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We’re delighted to be working on a new podcast for the National Consumer Agency. Its a special for Christmas so watch this space and we’ll let you hear it when its released in November. Our scams podcast in April for the NCA was a great success with lots of listeners on iTunes and through the NCA’s own consumer website. Our corporate podcasting business is expanding all the time and we’re always delighted to talk people through the podcasting for business steps and how we can help you communicate with the public or with your direct clients. Have a look at our corporate podcasting information on podcastingireland.ie and email Vicky here vicky@athenamedia.ie and let us know how we can help or if you simply want to know more about podcasting for business.

Its already been a busy week and Wednesday night was no exception. After months of planning we co hosted the commemorative lecture for the late Miss Justice Mella Carroll at DCU and a host of legal and business names turned out to hear the President of Ireland, Mary McAleese, address the theme of women and justice; the balancing act. Most of us in Ireland take for granted the notion that we have a stunningly talented woman in the Phoenix Park. After all we’ve had one for some 17 years with first Mary Robinson and now Mary McAleese for the past ten years. President McAleese remains one of the finest speakers in the country and her address at DCU, in the Mella Carroll lecture hall, proved no exception with a wonderful mix of humour and wisdom. It was lovely to hear the open and warm exchanges during the question and answer session particularly when one young woman, about to graduate from DCU, asked her advice. ‘Live your life to the full’ the President endorsed inspiring everyone in the room to go back and challenge themselves to live a fuller and more courageous life. Our own Gillian Quinn from Athena Media (who is about to graduate herself from DCU with a degree in Multimedia) presented the President with our closing gift - a box set of the classics of La Scala Opera House remastered - a musical gift which reminded us all of Mella and her love of opera. Long may her memory and legacy cast a shadow and long way the President continue to inspire and remind us how fortune we are to have both intellect and humour combined in our Head of State. The full lecture of the night is available on the website of the International Womens Forum - Ireland and DCU so do check it out yourself and watch this space for a podcast of the night which we’ll create in the coming days.

Athena Media’s podcastingireland.ie website has been shortlisted for a Golden Spider in the best new website category. The Golden Spiders reward innovation in digital media and our podcasting portal, www.podcastingireland.ie, has been deemed to be one of the best new Irish website in the past year. Podcastingireland.ie was launched in March 2006 with our first podcast channel 02 Making Waves and the site was designed by Lightbox to meet our needs and ambitions of creating the first and best podcasting portal in Ireland. Thanks to everyone who supported us in our first year and are continuing to work with us in our second year as a podcasting enterprise. We want to thank our sponsors Vhi - for Vhi Health Club - and 02 for 02 Making Waves for helping to make this all possible. And a special thank you to all our users who helped make podcastingireland.ie a great Irish digital media successs story.

One of the stars of our ‘Winning Women’ series boxer Katie Taylor came back yesterday with her third European title and her second world championship. Katie, from Bray, is a world class champion who is still only 21, and her next battle is to convince the Olympic Games committee to let her -and other champion women boxers - fight for their countries in the London games. It seems cruel that Katie can win two world titles and yet is somehow not allow to compete at the Games - even though she trains side by side with the Irish men’s squad heading to China next year. In November Katie will take part in an exhibition fight at the end of World Boxing Championship (mens) in Chicago. This will determine the mind of the Olympics Games on whether women boxing can become a competitive sport by the London Games in 2012. We think everyone in Ireland should get behind Katie now and show her we support her dream of winning the first Gold medal as an Irishwoman for boxing. Go Katie Go!

As you know we’re busy filming our eight part series ‘Winning Women’ for Setanta Sports - about young Irish women sporting heroes. I’m just back from South Carolina and the strange world of Hilton Head Island which is a mecca for world golfers - a sort of Disneyland for golf with luxury housing developments embedded in golfing courses. Our golfing star 15 year old Stephanie Meadow from Co Antrim moved there with her folks Louise and Robert and she now attends the Heritage Academy - a high school for high performance athletes and artists - and the International Junior Golf Academy a hothouse for international young golfers. Its an amazing world - far removed from Jordanstown where the family used to live. There back porch opens on a gold course and young Stephanie starts high school at 7.30am and takes class until 12.30 when she and her group are picked up by her golf coach. Most days she is on one of the 36 golf courses on Hilton Head until 6pm - practising swings, putts and shots. Its a tough regime with homework being done in the evenings before she starts it all again with a 6am alarm call the next morning. And then there’s the tournaments when’s she is on the USA and International circuit working up her ratings. For the Meadow the decision to move to the USA was based on giving Stephanie the best shot at her sporting career. She can play every day and has a competitive peer group coming from around the world. For her moving Stateside has been the best way to achieve her dream and move forward and when you see the footage of Hank Haney (Tiger Woods coach) personally guiding her on Old South golf course its not hard to see why her parents feel the move has been worth it. Our series will focus on a different sport and woman (or team of women) in each episode and will screen on Setanta next year. Our sports range from the Cork GAA women (who just bagged their third All Ireland) to our world champion boxer Katie Taylor. There’s the Irish women’s rugby team and cricket team as well as inidividuals like champion skier Kirsty McGarry who now has her eye on the next winter Olympics. There’s track and field aiming for Beijing next year - women like Joanne Cuddihy - and jockey Nina Carberry. So tune in for more updates and for schedule times in the coming months.

It seems everyone is finally talking podcasting and looking to create their own online content and syndicate it. With the increasing number of broadcast subscriptions and improved broadband speeds its becoming easier for people to use online content - both audio and video. Athena Media’s podcasting channels 02 Making Waves and Vhi Health Club have recorded their best months ever in September with total downloads for each channel exceeding 60,000 now and with average monthly traffic over 6,600 downloads for the weekly music channel 02 Making Waves. The level of interest in corporate podcasting grows all the time with more and more agencies, both public and private, looking to use digital media and digital tools to engage and communicate. Its been a slow burn in Ireland but the pace of change in our nearest neighbour the UK is breathtaking with millions of podcast users every day listening to mobile content. Indeed I heard on Sean Moncrieff’s show just the other day about a UK NGO which is now making the Bible available as a file for mobile phones!

I spent last Monday facilitating the 02 Women Mean Business Awards and Conference in the Shelbourne Hotel which was a fascinating day highlighting the real gap for events targetted at women in business. Over 240 women turned out for the day, organised by Rosemary Delaney of WMB Magazine, to hear contributions from women business entrepreneurs like Jacqueline Gold of Ann Summers (yes those shops you dare not enter!) and Danuta Gray CEO of 02. I chaired a lively ‘audience with Kristina Grimes - the woman who came second in TV’s ‘The Apprentice’. Kristina comes from Julianstown in Co Meath but has spent most of her working life in England and charmed audiences with her candour and frank talking not just about the TV reality show experience but about her life path and her battle to gain an education and a career after she became a single mother at just 17.
What was striking about the day was the hunger amongst women entrepeneurs for networking and professional gatherings aimed specifically at women. Many described feeling isolated and cut off and said one of the best things about the day was the ability to talk with fellow business travellers and swap notes about work, life and that continually stuggle for some sort of work-life balance. Danuta Gray shared her own story about late motherhood and how she had felt the need to establish her career and experience before becoming a mum but that her life is now defined by both roles - being a CEO and being a busy and committed mum.
Check out the magazine for all the details and also the award-winners. There are some great ideas emerging from women entrepreneurs and one of the most interesting awards on the day went in the ‘Big Idea’ category for women innovators. Roll on next year!