Electric Vehicle Chargers in Apartments – Practical Guidance

Here were the agenda points for the meeting that took place via Zoom on Tuesday 21st March 2023.

Mr. Gerry Cash of EasyGo, an SEAI authorised EV charging point operator, presented the issues, cost models, and other information you needed to know.  Gerry presented insightful guidance to the Network in person in 2019.

At this online meeting, we learned about the practicalities and costs of installing EV charging infrastructure in your estate.

1- Gerry Cash’s presentation

Everywhere there is a car park space, they can install a charger point/station. Download the app to get the charger points/stations throughout the country, as seen in the below screenshot.

The support funding options are as follows:

• 60 % through your management company
• 70 % through your Owner’s Management Company (OMC)
• 80 % through a government scheme (whether local or national organisation).

You’ll have to take the payments for the electricity to fill the car. You must monetise this, especially if you let other electric car users use your charging point.

The running costs include call centres, and SIM cards. There are costs associated with running and maintaining the unit to work safely.

For new properties, there is no support whatsoever from the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI).

EasyGo is looking into getting a long-term agreement of 15–20 years, making chargers available and selling electricity throughout the country. The cost of electricity in apartment development car park spaces will be lower than the ones at public charging points. The ultimate goal is to get as many charging points as possible.

2- Answers to questions raised by participants and Multi-Unit Developments (MUD)

How to operate in allocated car park spaces?

There will be a 25 % extra charge of the actual price to maintain the equipment. People will have to show interest to get a station installed. SEAI will work as a central load point in unit developments.

There can be different loading points at different times of the day. Typically, a charge of an electric car must be done once or twice a week. Once the car is fully charged, you’ll get a notification to plug it out. If you don’t plug out, you’ll be charged extra for overuse of the facility.

Some properties may need to be upgraded if the air grid is stressed. But an air grid can be activated on demand.

How will the cost be allocated to the user?

Every individual user will have to register as a user with the EasyGo app and pay the meter directly to EasyGo. The OMC will be taken out of the equation altogether. Everything will go through the app, the payments, and so on. The one app will allow you to charge in your development block or on the go to wherever you are going. It’s a one-stop shop. You will be charged for what you used. There are two different payment options: pay as you go per charge, or pre-pay and have an amount of credit on the account.

Who owns the charger, and what is the maximum grant available?

It’s EasyGo. EasyGo will apply in the OMC’s name. In order to get the grant, the OMC will have to show proof they paid for it. Then, SEAI will refund a percentage back, and the same for EasyGo.

The grant scheme will depend on the number of apartments, the limit is set to 100 000 Euros.

Common meters are classed as commercial meters. Can this be reassigned to residential meters? What rate would apply?

SEAI will support commercial meters and commercial rates will apply, there is no other way how to go about it. EasyGo needs to go with what SEAI provides them with. Nonetheless, it costs a certain percentage lower than a public meter.

Furthermore, there must be an operator to manage an EV Charger powered to a single apartment. You could charge people for using it through an operator. However, note that an apartment is not designed to plug two loading points.

If the OMC gives authorisation to users/apartment owners for individual charging point installation and usage, what are the consequences in case of accident/injury to an owner?

You are not going to get a charger per space. To run a cable to a fuse box in the apartment is not going to work, it would be impractical and won’t be supported by SEAI. Cables are at high risk of injury, especially if you are a little far away from a loading point. OMC should notify the insurance that such and such apartment has that connection. The insurance company will assess the risks before allocating any individual chargers for apartment.

OMC will be reliable to repair damaged common areas. If it’s only the car, it won’t be the management agency/OMC’s responsibility, but the car owner’s.

Are there any contractual obligations such as exit costs?

With EasyGo, there is an exit/break cost if cut before the 3 years of a contract. If the OMC decides to not renew after 5 years, they will have to pay termination fees as the contract hasn’t ended. After 15 years of the contract, it will be owned by the OMC, and they will be able to choose another provider.

What is the process of changing suppliers?

You’ll need to meet with the city council. However, the EasyGo team is open to talking with people. You can go to your local authority if the developer no longer exists.

