Three Ireland Launch #3HubTalk

Three Ireland have launched an exciting new Facebook App, Three ‘Hub Talk’. The app provides a space where some of Ireland’s favourite celebrities (including Roz Purcell, Bernard Dunne, Pippa O’Connor, Conor Mortimer and the not-so-real Marty Morrissey) will be revealing exclusive content via their own Facebook and Twitter pages. Fans will then have the opportunity to interact with these personalities.

Each day the celebs will post a link to the app of an exclusive personal video or picture. Fans will then upload their own version of the video/picture in order to win a whole host of daily, weekly & grand prizes. The celebrities themselves will each select a winner at based on how entertaining the data shared is.

Prizes up for grabs include Samsung Galaxy Minis, official Republic of Ireland jerseys and €20 top-up vouchers. Also, everyone who enters the app, even if it’s just for a nosy at the celebrity content, will be in with the chance to win the grand prize of a brand new Samsung Galaxy SIII with bill paid for a year and two VIP tickets to see Ireland take on Germany in their World Cup qualifier in October (including an overnight stay and dinner in a top Dublin hotel).

Commenting on the launch Bernard Dunne said: “Three ‘Hub Talk’ is a really clever idea from Three. It not only gives fans a chance to interact with each other in a fun and competitive way, it also means they can win really great prizes every single day. I’m a big Twitter fan and I’m always looking for different ways to interact with my followers. It’s also great for Three customers to be able to use their phone to upload data without any charges!”

Speaking about the campaign, Elaine Carey, Sales and Marketing director at Three, said: “We’re very excited to be launching Three ‘Hub Talk’ to promote our latest prepay offer. The Hub will be the perfect place for our customers to come to make great use of our ‘All you can eat’ data offering by sharing all sorts of content. From Wednesday 1st August, as well as having a place to come and share exclusive content, Three Prepay customers can snap up the Samsung Galaxy Mini on Prepay for just €69, an amazing price for a great Smartphone, with the ‘All you can eat’ data plan allowing Three Prepay customers to make the most of its enhanced social media functionality.”

For further information on Three visit www.three.ie

Survey Reveals 1 in 5 of Irish Parents Don’t Read to Their Children

This week sees the launch of the Eason ‘Get Into Reading’ campaign. The campaign aims to highlight the importance of reading, especially with children, and is supported by leading Irish authors Cathy Kelly and Ireland's new children's laureate Niamh Sharkey. To kick off the campaign a survey

As part of the campaign, Eason commissioned Amárach Research to carry out a survey, which revealed some very interesting results. The stand out insights were...

• While four-in-five (84%) Irish people were encouraged to read by their parents and almost seven-in-ten members of the Irish public (69%) were read to as a child, almost one in five (18%) of Irish parents never read to their children.
• Close to two in four parents ‘pass the buck’ to their partner when it comes to reading to their children – men (42%) are more guilty of this than woman (34%)
• More than half of Irish parents of kids under 8 have felt badly about not having time to read with their child.
• One third cites time pressures as the main reason for not reading more to their child.
• A quarter of Irish people read for five or more hours each week and those who were read to as a child are 30% more likely to spend this amount of time reading than those who were not read to as child – 24% of those who were not read to as a child read for an hour less each week.
• Almost all (93%) of respondents concur that reading increases one’s vocabulary and close to half (46%) have listed reading as an extracurricular activity on their CV.
• 79% of those surveyed would like more time in the day to read more.

Dr. John Sharry, child psychotherapist, commented on the research findings, “Establishing a daily reading time with your children is the single most important ritual, benefiting not only their learning and communication but also creating an important connection between you. The research describes the barriers to reading with children with ‘having no time’ being the most cited reason by parents. This highlights the importance of building a daily routine of reading with the ‘bedtime story’ being one of the most important of these. Bedtime reading not only provides all the educational benefits of reading, but also is an important ritual in gaining a good night’s sleep and usually a special moment of connection between parent and child.”

Ireland's leading female author and mother to nine year old twin boys, Cathy Kelly offered her thoughts, “‘It’s hard to find time to read to your children. At night time, I’m often shattered, want to throw myself into bed and am not in the mood for another chapter of the wonderful Harry Potter. But I do it and I can see the enormous difference reading has meant to my sons in terms of learning.

She continued, “Both of them now love books. When they were little, the bedtime story was part of the lovely bedtime routine. Now, it’s a fabulous time to read – and talk. Children tell you what they really feel at night. Reading gives you a lifetime of joy and even ten minutes each night can make such a difference to your children.”

According to David Field, Head of Marketing and Retail Development at Eason, “We at Eason are hugely committed to supporting literacy in Ireland, particularly among children. ‘Get Into Reading’ really draws on the importance of reading from a young age and the role of the parent in nurturing their child’s love of the written word. We recognise the passion many people share for reading and we simply want to encourage kids and adults alike to read more, one book at a time.”

In order to facilitate the campaign, Eason are calling on the Irish public to pledge their support for reading by visiting the Eason Facebook page or website. All who pledge will be entered into a weekly draw to win a €500 Eason voucher.

