FITZWILLIAM INSTITUTE
  PROVIDERS OF ACCREDITED PRACTICAL SKILLS TRAINING COURSES FOR OVER 25 YEARS
 

Archive for May, 2008

Current Industry news

Posted in News on May 14th, 2008

Four Irish stars nominated for Tony Awards

Acclaimed playwright Conor McPherson is amongst four Irish people who have been nominated for a prestigious Tony Award.

McPherson’s play ’The Seafarer’ received four of five Irish nominations.

The playwright has been nominated as both writer and director for ’The Seafarer’, which was staged on Broadway last Christmas to rave reviews, while actors Conleth Hill and Jim Norton have been nominated for their performances in the same play. ’The Seafarer’ is currently receiving its Irish premiere at Dublin’s Abbey Theatre.

Actress Sinead Cusack completes the Irish nominees for her performance in Tom Stoppard’s ’Rock and Roll’.

Elsewhere, British theatre dominates this year’s nominees. The revival of the Stephen Sondheim musical ’Sunday in the Park with George’ has received nine nominations.

Tom Stoppard’s ’Rock ’n’ Roll’ is nominated six times, including for best play, while ’The 39 Steps’ has also received six nominations.

Four British actors are amongst the five nominees for best actor: Patrick Stewart for ’Macbeth’; Rufus Sewell for ’Rock ’n’ Roll’, Mark Rylance in ’Boeing Boeing’; and Ben Daniels in ’Les Liaisons Dangereuses’. American Laurence Fishburne completes the nominees for his role in ’Thurgood’

Source

Current Industry News

Posted in News on May 13th, 2008

London hosts Sex and the City premiere

The world premiere of the new ’Sex and the City’ movie took place in London last night, with all four of the movie’s stars in attendance.

Controversy surrounded the choice of London, and not New York, where the series is set, as the location for the world premiere.

However, leading star Sarah Jessica Parker was quick to counter any criticism saying: "We decided to have it here and we’re delighted to be here."

Wearing a pale green dress by Alexander McQueen, with her shoes and bag by the same designer, Parker was the first to arrive at the Odeon Leicester Square, which had been sprinkled with sparkles for the occasion.

Topping Parker’s outfit was a green headpiece almost as tall as the star, featuring flowers, grasses and a butterfly, by Philip Treacy.

Speaking to reporters, Parker declined to answer questions on rumours of a rift with co-star Kim Cattrall, who plays PR executive Samantha Jones.

Cattrall was the second to arrive, wearing a red off-the-shoulder knee-length dress with a faint stripe by Vivienne Westwood.

Rumours of a rift between Cattrall and the show’s other stars began to gather pace after it was alleged that it was Cattrall whose demands delayed the new film. Asked if she would be willing to do a sequel, she said: "Perhaps."

Cynthia Nixon, who plays lawyer Miranda Hobbes, arrived wearing a floor-length, low-cut pleated black Calvin Klein dress, while Kristin Davis, who plays art dealer Charlotte York Goldenblatt, was the last of the foursome to arrive, wearing a cherry-red vintage sleeveless dress and cream peep-toe heels.

Adding to the debate as to why the premiere was being held in London she said: "Why not England? I like Britain. There’s enough of us to go round."

Amongst the celebrities in attendance at the premiere were ’Big Brother’ presenter Davina McCall, Alex Curran, Michelle Ryan and Tess Daly.

Others who attended included football pundit Gary Lineker, Lisa Snowdon, Kris Marshall and Mackenzie Crook.

’Sex and the City’ is released in Ireland on 28 May.

Source

Current Industry news

Posted in Events on May 12th, 2008

Gladiators roars back with 1.5m viewers for Sky One

Sky One’s revival of ’Gladiators’ pulled in 1.5m viewers on Sunday night, marking a triumphant return for giant foam hands and bodybuilders in spandex after an eight-year absence from UK screens.

The first episode of the new series was watched by a 10% share of the multichannel audience between 6pm-7pm.

It was backed by a heavyweight ad campaign featuring a TV ad inspired by the Hollywood movie ’Gladiator’, starring Russell Crowe, that was shown on terrestrial TV as well as BSkyB channels.

