• Apologies for the delay since the last posting - it's been an exceptionally frenetic six months which included selling my place in Ascot, a form of homelessness and an exciting and demanding three months doing volunteer work in Sri Lanka

• How did this come about? Well I'd previously been to Blantyre, Malawi for six weeks with Challenges Worldwide helping to set up a local consultancy business. A similar opportunity arose but for three months this time and in Sri Lanka. So, having sorted the visa out, off I jolly well went!

• New people, new culture, new climate, new working practices, new accomodation - for the first few days my feet hardly touched the ground. My arrival co-incided with the opening of the first field office in Matara which had to be set up as well as establishing house there too! As they say if you can't stand the heat....

• Gradually over the first two weeks a pattern emerged as we kicked off working with Sri Lankan trainee consultants and clients. But this was not to last for me as the Project Manager based in Colombo resigned suddenly and I was deputed to take over as Acting PM until a replacement could be found.

•        I admit I was reluctant to do this at first but the need was great and volunteers musn't be too precious! So I settled in to a 9-5 office role where the first challenge of the day was negotiating the taxi fare - 100 rupees was the benchmark.

• I found myself using skills and drawing on experience I hadn't used for a long time and indeed had not really expected to use again! The project was still at a relatively formative stage and working processes and protocols needed to be designed, agree and embedded in the field. This was a valuable learning experience for all concerned.
• Skipping to the end, a replacement Project manager was recruited and I had a couple of days to brief him before I left - at the time the project was moving on to Trincomalee so there was plenty to do.
• Some reflections. Sri Lanka is a richly varied country with a fabulous history and culture as well as stunning scenery. The people are mild mannered, hospitable and a joy to be with. It made me think - as did Milawi - of the unnecesary materialism and built in cost of much of life here. They could do with improving their driving habits but the same could be said of the UK.

Organisers:

Websites:

 www.challenges.com

• What is happening now with Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs)?
  

  The evening started with David updating us on the current state of play with LEPs from his perspective as Chairman of the local branch of the Federation for Small Businesses.

  In summary:

         What is the country doing for the NEETS?  ( those "Not in Education, Employment, or Training")
  
  There is a significant risk that we are breeding the same disenchantment in our younger generations that have manifested themselves in the tsunami of revolution that started in Tunisia and coursed through Egypt and Bahrain. The same unsustainable distribution of prospects, education and wealth is sowing potentially dangerous seeds in our society.
  
  Politicians need to grasp this nettle.
  
  Are Small Businesses being unfairly burdened with Big Business Regulations?

   

  The crux of this discussion was particularly around the increasingly onerous burden of Employment Law. There was a general feeling that small businesses were reluctant to take on new staff because of the consequences if they proved not to be up to the job.
  Although not specifically discussed, there has been an exponential increase in the number of Employment Tribunals over the last few years.

  If Government wants UK economic growth to be powered by SME’s then it needs to match the rhetoric with the enabling conditions.

   

  For the UK to be competitive do we have to accept as a strategic necessity socially and environmentally disruptive ‘Big Projects’?

  Some really interesting themes here.

  • Should governments stay longer in power so that strategic infrastructural projects get a fair crack of the whip? Outcome:  Undecided.
  • Are HS2 and the third runway at Heathrow necessary for UK PLC to remain globally competitive and as a side note does this account for the above weight economic contribution Berkshire makes? Outcome: A well informed minority.
  • Are rising living standards a ‘must have’ and can this only be achieved with a higher economic growth rate? Outcome: Inconclusive.

    How do we develop an inclusive shared language/
    
    There was a view that businesses and business people generally get a bad press. Will Hutton in his book ‘Them and US’ is scathing about the way in which the media to set the agenda; the SME sector needs to take responsibility aggressively for its own PR.

    
    In this context ‘The Big Society’ hove in to view. Is this something we do already, is it just a way of the State passing unfunded responsibilities on the public at large. Is there at its’ heart a challenge for us all to do more to foster social inclusion?

    This was a thought provoking evening with a wide ranging discussion amongst the panel and the audience. I came away feeling less clear about some of the issues than when I arrived!

