Testimonals
Web Development
John Carroll (PRCA)
“Econcepts proved themselves to be an ideal web design company for the PRCA. As a trade association, our website is our calling card. It is a major source of referrals for our members as well as being our portal to the world. Our previous website had been designed for a different era – eConcepts came in and produced a new site that meet our needs in a timely fashion without breaking the bank. In any such project, there will inevitably be a high degree of personal interaction required; the Econcepts team were professional, flexible and a pleasure to work with.”
Client: Darragh Rea- Head of Digital, Edelman Ireland (World's largest PR firm)
“We have worked with eConcepts on a number of projects for various clients; I have always found them to deliver a professional service on time and on budget. Their understanding of deadlines and their ability to turn around great quality work in short time frames has been of huge benefit to our clients. I would have no hesitation in recommending them.”
Aileen O'Meara Former RTE, Sunday Business Post & current AOM Media
I have recommended Pat Kennedy and his team at eConcepts to a number of friends running small companies since he redesigned my website in late 2012 (www.aileenomeara.ie). His clarity in understanding what simple but effective changes could do – such as putting Facebook and Twitter on the home page –and showing me how I could in fact update the website myself using WordPress – is what makes his team stand out. The lads are friendly and understanding for small operators like myself. Highly recommended! Aileen.
Eugene Murray Former CEO Irish Hospice foundation, Director of Digital Media RTE & independent consultant
“We approached eConcepts after a recommendation from another client. Initially our concern was value for money – and we got more than we bargained for. From design concept to detailed implementation Mark and Pat listened to our needs and shared their expertise. We ended up with an elegant site with state of the art functionality. The home page included a photo slider, a video channel, Facebook and Twitter integration, an events diary with mapping, a newsletter subscription and full ecommerce capability via credit cards – and that was in addition to our basic news pages, our activity sections and an email account. They stayed with us throughout the process and the training on site maintenance was excellent.”
Ann Phelan, Former Minister for Rural Affairs
“Ultimately, it is all about local people, local business and local community. The eTownz programme epitomizes what my brief as Minister for Rural Economic Development is all about, in providing the essential tools necessary for communities to improve upon and drive their own local economies, allowing them to participate in their own rejuvenation. I know first hand that there are a lot of communities out there ready and willing to fight back, they have great potential and it is important that resources are targeted to those areas. eTownz can play a pivotal role in this regard. I wish eTownz the very best for the future, their platform and suite of community development solution have promise to become key tools in the rejuvenation of towns across the country.”
Former Minister of State for Rural Economic Development and Social Enterprise.
Dr Maura Farrell, NUI Galway
“Community rejuvenation, development and sustainability are increasingly key issues of concern within both a community and policy context, not only from an Irish perspective, but also on an international basis. Having carried out extensive work within the context of community and rural development, the issues that lie ahead are not, should communities initiate change for survival, but how do they go about doing this? eTownz are developing a holistic on-line platform that will allow communities, not only to explore the advantage and disadvantages of their community, but also to provide a clear direction of progression into the future. eTownz is both innovative and novel, has an identifiable market within Ireland and beyond and can assist in bringing local, small or large communities into an age where the internet can play a key role in igniting community development and sustainability.”
Director of MA in Rural Sustainability, Lecturer, School of Geography and Archaeology, National University of Ireland, Galway
Liam McCarton C.Eng (Dublin Institute of Technology)
“In 2014/15 we launched a development challenge initiative
sponsored by Irish Aid entitled “Where there is no Engineer
– Designing for Community Resilience”. This is a design initiative delivered in partnership with Concern Worldwide, Engineers Ireland and Engineers without Borders Ireland. Outstanding teams from each region were invited to participate in the National Finals where their work was reviewed by a multidisciplinary panel of judges. Pat Kennedy and the team at eTownz submitted a project as part of this competition entitled www.Knowledge4dev.org and were invited to participate in the national finals. Both myself and the other judges were very impressed with the online development platform being worked on by them. We hope over the coming years to develop synergies with their system in the future and we see huge possibilities for their solutions in the international development sector across the world. We are currently scoping possible applications within our projects in Ireland and overseas.”
Director, Engineers Without Borders Ireland Development Technology Research Group, School of Civil & Structural Engineering Dublin Institute of Technology
Chris Chapman (Change Exploratory)
“Effective community development requires a mix of hard and soft skills. The ‘hard’ skills include collecting data relevant to the community, making funding applications, managing assets and that sort of thing and the ‘soft’ are primarily about enabling people to work together really well for the common good. What happens often, in practice, is the hard skills get in the way of the soft. Meetings can end up being technical, boring and excluding of those that don’t have the relevant expertise and then things just don’t work very well. What Pat and eTownz are developing is a set of tools that will make a lot of the ‘hard’ stuff easier, by creating a platform which enables all members of the community to share in defining priorities and plans and to work together inclusively to better and better effect. Put simply, the future of our communities depends on how well people work together. If we can get the technology right to support this, then that can make a tremendous difference.”
Community Development Facilitator