It also benefited from plenty of media coverage as newspapers and magazines picked up on the return of the kitsch 1990s show.

The new ’Gladiator’, which was a big hit in the nineties on ITV in its previous incarnation, is presented by former England striker Ian Wright and Kirsty Gallagher as well as the original referee John Anderson.

Sky One also scored a hit with its new Shane Richie-fronted gameshow ’Don’t Forget the Lyrics’.

The first episode of a 12-part series, in which contestants attempt to win £250,000 by singing the missing lyrics from 10 songs, brought 946,000 viewers and a 5.3% share of the multichannel audience between 7pm-7.45pm.

It was a good day all round for Sky, with its live coverage of Manchester United’s 2-0 win over Wigan, which secured the club its 10th Premier League title, earning 1.3m viewers and a 13.2% share between 2pm-5.30pm on Sky Sports 1 yesterday.

At the same time on Sky Sports 2, Chelsea’s 1-1 draw with Bolton Wanderers, netted 370,000 viewers and a 3.9% share.

Source

Current Industry News

Posted in News on May 7th, 2008

50,000 Facebookers celebrate Ben & Jerry’s 30th birthday

As part of a campaign to celebrate its 30th birthday, Ben & Jerry’s launched a Facebook ‘Free Cone Day’ campaign.

Free Cone Day was first celebrated back in 1979, in the original Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Shop – a dilapidated gas station in Burlington, Vermont. Founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield spent their first birthday dishing out free ice-cream to thank loyal customers for their support during Ben & Jerry’s first year in business.

Now, 30 years on, the brand is celebrating ‘Free Cone Day’ the web 2.0 way!

In addition to distributing free ice-cream at scoop shops nationwide, Ben & Jerry’s celebrated its 30th birthday with Facebookers all over the world.

A global first, the facebook group was launched by Ben & Jerry’s Ireland in March 2008. Within one month a fanbase of over 50,000 facebookers were celebrating 30 Legendairy years, sharing birthday greetings and interacting with the brand in advance of the brands ‘Big 3-0’ on April 29th 2008.

To celebrate 30 Legendairy years check out join the ‘Free Cone Day’ event on Facebook.

Microsoft Finally Gives Up On Yahoo

Microsoft announced that it has finally let go of its ambitious effort to purchase Yahoo after the two companies failed to reach an agreement on a suitable selling price after several days of intense negotiations.

Back on Feb 1, Microsoft went public with a $44.6 billion dollar bid for Yahoo, which would have instantly created a dominant force in the surging online advertising space. Yet despite raising its bid by nearly $5 billion, Microsoft will come away empty handed as Yahoo’s executives were said to be seeking a higher price for the embattled company. And perhaps surprisingly, Microsoft has elected not to go hostile in its acquisition attempt, and is instead electing to simply move on.

source

Eden’ and ‘New Boy’ Win at Tribeca Film Festival

Steph Green’s IFTA-winning short ‘New Boy’ and Declan Recks’ ‘Eden’ have scooped awards at the Tribeca Film Festival, New York, which took place from 23rd April – 4th May. ‘Eden’ actress Eileen Walsh picked up a Best Actress gong, while ‘New Boy’ was named Best Narrative Short.

‘Eden’, based on Eugene O’Brien’s award-winning play, is a meditation on married life in a claustrophobic, provincial town and is the second collaboration between Declan Recks and Eugene O’Brien since multi award winning TV series ‘Pure Mule’.

The film, produced by Samson Films, screened as part of the World Narrative Competition with 11 other films from established filmmakers, including Shane Meadows’ ‘This Is England’.

IFB funded short ‘New Boy’, produced by Tamara Anghie and Zanzibar Films, competed against 79 international shorts including a short penned by ‘Babel’ writer Guillermo Arriaga. The Best Narrative Short accolade comes with a $5,000 cash prize.

’New Boy’ already won the Audience Award for Best International Short at last year’s Corona Cork Film Festival and received a Special Mention at this year’s Berlin International Film Festival.

