As you may have seen on our social media, we have recently completed our first advertising board in association with our local club here; Ballyduff GAA and I think it is fair to say it divided opinion a little, but to me, that is the key to good advertising, it is what I have always called the Jedward rule.
I do these "anniversary" posts every year for Avalanche, mostly because they are a good measure of how things are going and to update those who follow us and enjoy my rambling, a tiny bit because I promise myself, I will write something at least once a month and this means I only have 11 other articles I need to create! Avalanche is nine years old, how did that happen?
We are delighted to announce that Avalanche is now a headline sponsor for Down Syndrome Ireland (Kerry branch). With the ongoing pandemic (that is hopefully nearly over), charities & other voluntary organisations have been impacted more than most with many vital fundraisers being cancelled. These are absolutely vital to many organisations such as Down Syndrome Kerry who do not receive state funding. That's where we come in!
I spoke recently with a good friend of mine Kevin Ross on his new podcast: The Biztrepreneur Podcast which dives deep into conversation with business owners, hearing their stories, tips, tricks & tactics.
We spoke about the founding of Avalanche, how failure is key to any level of success in life, my personal obsession to compete and be the best version of myself and tried our best to stay as professional as we could throughout!
Following up on our donation to our old primary school last week, we are now proud to announce the re-development of the Ballyduff GAA website. We completed this project free of charge under the direction of Secretary, Michael Hussey and Club Development Officer, John Paul Leahy and it will no doubt prove to be a great resource for our club and the community as a whole.
We decided to buy a Samsung Galaxy Tablet for a whole class in our old Primary School. With learning/schooling relocating online, not every student is fully equipped for this move so hopefully, this donation will be able to help those who need it the most.
It is fantastic to see local communities come together during this crisis to provide help for the most vulnerable and I hope it will benefit our young minds for years to come.
You know it is a strange phenomenon having your best friend live in a different country, for years now, my friend Tom has lived & worked in San Diego (the lucky winner of a green card lottery), I have known Tom since I was 11 and besides some time when he went to college in Cork and I in Tralee, we have pretty much spoken every day in some format.
Now more than ever in the world, there seems to be a lot more going wrong than right, we are in the middle of Lockdown number 3, it is January, it is cold, wet and it seems every time you see the news, there is a fresh hell happening somewhere (looking at you America & Catholic Church). 2021 has picked up where 2020 left off.
2020 is coming to an end, and what a demanding year this has been for everyone all over the world. Every person been impacted in a way we never envisioned, and we have all lived a hugely different year than intended. But even during these tough times, the resolve of the human spirit has seen no limits.
At Avalanche, we are happier than usual, if you have not noticed, we have a brand new look just in time for 2021 in the form of a new website! Strangely, we tend to forget about our own site as we get so pre-occupied with our clients but last April I sat down and began sketching out the new look.
Kerry GAA has long been the home of kings and we are delighted to have been tasked with the job of creating a new online presence for them. Alongside our work earlier this year with The Official Kerry GAA Store, we are delighted to announce that we also finished a new website for the Kerry GAA.
Following on from our first big October launch with the DCC Forum last week, we are delighted and proud to announce that Avalanche are now working with Kerry GAA to develop their online platforms. As a proud Kerry man, it is something that I am really excited about and to be a small part of such a magical sporting tradition in the Kingdom is a proud moment for all of us at Avalanche.
It is September 24th, 2020, 9.12 pm as I finish this article, we are still in the middle of a pandemic which I first spoke about here on 23rd March and the world is still an ever-evolving disaster. 2020, am I right? It is an unprecedented time but there are some silver linings to be found in places.
The Last of Us: Part II is an emotional journey that will captivate both newcomers and those of us who have been waiting for the best part of a decade for a sequel. Games and their stories have always managed to reach me emotionally more than any other format and The Last of Us Part II has done that more than any other game in 25 years. The Last of Us: Part II is a masterpiece.
Luck is a fickle concept. Some people feel lucky while others wonder if they have any luck at all except for the bad kind. I think everyone believes in it to some degree, whether or not they want to. It is the same spot in the dressing room before every match, the right underwear before a night out, or even calling in the big guns like the Child of Prague for an occasion.
