Guest Writer - Ainsley

 

 Castlerock Beach

It's official. It's hotter here than Athens, Ibiza, Lanzarote and Gran Canaria. My desk fan is whirring faster than a jet engine and Barry's got his shorts on! Yes the sun is still shining and we are making hay on the island this week.

We are coming towards the end of our first Season of events this year, with just two events to go in each jurisdiction (NI: Data Protection in the Workplace Update and All About Absence, ROI: Workplace Mediation and All About Absence). Planning has already started on our second Season of events which will cover August to November and will be launched online in just two weeks' time. Watch this space!

Our CEO, Barry, has what he's calling a 'lucky week'. He has nothing in his diary for 3 whole days other than a few internal meetings which means he can catch up on loads of pressing work. On Thursday night he's at the BITC Black Tie Dinner at the Titanic Belfast. On Friday he's meeting the head of ASCL before taking a half day and catching early what he hopes to be a long good weekend of great weather.

Scott is meeting with Michele Groves of Charis Consultancy Services today to discuss a hybrid discipline / investigations in-house training event. Scott will be working from home on Tuesday and Friday. On Wednesday, Scott will be giving a presentation on mediation tips to DRD / DCAL in-house mediators. He is also on holiday all of next week. Lucky so and so.

Our MD, Jayne, is also on catch up this week after a busy week last week and will be attending the Common Purpose course entitled 'Passion and Resonance' at UTV studios in Belfast on Wednesday.

Kerry has internal meetings this week so is in the office all week except Thursday. Schrader are using our Training Centre on Tuesday, so Kerry will be looking after them.

I will be in the office for most of this week, but have Gareth Dunlop from Fathom coming in on Thursday to present our latest web strategy proposal and I will be joining Peter for our last volunteering day, coaching Ballycraigy Primary School's football team.

Have a great week.

Guest Writer: Allison

Grab your sun hat because it’s here ... a great big yellow ball in the sky and we’ve got it all week! 

It must have come out to greet our new member of staff, Kerri McCosker (seen pictured with her ‘welcome’ bottle of wine and card) we’re such a nice bunch of folks!  Kerri is our Chief Executives PA and will be busy keeping him organised and ensuring that he’s in the right place at the right time. 

Our Training Centre is hosting the Public Health Agency today and Wednesday, let’s hope they make good use of the outdoor seating area during lunch.  It’s a real suntrap out there so ‘factor 50’ should make sure they don’t burn.

Our CEO, Barry Phillips, has a busy week ahead. Today he's meeting John Friel of the Federation of Small Businesses. On Tuesday he has a meeting with his new PA, Kerri. On Wednesday he's on the first train out of Belfast for a number of meetings in Dublin including one with ESB and another with Central Law Training. On Thursday he's meeting Martin Rice of Next Level Impact before signing off a number of new events for the next season including the NI Mediation Symposium and Data Protection for the ROI.

Jayne will be in the office Monday-Wednesday, then Thursday finds her out all day in Belfast at Common Purpose Core Day 2 entitled “Broadening Your Vision.”  Friday see’s her in Belfast at the Young Leaders Conference which is being held at the lovely at Riddell Hall, Queens.

Scott travels to Dublin this week on Tuesday to meet Dermot Casserly of Beauchamps solicitors. On Wednesday he will chair and help facilitate the Transfers of Undertakings event with Hayes solicitors and Wrigley’s solicitors. On Thursday he will be delivering mediation training for the DRD and DCAL in Belfast and on Friday, he hopes to work from home.

Ainsley is office based with his usual meetings at the start of the week, however his pace picks up on Wednesday morning when he has a meeting with Tanya Kennedy of BITC re: the Innovation and Engagement survey that that Legal Island are sponsoring.  Then on Wednesday afternoon he will be meeting Grainne McCullagh of Guardian 24 re: our GB Annual Review events.  Thursday lunchtime see’s him tapping into an Essentials of SEO webinar, whilst on Friday, he’s at the IoD Young Leaders Conference at Queens with Jayne.