“Recognition in the form of major awards at key international film festivals is very important to the Irish film industry, as it raises the profile for smaller films and helps them sell to territories all over the world.“ said Irish Film Board Chair, James Morris. “We’re delighted that Irish film continues to gain international acclaim with new films building on the recent success of ‘Once’, ‘Garage’ and ‘Kings’.” source

EU gives Google-DoubleClick buy thumbs up

Google’s multi-billion dollar acquisition of online ad network DoubleClick has finally been given the go-ahead by European regulators.

The European Commission (EC) said Tuesday the USD3.1 billion deal won’t impede competition, despite the complaints of Microsoft and Yahoo.

"The Commission found that the merged entity would not have the ability to engage in strategies aimed at marginalising Google’s competitors, mainly because of the presence of credible ad-serving alternatives… in particular Microsoft, Yahoo and AOL," said the EC in a statement.

The acquisition had already been approved by US regulators in December.

The EC had taken longer in its investigation partly because of the potential privacy concerns of joining together the databases of the two companies, which include significant information on users’ web activity.

Those concerns were eventually put aside as they were considered beyond the remit of European competition regulators.

Other organisations were happy the deal hadn’t been blocked.

Jonathan Zuck, president of the Association of Competitive Technology which represents SMEs, said: "The merger will undoubtedly change the competitive landscape of our industry and fuel the evolution of internet advertising." source

Current Industry Jobs

Posted in Jobs on May 7th, 2008

Africa Day – Dublin Castle on Sunday May 25th - Volunteers Wanted

The event will consist of music, family day, kids activities, African and Irish musicians and cultural activities including Mundy, Sinead O’ Connor, Kíla, Motema, Kanda Bongo Man.

The event is under the Department of Foreign Affairs and Irish Aid.

We are looking for a team of volunteers to help on the day and days around the event, ideal for work experience and an opportunity for people to can a contribution to a great not for profit event.

There is also a number of staff positions in production and front of house for the event.

Contact: paul@davisevent.ie, tel: 01 5111258

Campaign Planner – Clear Channel

Clear Channel is a global entertainment and media company specialising in out-of-home media opportunities. Clear Channel Ireland is the country’s leading outdoor advertising company.

A vacancy has arisen in our Dublin Sales Department for a Campaign Planner. Interacting with customers you will be responsible for account handling, campaign design and management and will enjoy working as part of a team. Working closely with the sales and marketing team you will deliver support, advice and a customer orientated service.

Strong communication and organisational skills are required together with excellent computer knowledge. Experience in sales or media while desirable is not essential.

If your skills and experience match our requirements and you would like to join our team please send you CV in confidence to leah.meegan@clearchannel.ie.

Elevate PR Recruits Senior Account Executive and Account Manager

Elevate PR is now 7 years old, still growing and winning great new accounts including Bewley’s Tea, Rado Watches and Hilton Hotels. We elevate a number of lifestyle clients including Nokia, Swarovski, Rosemount Wine, Aga and Holland & Barrett. Young, proactive and entrepreneurial we are a challenger agency that has moved from boutique to mid size with the help of fantastic clients and staff.

We are recruiting both at Senior Account Executive and Account Manager levels to join our growing team of 12 PR professionals. We need savvy and tenacious individuals to help us to plan and execute innovative and creative campaigns for our clients. We focus not just on traditional PR outlets such as print and broadcast but include online activity in all campaigns

The Senior Account Executive should have a minimum of one year’s experience in a PR role, excellent computer and writing skills, a proven ability to multitask and liaise with both the media and clients and an enthusiastic attitude.

The Account Manager should have a minimum of three years agency experience with a proven track record of campaign results and client and media management. Excellent computer and writing skills combined with strong media contacts, delegation and reporting skills are required for this challenging but rewarding position.

If you want to join a hard working and dynamic team in a fast growth environment please reply in confidence to Mary Crawford at mary@elevate.ie

You will not regret it! Attractive remuneration package available for the right candidate.

Hopkins Communications Cork – Account Executive

Hopkins Communications Cork, established in 1990, is an independent full-service communications agency based in Cork City and servicing clients in the Munster Area. With a solid reputation in the industry, our services include public relations, event management/conference organisation, sponsorship management, advertising/media-buying, graphic design and promotional marketing (nationwide). Hopkins Communications also partners with national agencies and in-house pr executives to deliver a highly-personal, localised service to meet client objectives in the region.

