Even with the slightly darker mornings fast approaching, our October event had a huge buzz across the room (with tables fully conversant long before the official call for table hosts to commence formalities).
There were 8 Tables filled with business owners and decision makers from many diverse professions we welcomed 24 visitors from across the county who thanks to the experience and commitment of our Table Ambassadors all quickly settled in to the structure and format of TBN.
It was a special day, as it was officially 12 months, to the day, since the launch of The Boardroom Network.
We welcomed a 2 minute warmer from Louise Jolley (Louise Jolley Photography)– an expert local photographer, who told us how she found the courage to start out on her own and also generously highlighted that almost 80% of her business since start up has come from networking – a true testament to what our mission at The Boardroom Network is all about.
On one of our “round-table” discussions, the recent news about Richard Branson offering all of his staff unlimited holiday days caused quite a colourful conversation. It was reported that Captain Publicity himself, Sir Richard, has been littered across the national press due to his cavalier approach to such an HR issue. Now of course, one must assume that there will be cleverly worded caveats and terms and conditions yet one needs to admire his chutzpah and somewhat modern thought leadership – his argument: if we don’t work in a 9-5 world any longer, why should employees be shackled to the traditional 20 days annual holiday, or indeed any of the other de facto employee benefits?
Following a table swap, instead of another 2 minute warmer Jacqui took to the podium. Quick to point out that these slots were not for the organisers only for the members she explained the time was needed on this occasion to bid a somewhat sad, yet fond, farewell to Simon Scarborough (Assured Hospitality) who has come to the end of his 12 month stint as MC with the organisation.
Jacqui paid tribute to the hours of hard work that Simon has put in, to his vivacious hosting and attention to detail.It has been his expertise and constant liason with our venue that ensures a seamless and apparent effortless transition throughout our Agenda.
Simon took the opportunity to say his goodbyes too, and said how much he has enjoyed his time with TBN and how delighted he was to have been part of the development and success of the organisation. After Jacqui threatened to lock him in the Hotel Cellar until next month he quickly reassured us he would be back to visit and check on his replacement.
The winner of the Champagne this month was Kaye Crouch (NFU Mutual) Kaye a seasoned networker had been asked if she could assist with encouraging more business women to visit TBN and thanks to her efforts we met Sarah Siller (Frettens) and Elaine Plested (Smart Development Solutions).
Our meeting closed right on time – we totally recognise the importance and value of good timekeeping at events like ours. Having ensured that happened we were delighted to see continued interaction between the members and visitors long after we had called time – always a good sign of a productive and successful event.