We are always encouraging our Montessori students to explore different ways of engaging with Children in education so we were extremely excited to have author of Greenieland Morag Kelly come in to speak to our students this week.  Morag has a huge love of nature and through her book Gordon goes to Greenieland she aims to inspire, engage and educate children in a fun and interactive way.

Portobello Institute were delighted to have Dominick Ward MIRI, Dip. Eng. give a guest lecture to our current Facilities Management students this week.  Dominick is the Managining Director of Crystal Air Ltd, the founder member of FGR for company registration in Ireland, and IRI/Refrigeration training centre company, and therefore the ideal guest lecture to deliver content to our students on F Gas and ODS regulations and how they impact the FM enginner. 

In line with our successful EIA programme Portobello Institute will deliver a 1 day seminar on EIA Practice for Quarry Development Applications on 22nd August in the Clarion Hotel, Liffey Valley.

Croke Park is the 4th largest sports stadium in Europe with a 82,300 capicity.  The role of the Operations Manager is key within an organisation of this size to ensure the daily operations and logistics are performed to the best standard.  Allan Gallagher, Operations Manager for the infamous Croke Park statium took time out of his hectic and demanding role to deliver a guest lecture to our Facilities Management students.  Allan delivered a fantastic presentation which outlined the definitive role of Operations wtihin a large ogranisation.  Over the years the stadium has housed numerous events from Sports - Heineken Cup, Irish Rugby and Soccer Internationals from 2007 to 2009, through to coporate events and Music concerts such as Robbie Williams, U2, Bon Jovi and Tina Turner to name just a few.  Allans main role is to produce products and services in an efficient and effective way.  In addition to being responsible for the day to day runnings of the stadium Allan is also involved in Project Management, PR, Budget Control, Event Planning and liaising with internal and external stake holders.  This aim is to help join the 'theory' to 'practice' dots.  Allan finised the presentation by highlighting the key traits for a Facilities Manager;

As the first point of contact for customers Airline staff should be impeccably groomed at all times from their hair and makeup through to their uniform.  Make up expert Danielle Murphy popped into the college in April to speak to our Airline students about presentaion and grooming in the work place.  Danielle had vast amounts of experience to pass on to the students in this area.  A professional make-up artist with the Gemma Kidd shcool of Make up Artistry in London and a background in the Airline industry Danielle knows exactly the standards required in this fast paced and exciting sector.

Neill O' Sullivan, Head of Fund Development for the Community Foundation Ireland www.foundation.ie delivered a guest lecture to Business Management students http://www.portobelloinstitute.ie/business/business-courses/tag/Course%20Type-Full%20Time on 10th March.  The Community Foundation seeks to inspire donors and support charities and community groups.  Established in 2000 they have made grants on behalf of donors of over €6milllion, mostly in Ireland.  Niall joined the company as head of fund development in 2006.  He has many years in the fundraising and not for profit sector and initially worked with Oxfam Ireland before joining an international fundraising consultancy firm, working with clients organisations in Ireland, Britian and USA.  From 2001 to 2006 he ran his own consultancy firm.  During this time he completed projects for many of Ireland's leading Irish schools, hospitals and charities.  At the foundation Niall works with donors and professional advisors in all areas of philanthropy.

The emarketing students came to the end of the course in March and to finalize their programme they received a guest lecture from Myra Hayes who is a producer of the Sunday Businesss Show on Today FM, Irelands leading Business show. Myra focused on the area of podcasting, radio advertising and online presence.  Myra has years of experinece within Radio and gave the students a real insight into the power of Radio Advertising for brands.  Myra focused heavily on podcasting and the advantages for brands to have a strong on line presence in todays market.  Podcasing gives the listener the control of when and what they want to listen to.  The Sunday Business Show on Today FM offers the listener the lastest financial and political news and interview and is hosted by Connall O'Morain and Anton Savage.

It is essential to keep up to date with current changes and movement within your chosen sector so this month the Facilities Management students attended the Facilities Management Ireland exhibition and conference at the RDS on the 9th and 10th March 2011.  The two day event played host to a wealth of industry experts who delivered guest lectures to the attendee's.  The lectures covered a number of areas across the board of FM from Health and Safetly to Project Management and Security.  The feedback from our FM students was fantastic.  Exposure to such events and industry knowledge provides an ideal platfrom from which to base their career and expand within this sector.  FM is about more than bricks and mortar.  It is about providing safe, effective, sustainable workgin environments that increase efficiency and motivate staff.  It is the second highest cost to most businesses.  With over 75 exhibitors over the weekend students were able to gather information in many of the component areas such as Energy saving, Asset management, Procurment, Technology and Legislation.

Portobello Institute have a long standing relationship with childrens charity zest4kidz having made trips to Belarus and India in the last few years.  The charity founded by husband and wife team Stuart and Maggie Wilson started in 2006.  Their philosophy is to bring love and attention into the lives of those less fortunate.  The Charity work and support three different areas - child soldiers in Africa, children in slums in the streets in India and children in prisions and ophanages in Eastern Europe.

Linda Hausmanis, Head of Qualifications for the British Institute of Facilities Management delivered a guest leacture to Portobello's FM students on 23rd February.  The BIFM is one of the leading professional bodies for Facilities Mangement worldwide with their mission statement being "to advance the FM profession."  Facilities Management is the intergration of processess in an organization to maintain and develop the agreed services which support and improve the effectivness of its primary activities. On a day to day level effective facilities management provides a safe and efficient working environment, which is essential to the performance of any business.

Gavin Hesse presented a guest lecture to the Internet Marketing students on 14th February which received excellent feedback from the students who attended.  Gavin had a wealth of experience to talk to pass on the students.  He has worked at the Display Division Right Media, which is the display Yahoo Media as an account manger for the UK team, delivering 1.5 billion clicks a day, competing with Platform A, Google Content Network, Solutions included 'Behavioural  Targeting' or 'Direct Responses'.  He currenly sells Business Intelligence software with the enterprise division in SAP and works part-time in the online space for websites (re) build, optimistaion and online revenue streams.  He studied Business Management in University College Cork and completed DEUG in Lyon, France in Science Politiques.  He is passionate about the interest