Last Day of Class and last Blog

We had a private coach bus drive us 2 hours to Dublin.    Our first stop on the tour was a visit to the Dail.  This is the Republic of Ireland’s government.    We saw where the Senate meets and the Legislature.   We had one of the legislature representatives speak to us.    They served us tea and a candy bar.   They were very proud and had pictures on the wall from when Reagon, JFK, and Clinton addressed them.   This is outside of the parliament as we weren’t allowed to take pictures inside.

Then we went to Start-up Bootcamp.   This is a place that new businesses go to accelerate the start of their business.   I must say it was a bit creepy as it was an old building and they had spent little $ to fix it up.

We met the newly appointed Minister of Trade to Colorado at a local restaurant.   He shared how he plans to promote trade between the two.   

Our last meeting was with the Deputy Minister of the International Affairs and Trade.    This building was a mansion, gorgeous.    This guy has spent many years working outside of Ireland and most recently working with the European Union. 

We then got our rooms at Trinity College.   Kerry and I had dinner with her sister who is here on a 2 month study abroad.   The company and atmosphere was great, but the food was the worst we’ve had since we’ve been here.    Oh, well.    Tomorrow, I’m leaving at 9:30ish and my flight leaves at  7 pm for USA.    I can’t wait.   It has been a great trip, but I’m ready to see my family.

Goodbye Ireland!

Thursday, Last Day in Belfast

We started our day by attending an IT Conference on Cloud Computing at the Titanic Museum.   The 5th floor is a conference center that has a replica of the grand staircase which is off the public tour.   It was a thrill seeing it.   There was a speaker from Salesforce.com which was very good.  This was all about creating jobs for Northern Ireland.  I enjoyed this.


We then listened to 4 speakers over in the office building we've been working in.   The first one was William McCarter who was in a family business that created underwear for many years.   He also chaired the International Fund for Ireland, which was a pot of money that would be given to worthy causes to help build businesses, created jobs within Ireland.   

Then we heard Sr. George Quigley.    He was President of the Ulster Bank for many years before he retired  (yes the same one that out he major outage last weekend) and Chairman of the Bombardier company board.   He has been working for years to get the corporate tax in Northern Ireland lowered from 28% to something near what the Republic of Ireland has which is 12.5%.  

We then heard from Lisa Bradley who is a professor of International Studies.   She asked each of us to give us a difference we've observed in the business world since we've been here.   I said that the CEOs are much more humble and down to earth people who have been willing to spend lots of time with us.

Colm McGormick from Maildistiller then spoke.    His goal through the companies he starts is to create jobs for the local economy.   He wants to give back to his community.   

We then took a small bus to a company called Andor.   They have 350 people worldwide and about 250 in Belfast and they make cameras that help in the process of curing diseases and other scientific causes.    It was a beautiful facility and we got to tour the manufacturing floor.   The CEO Connor Walsh was extremely impressive.   He has led his company through 30% growth in only 5 years and his company is voted one of the best companies to work for.   

Bryan Keating, the investor we interviewed on Tuesday also spoke to the group.   He talked about taking risks and also that you are never to old to become an entrepreneur.

We had a team dinner at McCrackins.   I had my first Irish steak and it was delicious, I was glad I didn't miss out on that.   Tomorrow we leave at 8 am to go back to Dublin for our final day of the course.

Wednesday, Tour day

Today was a great day and a historical day.   Today the Queen shook hands with a former IRA chief, now parliament member who was involved in the death of one of her favorite relatives.    Locals say it was a milestone toward peace. 
 





























    We did the city bus tour this morning.   During the tour we saw some protestors holding an Irish flag and a big sign that said No Brit Queen.   They had policemen standing around them.   We also heard there were several small bombs go off last night.    The traffic was a bit slow due to the Queen being in town.   We saw a lot of sights including a former paramilitary mural that had been there for years and 2 days ago was painted over due to the Queen coming.  All very interesting.   We also did souvenir shopping at Carroll's.  I spent more that I would like, but may not be back. 

After the tour, we walked back to the hotel and then had to go to the same building we've been working in to meet the owner of the industrial park.    He gave us a tour of the Titanic dry and the pump house.    It was pretty incredible to be at the bottom of the dry dock.   The Dublin team joined us for the first time since we left Dublin.  

We walked to dinner at a famous pub by Victoria Square which is a big mall.   While we were eating, the heavens opened up and it poured.   Hard, hard rain, so we had to take a taxi back.  






Overall, it was a great day!

