The Humber Business Week, Highlights and Lowlights
Humber Business Week – an opportunity to escape the office, mingle with fellow fun-seeking business people and partake in the acquisition of knowledge, inspiration and of course, that elusive hope of picking up some work..!
The plus side of business week is that there are some truly GREAT events laid on – all packed into a 5 day schedule. Here’s our thoughts on the ones we managed to get to:
OK, let’s be honest here – while we can say we had lunch with Theo, so did a few hundred other people. A good bit of chit-chat beforehand meant we met some interesting people and the lunch itself was pretty good (although the brick sized sticky toffee pudding may have lead to our mid afternoon sugar crash). Following lunch, the main man appeared to speak – and then promptly sat down on stage. This meant we had a view of the top of Theo’s bald patch, and only then when the person in front bent down to sip their coffee. Theo then proceeded to answer questions in an interview style format that ultimately felt a little lacking. Maybe we just wanted to hear more about how he’d wasted his kids inheritance on some shocking Dragons Den disaster or possibly what on earth possessed him to think a chrome wrapped Range Rover was a good idea. Not a bad event, however it just missed having that wow factor.
OMG Marketing with Geoff Ramm
It’s not what you think – honestly. The OMG here stands for Observational Marketing Greats that in essence give you the proper OMG feeling when you see them. The Mackem Marketing Maestro that is Geoff Ramm then proceeded to showcase a series of examples that outlined how ANY business with just a little imagination could reap the rewards of huge media coverage. Wise words Geoff, wise words!
The Business Week Breakfast
A journey to the dark side of the Humber region was required here, and a jaunt across the bridge brought us to Forest Pines for the Business Week Breakfast. The main draw here was the rather stellar line-up of Dan Germain – Head of Creative at Innocent, Jo Fairly – Founder of Green & Black’s Chocolate and Martin McCourt – former CEO of Dyson. After some good network mingling and a fine introduction, each of the presenters explained the background behind the meteoric rise of each of their prospective businesses. The stories were down to earth, inspiring and gave everyone (I think) the impression that if we really have the desire, the will and the persistence we can all succeed in our chosen fields. Stirring stuff – highlight of the week.
City of Culture Opportunities
Another day, another breakfast (take note, we’re not just here for the free food – honest). This one is hosted by The Hull Business Women’s Breakfast Club and we’re here by invitation. Now, I’m sure you’re all aware that Hull will become City of Culture in 2017 and of course every business in the region is eager to find out how they can benefit. Luckily for us, we got the lowdown on what’s been happening since we won the bid from Luc Perquin. This was followed by Paula Gouldthorpes’s presentation on discovering City of Culture opportunities for your business – now and beyond 2017. All in all a very entertaining event with great food and a great bunch of people!
Now, this might surprise some of you but here at DesCom there can be a bit of stress from time to time (we’re looking at you here Nic)… So, armed with a straw and a packet of raisins (we’ll explain) we took at seat for Pam Medhurst’s guide to de-stressing through breathing, mindfulness, movement and laughter yoga. Over the course of an hour we removed our socks and shoes, breathed (sometimes through a straw), move and waved our arms, meditated on a raisin (seriously – it was as weird as it sounds) and laughed very loudly while making pretend phone calls. Now, while all of this may sound very hippy-esque, the techniques are all scientifically proven and most of all, they work! What made this event stand out was the full audience participation all the way through – no note taking, no advice, just practical techniques that you can apply straight away. If you’re intrigued you can find Pam over at here website www.pammedhurst.co.uk.
Score 9/10 (one point deducted for our own personal embarrassment factor)
Thanks #bizweek – while we may not have sampled all your delights, we had fun at the ones we did get to. Let’s do it all again next year!