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Fehdah band: Live Show, Niwel Tsumbu Sounds and Afrobeat Club

FEHDAH BAND

First of all, I won tickets for the Fehdah band live show with Niwel Tsumbu Sounds and Afrobeats Club in February 2018.

It was a lively and entertaining night with afro music ruling it!

OPENING ACT

Secondly, the night started with guest Niwel Tsumbu. He is a Congolese guitarist playing sounds derived from rhumba, soukous, jazz, etc.

On that night, Irish djembé player Eamonn Cagney accompanied him.

If you like his music, like his Facebook fan page or follow him on Instagram.

MAIN ACT

Then, came the main act, Fehdah and her live soulful afrobeat band.

Fehdah’s band lead and singer, Emma Garnett, previously sang for the Manden Express band. However, she recently concretised her dream to create her own afro neo-soul band.

If you like her music, like her Facebook fan page.

Last but not least, here are the audio recordings of:

• Fehdah live band
•  Afrobeat DJ Jay Ireland.

If you like DJ Jay’s music, follow him on his Facebook page!

Finally, enjoy the last video of DJ Jay Ireland!

Dance2Connect international urban festival Dublin 2018

What is Dance2Connect?

First of all, Dance2Connect is an International Urban Dance Festival, which ran over 3 days early February 2018.

All the more so, the festival showcased:

• dance theatre
• masterclasses
• dance battles
• social dance
• live jams.

Furthermore, the festival was curated by dance artist Matt Szczerek as well as presented by himself and Matthew Williamson.

What is Dance2Connect’s mission?

Secondly, the festival’s mission is to preserve and strengthen urban dance in our communities through Hip-Hop culture and dance theatre’s elements.

Indeed, the festival creates opportunities for the dance community to learn the intricacies of the dance form.

As far as learning it, they can do so through:

• workshops
• performances
• exchanges with high-quality Eu professional dancers.

What were the Dance2Connect’s partners?

Thirdly, the festival organisers partnered with Tallaght Community Arts. Additionally, they received support from Noise Dublin and South Dublin County Council.

As yet, in order to keep up-to-date with their next festival, like their Facebook fan page.

So, now, let me start sharing with you the dance theatre shows running order:

DANCE2CONNECT LIVE RECORDINGS

So, I filmed some of the dance theatre acts. Keep in mind that these YouTube and Instagram videos are in portrait mode. Consequently, I recommend you to watch them on your mobile phone.

In addition to these shows, there was also a Q&A between the dancers and the public.  You can see its overall picture below.

To top it up, this first day ended with a live jam. You can enjoy the below audio-only track from it.

Last but not least, the second day of the festival focused on dance workshops by professional dancers from different hip-hop styles.

Then, the festival was wrapped up with dance battles.

Finally, the following live streams come from Ibrahim Kennedy. He has filmed some of the judges’ showcases and dance battles.

And now, let’s get down to the battles between the different participants:

SEO Masterclass by Filip Silobod from Honest Marketing

SEO Masterclass

First, thanks so much to all those who came to attend this SEO Masterclass by Filip Silobod from Aro Digital Strategy on Tuesday 21st November 2017. Much appreciated! For those who want to keep in touch with him on LinkedIn, he has since then created his own company under the name of Honest Marketing.

I’m sharing with you a few pictures of the speaker and the audience taken at the venue.

If you would like to know more about Filip Silobod and the company he is working for, check this Eventbrite page.

SEO STRATEGY TOPICS

Secondly, Filip gave us a comprehensive masterclass on Search Engine Optimisation Strategy (SEO) to ensure that:

• Your website is getting a high amount of traffic
• It is ranking well on Google
• Your website is user-friendly and user experience-optimised
• The business is getting a good visibility online
• Your website is getting good Click-Through-Rate (CTR) conversions, whether through organic or paid search and advertising.

Let me share with you his presentation before delving into a bit more details on some topics. You will find Filip’s contact details in it. Please note that the slideshow of his presentation can be downloaded, saved or shared through Social Media.

When you build your website, you need to ensure that it is SEO-friendly and follows a long-term strategy.