Organisers:

Websites:

 www.therealbusiness.co.uk

• Reading isn't one of my favourite places so I thought I'd get the train in. I was horrified at the £6.50 parking charge at Bracknell Station and by time I'd found somewhere cheaper to park I'd missed my train. It didn't help also that I was severely under dressed for the arctic weather. Breathe deeply!
• It's interesting how the dynamics of a lunch meeting differ from those of a breakfast meeting. There was more of a collegiate buzz here as people had already settled into their day. I sense too that lunches are a bit more indolent than breakfasts so people were enjoying being somewhat naughty! So, somewhere between 35/40 people revelling together.
•  I've been looking at personal branding just recently with particular reference to digital marketing. I have to say that Peter walked the talk of the Wow Company!
• He was energetic, engaging and had a very good trigger for stimulating audience participation - an excellent engagement strategy.
• The Wow Company had recently done some research on the characteristics of high performing companies. 77 no less! So, Peter invited us to call out a number and he talked about the issues for this particular number. For example, goal setting, defining key perfromance measures and exquisitely painful cashflow monitoring.
• You can find all 77 issues and a whole lot more at the Wow website below - extremely good Mr Kipling!

Organisers:

Websites:

 www.thamesvalleychamber.co.uk

www.thewow company.com

• For some time now I've struggled to articulate my value proposition. I now know from a webinar I was listening to this morning by John Niland (www.success121.com) that this is not unusual and that in any event it should be refreshed from time to time.
• Although I am a business coach - more of this later - I've never paid to be coached myself. But after the ecademy digital coaching workshop I felt this proposition issue needed to be grabbed by the throat as it needed to be clear in my digital media marketing.
• Enter Jude! We had met some time ago and met up again at the above workshop in January.
• So on the basis that there's no time like the present and I knew Jude's Business Accelerator Business Plus session would challenge me, I arranged a telephone coaching session.
• The conversation lasted some three hours and I was amazed at how high the energy levels were. I was quite happy for it to be a 'no holds barred' interaction - really this was the only way I would get the full benefits out of it.
• Well in to  the session  we also used the Ecademy Digital School Personal Digital Plan which I pre-completed and shared with Jude in advance. Jude patiently listen to me as I talked through the experience I had had both in corporate life and as a freelance.
• We talked too about specific pieces of work I had enjoyed doing and the skills and knowledge that made them successful too. The key word that emerged was 'capability' - using my capability to assess the business capability of my clients. So now I am a Business Capability Coach and a Digital Capability Coach.
• How do I demonstrate this capability? Here we set to work on my 'Fremium' Strategy Model (articulated by venture capitalist Fred Wilson) and we identified what I would give away free, a low cost Digital Capability Assessment,  a medium cost Business Capability Review and a 'Fit for Purpose' Programme which included both a review and follow up coaching to support implementation.
• Wow! There was more of course - but here were the real nuggets of gold that came from Jude's alert and insightful questioning.

Organisers:

Websites:

 www.developing-leadership.com

• Getting up in the dark is still a struggle but at least the trend is in the right direction!
• Over to Henley for a Chamber meeting and the opportunity to listen to Gail Brown. The meeting was held at the Coq au Vin Hotel which I have to say is full of character and sufficiently historical to have a car park that would only take four cars!
• The host, Gary Cranford, who is the Chamber Business Manager, brought us up to speed on his new role. He invited one or three of us to briefly iontroduce our businesses so I was able to launch my Digital Capability Coaching offer. The good news is that I may have two people to help me with my accreditation process.
• Gail introduced us to a very accessble nine point profiling tool based on people's pre-dominant charactertics. For example, the :
  • Perfectionist - who wants to get things right;
  • Individualist - who wants to be understood;
  • Peacemaker - who wants to be in harmony.
• These were brought to life in some brisk scenarios for which we worked together in pairs.  How would you work with differing types? How would you sell to them? What impact would their preferences have on their performance?
• All too soon the meeting was over and it was out into the bright light of day. Henley must be one of the most English of English towns and I took a moment to savour the atmosphere.

Organisers:

Websites:

 www.thamesvalleychamber.co.uk

• Something of a hiatus since the last post but back now with a cracking workshop with Thomas & Penny Power of ecademy fame. More in a moment.
• I'm not a fan of New Years Resolutions on the basis that a year's too long if you know you should be doing something differently. My bank account is testimony to the indifferent year 2010 was for me, so I spent sometime thinking about what I could be doing differently.
• Just before Christmas, as I've writtien about below, I went to an interesting session run by Thomas Power on the 'Digital Mindset' and the opportunity to become a Digital Coach.
• So  I went for it. It seemed to me to be a good opportunity to link my marketing and coaching skills and bring me up to speed with the social marketing phenomena. It was a 'Marmite' moment and I chose to like it!
• At the workshop, Thomas and Penny talked about having a Digital mindset and being 'Open Random and Supportive. The philosophy is to share what you know and see using digital media so that you build a personal brand.
• With the right type and level of activity you can move through the states of 'Know Me, Like Me, Follow Me' and this is encapsulated in Penny's book ' What online social media networking means for you and your business:).
• In every sense it was as essential learningand development event with a great group of people. Of course, the journey's just begun but I'll share it with you as it unfolds.

