Citi Speaker Series
On Thursday 29th March, the DCU Educational Trust were pleased to welcome to campus Mr. Joe Hogan, DCU Alumnus and Chief Technology Officer / Vice President, Openet Labs to participate in the Citi Speaker Series and speak to undergraduate students in the DCU Business. The morning programme included a talk followed by a general Q & A session in the DCU Business School and concluded over lunch with a smaller group of students in the Helix.
Joe shared his story and that of Openet with over150 students gathered. Joe spoke frankly with them about Ireland’s need for them to be innovative and work to create value and start their own companies. He encouraged the students to pursue their ambitions and to be prepared to work hard both in their careers but also on their own ideas, noting that he started his first company working mornings, nights and weekends while also working full time! Joe talked with the students about the business and personal choices successful leaders must make and openly shared some of the challenges Openet has overcome to become the highly valued Irish company it is today.
During Joe’s visit to campus, Patrick McDermott, CEO, Educational Trust was delighted to have the opportunity to show him the DCU Alumni Wall, housed in the John and Aileen O’Reilly Library and of which Mr. Hogan is a 2012 Honorary Recipient.
The DCU Educational Trust would like to thank Citi Ireland for its generous sponsorship of the Citi Speaker Series. The Citi Speaker Series runs in conjunction with the DCU Business School, offering an Enterprise Development Mentoring Programme to inspire DCU’s final year business students with entrepreneurial creativity tempered by practical commercial realism. Through their participation in the Citi Series, students gain a unique opportunity to actively engage with senior business practitioners on a range of issues, enhancing their skills and their knowledge of what it takes to do business. Previous participants in the Series have included, Sean Gallagher, Entrepreneur, Mark Little, Irish Journalist and Current Affairs TV Presenter, Bill Cullen of the Glencullen Group, Mary Davis of Special Olympics Ireland, Gavin Duffy, Entrepreneur, Media Coach and Dragon’s Den Panelist, Michael Patten of Diageo Ireland – just to name a few.