Heather Stewart will be in Dublin on Wednesday to host our Transfer Regulations event, there are still a couple of places available if you’re quick! Then, on Friday she will be going with Kerry, Allison and our new Kerri to the hockey tournament that our wonderful Ballycraigy students have been working so hard towards.

Vanessa is in the office all week, as well as her usual tasks she’ll be taking extra time to help Kerri settle in and also working on our new Certain databases.   She will be with the rest of her department for an admin meeting on Tuesday and attending a Certain Working Group on Friday.

Peter Gilpin is busy with an Essentials of SEO webinar with Guy Levine on Thursday.   He’s also fevering away with our Facebook completion.  If you were pretending to be Rip Van Winkle last week then you’d better check out the details!  You have to be in it to win it! 

Legal-Island is offering the chance for 2 lucky winners to receive 2 tickets each to the Irish Open golf tournament, taking place at Royal Portrush Golf Club from 28th June to 1st July 2012. Please visit the following link for details on how to enter:

http://bit.ly/JNOpwE

Guest Writer - Kerry Taggart

Here are the Ballycraigy Hockey Teams at the Antrim forum last week getting in some practice before the main tournament on the 25th May. If you look closely you'll be able to spot the Legal-Island helpers who went along on the day for support!

This week our movements are:
Barry - CEO


Today he has internal meetings for much of the day. Tomorrow, he's chairing the Antrim HR group. On Wednesday he's delivering a mediation workshop with his cohort, Scott Alexander. On Thursday he's in Dublin helping out at the Advocacy seminar. On Friday he's back in Northern Ireland networking in Belfast.


Jayne - MD

Monday and Tuesday – staff meetings
Wednesday – In Belfast all day. Common Purpose session on Sources of Power at Belfast City Hall, will hear presentations from Peter McNaney Chief Exec of Belfast Council, Colm Donaghy, Chief Exec of Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, Peter Johnson Director, BBC Northern Ireland and Marie Therese McGivern Chief Exec of Belfast Met.
Thursday – Finance meeting
Friday – volunteering at St Brigids Primary

Ainsley - Marketing & Sales Manager

Tuesday pm – meeting Gareth Dunlop from Fathom to discuss our web development project
Wednesday pm – volunteering

Scott - Head of Training & Development

Tuesday - delivering the second day of our two day mediation training course on
Wednesday - he takes the lead in a half day workshop on mediation, alongside Chief Executive, Barry Phillips.
Thursday - Scott will be chairing our workshop on TUPE with Roger Watts of C&J Black and Adam Brett of Pinsent Masons.
Friday - Scott will have to find some time to write our weekly review of developments email before flying to Edinburgh to watch Hearts beat the village idiots in the Scottish Cup Final for the first time since 1896. Not that Scott was around for that one. Go Rudi, Go!

Kerry - Conference Manager NI

Tuesday - Hosting the second day of our 2 day Mediation course in the L-I Training Centre
Wednesday - Will be sitting in on a free half day seminar L-I are running entitled 'The Place for Mediation in Your Organisation and why it’s time to ditch conventional means of workplace dispute resolution'
Thursday - Hosting Understanding TUPE in the L-I Training Centre

Heather - Conference Manager ROI

Wednesday – Radisson Dublin Airport for Creating Confident Managers and Day 2 of Internal Mediation
Thursday – Mason Hayes & Curran offices for Mock EAT – only 2 places left

Donna our Office Manager is attending the YENI trade fair in Ballymena on Thursday

Debbie is volunteering at the Library on Friday with the Silver Surfers

Arnold, Heather, Ainsley, Kerry, Debbie and Allison will be taking part in a charity carwash on Friday here at Legal-Island and all proceeds will be going to TinyLife - Northern Ireland's premature and vulnerable baby charity. Make sure you tell all your friends and family to come along and support us!