DIGITAL SEO STRATEGY STEPS

Indeed, you may get more visits to your website and build a loyal customer base by considering these digital marketing and SEO methods:

1. Understand and optimise the use of machine learning
2. Optimise the User Experience on your site: easy access, page loading time, navigation ease, mobile-friendly website… Make sure you regularly check your Google Page Speed Insight as well as see how your website looks on mobile phones
3. Use paid advertising and search: Pay-Per-Click (PPC) with good visuals perform best. Paid Advertising will allow you to rank high in the Google Searches with Google Adwords. You can use Paid Social Media when you launch your website, new products or services
4. Analyse and Compare your site with your competitors
5. Take into account search trends for branded and non-branded keywords by using Google Keyword Planner and having a varied content with plenty of synonyms
6. Have clear Call-To-Actions (CTA) in your website’s main and secondary pages to allow higher conversions
7. Have a good landing page
8. Use long-tail keywords (min 4 words): This advice is especially valid if you are a small business with a recent website. It will improve the discovery of your keywords in searches
9. Create unique content that Google likes
10. Have few good backlinks (off-page optimisation) throughout your blog posts, linking to high authority websites. You may consider as well getting Public Relations (PR) releases
11. Review your website’s authority score with Moz. Your authority score indicates trust in your business
12. Increase your business local visibility by registering with Google My Business. Ensure you add quality images and request your customers to leave you reviews.
13. Optimise, track and analyse your traffic with Google Webmaster Tool.  You will need to review the queries (keywords) made by consumers to find your website or blog. These include meta title, URL and meta description. This analysis will give you insights as to understand when and why people left your website.

Remember that, although Social Media doesn’t have much value in terms of SEO (‘no-follow links’), it still allows people to interact with your brand. Social Media helps consumers discover your brand online. It also adds extra traffic to your website thanks to re-tweets, sharing of your posts’ links.

Although Google is the biggest and most used search engine used worldwide, there are other valid search engines that you may use, such as:

• Baidoo for the Indian market
• Bing for North American market (USA)
• Ecosia.org that is based on Bing
• Yandex for the Russian market.

Finally, keep in mind what matters the most isn’t so much how much your website/blog is searched for, but how many conversions you get. Conversions can be downloads, newsletter sign-ups, purchases, shares… This can be measured with the CTR by using Google Analytics.

 

 

 

Content Marketing Tips by Emma Boylan from Outside the Box

First of all, thanks to all attendees for coming to this event advertised on Eventbrite website. Most importantly special thanks to Emma Boylan from ‘Outside the Box’ for coming to talk to us at Bank of Ireland Grand Canal Square venue in Dublin (Ireland) about Content Marketing.

Secondly, let me talk to you a bit about Emma’s journey and story before going down to the content marketing piece.

Emma went a trip to Australia, where she did all kind of jobs. Then, she got back to work in Ireland. She left her 9 to 5 job four years ago to fulfill her dream of starting her own business.

She set up her ‘Outside the Box’ company when she saw that most marketing was all the same. She realised that businesses were really struggling to attract the right clients and have a message that made them different. At the beginning, she learnt a lot by doing. However, she started implementing a business plan about 2 years ago. She highly recommended you to have a plan when you get started so that you stay focused and motivated to reach your goals.

Using her passion for creative content and background in psychology, Emma has helped 100’s of businesses get crystal clear on their message to get them noticed and fill their businesses with clients in record time! So, I hope this will help you, too!

Please find below the talk topics and her visual presentation with her contact details. Please note that this slideshow can be downloaded and saved in your SlideShare account as well as shared through Social Media.

https://events.bankofireland.com/event/digital-marketing-tips-and-strategies-for-smbs/

Thirdly, I will detail a little more the explanations she gave beyond the slides themselves (transcript) so that you can understand them in the right context.

Step 1: To find the right client with the right message, focus on actually taking actions and avoiding procrastination.

Step 2: when you go about looking for clients, ask yourselves these questions:

• Who is your ideal client?
• What is your target market?
• What are their problems?

In all means, always make sure you are being your unique self. Don’t copy others as clients will notice this and it will appear unauthentic.

