Elephant Bean Bags

I had the pleasure of chatting to Terriann Pierce from Elephant Bean Bags last Tuesday, and what an absolute lady she is 🙆

Terriann and her Fiancé Mark set up Elephant Beanbags in 2010 after supplying Fatboys for a number of years.

I have been meaning to get a bean bag for my therapy room for well over a year now, to replace the cushions and blanket I currently have on the floor. Some things just never make it off the to do list. 🙈

Anyway, when I was in Dublin a few weeks ago, I was in traffic behind an Elephant Beanbag van. I went straight onto their website (btw, I wasn’t driving 😉), put a Beanbag and a dog bed in the basket, and of course got distracted.

At the time, I had no idea that they were a local company. I was so delighted when I heard Terriann talk at the recent JCI Mayo ‘Taste and Toast’ event, where she mentioned they were based in Ballinrobe.

She spoke about how they have designed their product around their customers, redesigning the material, safety zips and adding more stitching all to produce a better quality beanbag.

There are a few different sizes and products and lots of colours to choose from. I explained to Terriann, that I will be using it for rough and tumble, OT exercises and story time- which is usually me and one child on the bean bag. She recommended the Jumbo size.

The bean bags can all be wiped clean, which is a super plus around kiddos and they are so versatile. I am excited at the thought of bringing mine outside to read a book, or sunbathe (if by some slim chance we ever get a Summer in Ireland).

Over the years, I have been to a lot of OT appointments with clients and there has almost always been a bean bag in the room. OT's often put them on the ‘to buy’ list, to match recommendations that need to be worked on e.g. getting up from the beanbag, walking across a bean bag, catching something while standing on a bean bag etc. I think it is because the unsteady surface is good for working your core and your balance.

I myself, frequently recommend schools and homes to get bean bags, to provide an area for regulation, self- soothing or de-escalation as part of behaviour support plans. They are easy to move around and are great for shaping around a person and sort of giving you similar pressure that you might get from a hug.

 

If there is someone reading this that has their own company, or runs Summer camps or events etc; you might be interested to know, that they also rent out the bean bags too. They will even match your company colours if required! Believe it or not, the Mayo team have been having their team talks on the Elephant BeanBags for their big games this past while. Maybe that is the secret to their recent success 😉

(fingers crossed for Sunday, Mayo4Sam 💚💔)

I can't wait to get my bean bag and its just a bonus to get to support a local business!

FYI:

The junior bean bag is 110cm x 140 cm  and costs €109

The jumbo bean bag is 135cm x 175cm and costs €159

There is free delivery on all orders.

Terriann has been nice enough to give all my followers a 10% discount and the code is : thankyou10

This is my first time being able to offer my followers anything other than my own thoughts ha ha , so please let me know if you use it and maybe I can try and get you guys some more.

Click Here to Order Yours

My journey to World Champion Debater!!

'Sex is better with the lights off!' 

That statement might have you thinking that this is a blog post far removed from the JCI World Debating Championships but, it is in fact the motion in the final of the first debating championship I ever won. 

It was an early morning in March 2014, when on the journey from Mayo to Dublin, I swore that I was just going to take it all in and would under no circumstances be taking part! Public speaking after all, is the scariest thing ever, right? 

Fast forward a couple of hours and a lot of peer pressure from Dr Adrian Corcoran and there I am, part of the winning team taking home the national debating shield. Very surreal! The practice topics were easy, 'dogs make better pets than cats' but the final topic of 'sex is better with the lights off' was pretty embarrassing, but liberating to argue in front of 50+ people. The event was Spring Conference hosted by JCI Dublin and this event is on the JCI Calendar every year. It is a great chance to get some basic training in debating and chance your arm on a team. 

The next step in my debating career was taking a part on the Mayo team that competed for the Tripartite cup (UK, Scotland & Ireland). We took out the UK with points of information such as; 'Mc Flurries weren't invented when you were a child'. Alas, we were beaten by Scotland, even though we made classy points such as 'our national President had to leave the room he is so offended by the motion, that if carried years ago would mean he would not even exist'. I'll leave you guessing as to what those two motions were. 