Guest Writer: Scott

Scott Alexander, Head of Training and Development, writes:

Our CEO Barry Phillips is delivering training today on mediation skills. On Wednesday he's hosting the Four Hour Work Week Business Club here at our training centre. On Thursday he's attending the Connect with Respect BITC event which is also here at our training centre. On Friday for now at least he's in the office all day.

For MD Jayne Finlay we have:

Tuesday – 2^nd stage interviews for PA/ Receptionist

Wednesday – internal meetings

Thursday – helping Ballycraigy Hockey team at Antrim Forum tournament

Friday – Certain meeting and Time to Read at St Brigids Primary

For me, Scott Alexander, we have:

Wednesday - meeting to discuss any possible improvements to our 'Essentials of Employment Law' NI event with the speakers and Kerry; meeting with John Conaghan of Carecall on joint working this year; meeting with Mark Reilly of the Belfast Telegraph to look at feedback from our NI HR Conference; and my usual weekly meeting with Barry. Then it's back to Lurgan to go blood doning.

Hopefully, I can work from home on Thursday and Friday.

ROI Conference Manager, Heather Stewart, has Ballycraigy Primary School hockey tournament on Thursday afternoon with Jayne. We are going to lend our support.

Our NI Conference Manager, Kerry Taggart, is hosting the first day of our two day Internal Mediation course on Tuesday in the Legal-Island Training Centre.  She will also be in the CIPFA offices in Belfast on Thursday hosting the Annual Update on Payroll Matters.

Today in our training centre we have the first day of a two-day mediation in-house training event. On Thursday we have Business in the Community (am) and Public Health Agency (pm).

Guest Writer Barry

We've a busy week this week after our rip roaring success on Thursday last with the Northern Ireland HR conference.

Our CEO, has internal meetings today and tomorrow. On Thursday he's attending a YENI black tie dinner at the Titanic. On Friday he's paddling up the River Bann from Lough Neagh to Castlerock on the North Coast for three days to raise money for charity.

Our MD Jayne is interviewing all day on Tuesday for Barry's PA. On Wednesday she's attending Corrs Corner for Connect with Respect BITC Champions Training. On Thursday she's attending Maghaberry Prison with Common Purpose course from 9 - 1.30pm followed by a ST meeting in the afternoon. On Friday Jayne's volunteering at St Brigid's Primary School on their reading for children programme.

Event Manager NI, Kerry, will be hosting the final two days of our eight day Mediation course on Thursday and Friday.  Good luck to our seven delegates who face their final assessment on Friday!  Kerry will also be hosting the monthly Mediation Club at the Law Centre in Belfast on Thursday afternoon.  We have Karen Erwin, President of the MII, coming along to speak on the ethical issues of mediation.

Our Event Manager for ROI Heather is meeting Kate from Brainwaves on Wednesday to give her a £220 cheque from our Rate2Donate scheme
On Thursday afternoon I will be at Ballycraigy Primary helping with the hockey.

Scott our conference executive for NI has a Senior Team Meeting on Thursday, followed by a ‘First Thursday’ mediation meeting at the Law Centre (NI) in Belfast. Scott may be addressing a meeting of the Institute of Directors’ Economic Strategy Committee on Friday in relation to the employment law changes in GB and whether these should be applied in Northern Ireland. Scott also hopes to meet John Conaghan of Carecall.

Meantime, we're all getting busy for some really good events in May and June including Northern Ireland's Data Protection Conference.

Guest Writer - Julie

Farewell Phyllis:

There is a dark cloud hanging over the office today as we bid farewell to Phyllis on her retirement. Phyllis started with Legal Island alongside myself and a few others in May 2008. She will be missed by all especially Barry with whom she worked alongside. Phyllis enjoy your retirement and your forthcoming holiday, you deserve it. Your presence will be missed by all at Legal Island!

This week sees our BIG Annual HR conference taking place on Thursday the 26th of April at the Ramada Hotel, Shaws Bridge in Belfast. This course is hugely popular with HR professionals in Northern Ireland and is filling up fast. To book your place please go to http://www.legal-island.com/events/all-events/. Please note that you can save £20 if you book and pay online.