Depression & suicide are two subjects that are close to the hearts of far too many families & communities in Ireland, so during these tough times we feel it is vitally important that we try to help in whatever way we can. That is why Avalanche matched our local Pieta House fundraiser donations at a total of €2630.
Thanks to the COVID-19 Coronavirus people all over Ireland have had their routines disrupted. A period of working from home is becoming increasingly inevitable for many around Ireland. For a large percentage of the population, the experience is not only new, but it’s also strange & it can mean that productivity comes to a complete stop with Netflix in your underwear just a step away.
It is February 20th, 2020. I have 4 days left before I have the pleasure of turning 30 years old on the 24th of February 2020 & make no mistake, it is a pleasure, and it is something that I am actively looking forward to. I have come to realise, like Jenna Rink after a brief internal battle in 13 going on 30, you begin to realise, it can be pretty sweet to be thirty, flirty & thriving.
It is December and although you would not know it by the unseasonably mild weather, it is Christmas, which means it is nearly time for Santa, turkey & giving your brother a puck over a tin of Roses. On behalf of everyone at Avalanche, I would like to thank absolutely everyone who has worked with us this year, both new clients who we were lucky enough to welcome & those who continue to place their faith in us to create & push boundaries for them online.
It’s the age-old saying that the "customer is always right" and was it one of the first lessons that I remember being drilled into me by my first business studies teacher, the terrifying Mrs Twomey way back when I used to sleepwalk my way around the halls of Causeway Comprehensive.
The Kerryman Business Awards are county wide awards recognising the entrepreneurialism, innovation, diversity and talent of businesses across all sectors. Avalanche are lucky enough to have been nominated for the Best Innovation in Business Award after a stellar 2019 that has seen us create more websites & apps than ever before.
Did you know the government offers a grant of up to €2500 that is designed to help Irish businesses trade online? Taking sales online can be a confusing process and this grant aims to help SME’s all over Ireland navigate these tricky waters. With the trend ever increasing towards online spending it is estimated that only 23% of Irish businesses are involved in any meaningful way in eCommerce sales directly through their website.
I am delighted to announce that I have been nominated for the Technology Professional of The Year at the 2019 Irish Early Career Awards which celebrate outstanding work across a wide range of sectors. We were nominated by a large number of clients, friends in the industry and people on our newsletters so thank you to everyone who took the time!
Buying/building a house has never been easy in Ireland but why is it proving much more difficult for Millennials more than any other generation? Is Ireland in a housing crisis or do we just need to stop buying avocados & expensive coffee? What is the answer to one of the biggest problems facing our generation? One thing for sure, it's doubtful it lays in avocados.
The Irish Content Marketing Awards recognise the endeavours of the Irish marketing scene and provide a platform where the best work, by the best people for the best clients are celebrated. The gala awards ceremony and dinner is annually attended by the cream of the marketing industry, offering a unique opportunity to network and celebrate with hundreds of senior executives.
The days are long, but the years are short. It’s a corny phrase that has popped up on my Instagram sometime in the last few days, apparently it is typically associated with motherhood, but I find it just as applicable to my 7-year-old baby. It feels like just yesterday I announced to my family & friends my intentions to start a web design company and become the absolute best at it.
It’s been a while since I have had some time to write anything on this site (How are we already in June by the way?!) so we said we better check back in with some news! We were absolutely honoured to receive design recognition from Google last week. It has been a long process and we have learned a lot from it. We applied to a flagship programme ran by Google which highlights & celebrates custom code almost 8 months ago, it encourages agencies to push the boundaries of design, SEO & hosting.
The Micro Business Awards celebrate the leaders of Ireland's small to medium business community. These unique awards appreciate the nation’s best sole traders, micro businesses and small to medium companies. We are happy to say we have been nominated in 5 categories which is a record (I think) and it is an honour to be recognised among such fantastic businesses.
Rattoo Rovers is a famous club located in the village of Ballyduff and has long been one of the flagship clubs in the Kerry soccer winning several titles over many years. We have sponsored a lot of items/events in our local community in the last few years, mostly focusing on the underage sector in Ballyduff but as soccer is my first love, it is a great honour to be able to sponsor Rattoo Rovers at a senior level.
