Meet the Team

Keynote PCO is a full-service conference management company, with all project management services provided by our skilled staff. We are a specialist for research and association conferences taking place in Ireland.

We adopt a flexible partnership approach, in which our team are an integral part of the overall operation of the event, in order to maximise the benefit of our experience for our client, sponsors, delegates and others involved in the conference. Our individual staff members have managed many of the largest conferences to have been held in Ireland, and we carry the highest international marks of quality for our work.

Noel Mitchell

Noel Mitchell

Managing Director

Noel has over 25 years of international conference management experience, both as a PCO and as the association host and a published scientific speaker. This brings the balanced perspective of both the role of the conference organiser, and the needs of the association and delegates.

In addition to a PhD in Experimental Physics, Noel is a Certified Meeting Manager with Meeting Planners International. He is a recognized leader in the international meetings industry, and is a former Council Member of the International Association of Professional Congress Organizers (IAPCO), current Treasurer of the World PCO Alliance, and Chairperson of the Association of Irish Professional Conference Organisers.

Noel is very passionate about delivering the best possible advice and service for our conference clients and delegates. His greatest thrill is winning the big international bids for Ireland!

Siobhan O’Hare

Siobhan O’Hare

Director

Siobhan graduated from DIT with a BSc in Management in 1992 and spent several years working in the Conference and Banqueting departments of key Dublin city centre hotels, before moving to the Association Conference area in 2004. For more than a decade, Siobhan has managed some of the largest landmark events to be held in Ireland. Siobhan completed an MSc in Executive Leadership in 2009 and uses the skills developed to oversee complicated projects.

Siobhan likes nothing more than balancing a challenging conference budget and her favourite time in every conference is the Conference Dinner.

Leone Mitchell

Leone Mitchell

Director

After graduating with a PhD in Biochemistry, Leone worked as a business consultant in the IT and telecommunications industries and as a project manager in the events industry. Leone is a Director of the company and manages our abstract systems and other scientific services. She really enjoys the whole process of abstract submission from designing the submission website through to producing an online programme of abstracts.

Leone loves that first glimpse of the printed programme book!

Rachel O’Hare

Rachel O’Hare

Operations Director

Rachel graduated from UCD with a BA in History and Greek and Roman Civilization. She spent several years working in customer relations, before moving to the events arena in 2006. She quickly established herself in the association conference area and since then has worked as a project manager. Rachel joined Keynote PCO in 2010 and has worked on a large variety of conferences, both national and international.

Rachel’s favourite thing when organising a conference is managing the budget.

Kasia Mahony

Kasia Mahony

Business Development Manager & Digital Event Strategist

Kasia graduated from DIT with a BSc in Tourism Marketing, followed by a Diploma in Event Management in DBS. She spent several years working in the hospitality industry including the Hilton Hotel Group. In 2011, she worked on the 50th International Eucharistic Congress as a Delegate Services Manager where she gained extensive experience managing the Registration Site for over 20,000 people. Kasia joined Keynote PCO in September 2012 as a Delegate Services Manager and became a Project Manager in 2016. With over 15 years’ experience in the industry, her role has progressed to our Business Development Manager, dealing with our bid proposals for future events and conferences and leading the sales for event sponsorship and exhibition opportunities.
Kasia is also Keynote PCO’s PCMA accredited Digital Event Strategist, ensuring your event engages and innovates in the new virtual world.

Kasia loves the buzz of being on-site after months, and sometimes years, of preparation.

Jackie McGann

Jackie McGann

Senior Project Manager

Jackie has over 10 years of experience in the association conference industry, where she has successfully managed numerous conferences and events for various organisations. Jackie graduated with a BSc in Hospitality Management from the Dublin Institute of Technology.

During her time in the association conference industry, Jackie gained invaluable experience overseeing all aspects of conference planning, from site selection and supplier coordination to budget management and logistics.

After a successful career progression, Jackie made the conscious decision to take a career break to focus on raising her family and moved abroad living in the UK and Denmark before returning to Ireland.

Jackie has recently returned to the professional arena as a senior project manager for Keynote PCO. Her decision to resume her career is a testament to her passion for the conference industry and her desire to continue contributing her expertise in a senior role.
Outside of her professional endeavors, Jackie enjoys running and staying active.

Vanessa Corradini

Vanessa Corradini

Project Manager

Vanessa has over 10 years experience as an Event Manager organising conferences, congresses, seminars, workshops, internal training, product launch, as well as corporate parties and incentive trips with her most memorable challenge of an international congress for over 5,000 participants.
Vanessa is currently adding to her skillset; studying MSc in Digital Marketing at DBS with a Diploma in Event Management with Public Relations, Online PR & Social Media at Fitzwilliam Institute.

Vanessa has a passion for running  conferences and enjoys seeing the satisfaction on her client’s faces!

Giselle Lima

Giselle Lima

Project Assistant

Giselle is a key component in the Keynote Support Team in managing the delegate interactions for your event, managing the onsite delegate services. She is the front line of delegate interaction. Her experience and customer care ethos is key to delivering a successful event.

Giselle graduated from NCI with a MSc in Entrepreneurship. Along with her degree and her years of experience in project and hospitality, she brings many different skills to the team.

When not focusing on welcoming our client’s delegates to Ireland, she loves meeting friends and spending time with her family!

Jess O’Brien

Jess O’Brien

Project Assistant

Jess, a recent graduate of TU Blanchardstown with a BA in Digital Marketing, joins our team as a Project Assistant with a specialization in website and social media design. With a strong foundation in digital marketing, her academic background has prepared her for success in our dynamic conference organizing projects.

Jess’s passion for design and technology shines through her work. Her proficiency in website design and social media content creation adds a creative edge to our projects, ensuring our conferences are visually engaging and interactive.

Her years of experience in customer service have instilled a deep appreciation for the importance of audience engagement and satisfaction, a crucial aspect of any successful conference. Jess’s unique blend of technical skill and a customer-centric approach makes her an invaluable asset to our team.

Beyond her professional achievements, Jess’s unwavering commitment to learning and staying updated with industry trends makes her an essential contributor to our projects.

Jean Curley

Jean Curley

Delegate Services

Jean has over 20 years’ experience in the residential property sector in Ireland and qualified as a full member of the Irish Auctioneers & Valuers Institute (now the Society of Chartered Surveyors in Ireland). In 1998 she joined David Daly Management in a property management capacity, and for over a decade had responsibility for renting and managing more than 60 apartments on both short- and long-term bases in Ballsbridge, Dublin.

Jean brings a wealth of administrative expertise to Keynote PCO, which coupled with excellent customer service experience, makes her a valued member of our Delegate Services team.

Geraldine Byrne

Geraldine Byrne

Financial Manager

Geraldine is a BComm graduate of UCC and a qualified Chartered Accountant, completing her accountancy training with KPMG in Cork. After completion of her training contract, she was appointed financial accountant with Coca-Cola Distributors Ireland where she remained for 4 years. She subsequently joined Johnson & Johnson Medical Ireland as Finance Manager and, over 13 years of rapid growth for this business, held various senior positions with responsibility for finance, customer service, operations and projects. She commenced work with Keynote in September 2009.

Geraldine enjoys the challenge that complicated conferences present.