Day 2

Catching up on the last 2 days.  It's been a little hectic in Dublin with the Queen in town, although it's so incredibly exciting to be right in the thick of such a historical event.  Here is what happened on Tuesday, May 17th:

Today we ventured to the north side of Dublin near the airport, to Shimmer Research, a small spin off branch of Real Time Technologies.  They produce basically wireless, wearable devices that measure what's going on with your body.  I cannot even accurately attempt to describe what these devices do, but the CEO, Keiren Daly, shared everything he could about running this venture, and a lot on the technology aspect.  He is a brilliant and inspiring entrepreneur.  Just listening to him makes you want to invent something and show it to the world.  I'm not a techie, so it's best I not try.   This guy had a clear vision and a passion for what he does, and his products are amazing.  If they ever are approved by the FDA in the US, I'm getting my grandmother one of the devices.  Shimmer Research

After that we went to Digital Hub, by the Guinness Storehouse.  Police were everywhere because the Queen was having a beer there at some point during the day.  The Digital Hub (Irish Government program/initiative) is basically a community of entrepreneurs, people in arts, graphic arts, technologies, academics, etc. that works to connect everyone to stimulate creativity and innovation.  In a very general nutshell.  Talked with Dr. Stephen Brennan, Director of Marketing & Strategy, and who happens to literally be a rocket scientist, about what they do at the Digital Hub, and their strategy and goals.  It's government-funded, and an incubator without mentoring.  Interesting takeaways (regarding start-up companies):  Facebook and Google never would have happened if they would've started in Europe.  More start-ups in Europe are moving to US because it's too difficult to get VC funding in Europe.  Europeans get more paid holidays and have almost the equivalent level of productivity compared to the US.  Hmm...

Did a little exploring around Dublin the rest of the day.  Tried to get into the Old Library to see the Book of Kels, but it was closed.  Saw one bomb squad truck, but the protestors weren't too bad overall.  General consensus were people were cool with the Queen visiting, but were ready for her to leave since traffic was completely a mess.  Even walking around Dublin was difficult in some areas. 

That's about it for Tuesday!