Due to several recent wins, we are now looking for a bright, out-going all-rounder to join our team, working primarily in the public relations division, with involvement in several complementary disciplines as detailed above.While this is a full-time position, we may entertain the prospect of a part-time position, depending on the candidate.

Attributes and Qualifications:

- A proven track record in a similar agency

- A Public Relations qualification

- Enthusiasm

- Minimum 2 years experience

- Capable of working on own initiative

- A sound understanding of the business world

- Excellent organisational ability

- Excellent writing skills

- Excellent presentation and communication skills

- Excellent computer skills

- Experienced in media relations

- Good media contacts

- Entrepreneurial drive and flair

- A creative and strategic thinker

If you tick most of these boxes you’re half-way there.

This position may suit those of you wishing to return to the good life in The Real Capital!

Salary will reflect the calibre of candidate.All applications, by email or by letter will be treated as confidential, and should be addressed to: Mary Hopkins, Hopkins Communications Cork, 42 Patrick Street, Cork or email mary@hopkinscommunications.ie.If you wish to contact Mary in the strictest confidence call her directly on 087 2540804.



Administrative & Sales assistant/Entertainment Co-Ordinator

Established in 1988, Occasions: The Party People are market leaders in event management and entertainment, providing unrivalled experience and professionalism backed up by creative and dynamic ideas.

Occasions offer superior event production services, we pride ourselves on being unique, flexible and above all, innovative. Delivering new concepts and imaginative solutions to brighten up private and corporate entertainment.

- To provide administrative support to all aspects of the business.

- To book, coordinate and maintain relationships with Acts for all functions, particularly weddings.

- To deal with accounts in negotiating rates, confirming payment details and ensuring accurate invoicing

- Managing data entry of payments

- Generating sales leads and actively targeting new business.

- Following up on all leads

- Weekly/monthly reporting of activity

- Ad hoc duties as required

The ideal candidate will:

- Have excellent communication skills, both written and verbal

- Must easily and professionally interact with others, both in person and via telephone.

- Be motivated and a real self-starter

- Be ambitious and eager to develop their career in sales

- Focus on the customer, collaborate with others and solve problems creatively

- Excel at meeting deadlines and targets

- Be attentive to detail

- Be able to multi-task effectively

Contact: forward relevant CV’s to info@occasions.ie

PR Manager – L’Oreal Luxury Products Division – Dublin

With fantastic beauty press contacts, exceptional negotiation skills and a passion for the luxury arena, you will be responsible for leading communications for the brands of the Luxury Products Division in Ireland.Through developing effective PR strategies you will thrive on executing key emblematic brand events, and major sponsorship partnerships, as well as liaising closely with the international teams to strategically drive the success of the LPD brands for the future.This is a fabulous opportunity to acquire experience working for one of the leaders in luxury beauty where innovation and advanced technology are key to moving beauty ahead.

Your key job accountabilities

- Responsible for executing the PR strategy for the brand portfolio

- Devising and managing the PR budget to ensure maximum effectiveness

- On-going key feature negotiation with beauty press

- Manage the relationship with the UK International communications teams for the brands

- Overall responsibility for the communication of all new product launches

- On-going liaison with the Marketing team to ensure clear communication of the brands both in the press and in the public domain e.g. store/customer events

The network you would work with

- Communications and PR team for all luxury brands in the UK and International teams

- Sales & Marketing teams

- Journalists from all relevant medias

L’Oréal offers highly competitive salaries reviewed on an annual basis.You would also be eligible to receive a car allowance plus a bonus potential of 15% linked to your performance and successful completion of the contract. We offer a company pension scheme, private medical care and a free life assurance scheme.Our employee product scheme offers significant discounts to employees on company products as well as an allocation of products specifically for our luxury brands.We also offer a wide range of optional benefits including discounted gym membership.

Qualifications & Skills required

- Degree qualified; ideally in PR / Communications or English

- Excellent and persuasive communication skills – both written and verbal

- Genuine ability to think, write and communicate creatively and with impact

- Ability to work autonomously, demonstrating initiative and foresight

- Strong press contacts ideally within beauty industry and experience within the

luxury arena would be an advantage

- Results driven

- Strategic thinker

Apply online: www.irishjobs.ie or www.loreal.co.uk

Sales and Marketing Assistant – Sinnott Hotels

This progressive hotel Group, with leading four star properties in both Dublin and Galway, are individual in character and style, yet with a shared commitment to excellence, reflected in the quality and comfort of our facilities and the genuine warmth of our service.