Organisers:

Websites:

 www.ecademydigitalschool.com

twitter:      @thomaspower

                  @pennypower

• It was a cold snowy morning and as Roy observed  we had all gone an extra mile or two already by turning up for the 7.30am breakfast meeting. He himself had just flown in from Barcelona.
• I first met Roy when I went along to one of the workshops he ran some fifteen years ago on Freelancing. His attention is now on Networking and in an informative and engaging session he took us through some of the tricks of the trade as it were.
• Networking requires some courage and conviction to get you in to the room. He emphasised that it's not 'speed selling' - the purpose is to build up rapport and trust. People aren't interested in your qualifications they want to know about you. Apparently women network better than men.
• There were some helpful techniques around remembering people's names, getting in and out of a conversation and where to put your name tab - on the right lapel for men. He generously gave us all a free book 'Meet, Greet and Prosper' with these and many more tips.
• We did an exercise on the six degrees of separation which emphasised the value of the networks your network can get you in to - there were potential contacts in the room to Bill Clinton, Tiger Woods, Madonna and Colonel Gaddafi.
• The moral of his powerful closing story was that first class is just an attitude of mind we should all have.

Organisers:

 www.thamesvalleychamber.co.uk

www.royspeaks.com

• It's taking me a while to get my head around the subject of social and digital media and I'm still wondering if it really is something for me. At least being a stick in the mud is safe but I do think about my entry point and where I am on the technology change curve compared , for example, with my eight year old grand daughter is and will be.
• So as part of my on-going induction I went along to a session about the Ecademy Digital School at the very atmospheric Adam Street Members Club just off The Strand in London.
• The session was run by Thomas Power of ecademy fame - interestingly he told us it took seven years to make that business profitable!
• His mantra - which applies to any business - small or huge - is 'Know Me, Like Me, Follow Me' all of which require about a years's investment in time.
• Conventional media is described as 'Transactional' - Closed, Selective and Controlling. Social media in contrast is Open, Random and Supportive.
• The issue of 'Random' is interesting. As I understand it, it means filtering information  as you are hearing/seeing it, rather than pre-selecting what you will and won't listen to - like bookmarking I guess! Part of this also is noticing and sharing rather than giving thoughts and opinions.
• His view is that many - particulalry in large organisations - just don't get digital media - the BP oilspill is a good example of this where they didn't use social media at all to influence opinion. The underlying question is 'How much do people talk about you when you're not there?.
• A Digital Business Britain Manifesto will be launched in the new year supported by the Government and leading brands.
• So, his offer - because it always comes down to this in these 'free' sessions - is to help us to become Digital Media Coaches with him and his wife Penny over four days. I have to say I came away quite engaged and will need to give this some further thought.

Organisers:

 www.ecademy.com

• Well! What else can you do with something that's called the 'Infrastructure, Connectivity and Transport Forum''?
• There was a huge amount of  information from some very thoughtful and knowlegeable contributors which included:
  
  
  • Professor Stephen Glaister (RAC Foundation) - the bike rider!
  • Paul Watters( AA),
  • Rose McArthur (London 2012 Olympics)
  • Mike Finch (representing Slough Borough Council)
  • Gareth Elliott (Senior Policy Advisor British Chamber of Commerce)
  • Clair(e) Prosser.
• Rather than write notes on the presentations one after the other I thought I might try and identify a number of themes.

• The Devil is in the Detail - the Spending Review

  At a high level there was a initially a feeling that Transport had done well in the Spending Review. It was noted that there had been 12 Transport Ministers since 1987. This clearly had an adverse impact on strategic continuity with some major infrastructure developments needing a 10 to 50 year time horizon. The initiation of a National Infrastucture Plan is clearly a step in the right direction.

• The Government & Railways - a Fine Romance?

  One was left wondering where the government's pre-occupation with railways comes from - underlined by the announcement of a further £8bn of investment this week. Is it just ego based and totemic because Europe does it better?
  
  Only 7% of journeys are made by train with London commuters accounting for most of this and bearing the real cost of the recently introduced increases above the rate of inflation. In  the Thames Valley we probably have a parochial view given the potential benefits of the retained Cross Rail scheme.
  
