Eventex 2018 Jury Yearbook: Pàdraic Gilligan

Managing Partner at SoolNua. Passionate strategist, marketer and trainer working with destinations, venues and hotels on meetings and events.

Who are you really? Young grandfather with magpie-like attraction to sparkly, shiny things particularly intangible ones like great ideas and concepts. I love the work I do but would like to have more time for other things I love like walking the dog, gardening, cycling, playing guitar, writing songs. My priorities are faith, family and fun.Personal credo... Try to be kindWhen you were a kid, you wanted to be… A teacherYou became… A teacher then an Italian speaking tour guide then an owner of a school specialising in teaching English as a foreign language then an incoming tour operator then a DMC then a PCO then an Event Manager then an owner of a business with 60 employees…What would people say about you based on your handwriting? – This guy is inscrutable and illegible.Which book do you think everyone should read? – Middlemarch by George Eliot for the final paragraph alone.Would you rather be the funniest or the most intelligent person in the room? – The funniest.The hardest thing about being in events... The super-long gestation period before the event is born and then the fact that its life is fragile and temporary. It happens, is beautiful and then fades away.And the easiest? – There isn’t anything easy.Describe how you imagine a conference 100 years from now… Conferences in 100 years time will still be face to face but technology will play an increasing role with tele-conferencing, Artificial Intelligence and Augmented reality.The best advice you ever received… Don’t look at the colour of the name badge – treat everyone equally.Honest arrogance or hypocritical humility? Honest arrogance in a heartbeat.Action or thriller? - Thriller especially psychological thriller.Surprise ending or a happy ending? – Happy ending.Practice without theory is… Like a fish without a bicycle.Less is more when… It’s a kiss.At the end of the day… It’s all about the “little, nameless, unremembered acts / of kindness and of love” (William Wordsworth)