Samantha Kelly (Founder of Irish Biz Party) and Aine Bermingham (Utter Digital) RMG04
FERMANAGH was thrust into the social media spotlight once again last week when the online phenomenon Irish Biz Party descended on the county for its fifth annual conference.
Around 150 business people from across the island of Ireland attended the conference at the Killyhevlin Hotel in Enniskillen, which once again saw Fermanagh ‘trending’ on online.
Aine Bermingham from Utter Digital explained: “Twitter just went crazy for it, #Fermanagh was trending, #Killyhevlin was trending, #FermanaghOmagh was trending, #IrishBizParty was trending, all on the day and night of the conference.
“We took over Twitter for the day, which was great for the area. We’re really putting Fermanagh businesses on the social media map, which is fantastic. It’s great coverage and exposure for the area.”
The Irish Biz Party takes place every Wednesday night online, when businesses from Ireland north and south come together to ‘tweet’ the hashtag #IrishBizParty, discuss their businesses, and help support and promote each other. Last week’s conference not only saw those who usually network online meet up in person, but also attracted many businesses who don’t usually engage with the party online.
“The Irish Biz Party is essentially an online community of businesses who come together to support each other,” said Aine. “It’s about more than chatting online, though, there’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes. For example, there is a private Irish Biz Party Facebook group with over 3,000 members where people can send each other private messages and so on.
“If you think about it, most small businesses wouldn’t have an IT helpline, or a HR department, marketing managers and so on, but if they’re part of the group they have a network of over 3,000 experts who can help them.
“At the conference there were those who were developing their online relationships offline, but there were also a lot of business people who don’t take part online. It was open to all businesses. Irish Biz Party started online, but it’s so much bigger than that now.”
Aine said businesses who take part in the Irish Biz Party got amazing exposure online, and she added, thanks to the conference, Fermanagh also received great exposure last week.
She said: “There were people there from all over Ireland, every corner of the island was represented. Those who travelled to be here loved it. They were tweeting afterwards about how stunning the area was, how welcoming Fermanagh people are, and how they would definitely be returning.”
The Fermanagh Herald ws media partner for the conference. North West News Group Marketing Manager Darren Farren, who attended the conference, said: “This was a national event held here in the local area, and it provided excellent opportunities for local businesses to network on a national level.
“The feedback has been fantastic. People made lasting connections, and Fermanagh was trending online several different times. It gave the county great exposure. It was great to be involved in the event as media partners, and hopefully it will return to Fermanagh in the coming years.”
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