Step 3: Once you have done your research, start meeting people like you. Tell your unique story, that should answer the ‘Why’ and the ‘What’ about your business. Keep in mind that your story matters more than offering discounts. Emma suggested not to offer too many discounts to attract customers. Instead, give something people need and that they will buy. Indeed, your company must resonate with their needs and offer solutions to their problems.

Step 4: Create your branding message. For that purpose, keep in mind that people, in general, have the attention span of a goldfish, so you need to be brief in your message to grab their attention. When creating your message, you need to focus on your business benefits in 10 seconds. Yes, you read it correctly, your benefits and not so much your features!

Step 5: Think about the results you want to get. A good way to deliver an outstanding message is to reflect on the top 10 problems and solutions you can offer to a client. Again, it’s all about the client, so your content should revolve around him/her!

Step 5: Write a first marketing plan. This doesn’t need to be lengthy but instead highly focused on your goals. For example, ask yourself: ‘how many clients do you need to make X Euros? How many clients per week do I need to get?’ In other terms, focus on your Return on Investment (ROI). Do not worry if it’s not 100 % perfect, you can always revise it as the time goes on and your business evolves.

Step 6: Be social and engaging. It’s not all about how many followers you have but rather how engaged they are. You need to increase the quality of organic followers by measuring your engagement rate on your social posts.

Step 7: Be clear in your message about what you want your clients to do. In other terms, lead people by the hand by providing a clear call-to-action. Do not ask questions that may bring a ‘no’ answer.

Step 8: Represent your own self in your brand. People buy from people. So, be out there in picture or video. People want to get to know you, see who you are and feel connected to you. For example, a photography frame business taking pictures of themselves with their framed photography will see better results than just publishing the framed photography on its own. Your imagination costs nothing, so don’t be afraid to be different and unique!

Step 9: To be remembered, you must focus on creating habits and showcasing what people know you for and people will follow. So, be consistent in your posting schedule and allocate regular time to stick to it. If your followers are used to see your video every Tuesday, make sure you post your video each Tuesday.

Finally, if you would like to deepen your knowledge on how to stand out for success and market yourself to get more clients and make more money, Emma is providing a 6-month online programme. Check her Facebook video teaser for more information and contact her by email if you are interested in emmaboylanpr@gmail.com.

BlueFire Street Festival 2017 – music and dance in videos

This year, we got a little unlucky for the Bluefire Street Festival because it was ☔ the whole day. So, fair play to festival organisers, volunteers, festival-goers and street performers who put up with the rain!👏On the main stage, there were a little luckier as they were sheltered from the rain.

However, this didn’t prevent us from attending it and it was enjoyable despite the bad weather conditions.

I have taken pictures of the programme from this year’s festival as well as street art murals, circus performers on stilts, a stage music performance (Ronix), a youth talk from the Girl Crew and the welcome tent. Take a look at this slideshow to view the pictures. If you’d like to find out more information about the performers at BlueFire Street Festival, take a look at their website.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I have also filmed this new school hip-hop street dance performer that replaced Sam Gabriel. If you’d like to follow Des Ebelle on Facebook as well, check his page here.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BZJLsmqF_hN/

Finally, I spent most of my time watching the Venezuelan singer Ronix featuring Allegro andante band on the main stage playing Latin fusion sounds like merengue, bachata… Their infectious latino rhythms kept us on our feet!

If you would like to follow them, you can find them on Facebook at Ronix and Allegro andante show band.

I have filmed two long videos and a shorter one, which I hope you will enjoy!

If you have taken more pictures or videos, share their links with us in the comment box below!

If you would like to watch the festival for the 2015-year edition, check my other blog post. That year, the organisers got luckier with the weather, so more people attended the event. I was also able to take more pictures and film more performances. So, enjoy!

Femi Kuti’s afrobeat live concert at the Academy, Dublin (Ireland)

Olufela Olufemi Anikulapo Kuti (born 16 June 1962) is popularly known as Femi Kuti. He is a Nigerian musician born in London and raised in Lagos. He is the eldest son of afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti.

