After the success of the Irish Made Awards, Irish Country Magazine was proud to announce the Irish Made Summit, a day of information and innovation with small and medium creative businesses at its heart. Due to extreme weather conditions in February, the initial date was postponed until Wednesday, 11th April 2018 in the Guinness Storehouse, Dublin.
Tru Irish ventured to Dublin for the day to support the event and meet with makers and designers around Ireland. The day's itinerary was jam packed with educational, informative and interactive talks and sessions where established, new and start-up businesses could get information on finance, marketing, funding, and retail, and meet some of Ireland’s success stories in person.
Upon opening the event at 10 o'clock, Irish Country Magazine welcomed the first panel of the day - Funding and Finance. Stephen Conmy (Thinking Business), Sheelagh Daly (LEO), Pamela Laird (Moxi Loves, BOI rep) and Brian McGee (DCCOI) discussed the opportunity in Ireland for funding a business within the craft sector and the infamous uncertainty of Brexit with their own businesses.
The overall winners of the Irish Made Awards 2017, Jando, the husband and wife duo - Julie and Owen Mc Loughlin, took to the stage to chat about their success story of their now multi award winning printmaking studio based in Dublin, Ireland.
After a quick coffee break, Eddie Shanahan showcased an inspiring presentation of the creators around the world who motivate him before being joined on the stage by Owen Clifford (Bank of Ireland), Melissa O'Gorman (Buying Director, Kilkenny Design) and Keira Kennedy (Designer, KDK). The panel discussed the The Retail Game including topics such as the importance of educating your staff on your products, pitching suppliers your stock and bringing emotion to your products.
After a beautifully catered lunch, we returned for Panel 3 of the day - Branding, Marketing and More with Ruth O'Connor (Contributor, ICM), Niamh Sherwin-Barry (The Irish Fairy Door), Emma Kelly (MD, Elevate PR) and Chupi Sweetman (Jewellery Designer). The panel focused on the importance of telling a story with your brand / products, being genuine and authentic and knowing and believing in your core brand values.
Unfortunately, that was the final panel of the day which brought us to the Pitch Perfect Session. Seven brands pitched to the panel of experts and then got advice on their performances and key areas to master. The brands including makers and creators of beer, jewellery, baby clothing, interior design pieces and hand printed apparel. The winner of the pitch session won an advertising and mentoring package prize from Irish Country Magazine and Bank of Ireland worth €10,000.
To finish the wonderful day, a networking session was encouraged to meet fellow entrepreneurs, creators and the days experts over a lovely pint of Guiness.
The Irish Made Summit is all about supporting Irish made products and the makers, designers and people behind them.
Tru Irish had a wonderful day at the event and cannot wait for the next. Congratulations Irish Country Magazine for a successful day.