‘Get Into Reading’ is part of Eason & Son’s commitment to literacy and will include weekly in-store reading events for children and parents throughout the year. Each Saturday morning, participating Eason stores will host ‘Get Into Reading’ Story Time events where a dedicated member of staff will read a preselected book to the children. ‘Get Into Reading’ Story Time kicks off this Saturday 28th July.

The Eason ‘Get Into Reading’ campaign is a year-round initiative and takes place in line with other initiatives supporting literacy such as the Eason Spelling Bee which was met with huge success this year receiving entries from close to 300 schools from all 32 counties of Ireland. Later this year, Eason will also announce details of a partnership with Barnardos Children’s Charity in support of child literacy.

Heineken: ‘Yourfest’ App

Are you a music fan? In fact, it doesn't even matter. Everyone's a big enough music fan to enjoy their own completely customised and personalised music festival. And guess what? That's exactly what Heineken Live Access is offering with the ‘Yourfest’ app on the Heineken Facebook page (it's also available on www.heineken.ie/yourfest).

First, choose a music theme, then create your festival name, and finally add your dream selection of acts to play on three different stages. With your festival poster created, you can now share it with friends to compare tastes. fans can also find out how to win a trip to some of the world’s biggest real-life festivals through the app.


What is Heineken Live Access?
Heineken Live Access is offering three VIP trips to Sensation in Bangkok, Sandance in Dubai or The St. Maarten Regatta. The prize includes international travel and accommodation with entertainment along the way. Each festival features world renowned acts in an unbelievable setting, ensuring the winners will have the trip of a lifetime.


How to enter:
Pick up a special Heineken Live Access pack in-store.
Find the code on the pack.
Enter the code on www.heineken.ie


About the Festivals:
Sandance, Dubai:
Sandance is a five star, 12 hour day and night dance music festival held on the beach of the world famous Atlantis Hotel on The Palm in Dubai. The prize includes a 4 day all inclusive package for two people to Sandance in Dubai (October 12) including flights, festival tickets, hotel accommodation & transfers.

Sensation, Thailand:
Sensation has been touring the globe for about a decade now. After conquering continents like Europe, Australia and South America and attracting over 1 million people, Asia is up next hosting the Ocean of White. The prize includes a 3 day all inclusive package for two people to Sensation in Bangkok from the 17th to the 20th of August 2012 including flights, festival tickets, hotel accommodation & transfers.

St. Maarten Regatta:
The 33rd St. Maarten Heineken Regatta provides world class sailboat racing combined with the hottest concerts and after-parties! With the official slogan being "Serious Fun" it is no wonder people come from over 25 countries to attend this one of a kind regatta in the Caribbean. The prize includes a 3 day all inclusive package for two people to the St. Maarten Heineken Regatta in the Caribbean in March 2013 (dates tbc) including flights, festival tickets, hotel accommodation & transfers.

Celebrate A Very Chic Summer At Kildare Village

Next weekend, 21st and 22nd July, Chic Summer at Kildare Village will have a special treat for visitors. Members of the Irish Chamber Orchestra will be on hand to delight you with a repertoire of summer favourites. For those looking for something a little bit more upbeat, fashion blogger DJ Alex Donald will also be on hand with live sets. Expect a cool, chic, vibe along the open-air promenades of the Village. Finally, on the music front, shoppers will also have the privilege of hearing renowned Irish saxophone player Keith Donald.

Don't think music is the only thing to look forward to. Shoppers can also enjoy a ballet performance choreographed by Muirne Bloomer of ’The Ballet Ruse’. The performance, inspired by the birds of summer, will take place Friday 20th and Saturday 21st at 1pm, 3pm and 5pm. If the performing arts are your thing, this weekend will also see a parade of butterflies that will flutter their oversized wings throughout the Village. They will land at intervals so you can say hello and capture a family photo.

The ‘Chic Summer Festival’ at Kildare Village is much, much more than just these two new additions. The festival has seen Kildare Village transformed into a garden of delights, where visitors can enjoy a host of chic summer activities from bespoke floral couture installations, an artisan food pop-up and a Heritage & Genealogy trail.

Of course, Kildare Village is always about one core activity: shopping. With more than 60 luxury boutiques offering the authentic previous seasons’ collections of luxury fashion and lifestyle brands with savings of up to 60% on the recommended retail price, and sometimes more, all year round, you’re guaranteed to come home a happy shopper.

Kildare Village is open seven days a week and offers late night shopping on Thursday and Friday until 8pm, and Saturday until 7pm.

Log on to KildareVillage.com for more details on Chic Summer Festival at Kildare Village.

NASA: Spacecraft 3D

NASA has launched a new app that lets you get up close with NASA’s robotic space explorers. The ‘Spacecraft 3D’ app shows you how the robots work and in addition highlights two actual NASA missions: the Curiosity rover that will touch down on Mars on 5 Aug 2012 and the twin GRAIL spacecraft, Ebb and Flow, currently orbiting the moon.

Using your iPhone or iPad camera, the app uses an AR functionality to display the spacecraft and then overlays content and information directly onto the 3D spacecraft.

Download the app here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/spacecraft-3d/id541089908