Staff movements for this week are as follows:


Barry our CEO has meetings all day today and tomorrow. On Wednesday he’s giving a talk at the Rainey School on business issues. On Thursday he’s at a seminar with sales guru Andrew Bounds. On Friday he’s on leave.

Jayne our Managing Director is travelling to London on Tuesday for the IOD Celtic Dinner 2012 and furthermore will be attending the IOD Annual Convention on Wednesday. On Friday morning she is volunteering at St Brigids Primary School.

Scott Alexander hopes to work from home on Tuesday. On Wednesday he will be giving a presentation on age discrimination case law at the HSENI conference in the Tullyglass hotel in Ballymena. On Thursday he will be chairing the NI HR Conference at the Ramada Hotel in Belfast. On Friday he will be attending the Carecall Charity Gala Ball for Malawi at the Storment Hotel in Belfast.

Kerry is leading the team on Thursday at the NI HR Conference 2012. The hosters for the event are Jayne, Peter Fitzpatrick and myself.

Ainsley is seeing Gareth Dunlop from Fathom tomorrow afternoon. On Wednesday he is travelling to Dublin to host 'Dealing with Teacher Underperformance' which takes place on Thursday the 26th April.

Allison will be attending the Annual Health and Safety conference at the Tullglass House Hotel in Ballymena this coming Wednesday.

Donna is attending Ballycraigy Primary School on Thursday for Hockey training.

Heather is overseeing the following events in the South this Thursday the 26th April. Internal Mediation (2day Course), Dealing with Teacher Underperformance and Dealing and Negotiating with Employee Representatives.

Training Centre - Our 8 day Mediation course is running from Wednesday until Friday.

Guest Writer - Debbie Wilson

Easter is over, back to work...............

 

Welcome back from all at Legal Island! We hope you had a relaxing Easter break.  I had a wonderful time in Co. Monaghan with my family. As you can see from my picture the Easter Bunny still paid a visit to my son Joshua.

It’s a full house today on the Island, we’re all back from our time off and stuffed full of chocolate and ready to start our laps of the car park to work it all off again.

Ready....Get Set.....Go.......

Staff movements this week:

Barry our CEO has a busy week. Today he's meeting Michele Groves of Charis Consultancy. On Wednesday he's meeting Gerry Rooney from Baker Tilly about mediation courses. On Thursday he's in Dublin meeting Grainne O'Boyle about their mediation work before going to a seminar in Blanchardstown on the same subject. On Friday he's facilitating the last of the workshops on behalf of Common Purpose.

Scott has several meetings in Belfast on Wednesday, including Barry Fitzpatrick, Joe Blair of MBS and Angela Schettino & Emer Hinphey of thinkpeople. Scott hopes to work from home on Tuesday and Friday.

Donna is taking part in BITC Connect with Respect...........Diversity Training in our Training Centre today and Hallmark Solutions are using the facilities tomorrow.

Peter is working with our exhibitors for the HR Conference next Thursday. If any of our readers would like to exhibit, please contact peter@legal-island.com by lunchtime on Wednesday.  

Ainsley is meeting Gareth Dunlop on Friday afternoon to discuss our web strategy, apart from that he is in the office all week attending internal meetings.

Heather is taking part in BITC Connect with Respect...........Diversity Training.  On Wednesday she is meeting Jennie from MacMillan Cancer Support to present a cheque of £220 from our Rate2Donate scheme.  On Thursday she will be going to Ballycraigy Primary School to assist with their hockey training.

Kerry will be preparing for next weeks HR conference this week plus she will be attending an Invest NI workshop in the Clandeboye Lodge on Wednesday.  Kerry has the first three days of the NI 8 day mediation course taking place from Wednesday – Friday.

Jayne is taking part at BITC Connect with Respect ...............Diversity Training today at L-I Training Centre. On Wednesday she is at the Ramada Shawsbridge for Health, Wealth and Wellbeing Conference run by Employers For Childcare Charitable Group. On Friday she is at her final Common Purpose Learning Group in Belfast.