The leadership of the Irish Chamber was proud to attend Irish Network USA’s annual conference. Check out the highlights below.
As it’s that time of year, we wanted to send a note to let you know how thankful we are for your efforts to continue engaging the Global Irish. Through business networking, celebrations of Irish arts, efforts to expand educational exchanges, and more, you have made 2019 another banner year in facilitating investment in Ireland by the many Irish, Irish Americans, and “friends” of Ireland that we call members of Irish Network USA.
While our chapters and other like-minded organizations have done great things in cities across the US throughout the year, the INUSA National Conference in Washington, D.C., our seventh annual, was once again the highlight of our calendar.
For four days in October, our members and friends, some new, gathered together for impactful networking, heard from and engaged with powerful speakers, offered their thoughts on the future of Ireland’s Diaspora policy, and most importantly, grew relationships that will continue to matter for years to come.
We can’t possibly thank the great team at Irish Network DC enough, led by Aoife Delargy Lowe, Isobel Murray, and Joe Quinn, who, like host chapters before them, once again raised the bar on the quality of content we were able to provide the attendees who arrived from 19 cities across the US, as well as Cork!
As in years past, our post-conference survey proved our time together was a huge success. From the content of the plenary session to the quality of the networking events, and the opportunities to spend time in amazing venues such as the Irish Embassy and the U.S. Capitol, our local chapter folks certainly gave us a flavor of the city they now proudly call home.
Ambassador Dan Mulhall was a gracious host, opening his home to us to kick off the conference, and the entire Embassy team gave so much of themselves to make sure that not only was our time together productive, but that our efforts to connect the Global Irish in our cities become their efforts to engage the Global Irish all across the US!
Our sponsors this year, led by the Department of Foreign Affairs, as well as the Northern Ireland Bureau, Invest Northern Ireland, Tourism Ireland, the Cork Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise Ireland, and the IDA, allowed us to deliver an even better experience to attendees, and keep registration fees low. We appreciate not just their continued financial support but also their participation!
Each of the speakers that gave their own time to be with us, serving as moderators and panelists, as well as Quentin Fottrell, our very special lunchtime guest, provided thought-provoking and intellectually stimulating conversation, again making the INUSA National Conference memorable.
Finally, we are so thankful that friends from Digital Irish, the American Ireland Funds and the Irish American Business Chamber Network of Philadelphia were in attendance. With the vastness of the Global Irish community, there is no shortage of ways, or work, to bring us all together, so we will continue to support their efforts, just as they have supported ours!`
No INUSA conference would be complete without calls to action, and through our powerful afternoon work session guided by Embassy staff, and Irish Network DC, and Saturday morning meeting on chapter development led by Isobel Murray, our path to continued engagement remains clear.
In the coming months, we hope to take action on many of the items we discussed, continuing to develop ways for our members to stay connected no matter where they live. We will build on our national speaker series and use the tools available to us allow chapters to find new opportunities to share and build on best practices, in areas such as mentoring, social media, and community involvement.
As always we welcome your continued ideas and hope to not only hear from you but also see you at an Irish Network USA chapter event soon, or at INUSA20 to be held in Cleveland in the fall!
Click Here to View a Photo Gallery of INUSA ’19
Thank you!
Steve Lenox – Irish Network USA
