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Venue: Townsend Enterprise Park, Belfast
Date: 16th Nov - 4pm to 5pm
Book on-line - this is a free event
December 14th 2011 – 16:00-17:00hrs
ICAGNI Christmas gathering – Seasons Restaurant - Mount Conference Centre Belfast BT6 8DD
Informal gathering with late lunch – a la carte – pay as you go.
Book here
ICAGNI’s informal Christmas celebrations will be on December 14th from 2pm at the Mount Conference Centre. Orders will be taken up to 2.30pm and thereafter guests can have coffee/tea and a mince pie. Each guest can choose their own food from the delicious menu and will settle their own Bill. Early booking advised via this link only www.trainingpeople.biz/ICAGNIXMAS2011/default_form.htm
Get LinkedIn to a Global Business Network Introduction
As of August 4 2011, the world’s largest business networking site, LinkedIn, reached an important milestone, passing the 120 million user mark. Launched in 2003, LinkedIn has grown to become the most popular social media network for professionals, providing a great tool for anyone seeking to connect with people they know and to access reliable information on businesses throughout the world.
The Power of LinkedIn
Online networking sites such as LinkedIn allow business professionals to make connections to highly targeted local and global networks with the help of digital technology. One of the reasons why online networking sites are enjoying such meteoric growth is the role they play in opening up very real business opportunities – ranging from making contacts across multiple industries or promoting your brand directly to a targeted list of professionals in overseas markets.
Marketing with LinkedIn
At the heart of social networking sites such as LinkedIn is the professional profile. By creating a profile, the site allows you to detail your professional experience and achievements, education and recommendations, which will help you to connect with other professionals. The better your profile the more effective your brand visibility and credibility will be. You can also use your profile as a broadcast tool by announcing new services, company news, recent hires or client wins.
Users are also encouraged to ‘connect’ to other people on LinkedIn, for instance from colleagues to service providers. However effective marketing on Linked In is about more than simply making connections with people you already know. While it can be tempting to stick to this approach, it’s a bit like hiding at a local networking event or quickly finding the few people you know and not introducing yourself to the other people in the room! To get the best out of the service you need to interact and engage with fellow professionals.
Beyond connections
One of the primary ways of boosting your profile is to gain recommendations from clients or previous colleagues. Recommendations have a critical role online as they provide a great way for people to quickly assess trustworthiness.
You can also join multiple LinkedIn groups of which there are many thousands ranging from Alumni, corporations and charities spread across multiple industry sector areas including education, travel, legal and marketing. With a little research you could identify several very relevant groups matching your business sector and interact with them to drive sales.
The site also lets you contact other professionals who you are unconnected to, through InMails. It’s here that you can see the real value of LinkedIn, especially if you want to use the site to market your company or services to particular professionals. LinkedIn has been careful to avoid the ‘spamming’ plague that characterised ‘free’ online communications tools including email and directories. LinkedIn users have to pay for InMails so you tend to only use them in a more personal way with professionals that you really want to talk to.
All of which has implications for the future of old style direct marketing which can be ineffective and expensive. There is no doubt that the impact of LinkedIn and other business social media tools will encourage businesses to see the value of promoting themselves within a trusted online marketplace. Paul McGarrity is Director of Octave Online Communications, an internet marketing consultancy based in Belfast. The consultancy helps business and organisations to benefit from online marketing strategy and campaigns.
www.OctaveOC.com
SANTA SPECIAL (BELFAST & PORTADOWN)
As an update to the previous email announcing the release of Belfast and Portadown tickets for sale, we can now confirm that tickets for the Portadown trains (Sunday 4th December) can also be obtained over the counter (cash & cheque sales only) at:
Winnies Newsagents
72 Woodhouse Street
Portadown
BT62 1JL
These trains and all those below are also available (by phone or over the counter) from:
Belfast Welcome Centre
47 Donegall Place
Belfast
BT1 5AD
+44 28 9024 6609
Or online: http://www.steamtrainsireland.com/events/
On sale NOW!!!!
Saturday 3rd December
TRAIN 1: 11:15, Belfast - Whitehead (£11) TRAIN 2: 13:40, Belfast - Whitehead (** BOOKED OUT **)
Sunday 4th December
TRAIN 3: 12:00, Portadown - Lisburn (£11) TRAIN 4: 14:55, Portadown - Lisburn (£11)
Saturday 10th December
TRAIN 5: 11:15, Belfast - Whitehead (£11) TRAIN 6: 13:40, Belfast - Whitehead (£11)
Sunday 11th December
TRAIN 7: 11:35, Belfast - Whitehead (£11) TRAIN 8: 14:05, Belfast - Whitehead (£11) TRAIN 9: 16:15, Belfast - Lisburn (£10)
Saturday 17th December
TRAIN 10: 11:15, Belfast - Whitehead (£11) TRAIN 11: 13:40, Belfast - Whitehead (£11)
Sunday 18th December
TRAIN 12: 11:35, Belfast - Whitehead (£11) TRAIN 13: 14:05, Belfast - Whitehead (** BOOKED OUT **) TRAIN 14: 16:15, Belfast - Lisburn (£10)
Active Inspire’s Customer Wisdom
 Key Features
· Allows involvement from across the whole customer base
· Can evaluate perceptions of competitor offerings
· Can compare service and competition against market expectations
· Captures Weak Signals that can prompt innovation
· 100% anonymous, prompts real and unfiltered messages
· Free text format input only
· Overcomes all obstacles of disparate and geographically spread locations and also shift or timezone difficulties
· Delivers results very rapidly, typically in 5-6 weeks.
