The National Enterprise Conference is kindly sponsored by Abbott Vascular and County Tipperary Skillnet

We believe that it is time to be positive. The 2013 National Enterprise Conference will highlight inspirational stories from business people who have worked to develop their companies in difficult economic conditions. 

The speakers represent a family business, a college start up, global technology brand name, the most ambitious tourism project ever undertaken by the state and an online company that has become one of Ireland's best known brands in a few short years. 

Each speaker will have a unique take on how they made it and what you can do to build your business.

Our speakers for the 2013 National Enterprise Conference are:

Fred Karlsson

Fred Karlsson is originally from Sweden but has lived in Ireland the past 10 years. Fred realised he
had an entrepreneurial streak early on when he began designing and selling video games at the age
of 15 in his native Sweden. Fred has worked for several well-known organisations including Dretech,
Sony Ericsson, Sun Microsystems and IBM.

In 2005 Fred and his Irish wife, Geraldine founded DoneDeal.ie In December 2005, five months after

the website was launched, it carried more than 2,000 advertisements. Now the site facilitates the

advertisement of over 70,000 new items a month, and more than 300,000 people in Ireland visit the

web site every day. The company is now Ireland’s biggest classified website.

Dr. Sharon O'Kane

Dr. O'Kane serves as Entrepreneur-in-Residence at University of Manchester Intellectual Property

Limited. She is engaged in an advisory role to enhance the University’s spin-out company and

licensing activities and to encourage intellectual property entrepreneurship at the University.

Dr O’Kane co-founded Renovo Group plc in October 2000 and served as its Chief Scientific Officer

from May 2008 to February 2010. She served as Executive Director, Research & Development at

Renovo Group plc until May 2008.

Dr. O’Kane was an inventor of several of Renovo's patent families. She was named as Bionow

/ NWDA Biomedical Personality of the Year 2009 and was the Entrepreneur of the Year at the

inaugural Northwest Women in Business Awards 2008.

Michael Hodgins

Mick leads the Google account management team that identifies advertising solutions for the Travel,

Finance and Gambling industries in the UK and Ireland. He has been with Google since 2011

and previously held senior management and executive positions in Ireland, Australia and South

Africa, with Bank of Ireland Private, the Zurich Group and State Street. He is a former management

consultant and a current Director of Blossom Ireland, a childrens' charity. Mick is a BComm graduate

of UCD, has an MBA from the Edinburgh Business School, is a Qualified Financial Advisor and a

Fellow of Chartered Accountants Ireland.

Jim Miley

Jim Miley is Project Director of The Gathering Ireland 2013, the largest and most ambitious tourism
project ever undertaken in Ireland. The Gathering aims to bring in an additional 325,000 tourists to
Ireland by connecting citizens, families and communities with the vast network of Irish diaspora and
friends across the world.

Jim is a qualified Chartered Director and has worked in recent years with small and medium
businesses in the areas of business and marketing strategy, governance and board performance.

An Agricultural Economist by training, he has worked in a broad range of sectors including
broadcasting, development aid, politics and business. He co-founded and led the online property
website, MyHome.ie following a career that spanned politics, journalism and international development. In addition to his professional interests, he also chaired the Board of Concern Worldwide, Ireland’s largest charity from 2007 to 2010.

Margaret O’Connor

Margaret O’Connor is the Joint Managing Director of Quigleys Café/Bakery Nenagh.

Margaret has been involved in the strategic development of this successful 5th generation family
business.
As Director her responsibilities to the company are to grow revenue through sales and marketing .

Margaret believes to be a shrewd business woman you need to be innovative and promote change,
love what you do and never forget that the customer is paying the wages. Remaining positive is
important and she continues to balance work , charity commitments and family life .

This half day event is aimed at businesses seeking to develop in new markets, look at new ways of working and progressing.  It is an annual event, organised by Clonmel Chamber.  For more details please visit ClonmelChamber.com or call 052 6126500.  The event is also an excellent opportunity to network with business owners and decision makers from around the country.  

There are two networking sessions during the day, one at registration and another at approximately 11.15am.  Refreshments will be served at both sessions and they are an excellent way to meet new clients and develop new business relationships.  There will also be ample opportunity to engage with the speakers at the Q&A sessions or at the networking breaks.

The National Enterprise Conference is kindly sponsored by Abbott Vascular and County Tipperary Skillnet