The National Recruitment Federation Awards 2009 was really a great night. It was the celebration of the recruitment industry and it was really amazing how positive it all was. Recruitment in Ireland has gone through its worst years for decades. After excellent Recruitment Conference earlier this year, the Awards Ceremony to be even more uplifting, one couldn’t really expect. It is the people in the recruitment industry in Ireland, the National Recruitment Federation members, and all their representatives present last Friday, that made it all as great as it all was.
Elaine Roddy, NRF Director deserves a special thanks for organizing it all (Yes I was there a few hours earlier to check how the things are going with the organization! :)).
Frank Collins, NRF President – made the shortest speech possible, making sure the dinner doesn’t get cold. On a serious side Franks work with the NRF shows outside of the NRF organization, making him a as respected person in the recruitment industry in Ireland as he is.
The panel of judges were made up of Sean O’Meara, Former Chief Executive of Young Advertising; Kirsty Kirkwood, Former European Head of HR at State Street Ireland and Mark Fielding, CEO of the Irish Small & Medium Enterprises Association, (ISME). Ex-MD of Computer People Ltd, Grainne Martin was a new addition to the panel this year as a recruitment advisor.
Photo by Ian Wortley of Jackie Brown Medical
I spent most of the evening chatting with the judging panel of the NRF. It was interesting to hear their reasoning for awarding each award. Mark Fielding, CEO ISME
Made it the most clear by defining the ‘Passion’ as what made the largest impression on him. He was amazed by the quality of shortlisted companies this year, and admitted it was really hard to choose one in each category.
It was also the eve of the Lisbon Treaty Referendum that night, and we had a chat about that. I was shocked the day later realising that Marks prediction of the outcome of the referendum was absolutely correct – he predicted the percentages exactly as the results published a day later! Well done!!!
As a true night out – National Recruitment Federation Awards 2009 ceremony culminated with a live music and dance… With most of the cameras way out of focus to capture any of that!