· Takes advantage of internet opportunities and technology.
· Minimises consultancy expenditure and effort required from the customers’employees and managers
· Scalable to meet different requirements
Promotes involvement and engagement, builds the customer relationship
Obtainsevidence as to where improvement or change is needed, from the customers themselves
Can engage thousands of customers in contributing in a few weeks
Introduces a novel level of engagement and responsiveness
A new era of participation, co-operation and commitment
Raises the barrier to competition
Return on Savings
Implementation is easier, less expensive than other methods.
Costs are a fraction of the equivalent analysis conducted by traditional questionnaire, survey and focus group techniques.
Because it is fast to deliver results, the lost opportunity cost of delay in acting is reduced.
Promotes involvement and engagement, builds the customer relationship
Free enterprise workshops
Belfast City Council is offering free enterprise workshops and mentoring support to help you grow and develop your business.
These workshops are open to small businesses who are based in the Belfast City Council area only. Invest NI client companies and retail businesses are not eligible for these workshops.
These workshops are funded by Belfast City Council, Invest NI and the European Regional Development Fund under the European Sustainable Competitiveness Programme for Northern Ireland.
Facebook for Business Workshop Monday 14 November
This practical workshop will enable participants to create a business Facebook page and will also look at integrating applications to enhance the page to develop your business. Participants will also be able to access a half-day one-to-one mentoring session following the workshop. There are only 12 places available at this workshop. No previous experience is required although an appreciation of Facebook and a personal profile would be an advantage.
NorthCityBusiness Centre 9.30am-12.30pm - To register:Please contact us for an application form: Telephone:028 9027 0482 Email:
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TENDERS
For Northern Ireland specific contracts, there are a number of sources of information specifically for contracts within Northern Ireland. The Central Procurement Directorate (CPD) handles contracts for a number of government departments. You can find a list of current tender opportunities on the CPD website. Again, there is no email alert facility that we can find which makes the content difficult to adapt to the Bulletin format. Please see https://e-sourcingni.bravosolution.co.uk/esop/toolkit/notice/public/opportunities.do?reset=true for the current list of Northern Ireland opportunities. Ref: NOV282055
Notice Type: Invitation to Tender
Title: Managed service relating to ICT security infrastructure
Published: 01/11/2011
Published by: The Property Registration Authority (PRA)
Deadline: 14/11/2011
Full Text: http://www.etenders.gov.ie/search/show/Search_View.aspx?id=NOV282055
Ref: NOV282616
Notice Type: Invitation to Tender
Title: Consultancy support to Evaluate the JobBridge National Internship Scheme
Published: 01/11/2011
Published by: Department of Social Protection
Deadline: 30/11/2011
Full Text: http://www.etenders.gov.ie/search/show/Search_View.aspx?id=NOV282616
Ref: NOV282575
Notice Type: Invitation to Tender
Title: Provision of Human Resource Services
Published: 01/11/2011
Published by: National Transport Authority
Deadline: 16/11/2011
Full Text: http://www.etenders.gov.ie/search/show/Search_View.aspx?id=NOV282575
Ref: NOV282255
Notice Type: Invitation to Tender
Title: Seeking Mentors for the IRD Duhallow Business Training and Mentoring Support Programme
Published: 01/11/2011
Published by: IRD Duhallow Ltd
Deadline: 01/12/2011
Full Text: http://www.etenders.gov.ie/search/show/Search_View.aspx?id=NOV282255
Ref: NOV282255
Notice Type: Invitation to Tender
Title: Seeking Mentors for the IRD Duhallow Business Training and Mentoring Support Programme
Published: 01/11/2011
Published by: IRD Duhallow Ltd
Deadline: 01/12/2011
Full Text: http://www.etenders.gov.ie/search/show/Search_View.aspx?id=NOV282255
Ref: NOV282616
Notice Type: Invitation to Tender
Title: Consultancy support to Evaluate the JobBridge National Internship Scheme
Published: 01/11/2011
Published by: Department of Social Protection
Deadline: 30/11/2011
Full Text: http://www.etenders.gov.ie/search/show/Search_View.aspx?id=NOV282616
Ref: NOV282295
Notice Type: Invitation to Tender
Title: ITT for the provision of Marketing Services and Support in Nordic Markets
Published: 01/11/2011
Published by: Bord Bia (Irish Food Board)
Deadline: 15/11/2011
Full Text: http://www.etenders.gov.ie/search/show/Search_View.aspx?id=NOV282295
Belfast City Council Tenders are available at www.belfastcity.gov.uk/tenders 
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