Speaking of sponsorships, the Irish Management Institute has dialled up Eircom Business Solutions to support this year's National Management Conference, which will be held at its Sandyford base in Dublin on October 9th.

The IMI think-in returned only last year after a five-year hiatus, so it’s good to see they are keeping it going.

As well as all the highbrow management theory that was discussed, the event 12 months ago was also notable for the fact that Joe Schmidt, the Ireland rugby boss, booted a ball into the face of our our dear leader, Enda Kenny, at the photo shoot. He got a cheer for it, too.

The discussion theme of this year’s event is Adapt Align Achieve, or AAA for short. About 300 guests are expected to attend the conference.

The line-up of speakers, which is being added to as I write, includes Tim Harford, the Financial Times' "Undercover Economist"; Nilofer Merchant, a former Apple executive turned public speaker whose LinkedIn profile says she is the "Jane Bond of Innovation"; Shane O'Mara, a Trinity College neuroscientist who has an interesting sideline in giving speeches on zombies. Check him out on Youtube.

It sounds like more management fun than you could shake a stick at.