The successful candidate will possess an outgoing personality, resourcefulness and a flair for sales and marketing with excellent inter-personal skills and a determination to succeed.

Key Duties include;

- Assist in the placing and proofing of advertisements on behalf of Sinnott Hotels

- To effectively monitor success of all advertising and associated cost on an ongoing basis

- To generate positive PR (publicity) for Sinnott Hotel Group

- To provide Admin support to Sales & Marketing team including execution of database mailings & eshots.

- To maintain accurate and detailed database information on clients and to undertake the development of the direct mailshot programme for Sinnott Hotels in consultation with Group Sales & Marketing Manager.

- Undertake telesales / sales activities on an ongoing basis with a view to securing business for bothhotels.

- Represent Sinnott Hotels at various Trade Shows / Shopping centre promotions and consumer shows

as requested.

- Internet projects and various projects in consultation with Sales & Marketing Manager.

Applications to: Human Resource Manager, Sinnott Hotels, Furbo, Galway

Tel: (091) 592108Fax: (091) 592065 E-mail: humanresources@sinnotthotels.com Website:www.sinnotthotels.com

PR Account Manager

An award winning boutique public relations agency specializing in corporate, educational and financial PR is looking for an Account Manager for their organization. Handling accounts that transcend sectors, countries and challenges—this dynamic organization is searching for someone with initiative, corporate savvy and willingness to contribute to a boutique firm.

The candidate:

- A qualification in PR—preferably at post graduate level

- Four to five years of agency experience, ideally in corporate PR

- Effective campaign management skills

- Experienced at handling and managing budgets

- Familiarity with PR measurement metrics

The role:

- Effectively strategize, plan, implement and manage business to business campaigns

- Lead client contact

- Drafting press releases, reports and news copy

- Media management

- Event planning and management

- Support the managing director for pitches and proposals

This company is offering an extremely competitive salary and package for the right candidate and is eager to get someone on board as soon as possible. For further information please contact Genevieve Judson-Jourdain at Genevieve@achievers.com or alternatively, call: 01 828 0508.

Digital Media Executive

We are looking for an enthusiastic, ambitious and numerate person who is passionate about digital media. Amongst other things, you will be responsible for the development and implementation of media campaigns through 3rd party ad serving systems on behalf of our clients

Role and mission:

- Manage the day to day Planning & Buying across a number of accounts

- Develop an in depth knowledge of your clients market sector and their competitors within that sector

- Work closely with Account Director to develop key online strategies for clients

- Manage the day to day media relationships to ensure all clients campaigns are implemented, tracked, and reported correctly and according to strict deadlines

- Work closely with the offline planning teams to ensure an effective client relationship exists. This will

involve client meetings and a proactive approach to teamwork

Key responsibilities are to:

- Working as part of a team

- Demonstrate that you are constantly thinking about new developments in digital media and how they could benefit your clients business; and communicate this to the relevant teams

- During the campaign briefing process, ensure that media issues, timings and responsibilities areaddressed up-front

- Manage the day-to-day planning and buying of all online campaigns

- Presentation of media plan to clients

- Negotiating and managing contracts with the media owners

- Ongoing monitoring of campaign performance

- Preparation and communication of campaign reports to clients

- Manage the performance of all online campaigns and ensure that key insights

are incorporated into future activity

- Responsibility for managing client media budgets

- Build and Maintain productive, professional working relations with media owners

Essential attributes of successful candidate:

- Strong numeric and buying prowess are essentials

- Excellent client management skills

- Strong attention to detail and an ability to follow clearly defined work processes

- Strong presentation skills

- Excellent project management and problem solving skills

- Ability to pre-empt problems and be pro-active in producing solutions

- Strong analytical skills and attention to detail

- Manage numerous projects at once and consistently to deliver high-quality

work to timescale (work under pressure and short deadlines)

To apply: Email your CV/resume and a cover letter providing details of why you think you can make a difference at Captivate Digital (Word or PDF) to jobs@captivatedigital.ie