  But non users i.e 93% of tax payers are paying through their taxes - there is a persuasive case that investment in this mode of transport is fundamentally misdirected.

• Hardening of the Arteries - Bypass or no Bypass?

  A heart stopping diagram showed in red where the major roads  were hardening i.e well over 100% of capacity on too many major roads - yet real spending on roads will decline over the next five years. The real slash and burn of the Spending Review was much more apparent here. The combination of renewed economic activity and population growth would probably mean all drivers will end up taking Prosac!
  
  This is another flawed model which needs a radical shake up but is being held to ransom by the political minefield of road charging. If the Treasury put all the money it trousers in petrol tax, licence fees etc. in to a pot we were told that the cost of a journey mile currently 6p would probably rise to just 7p.
  
  Using the strategic asset model - like water and railways - with an independent regulator would go a long way to ensuring fair play for the motorist. Investment in road schemes would then become a much more transparent business model.

• Olympics 2012 - Sport or Transport?

  An insight in to the scope and some of the detail of the meticulous planning going into the 2012 Olympics - only 80+ Fridays away apparently! The impact , we were told is the equivalent of 46 World Cups or 120 Heads of State visits a day. On day 7 the London Bridge area will be 60% over capacity - some commuters probably think it's at this level already. In the Thames Valley we will have the rowing at Dorney Wood and the message was to think now about how employers need to work around this logistical elephant and trial some of their solutions sooner rather than later. If yiur not a soprts affecionado it might be best to simply leave the country!

• The Big Society - Crowded Out!

  It must be extremely difficult to plan at a local level, but on a final note we heard about Slough's Third Local Transport Plan (LTP3). I began to understand the challenges of trying to plan - not just in the current economic environment - but when you're also hemmed in by mammoths like Heathrow and the tidal wave of the M4. Against this backcloth the Council has to deliver benefits to both its' business and residential customers in what is designed to become a much more participative process.

Organisers:

 www.thamesvalleychamber.co.uk

• Up to London and the chance to take in the visual stimuli of the London Eye, the Thames, Westminster Bridge, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament as I walked bright and jaunty from Waterloo Station to the venue at One Great George Street. All pretty much for free and on a beautiful crisp autumnal morning too.
• This was my first Skillfair Conference and I wanted to meet fellow community members, some of the people behind the scenes, as well as learn from the speakers. The cost was very reasonable as well!.
• From a logistical point of view for the most part it was all very well managed,  The venue was not too big to be intimidating and not too small to feel as though you were on a tube train in the rush hour. The screen for the slides was well position.
• I would, however, have liked a roving microphone for contributions from the audience. The time keeping went a bit awry which if you are a nerdish commuter like me - hard wired to trains at 12 and 42 minutes past the hour - was a mild form of torture.
• Sandwiched between sessions on 'The Future of Netwrking' and 'Persuasive Selling for Consultants', the jewel in the crown for me in the morning was the almost forensic examination of the components of a compelling  Value Proposition by Lynn Mathieson - www.mathiesonbrent.com.
• This covered:
  • Understanding your capabilities;
  • Researching customer needs including  their perceptions of you;
  • Chunking the competition in a way that made sense in terms of your business model and target market;
  • Crafting a set of words that could only be about you and no one else. Not a trivial pursuit!
• Before lunch, there was an 'Open Space' session which involved individual delegates articulating a burning topic/issue of their choice and then recruiting other like minded delegates to talk more about it.
• I joined a group looking at how we could harness the individual capabilities of Skillfair members to act as a sort of amoebic collective to respond to work opportunities that needed more 'umph'. The topic was well supported but in the end nobody - including myself - was prepared to step up and do the ground work organisation.
• In the afternoon there was a choice of workshops on valuable topics such as Presentation Skills, Tenders and Proposal Writing and Social Media. The one that intrigued me most, however, was 'Using Improvisation Techniques to Entrall' - although I prefer just one 'l'.
• This was run by the effervescent Belina Raffy (see www. maffick.com) whose secret mission I found out later is to 'use improvisation to rule the world' - not so secret now! Belina put us through a number of exercises which had the effect of lowering inhibitions, bringing out the 'children' in us and bonding an otherwise disparate group of people. I have subsequently used one of the the techniques with my grandchildren and it works.
• And so to the end of the day. On my way back to Waterloo,  I walked across to Westminster Abbey where - in addition to the wreaths laid by the great and the good at the Cenotaph - they have memorial 'gardens' of wooden crosses from the various regiments and conflicts. Particularly striking was the one for Afghanistan where there were passport photographs of the fallen. So very moving and humbling.