After that, I was selected to join the JCI Ireland debating team for the World Congress in Leipzig Germany in November 2014. I was also honoured to be invited by JCI Secretary General Arrey Obenson to host the JCI Morning Show for three mornings. His colleague Sara had seen me debate in Ireland and she passed on her recommendations (you never know who is watching and what opportunities will come knocking).

Morning show was all about raising the energy levels of the delegates first thing, whilst letting them know the theme & agenda for the conference that day. I had a jam packed schedule, with scripts to read through and debate practice to do and I don't think I have ever been as nervous in my life.  You can see from the picturess, we had great support. Unfortunately we lost out in the first round (again to JCI Scotland, who went on to win the entire competition).

 After receiving feedback from the judges, we realised it was in the technical scores we were falling down. It was time to get serious about the rules and get some expert training in the form of Máire Garvey from  Westport Toastmasters. 

We figured out we were losing simple points for not linking our team e.g 'as my colleague Adrian has already pointed out' and for not stating and restating the motion every time e.g. 'we implore you to join with us in opposing this ridiculous motion that....'.

I was JCI Mayo Local President for 2015, and when March rolled around, I jumped at the chance for us to host JCI Ireland's Spring Conference. I was delighted to have the opportunity to try and encourage other members to jump in and 'Accept the Challenge' (my theme for the year). It also gave me a view from the other side. I had to work out the timetable, organise judges, motions, teams and set up etc. This knowledge would stand to me in the following months and years as a debate chair and trainer. I was so proud when the Mayo team of Adrian, Karen and Deborah won and kept the national shield in Mayo for a second year running.

 

 Next stop was Istanbul, Turkey for the 2015 European Conference. I was lucky enough to again be selected for the Irish team under captain Brian Smyth and alongside team mate Laura Enache. We got through two rounds which brought us to the European final, but unfortunately we came in second place against the Latvians. So close, but just not close enough!

In October 2015, I was asked to be Chair of the Tripartite Debate at the Irish National Convention in Donegal. I was nervous as this would be my first MC gig where I had no script and lots of breaks to fill in between competitions. My experience was standing to me at this stage though, I was confident of the setup, rules and how to run a debate. I was also getting used to thinking on my feet.

 It's important to note the next step on the journey was delivering debate training to JCI Galway alongside Adrian. This was in one sense sharpening our enemies sword given that JCI Galway 'snatched' the  national shield off Mayo at Spring Conference March 2016 in Cork (while Adrian and myself were chairing). However, in the other sense it was sharpening our own sword as this was where Sara Gilligan got her own first taste of debating. Sara would later go on to join myself and Adrian on the Irish team. Myself and Adrian made sure to get a photo with the JCI Galway winning team, after all it was thanks to us they had won, right? 😉😉😉 

Now it gets exciting! Myself, Sara and Adrian put in some serious practice for the JCI European Conference in Tempera, Finland in June 2016. We were ready and confident! First topic up was 'Women are Better on Top'; thanks JCI- ready to mortify myself once again! We were defining the motion and as everyone in the audience was excited by the motion, with thought we better stick sex in there somewhere. We defined the motion as 'women are better on top in the bedroom and the boardroom'. After lots of interesting points and stating made up studies from FHM and the sex university, we emerged victorious! We got through the quarter finals and semifinals to meet our dear old rivals JCI Scotland in the final. The motion pulled out was 'Peace is Possible', and to our dismay in the coin toss we were told we were opposing. The JCI World President's big initiative for 2016 was the 'Peace is Possible' campaign and I was the current 'Peace is Possible' Director for JCI Ireland. This was going to be a hard battle to win. We had a lot of laughs and a lot of points of information. When it was all over we had to wait over night for the winner to be announced at the gala awards. We heard JCI Ireland get called out and we ran to the stage with music blaring and all of JCI Ireland members going crazy. After a quick apology to World President Paschal that we had torn his campaign to shreds, 😉😉😉 we accepted our trophies and tried to catch our breath.

