“A Behind the Scenes look at how to build a global brand”

It was standing room only once again at the Kilkenny Chamber Chat held last week in the Cartoon Saloon Studio in Barrack Street. The story of how three young art students with a passion for animation, Nora Twomey, Tomm Moore and Paul Young,  went from small beginnings to being known worldwide was told at the well-attended event.  Today they are celebrated for a series of films from “The Story of Kells” to “Wolfwalkers” and “The Song of the Sea” that have won them a cabinet full of prestigious awards. A panel discussion was chaired by John Hurley, CEO of Kilkenny Chamber. 

Nora Twomey talked about the importance of seed money in their early days and Cian McElhone of Screen Ireland talked about how this helps companies to grow and the massive impact this has on local economies in later years. Cartoon Saloon have spent twenty years working hard to successfully combine art and business and are now a large employer in Kilkenny with up to 200 employees working on projects at various stages of production. Key to their growth according to Nora was maintaining a “tricycle approach.”   Film making is an industry where you may need to change direction quickly and you have to stay flexible. 

Nora also acknowledged the role of Kilkenny based Young Irish Film Makers whose bravery in putting expensive equipment into the hands of teenagers and letting them learn was very encouraging in those formative years. Cartoon Saloon welcomes young animators, and students from the UK and Poland travelled to Kilkenny to hear this presentation.

The three founders have always remained conscious that they are first and foremost artists. Together with AIB they have developed a unique relationship which has enabled them to retain ownership of their creative product. Catherine Keane, Head of Legal Affairs at Cartoon Saloon, explained that Animation is all about Intellectual Property and how you manage your IP portfolio to help strengthen your brand. Niall Mackay, Head of AIB Business Banking in the South East, explained how they had worked together to come up with a model to manage cash flow on productions without having to take in investors who would have wanted a piece of the pie.

Cartoon Saloon have been able to hold on to rights because of this relationship. Cian McElhone, Head of Legal & Business Affairs in Screen Ireland, spoke about how the Animation industry is growing locally and internationally, and how Cartoon Saloon managed to stand out from the crowd in an internationally competitive marketplace.

Many business representatives in the audience commented on the beneficial  impact the employees of Cartoon Saloon had on other businesses. To finish Nora outlined some of the many productions in development, all of which will be based primarily in Kilkenny.

Join us once again at Mount Juliet for the annual Chamber Golf Outing!  Some afternoon tee times are still available and you can book them by emailing admin@kilkennychamber.ie 

Our Golf Outing is open to both members and non members, and is always guaranteed to be a great day out. 

The winners of the competition are then eligible to enter the All Island Golf Outing at The K Club, organised by Chambers Ireland, on Thursday 12th October. 

Kilkenny Chamber held its 75^th Annual General Meeting at the Pembroke Hotel Kilkenny recently.  President Brian Keyes was re-elected for a second year in office, and Vice President Anne Barber was also re-elected.

The following officers were elected:  Owen Sweeney, Hon. Secretary, Gordon Murphy, Hon Treasurer, Mary Brennan, Hon. Assistant Treasurer, John Masterson, PRO.

Members of the Board were elected as follows:  Marion Acreman, Colin Ahern, Paschal Bergin, Michael Brannigan, Margaret Clancy, Martin Costello, Jason Dempsey, Gavin Dixon, Gary Graham, Claire McInerney Brown, Tom O’Connor, and Deirdre Shine.

CEO John Hurley launched the new Explore Kilkenny app. Working in conjunction with Kilkenny Tourism, the app will be the go-to point of information about Kilkenny for visitors and locals alike.  He encouraged everyone to download the App (search for Xplore App and choose Kilkenny) and provide feedback to the Chamber by emailing admin@kilkennychamber.ie.  The App is in operation now and over the coming months its functionality will be expanded to include the Chamber’s Gift Voucher Scheme and much more.

There is a huge amount of assistance available to businesses in Kilkenny via a number of different resources.  Some of those resources came together for our March Chamber Chat to give details of the courses and training available to employers and their employees. Many of these training courses are provided free of charge. 

The overall message was to encourage employers in Kilkenny to engage with the various agencies to find out how best they can help them retrain and retain their staff. 

The Chamber started its 2023 Schedule of Chamber Chats, with The Core Story in the Set Theatre. Padraig Hyland, co-founder of the Core Story, presented to our biggest ever attendance at a Chamber Chat, outlining the importance of knowing your business story, and learning how to tell it in an engaging way.  Many of our Business Awards finalists and winners attended, and this was deliberate, as we wanted to show them how to use their success at the Awards to grow their business. 

December’s Chamber Chat took place at Paris Texas, where many of the finalists and winners of the Kilkenny Business Awards 2022 met to chat about the Awards.  The Local Enterprise Office also attended, with their Shop Local message for Christmas. 

The Annual General Meeting of Kilkenny Chamber of Commerce & Industry CLG will take place on Thursday 28th April 2022.

The venue is Butler House, Patrick Street, Kilkenny, and it will begin at 12 noon with registration and refreshments.

Please register for this event at admin@kilkennychamber.ie 

Our Chamber Chats are resuming, and we look forward to welcoming you and meeting face to face once more.

The first event will take place at the Kilkenny Pembroke Hotel on Thursday 24th February at 6 pm.

This Chamber Chat is an informal get-together for members and their guests to meet up, have a chat and see the new facilities at Statham’s at the Pembroke.

We’d love to see you, so please drop in after 6 pm and say hello.  Register at admin@kilkennychamber.ie 

Tackling Inequality – Saving Lives

Details of the Event:

• March 2^nd at 11am
• Hosted Via Zoom

Zoom Registration Invitation:

You are invited to a Zoom meeting.

When: Mar 2, 2022 11:00 AM Dublin

Register in advance for this meeting:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcrc-moqDssGtUiv166Lh9EWoHnm8YI1dfg

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

We’ve all heard of businesses being the victim of cyber crime, through phishing and other more sophisticated schemes. It can cause much inconvenience and embarrassment, as well as being financially expensive.

Chamber Director, Laurence Conroy, is joining us this Thursday 29th April at 1.00 pm to go through what we, as small businesses, can do to reduce the risk of cyber crime. With the right tools, we can minimise the risk of having to deal with this very prevalent issue.

Register your interest in attending by emailing admin@kilkennychamber.ie 

Reg Friddle, from preferred future, is facilitating this practical, interactive, and focused session which will give participants usable strategies to stay resilient and motivated, and to take care of our own well being and that of our staff and companies. 

You can register here.