Tuesday, June 26 - Final day on the project

Today I felt much better physically.   We gave our final report-out to the CEO and our Professor.   The CEO told us we did a great job and represented our college very well.   The CEO got invited to a reception at the Titanic Museum to meet the Queen.   He is considered a success story in Belfast.

We finished up at 1:30 on that and then interviewed our subject for our Leadership Study, Bryan.

Bryan is a successful entrepreneur that was the first distributor of Apple Computer maintenance in Northern Ireland.   He sold this company 20 years ago and is now an Angel Investor for other start-ups in the Belfast area.   He was very personable to talk to and has been a mentor to the CEO we’ve been working with for many years.  Bryan started as a researcher at a university and switched to business at age 30.    

We also interviewed Leslie, who used to be a direct report of Bryan’s.   She said the Bryan is a model leader and great mentor.   She is now in HR and tries to get people to model Bryan’s leadership behaviors such as being available, giving timely feedback, and walking the talk. 

Walking back to the hotel which goes past the Titanic Movie studio where they make films, we saw a woman flying around on a crane doing acting a bit silly.    Don’t know if she was being filmed or what, but below is what we saw:

Our team planned out the work for the Leadership PowerPoint and bought our tickets to go on a city tour in the morning.

I had dinner with Patrick a co-worker of mine that I work with on the phone who lives in Belfast.   His 9 year old son joined us.   It was great seeing how 9 year olds are basically the same where ever they are.   He sat at dinner and played his DSI and ate chicken nuggets and fries while we ate Indian food.    Patrick gave me a mini tour of the city showing me all the peace walls, police stations that look like prisons, the school next to his that was hit by a rocket and a bar where to be a member you had to have been in prison fighting for the IRA.  

As I write, I am seeing the first sunset since I’ve been here.   The sky is orange, purple and teal.   It is 10:30 pm.   

7:53 AM

I got up early and went running.   Since the Queen is coming to the Titanic Quarter, the police are stopping every car and searching before entering our street.   I ran past a policeman with a machine gun.   It was a bit intimidating.   I hope there is no violence today because there are a lot of people here who don’t like the Queen or anything to do with Britain.

Monday, back to work

I was dragging a bit all day.   My fall yesterday was causing my back to hurt and just didn't feel great most of day.    However, we finished our project today.   We have a few finishing touches tomorrow morning to do, but for the most part done.    We now have to focus on our next deliverable which is the Leadership report.   We interview our designated leader tomorrow and someone who has worked for him.    

We left at 5 today which was the earliest we've finished since we started.   We met without Professor at the hotel and gave him an update.   Then we all went to dinner with him, his wife and 22 year old son who are traveling with him.  

We Boxy which is a traditional Irish meal that is a potatoes pancake with meat or veggie sauce.   While we were finishing up, two local Belfast business men joined us and were interested in talking to us about why we were hear.    They were very talkative and curious.

No new pictures today.   I am really tired and ready for bed.

Sunday night, back from Portrush

I have two words to describe how I feel.  Exhausted and sore.   Everywhere we went we hiked, up hills, down hills, to the shore, back from the shore.   My calves are screaming and to top things off, I fell in the shower tonight and now my arms and back are sore.   Oh well, it was worth it and I have wonderful memories and pictures to remember the weekend by.

It was a beautiful day, the sun shone and the wind was much calmer.   We slept in a bit and took a taxi to the Dunluce Castle.   They had a great audio/video tour that led you around and showed what it probably have looked it back in the 16th and 17th century. 

 Then we went to Castlerock.    Below are the House remains we toured where the Mussenden Temple was.    We walked through a forest for a while and the temp really rose.

Below is a picture of the temple which was actually a library right on a cliff.  It was filled with books and had a huge fireplace.   Now they use it for weddings.  It is completely empty inside.

Then we went back to Portrush and bought our train ticket to get back to Belfast.    The man said to expect delays due to a problem with the line and that we may have to take a bus along the way.     We had a nice lunch at the habour.  I had lamb with mint and dressing and it was fantastic.    We finished around 3 and I was stuffed.    We collected our bags at the B&B and then walked to the train station.   The city was packed with people since the sun was shining.   Everyone was enjoying  Portrush.

We boarded the train and at the first stop we had to change trains.   Right before we got off they said we had to get on a bus.   So we headed to the station and by then they told us that the line was clear and to get on the next train.    So the train went smoothly and there was no delays.    I slept the whole way back.

We got checked back into the Premier Inn just fine, skipped dinner and now time to get some sleep.
I saw lots of dogs today as they were enjoying the nice day too.   It made me miss everyone at home.