The fourth annual Women Mean Business Awards were held in the Shelbourne Hotel on Monday. The event is designed to recognise, inspire and reward female entrepreneurs and businesswomen alike and the theme for this year’s event was ‘believe in change’.

Dr. Jean van Sinderen-Law won the top prize, WMBusinesswoman of the Year, for her work as Director of Development at UCC. Women Mean Business (WMB) managing director Rosemary Delaney said: “Jean ticked a number of unique boxes. She demonstrated to the judges a great track record in achieving and excelling in her targets, which are in the multimillions. She also showed that science and business can mix by using the knowledge she gained during her scientific education to place her in a unique position of driving growth both at UCC and in a wider context.” …

On Tuesday Allaboutbusiness.ie went to the opening day of the National Ploughing Championships in Athy, Co. Kildare.

Having never been to the Ploughing Championships before we weren’t sure what to expect but nothing could have prepared us for the sheer scale of the event! 66,000 people attended day one of the event, an increase of 20,000 on last year, and 74,000 more attended on day two!

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Tomorrow sees the first day of the National Ploughing Championships in Athy, Co. Kildare.

Last year over 180,000 people flocked to the event over three days, making it the largest rural gathering of people in Ireland and Europe. …

Innovative and attention grabbing, guerrilla marketing can make a big difference to your business.

The term was coined by Jay Conrad Levinson with SMEs in mind and is defined as an unconventional method of promotion that relies on time, energy and imagination rather than a big marketing spend.

Typically, guerrilla marketing campaigns are unexpected and unconventional; potentially interactive; and consumers are targeted in unexpected places. The objective of guerrilla marketing is to create a unique, engaging and thought-provoking concept to generate buzz, and consequently turn viral. …

Next Saturday, September 11^th, Galway plays host to Bizcamp – a free event where entrepreneurs of all disciplines can learn and share experiences with their peers.

Organisers expect that more than 200 Irish entrepreneurs, innovators and recession-rebounding business people will converge on NUI Galway’s Cairnes Business School on Saturday September 11 for the first ever Galway Bizcamp, a conference for networking, learning, and sharing. …

Entrepreneurial team Emmett Gallagher and Damien O’Brien took a unique idea and developed it in to their first business. Emmett Gallagher tells the Donegal Democrat how the pair wanted to create a business that would be both profitable and also contribute significantly to the public good.

Seeking to quench their entrepreneurial urge the pair developed a savings card. Entitled GoSave.ie the service offers customers savings and the chance to help worthy causes at the same time. The GoSave card lets customers avail of special offers and discounts on a range of local services and businesses around Ireland. …