Events May 2008

Posted in Events on May 7th, 2008

May 7th-8th Young Social Innovators Showcase, RDS

May 11th WhitSunday – Pentecost

May 15th-18thInterior Design Show 08

May 15th – 18thPGA European Tour, the Irish Open Golf, Co Limerick

May 21stSoccer, Champions League Final, Moscow

May 22nd-25th Bruce Springsteen & E Street Band concert, RDS

May 22nd-25thDublin City Soul Festival

May 22nd – 25thMonaco Grand Prix

May 23rd – 25thSelf-Build Show, Dublin

May 24th/25thRugby, Heineken Cup Final, Twickenham

May 25th – June 8thTennis, French Open

May 29th – June 2ndCat Laughs Comedy Festival, Kilkenny

May 29th – June 2ndDocklands Maritime Festival, Dublin

May 30thCeline Dion Concert – Croke Park

May 30th-June 2ndCastlebar Blues Festival

May 30th – June 1stCobh Maritime Song Festival, Co. Cork

Current Industry News

Posted in News on May 6th, 2008

Opal Fruits make a comeback after decade away

Mars has revealed that Opal Fruits are going back on sale in the UK, 10 years after they were renamed Starburst.

The Opal Fruits brand name was scrapped in 1998 and replaced with Starburst by manufacturer Mars, much to the annoyance of some fans. Starburst first appeared in the US in 1976.

The chewy fruit sweets with the tagline "Made to make your mouth water" will now return with their old name for a limited period.

The packaging will be the same and the original four flavours of orange, lemon, lime and strawberry will be brought back.

The only difference will be that this time the recipe contains no artificial flavours or colours.

Opal Fruits will be on sale exclusively through supermarket chain Asda from May 11 for a limited period of 12 weeks. Starburst will continue to be sold as normal.

If the return of Opal Fruits is as popular as Mars expects it may make their comeback more permanent.

A spokesperson for Mars was reported in the Daily Mail to have said: "The brand is a classic. Everyone of a particular generation remembers the Opal Fruits catchphrase.

"After a 10-year absence from the UK market, we have decided to bring back Opal Fruits as a limited-edition offer. For those who remember the sweets in their original guise it will be an opportunity to evoke that sense of nostalgia."

Last year, Mars expanded its Starburst range with the launch of Starburst Drink, which comes in two flavours: Outrageous Orange & Pineapple and Sensational Strawberry & Raspberry. It also launched Starburst Choozers, a liquid-centred chew.

This week, Mars agreed to buy the owner of Wrigley chewing gum for £11.5bn. Mars plans to move its Starburst and Skittles sweets into Wrigley.

Source

 
 
FEATURED COURSE

DIPLOMA IN EVENT MANAGEMENT
with Public Relations Module

-Learn From The Professionals
-Create Your Event From Initial Client Brief to Final Pitch
-Delivered By Industries Top Event Managers
- Start Date is the 11th October 2010
 
OUR ETHOS....

- Practical Skills Training
- Delivered By Industry Professionals
- Industry Recognised
- Internationally Accredited
- Established Over 25 Years
- Transferable Skills Globally
- Career Focused Approach
- Interactive Case Study Based
- Hugely Successful Formula
 
TESTIMONIALS

"Excellent delivery of an excellent course."
"Very informative with emphasis on practical skills that are useful. Would (and have) recommended this course to friends and colleagues."
"Great course - interesting and practical."
"Well done. Course was efficient and exceeded my expectations."
 
FINAL PLACES REMAINING
Postgraduate Diploma Courses
With Arranged Work Experience!

- Event Management...
- Public Relations...
- Online Marketing & Advertising..

- Start 28th September 2010
Download Application Form Here

All of the above courses are also available by Distance Learning...
 
 
Public Relations Courses Event Management Course - Postgraduate Course Association of Advertisers in Ireland - Diploma Courses Online Marketing Courses - Home Study Institute of Commercial Management Public Relations - Distance Learning International Special Events Society Project Management - Distance Learning Courses Event Planning - Distance Learning Courses Wedding Planning - Distance Learning Courses Online Marketing Courses - Distance Learning