Paul McGarrity is Managing Director of Octave Digital – an agency specialising in marketing campaigns, advertising, and digital upskilling. Paul has over 24 years of experience in the UK and Ireland marketing delivering highly impactful campaigns for brands and organisations including: Cavan Tourism, Waterways Ireland, and ERP Ireland. He also operates a specialist Linkedin Training and Content service via PaulMcGarrity.com

Nicole Mezzasalma is senior consultant for innovation at London-based agency Battenhall, with clients ranging from tech giants to gaming companies. A self-professed geek and a specialist in emerging social media platforms and channels, she's been deeply interested in the world of AI since before ChatGPT went public in 2022. Formerly a journalist with over 15 years of experience, Nicole moved into marketing in 2013 and has worked in-house with large FMCG companies in the drinks industry before moving to the agency world. Originally from Brazil, she has lived in the UK since 2003.

Colin Hassard is a Senior Digital Communications expert at the Education Authority (EA), with extensive experience in marketing, communications, PR, graphic design, and events across a range of sectors. At EA, Colin is the social media lead driving content creation, video campaigns, and continuous improvement through data analytics. He currently works within the EdIS programme, which is transforming education in Northern Ireland through technology. Colin also hosts the EdIS eXchange podcast which spotlights innovation, best practices, and the evolving digital landscape in the education sector.

Jess Cahill is a Senior Accessibility and Usability Consultant at AbilityNet. She is a dedicated advocate for accessibility and inclusion in digital products and spaces. Jess conducts accessibility audits and user testing, and regularly delivers training on topics such as accessible social media, web content, and project management. Her professional background includes web product and project roles, content design and UX research, in both charity and private sectors. Jess is looking forward to witnessing the impact of the European Accessibility Act on accessibility for Europe’s digital citizens.

Dan McCarry is the Founder/Owner of Counter Digital. With almost 15 years in the industry, Dan is a digital marketing strategist and consultant based in Ballymena/Belfast, but working extensively throughout the island of Ireland. Dan launched Counter Digital, a bespoke digital marketing consultancy, in April 2015. Since then he has provided brands, SMEs, charities and organisations with training, service and consultancy in the digital space, with a focus on driving results. In that time clients have included Fermanagh Lakelands Tourism, EDO, Ripple Marketing, Podium Apps and more.

Sheena McCaugherty is a Certified Social Media Specialist with experience in PR, Communications, Digital Marketing, Content Creation, and Events. She is currently Senior Global Social Media Manager at Berlin-based FinTech company SumUp, whose product suite supports over 4 million businesses across 36+ markets. Sheena has developed impactful strategies and campaigns for global agencies, festivals, non-profits, and cultural organisations, including EastSide Arts Festival in Belfast and a creative agency in Beijing.

Stephanie Kennedy is Social Media Manager at NIE Networks. She began her career in 2012, working across both internal and external communications before specialising in social media management. In 2023, she was appointed Social Media Manager at NIE Networks, where she leads the company’s digital content strategy across five social media channels. Her focus includes customer education, electrical safety, recruitment marketing, and stakeholder engagement. Stephanie is also responsible for the social media response during crisis situations such as Storm Éowyn, where hurricane-level winds caused extensive damage to the electricity network causing 285,000 properties to lose power. In 2024, NIE Networks was named runner-up for Best Use of Social Media at the 2024 Northern Ireland Social Media Awards, recognising work during previous severe weather events.

Matt McRoberts is the Head of Marketing for Hastings Hotels and is responsible for leading the group's marketing department, overseeing all marketing, branding, PR, digital and social media strategies across the six hotels including spa, food and beverage outlets. He recently led a major group wide rebranding project encompassing seven different brands and multiple sub brands for the leading collection of hotels which includes some of the most recognisable properties in Northern Ireland. In 2022, Matt received a Rising Star Award from the Northern Ireland Hotels Federation.

Matt Stevenson is the Owner of Infinite Vision. He is a former Government Economist who left his corporate career behind to pursue his true passion in digital marketing. Matt is a specialist in organic social media and video creation. Across his digital career, he has amassed a total audience of almost 100,000 people and is approaching 100 million organic views on social media. He also holds multiple records in Ireland for his videos on social media. His clients have included TikTok UK, Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, Tech Startups in New York, Financial Companies in London, and more.

Laura Cummings is PR and Communications Mananger at RNIB Northern Ireland. She worked as a former journalist for 12 years prior to taking up her role within RNIB Northern Ireland. Working across a range of magazines and newspapers, including Sunday Life, IN! Magazine, Ulster Business, Fate, NI Wedding Belle and Ability NI, Laura was able to gain a broad wealth of experience in writing for consumer, lifestyle and B2B publications. Starting with RNIB NI in 2018, Laura’s role is wide-ranging, challenging and extremely rewarding and accessibility is at the fore of everything she does and strives for.

Becky Atkinson is the Communications and Social Media Officer at the British Medical Association, where she leads on organic content creation to captivate the membership audience. With a wealth of experience in digital marketing—and recent focus on industrial action messaging—she thrives on crafting emotive, story-driven content. Becky brings a blend of creativity and strategy to every campaign, helping the BMA show up authentically and impactfully in the political and healthcare space in Northern Ireland.

Catrin Elis is Visit Wales’ Content Editor, with responsibility over Visit Wales’ consumer content channels, including various social media platforms which have a total of over 1.8m followers, and web platforms attracting over 500k users per month. Catrin started her time at Visit Wales as Senior Campaigns Manager, and prior to joining Visit Wales worked as Head of Marketing and Audience Development for Cadw, the Welsh Government’s historic environment service. Before joining the Welsh Government Catrin was Cardiff Airport’s PR and marketing executive, delivering international marketing and PR campaigns for a range of airlines from across the world.