Online dating has exploded in the last couple of years with many apps such as Tinder, Bumble & Grindr coming to the fore. Each with different variations on the scene but ultimately follow the same format, you like someone, you swipe, you say hello & see how things progress. Seems simple, doesn’t it? For men, & especially Irish men, it has been a gamechanger, for better & for worse.
It’s that magical time of the year again and on behalf of everyone at Avalanche, I would like to thank you all for working with Avalanche this past year. Whether you have decided to work with us on a project, subscribed to our blog or even just follow on social media, it is massively appreciated.
Millennials are the generation that laugh at our parents for not being able to change their social media settings but must Google how long it takes to boil an egg. We are arrogant, lazy, entitled and because we all got participation trophies, we all think we are special. We're not and herein lies the problem.
The Lincoln Recruitment Irish Early Career Awards celebrates excellence and recognises the achievements of young professionals at the top of their fields in Ireland, and ultimately, rewards innovation, best practice and outstanding achievement across a broad range of exciting sectors.
The Blog Awards Ireland 2018 finalists have been announced and after three rounds of judging we are proud to announce that our blog "Once more into the fray.." has been nominated for the best blog post. It is one of our most open blog posts and it garnered a huge reaction online. Please feel free to check it out if you have not done so already.
The Irish Content Marketing Awards recognise the endeavours of the Irish marketing scene and provide a platform where the best work, by the best people for the best clients are celebrated. We are proud to announce that we are nominated in two categories in the inaugural Content Marketing Awards.
I have been lucky enough to have travelled a lot with work and even with all the stupid quotes you see on Instagram, it truly is one of the most fulfilling things you can do. That is of course, if you don’t go to the same resort in Santa Ponsa for the next 12 years with the same people. Jesus Christ. Have some imagination.
Every morning, Aidan O’ Carroll goes to work just like millions of others all over the world on their daily commutes. Wearing a custom made Italian three-piece suit, and a trademark cheeky (almost superior) smile, one could be forgiven for thinking he was the kind of slick talking, fast growing executive that he had lofty ambitions of being, almost a lifetime ago. The skinny cry-baby that has somehow found himself immersed in this hacking world he has a love/hate relationship with for over 10 years.
The Business All-Stars is an annual competition designed to identify, recognise and accredit Irish companies and individuals that have distinguished themselves in the conduct of their business over the last 12 months. Avalanche was accredited with the All-Star eCommerce & Web Development 2018-19 and are now included in the 2018-19 All-Stars Role of Honour.
Imagine it, the year is 2038 and your 10-year-old turns and asks you "what did you do for a living years ago Daddy?" & you sit young Tommy down and regale him with all the stories about how you were a wonderful entrepreneur, that you broke new ground and did things the world had never seen before. You expect his little face to light up as you list your accomplishments but instead he turns away disillusioned, bored by your answer before replying: "Isn’t everyone an entrepreneur now though?"
Welcome to the greatest story that I have never told. The story of why I spent years barred from entering the good ol’ United States of America. The home of the brave and the land of the free which felt the need to issue a 21-year-old with a barring order after I was foolishly found hacking into some CIA servers on a dare from a friend.
As mentioned, I am happy to be from Kerry but more than that, I am deeply proud of the fact that I am a Ballyduff man. I was first given the green jersey at the age of 8 and I haven’t let go of it since. It is why I am so proud to be able to give back to my GAA club in some small capacity by sponsoring jerseys for the underage teams and very recently I sponsored tops for the senior team for the county final.
It was great to be shortlisted in 4 different categories at the V By very Irish Blog awards 2017. While it is a tough judging process, I am happy to say we were a finalist in two categories. Avalanche was nominated for the best corporate blog while my post on whether I want kids was nominated for best overall blog post.
I hold my hands up. I am an Instagram addict, it’s where I live online and it is almost impossible not to fall in love with all the wonderful images of our beautiful world right at your fingertips. It is a haven for creatives to learn, find inspiration and to grow. Unfortunately, most people are doing it wrong. I am not talking about people trying to grab the perfect moment or the ridiculous argument that people are only living their life online.