Femi’s musical career started when he began playing in his father’s band, Egypt 80.

In 1986, Femi started his own band, Positive Force. He began establishing himself as an artist independent of his father’s massive legacy.  🎷🎺🎸🎹🎤

Since then, he has continued playing the music style his father was famous for, i.e afrobeat. Afrobeat can be defined as ‘a complex fusion of:

•  jazz,
• funk,
• Ghanaian/Nigerian
• highlife,
• psychedelic rock
• traditional West African chants and rhythms.

Femi also follows his father’s legacy with his strong commitments to social and political causes.  You can notice this in his songs’ lyrics on his website:

https://femikuti.com/home

In this article you can see how engaged he is with the issues Nigerian people are currently facing: 😭😡

Nigerian musician Femi Kuti urges stars, fans to focus on Boko Haram victims

Do you like his music? Why not download a few songs or buy some of his CDs on Amazon: 💿💰

Femi Kuti’s music on Amazon

Now, let me share with you few videos from his live concert at The Academy, Dublin (Ireland) on Saturday 8th July 2017!!🔥

Since these videos were originally Facebook Live Streams, the quality may not be optimum for YouTube. 😳😓

I would recommend you to watch them on your mobile phone, as they have been filmed with my iPhone! 😉

Subscribe to my YouTube channel to stay up-to-date with upcoming videos!👍

Funding and Financial Sustainability for Non-Profit Organisations in Ireland

I attended an event advertised on Facebook and organised by Bluefire Dublin called ‘Igniting Change: Funding & Financial Sustainability‘ on Thursday 29th June 2017.

The event was aimed at voluntary and community organisation, social-enterprises, individual artists or community-based project managers, and small-medium NGO’s.

Bluefire organises ‘igniting change series’ every last Thursday of each month: http://bluefiredublin.ie/our-programmes/igniting-change/

The guest speakers at the event were a mix of social entrepreneurs and funding bodies:

• Ian Oliver (far right on the picture) from Centre for Creative Practices
• Eoghan Ryan (far left in the picture) from Social Innovation Fund Ireland
• Hazel Hill (right next to Eoghan) from The Community Foundation for Ireland
• Naomi Murphy (left next to Ian) from Connect the Dots

The purpose was for attendees:

• to be aware of what is required to start up a successful business and
• to know how to get grants from organisations supporting social entrepreneurs.

It started with a talk from each speaker, followed by a workshop and a networking session.

1. Eoghan from Social Innovation Fund Ireland:

Before launching Social Innovation Fund, he founded his own not-for-profit, Reimagine Cork to tackle issues around homelessness in Cork. Understanding the needs for Not-for-Profits, he felt he could help entrepreneurs best and joined Social Innovation Fund.

The company’s mission is to provide both funding and non-financial support to social entrepreneurs. It has also partnered with the government and every given Euro by SIFI is matched by the government.

Eoghan’s first advice was to think about ‘why’ you want to start up a company and why his company would fund you. He also strongly recommends:

• having a clear plan in place,
• having a good value proposition,
• showing confidence
• having good management skills.

When filling forms to apply for funding, keep it simple and answer the asked questions.

2. Hazel Hill, Marketing Executive and Programme Leader at The Community Foundation for Ireland:

Her organisation offers both open grants and private grants. The latter ones are given on a project basis with an end date. The organisation offers funds for mergers (shared between teams) to highlight the importance of collaboration and partnership between organisations.

You will be asked about what will happen at the end of the project to gauge how sustainable your business model is.

Her first advice was to not manipulate your core mission value (reason for existing) to get funding. Instead, only apply to relevant grants that fit your organisation. She also advised to:

• have a clear mission statement,
• document your research by backing up your project with analytical reports,
• listen to your community/audiences’ needs,
• take any constructive feedback on board
• understand the impact your company will have.

3. Naomi AND MERISSA from Connecting the Dots, a start-up focusing on the community engagement in Dublin: 

Their company started off when there were many unoccupied vacancies in Dublin during the crisis by putting on events with artists, engineers, researchers. Over the time, they worked on a process for events’ organisation, i.e on improving the engagement with attendees, corporate donors.