When we caught our breath and got back on Irish soil, we were determined to go after the World title. Flights to Canada were booked and we were all set. Between June and November, myself and Adrian went back to Galway to deliver more debate training where we gave the bug to the NUIG Entrepreneurs society. We were also invited to JCI Oslo in Norway to deliver a two day debate academy there, they have gone on to be successful at a European & World level and we have remained connected ever since). The final stop was on to Irish National Convention in Galway, a week before Canada to try and defeat UK and Scotland for the Tripartite cup! Topics this time were light hearted e.g.  'men are objectified more than women'  After two serious battles, (in the form of witty points of information and a lot of inside jokes), Ireland reigned supreme. Could we get three in a row?

The pressure was really on for us to bring home the World title in Canada. We were being called the team to beat! I had made the decision to stay in Canada and miss my Grandfather's funeral. We knew there would need to be a new team next year. So it was now or never! 

 We got the potential motions a couple of days before the big day, we sat as a team and came up with the possible ways we could re-define the motions and 3 main points for and against. We practiced the rules and taking points of information from each other. The morning of the debate we put on our 'debating uniform', practiced again as a team and took a lot of deep breaths. 

We had huge support from the beginning to the end of the day, both in the room with flags and loud cheers and online as the debates were streamed live to our friends and family around the globe, (again no pressure).

Quarter Final- Ireland proposing against Canada. Motion- There should be a ban on mainstream music that glorifies violence

Semi Final- Ireland proposing against Philippines. Motion- Conferences should be held online rather than onsite (we narrowed this to JCI Area Conferences).

Final- West Indies proposing against Ireland. Motion- Freedom of speech should include the right to offend.

All three debates were lively and a lot of fun was had. At times, it can be difficult to say things you wouldn't dream of saying in everyday life and getting the vibe right between offending and debating is sometimes tricky.

Our tried and tested preparation sheets and prompts to each other to watch protected time and pulling out our 'secret weapon' during each debate meant that we finished the day truly exhausted but happy with our effort. The long wait until the Awards Ceremony commenced.

I can honestly say sitting in that audience was one of the most nervous I have ever been. I so wanted to win for myself, for my team, for our President Brian, for the delegation that had supported us and for all those that were at home staying up to hear the result.

After missing my Grandfather's funeral, I wanted to come back with the trophy to make him and the rest of the family really proud. They sure did drag it out, but then we heard JCI Ireland getting called out as the winners. I don't remember walking to the stage, but I do remember the feeling afterwards being the most proud I have felt in my life. Its amazing to win, but its more amazing to win with an awesome team knowing you prepared well. 

We returned to a champagne reception in Ireland and tonnes and tonnes of well wishes. 

Thank you so much to my captain Adrian and team mate Sara, it was such an incredible journey to share with you. Brian our President; your guidance and support was appreciated all the way. Máire- your training was invaluable. JCI Ireland and its members for the opportunity and outstanding support. The JCI Ireland Senate for funding my Congress registration. My Dad and family for support and putting on a lovely spread on our return. 

To any of you who have read as far as here, if you get the opportunity to debate- DO IT! In fact if you get the opportunity to do anything- #ACCEPTTHECHALLENGE 

2021 Update : Since writing this blog debating has still been a huge part of my life. I have been to Malta twice to deliver debate training. I have been back to Galway to train and I am part of the training team leading the upcoming debate academy hosted by JCI Scotland. 

I have helped coach JCI Ireland to two more World successes in 2017 with Ronan, Emma & Dana and in 2019, where I was lucky enough to stand on stage with Ben, Tara & Paddy as JCI Ireland National President . 

The 2021 JCI Ireland Spring Conference is coming up and I am so honoured to be leading the training and the championship and I have updated this blog to encourage all those tempted to just say yes! 

Accept The Challenge!

An Unforgettable Trip to JCI European Conference 2016

My most recent trip was so amazing, I thought it deserved more than just a Facebook post, or a few pics on Instagram..... so here goes my first blog (courtesy of the training I received from the ever so talented Ryan Pilkington from JCI Sheffield).

This was a trip that started with a panic but ended with a massive celebration.....

First up, there was the passport issue. Despite applying 'well' (ish) in advance, a few days before I left there was no sign of the passport. The passport office doesn't take calls, or respond to emails but after a DM on Twitter, I found out there was a problem. On to my local TD Micheál Ring, who thank goodness was a huge help. I got the passport into my hand at ten to five on Friday evening, after getting soaked to my skin in a torrential downpour and sitting like a drowned rat in the passport office for two and a half hours.

