Offsite to encourage local tech start-ups

Technology and innovation will also be the buzzwords in west Cork this week, with the Offsite event taking place in Rosscarbery on Thursday, to encourage new start-ups and drive innovation in the region.

The event will host a number of motivational speakers and business leaders, including world champion Irish race walker Rob Heffernan who will give a keynote address on dealing with the highs and lows of success and failure.

Heartsine chief executive Declan O'Mahoney, Voxpro chief operations officer Anthony O'Mara, UCC entrepreneur in residence Owen O'Brien and Elaine Doyle, account manager for large customers with Google, will be among the speakers.

Ms Doyle, a former marketing manager with Cully & Sully, grabbed the attention of Facebook and Google with her digital marketing campaigns for the food company, and showed how small companies can have a big impact using social media. She will speak about innovation at Google and how businesses, big and small, can create an innovative culture to deliver real results for the business.

Mr O’Brien will talk about the ability to sell, with many start-ups tending to focus on the technology or business product when knowing how to sell the product is actually the real key to success.

The one-day event will be held in the Celtic Ross Hotel in Rosscarbery this Thursday.

Technology and innovation will also be the focus of Enterprise Ireland’s Big Ideas showcase in the Aviva Stadium this Wednesday.

Twenty-one companies, spun out from third-level institutions in Ireland, will showcase their research and pitch to more than 350 investors at the event.