Naomi’s advice was to volunteer for different organisations and network that way before you start up. She has been helping a lot at ‘Happenings’ organisation.

It is also important to speed up processes with a technology enabler. They are currently working on a software service (SAAS) application (transferring processes online for co-working events), in order to gain time and increase income streams and viability.

4. Ian AND his wife Monica from Center for Creative Practices, a company helping creative artists to come up with a more sustainable model:

His first advice was to start with a small plan before building a full-scale model and revisit this plan when necessary.

Instead of going through a lengthy business plan, they worked on a one-page business model. It detailed their business model and value proposition:

• the company’s purpose,
• what problem it is trying to resolve and,
• the solution offered.

His first business model focused on having a cash projection, i.e ticket prices’ sales and getting people to utilise the space to generate further money. He feels it is best not to be over-reliant on grants for the day-to-day running of the business.

5. participants needing help on setting up their organisations, PLEASE get in touch with the following bodies:

• The Wheel: http://www.wheel.ie/
• Social Enterprise Development Company (SEDCO): http://sedco.ie/

 

 

 

‘Oldskool’ hip-hop cover band live recording at The Sugar Club, Dublin

During the 2017 Saint Patrick’s weekend, we had the pleasure to be entertained by a 7 piece oldskool hip-hop cover band playing live in Dublin. The band joined the dots from The Sugar Hill to Dr Dre to Eminem.

For the old school hip-hop music nostalgic who couldn’t attend, you’ll be able to catch up with these oh so lovely oldskool tunes in videos!🎶✌

If you’d like to follow them, give them a like on Facebook! 👍

https://www.facebook.com/thisisoldskool/?fref=ts

WHAT DOES OLD SCHOOL HIP HOP MUSIC MEAN?

If you don’t quite know what defines old school hip-hop music, check this article:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old-school_hip_hop

UPCOMING OLD SKOOL HIP-HOP COVER BAND CONCERTS

If you are in Ireland for 2018 St Patrick’s weekend, you are lucky! The band will be performing again this Saturday at The Sugar Club, Dublin! You can book your tickets here or on their website mentioned below.

PAST LIVE CONCERT RECORDINGS

Want to know more how they sound? Then watch these videos below. They were recorded live on Periscope on @emelinej1 (Twitter live streaming service) and Facebook live.

But I have edited them a bit and uploaded them to YouTube just for you!😎😉

Liked this blog? Hit the ‘join/subscribe’ button!🙏👉It’s free!👌

Fundraising gigs’ campaign for abortion rights in Dublin (Ireland)

ABORTION RIGHTS IN IRELAND

For those who do not live in Ireland, you may not know that abortion is still not allowed. Women are discouraged to abort regardless of circumstances. They must travel to the UK or other EU countries if they want to abort.

FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN FOR ABORTION RIGHTS

The gigs took place on Friday 10th March 2017 at Sin é pub, Dublin. They were organised by Bitches Brew & F-Festival celebrating women in the arts.

The purposes of this night were:

• to fundraise for the Repeal movement
• and bring awareness of the Irish law in terms of women’s abortion rights.🔥👍

SO, WHAT IS THE EIGHT AMENDMENT?

To get a better understanding of what this law entails, check these leaflets: 👇

If you are living in Ireland or are Irish living abroad, sign up for this petition requesting the law to be reviewed: 👊

https://www.artistsrepealthe8th.com/sign

THE GIGS

The event gathered four bands, mostly girls’ bands playing various music styles such as pop, blues, roots folk, rock, hard rock.

I arrived a little late for the event and also left early, so I only recorded two bands. But I will share with you some videos of the other two bands I missed. Bear in mind that the venue is very narrow in width, so I wasn’t always able to film from the best angle. Apologies for this!

I have indicated under the YouTube videos the respective bands’ Facebook fan pages,  if you’d like to follow them.

Which one you like most and why?

I will start to share with you a snippet I shared on my Instagram account:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BRtuWYxDmY2/?taken-by=fundraisingmusicevents

And now full songs recorded or found on YouTube:

These are two Youtube videos I found of the other bands I have missed: