times we live in? The recently blogged Innovation Vouchers Call from Enterprise Ireland that opened on Monday is now closed. With over 100 applications received in just three days, in the height of summer this has to be both scary and reassuring. Scary for those of us who support young, high-tech start-ups - the challenge is for us to marshall our resources so that we are in a position to respond in an accelerated fashion to their requirements. While resources of all types are scarce in a system that is largely public sector based - EI, CEBs, Incubation Centres, Colleges, FAS etc - we must also look to cut the red tape that can unnecessarily stretch and absorb these resources. On the upside it is reassuring that in the current economic climate a three day call throws up one hundred small businesses who are are actively seeking to commercially innovate - develop dramatically better products or processes. And these are all short-term projects with short to medium term results - we won't have to wait too long for their impact on Ireland Inc. Next call for Innovation Vouchers opens 1st September - watch www.innovationvouchers.ie for more info.

FAS Work Placement Programme

Announced in May this year, the FÁS Work Placement Programme is designed to offer unemployed people, including unemployed graduates, the opportunity to obtain 6 months quality experience in a work situation. Placements must provide quality work experience, with a work plan, for a 6 month period. There must not be a vacancy in the work activity in which you are offering placement. Participants on the Work Placement Programme will continue to receive their existing social welfare entitlements from the Department of Social and Family Affairs for their duration on the programme. Further information on the scheme and full details of the eligibility criteria are also available online at http://www.fas.ie/en/About+Us/News/pressReleases.htm.

New Innovation Voucher Call

For those of you not familiar with them, Innovation Vouchers are just genius for small companies with an R & D bent. Enterprise Ireland will give you a voucher worth €5000 to use with any third level college in the country to do some development work for you. All you have to do is to find the right person to work with (and pay VAT on the 5k). The next open call for the vouchers is in September but there is a limited call (of 75 vouchers) currently open in the FastTrack format. this requires you to have already agreed the project with the academic institution. Quite a number of Synergy Companies have benefitted from the voucher system - it really is incredibly easy to navigate. Visit http://www.innovationvouchers.ie/ for more info. Note that you have to be a registered company and you cannot have more than one voucher active at any time.

Synergy II: Excitement Building

Just finished a long session with the design team for the extension to Synergy Centre which will include the new PRTLI funded Centre of Applied Science for Health, more Innovation laboratory space for commercial rersearch, and double the amount of business incubation space. A lovely discussion in the incubation space focus group around interaction vs. privacy/productivity and the challenge for the architects is going to be maintaining one while maximising the other.We discussed flexible space, more meeting rooms, comms facilities, phone booth-style pods, storage space, showers, heat and light and more. Next draft of plans in two weeks time - will keep you posted!

Back in Business

Apologies for the lack of posts - been out sick since Thursday last - boo hoo! While out though I've been reading the Harvard Business Review's "Innovation" compilation which my kind hubby picked up for me in Boston's Logan Airport. Lots of ideas now for accelerating the development of our own innovation factory here in Synergy Centre. I'll pop the book in the Synergy library when done and would highly recommend a read - it's the sort of thing you can just dip into being a collection of articles rather than an end to end book. [Note mention of Chris Kurjan (of Innovation Delivery who tutor on innovation in our Enterprise Platform Programme - www.innovationdelivery.com) as head curator of IDEO's ideas boxes.]

From Bunker to Boardroom

Okay - I've twisted his arm, but I honestly think it will be fascinating! Martin Toner, golf guru and mind-man will visit us on the morning of Tuesday, 21st of July for the next Juice session on balancing your work and your life. I've been aware for some time that the myriad of concerns - all the things that you have to do, and all the things that might possibly go wrong - can become paralysing for entrepreneurs. The mortgage payment competes with the technology prototype; the search for a plumber with the search for a funder, networking (IT) with networking(in person). If you stop to think about it all you might never get started again. And bizarrely, when I wondered what to do about this Martin popped into my head. You see, playing sport is a lot like this - when you stop to think you lose your momentum. And yet if you don't play smart, you will never be the best. Martin gets in the minds of athletes and helps them to do both - think, be smart, but don't get paralysed. Hope I'm not overselling it but really looking forward to the 21st.

Synergy Baby en Route!

What a lovely post to be able to put on the Synergy blog :-). Onray, our Enterprise Officer (and general "keep the Synergy Show on the road" man), has told us that he expects to be a Dad in the new year! We already have high hopes for the bairn and I am currently working on a reading list to accompany the monopoly board and fisher-price mobile phone that will be my first birthday gift. Congrats Onray!