Delighted with myself, I headed for my friend's house to check in to my flight! But, another disaster was on the cards. SAS pilots decided to strike and my flight was cancelled. The only thing for it was wine and an impromptu night out in Dublin where I gatecrashed a hen and an Accenture staff party and got to hangout with my sister and my ever so lovely men-tee Mary Kate.

The flight was rescheduled for Sunday evening, which resulted in missing the two nights planned for Stockholm. However, once I met up with my roomie for the week, Sara from JCI Galway, we put the inconvenience behind us and got super excited for the trip!

We had a quick 5 hour stopover in Oslo, where we enjoyed some overpriced wine and had a 2 hour nap. It was safe to say we were very thankful for the free coffee on the SAS flight to Stockholm

On arrival in Stockholm we wanted to make the most of the few hours we had, so with about two hours sleep, we grabbed a hot shower in a room crammed full of JCI people and suitcases and then hit the beautiful city for a walk and some lunch.  

Over lunch, our hilarious waitress described the Irish as 'positively weird' (we weren't sure, but we took this as a compliment).  In our short time we took in the cathedral, the hay market, the beautiful canal and the even more handsome and stylish locals.

Next stop was our cruise from Stockholm to Helsinki. The cabin was very small, but we were expecting that. I had never been on a cruise and was like a child in a candy shop taking it all in. So many shops, restaurants, casinos etc, anything that you could want. We spent the evening enjoying the Finnish sauna (they add beer and music to make it more fun), the outdoor Jacuzzi and sunbathing with cocktails on the top deck. After a quick change we enjoyed some music and dancing. One of our delegates found the 'dancing in heels' on a boat a bit tricky and she actually broke her foot, oops, (the Finnish drink could have had something to do with it as well, but we'll blame the boat)

Next stop Helsinki! To say we had to drag ourselves off the boat at 10am, is an understatement, but once we reached our fab hostel (it was college accommodation and was super roomy) and freshened up we were  ready to explore the city. Helsinki didnt disappoint and we loved it. I also had the best strawberry daiquiri in this 'all you can eat' lunch buffet.

We met the fabulous Katja at the train station with some of our JCI friends from Scotland. Katja and JCI Espo hosted us in a national park for a BBQ. It was so cool, they have a purpose built BBQ station with a wood fire and tables etc, this discourages people from lighting make shift BBQs that may be hazardous. We enjoyed lots of meat and some traditional Finish Pastries called 'Karelian Pastrry', these are pastries stuffed with a filling of rice, and were to die for straight off the BBQ. When we had let the food settle, we went off to a Finish lake. I am an absolute water baby and love to swim in the sea. I have never swam in a lake before and words cannot describe the beauty of this place. It was an unforgettable experience and one I am determined to repeat.

So that is the end of the 'pre Conference Tour', time to get down to the whole reason we were in Finland. The JCI EC 2016 in Tempera!

After a quick train journey, we were registered. Next up came the emotional reunions with friends from across the globe, most notably, UK, Scotland and Malta. Sara and the newbies went off to the First Timers Orientation, where they were given the run down of what happens at these conferences and what not to miss. They meet all the VIPs as well e.g. World President Paschal, Secretary General Arrey Obenson, EVP Jeff Hendrix and so on and so forth.

Opening Ceremony was that night. Everyone dresses to represent their country and it was said that with just 15, we were still the loudest delegation when our national president Brian Smyth took the stage. My mum made me a 'famous' tri colour dress, and I wear it with pride each year! Ole Ole Ole!!! The after party kicked off with a video, countdown and fireworks to which the curtain dropped and the band in the video were on stage, very cool!! Next was the after AFTER party, where we danced to our hearts content. Our girl Sara got the whole place rocking with her rendition of Zombie by the Cranberries, which evidently became the song of our delegation for the duration of the conference.

