A later post will deal with all the ins and outs of this – but I just can’t keep it to myself any longer… We spent most of the Summer on our application for funding for the Events Industry Skillnet. Those of you new to this concept might like to know that Skillnets is an initiative of the EU and the Irish Government to help networks of businesses in similar domains to collectively define their training requirements and then deliver on them with up to 80% funding.
We received a development grant (like a feasibility study grant) at the end of May from Skillnets to see how viable the proposition would be. And during the Summer months many of us put in long hours and had sleepless nights putting together our application. Over 150 companies involved in the events industry in Ireland participated in our effort to organise this gigantic but fragmented and diverse industry, and more than 100 companies and organisations put aside significant time to support our application.
Our hard work has paid off and we heard last night that we have received approval for funding for a training and accreditation programme for the events industry as detailed in our application. We thought that the Summer was tough – let’s just see how tough it really gets!! I am so proud to have had the pleasure of leading this initiative – and to have worked together with so many of my colleagues and peers to achieve this milestone event in bringing some semblance of serious business to the business of events.
Skillnets – you rock! Thank you so much for your support. More later… I’ve got a lotttttaaa work to do now…