Next day there was some really good discussions at the Economic Forum, I also attended General Assembly to see some countries express their interest in bidding for upcoming conferences. I was also very proud to see my friend JJ from Malta bid to become Executive Vice President for 2017. He will do a fantastic job, I have no doubt.Our national president Brian, presented our bid to host European President's meeting and he did an awesome job. We are very much looking forward to welcoming National Presidents from around Europe to Dublin.  After GA, I went along to support our representative, Laura Enache in the public speaking competition (we also raised a flag for Ilona from UK, and Stuart from Scotland). The standard this year was unbelievable and Laura did so well, we were so proud of her. Our good friend Ilona got through to the final.

That night was largely taken up with debate prep for the next day, but we did attend Canadian night and got in a few boogies.

Friday, for myself, Sara and Adrian was the debating championship all day. This year, eight countries (Ireland, Scotland, UK, Belgium, Germany, Finland, Norway and a mixed international team) took part in the English language debate and JCI Ireland was proud to be part of the line up. Adrian Corcoran was the captain, Sara was speaker 1 and I was speaker 2.

Traditionally JCI Scotland is a very strong contender and with multiple championships under their belt, they are the team to beat. After the draw this year, it was a possibility that Ireland and Scotland would meet in the final and everyone was very excited! In the first round, Ireland met Finland with the tongue-in-cheek topic of “Women are better on top”...Ireland were for this motion and won the first round. Next, we met Belgium with the topic “Technology discourages creativity and ingenuity in the workplace”. Ireland were opposing this motion and although it was a closer debate, we came through and secured our place in the final.

Meanwhile Scotland had also won their two rounds and to everyone’s delight, a proper Irish Scottish debate was on the cards. Ireland won the toss and decided to oppose the motion, which was then revealed as “This house believes that world peace is possible”. Disaster! We had to argue, in front of a crowd of JCI judges and members all involved in promoting world peace, that world peace is not possible!

The debate was extremely close and Scotland were very strong opponents. We had to wait a full 24 hours before we would find out the result.  To ease the nerves, we went to the Bansi drinks first, (Bansi is made up of Britan, Ireland, Scotland, Malta, Australia & New Zealand), then the Swiss night. Safe to say the Swiss cheese smells worse than your Granda's socks, but it tastes amazing!! They were grilling it outside and the smell was wafting in. More dancing ensued and we forgot all about the nerves of debating.

 

On the final day we were invited to a reception by the Belgians to watch the football. Honestly, I think they invited us just to laugh at us, but they did put on a serious spread and gave us vouchers for some drinks. Thanks JCI Belgium! We had our own President's drinks, where as a delegation we thanked President Brian for his leadership. Brian thanked everyone personally for their contribution to the conference, especially Laura Enache, who is our international director who put so much work into logistically organising and supporting our delegation.

Next up, off to the Gala Awards ceremony. The announcement of the debating winners was made in front of almost 2,000 delegates. We had our head in our hands and everyone was anxiously waiting for our name to be called. 'JCI Ireland' was shouted and in a very surreal moment myself, Sara, Adrian and our president Brian proudly made our walk to the stage amongst applause and cheers to receive our award. I was so overwhelmed, I don't even know what I said to President Paschal. It was definitely an unforgettable moment, and one I'll cherish forever. That wasn't the end of the awards for JCI Ireland, as my mentee and inspirational colleague Mary Kate was awarded the 'Most Outstanding Local President'. Eabha O Leary Fitzpatrick was also shortlisted as 'Best New Member'. Congratulations to my friend Celestine from JCI Southhampton who took home this award.

We celebrated the night dancing and singing to our hearts content. On the bus to the after party, we had the whole bus singing Olé, Olé, and I gave a rendition of the 'Rattlin Bog', much to the delight of the Norwegians. I got a chance to play Japanese poker with their President, and chatted to Vice President Seun Osikalu about the differences between Nigeria and Ireland. After a cheeky meal in Mc Donald's where we again had everyone singing Zombie, it was time for a very late/early teary good bye to my darling friends Annalisa and Celestine!

 Thank you very much to Laura Enache for all her organsing, Brian Smyth for his leadership, Adrian Corcoran as our Captain, my darling Annalisa for just being you, and Sara Gilligan for not killing me xxxx

The less said about the journey home the better zzzzz

Next up World Congress in Quebec, time to bring home the World Debating Shield!!!