Organisers:

 www.skillfair.co.uk

• A drive down to the fabulous Bibury Court Hotel on the Monday evening. Why is it the first blanket of fog is always such a surprise! Finding the hotel in the dark and the fog was almost a step too far at the end of a typically demanding day at the Citizen's Advice Bureau.
• The occasion was a gathering of the OMSG business mentors. I know that all roads lead to Rome i.e Bibury but I was struck by the diversity and richness of  careers and journeys the people around the table had experienced.
• A very informative session from Justin Ray the Corporate Finance Partner from critchleys - an Oxford based firm of chartered accountants and business advisers.
• It was grist to my mill I have to confess because I am in the process of changing my business bankers - LloydsTSBwith whom I have been firstly as an employee and then small business customer for nearly 50 years.
• What did Justin have to say?
  • Banks are simply not lending to SME's unless there is 100% asset cover such as property and invoice discounting. they are not interested in debtors or stock because they do not apparently fall within the Bank of England's definition of security.
  • A few banks are interested in quality proposals but this is likely to be £0.5M with cashflow lending slowly coming back for above £5m of debt. You might say bigger is better!
  • Business Angels have not been exempt from the financial downturn and are more discerning and are likely to be more hands on.
  • VC's are well funded with a focus on 'buy and build' to increase the market share of exisiting investments. Their investment model typically is 20% in shares, 80% Loan Notes plus a redemption kicker.
  • Lower multiples and lower profits have reduced SME valuations.
• A 'cri de coeur' was to make sure there was a shareholders agreement in place. Although not watertight, it does provide the basis for 'a line in the sand'  in the event of shareholder break ups - divorce, exits and disputes etc.
• In summary a chill wind on a chill day!
• Note: I read a day after this posting that the newly announced Business Growth Fund will only assist businesses with a turnover of  £10m to £100m (hardly your typical SME) with sufficient funds to help just 150 businesses over 10 years!

Organisers:

 www.omsg.co.uk

www.critchleys.co.uk

• This was a well attended event hosted by a company called Customer Service Network (CSN) whose newsletter I've been receiving for some while now. The invitation to their event was modestly priced at just over £100 and I thought it would provide an opportunity  to get a flavour of where customer service is going.
• The venue was new to me but excellent - Prospero Hosue in Borough High Street, London - one of the etc venues locations. The general manager very generously laid on  a cream tea at the end of the day.
• The opening session was from Andrew Bryan of the Henley Centre for Customer Management. The key dynamic was the shifting older age profile with the 50+ baby boomers counting for 75% of the total wealth of the country. There was a clear message to balance the rationale elements of the product/service with the emotional. Trust cropped up here and frequently during the day.
• Vendor presentations (Rapide Communication,  Clicktools & Vertex) offered solutions to mining the diamonds from unstructured customer feedback and tracking people who drop out of the on line buying process.
• In addition there were practitioner presentations from the Co-operative Financial Services and the travel industry. The latter talked about the need to allow call centre operators to exercise judgement within clearly defined parameters.
• In truth it was a mixed day with too much focus I thought on Call Centres as a delivery channel.
• The venue was first class. However there were some small niggles - the screen was so big presenters were constantly in front of it, some of the slides were indecipherable for me and I was only in the 10th row! Too often people were allowed to speak from the floor without using the roving microphone that was available.

Organisers:

 www.customerservicenet.com

www.etcvenues.co.uk

• Organised by The Real Business Club, about 40 people turned up for this evening event at the very pleasant Cantley House Hotel in Wokingham to listen to a panel of experts deal with questions from the floor.
• The experts were
  • Paul Barry-Walsh:a serial entrepreneur who had built and sold a number of companies and whose passion now is microfinance - see www.fredericksfoundation.org.
  • Elaine Hickmore: who has run her own businesses and now advises businesses and enterprising individuals on sales, marketing & business development - www.eh-enterprises.com.
  • Phil Jackson whose company Jackson Beazeley has featured in 'Out & About' before and comes across as a very focused, no nonsense businessman - www.theweanmachine.com.
  • David Knowles-Leak who I have known for some time and is a leadership and transformation specialist closely involved with the new Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEP) - www.dk-l.com..
  • Harriet Slingo: Harriet has built and sold two businesses and now runs Click Berkshire - www.clickberkshire.co.uk
• Questions covered areas such as:
  • Starting Out - save enough before you start so you have a buffer of at least six months income, stay focused on the core business and make sure everybody involved in you business is adding demonstrable value.
  • Key qualities for entrepreneurs - ideally you need to have sold something and actually got the money for it along with having resilience and an open mind.
  • Maintaining the pre-eminence of the Thames Valley region - the focus here was on skills development and maintaining inward investment.
  • Getting Funding given the unhelpful approach of banks - friends and family were to the fore and remembering you had no right to take any income until you had generated some!
  • How were the new LEP's going to make a difference? Frankly it was too soon to tell.
  • What was the impact of the 'Big Society' likely to be. Here the theme was a return to a community based focus with the opportunity to take more control. A lovely touch point was the idea of focusing business around the modern equivalent of the historic markets and cathedrals.
• All in all a good evening. If I had a suggestion it would be to involve the audience in building on the panel's responses so that there was some more active engagement.
• Look out for the next event! Oh! and I managed to get lost in Wokingham on my way home mainly because I didn't listen to my satnav. So much for my 'man the hunter' image!

Organisers:

 www.therealbusinessclub.com

• A regular event run by the Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce and held at Henley Business School. Yes it's the same date as the Business Insiight event but the timing was staggered and it was just a 25 minute drive.
• I go for the content of course, but my son Toby did his MBA here and I have lovely memories of his graduation ceremony - it really is an idyllic location too. Also centres of learning like this have an aura which is palpable and for me very stimulating!
• This was really a digest from subject matter experts on the key factors affecting the the current  business environment -  information rather than insight.
• As one might expect it wasn't particulalry good news :
  • Finance & Economics: Economic regeneration is predicated on increasing exports, private sector job creation and consumer spending - the latter is a bit of a problem as people are saving more. Expect continuing Stock Market volatility.
  • Government & Economics: the seven veils or whatever of the Comprehensive Spending Review. Who knows?
  • Employment Law for Business: the 2010 Equality Act and it's impact in terms of the cost of being in business. Sold as a consolidation of previous legislation but nonetheless is this a step too far? Many commented on the onerous nature of completing Public Sector tenders.
  •  Legal: A focus on the need particualrly in the current environment for good contractual arrangements. Itwas also noted that Employment Tribyunal numbers ahve shot up dramatically and that now was not a time to be 'winging' HR issues.
• And then to lunch where I had a very interesting conversation - which surprised me - on planning process - mainly because it reminded me how we had successfully beaten Tesco's back from Sunninghill High Street.

Organisers:

 www.thamesvalleychamber.co.uk

• One of my favourite events hosted by the Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce at Ascot Racecourse. I took as my guest David Brown, a good friend from the US of A..
• Tanya Shirlow - Head of Small & Medium Business at Microsoft - talked very authoratively about the growing impact of the cloud and its potential benefits to smaller businesses.
• The prognosis was based on some very solid work around the concept of the 'Hybrid Organisation' - see http://www.microsoft.com/uk/about/hybrid-organisation.mspx..
• This comprises four papers - 1. Creating the Hybrid Organisation and then the Hybrid Organisation - 2. Buildings, 3. People and 4.Technology.
• Most of us are already exposed to the cloud through sites like LinkedIn and Facebook. The core benefit is simply a 'Pay as You Go' Model. Why sink your money - say into IT infrastructure? - when you can use what you want when you want.
• These models - replacing Capital Expenditure (CapEx) with Operational Expenditure (OpEx) are creeping in every where - very common of course in the mobile phone market but also now with cars. Apparently integrated IT support through the Cloud from Microsoft can be delivered for as little as £6 per month per pers!
• On a lighter note - in the 'Q & A' session - one of the attendees asked where the name 'Cloud' came from and whether it resonated strength, security and probity!

Organisers:

 www.thamesvalleychamber.co.uk

www.microsoft.com/uk

• This was turbo charged - squared i.e to the power of two and more!.
• Joel Roberts was formerly a radio broadcaster of 50,000 hours in LA. A freak accident destroyed much of his hearing so he needed to look for other things to do as wearing headphones would make his hearing worse.
• Over time he realised that the synthesis of his experience could be used to help clients - who used media promotion - to do it more effectively. So now he coaches 1:1 and delivers three day masterclasses around the world under the banner of 'The Language of Impact'. There's one in London 5-7 November.
• He is, it has to be said, hugely charismatic. He had us eating out of the palm of his hand. His delivery - variation of pace, tone, volume, movement on and off the stage, humour and particularly the use of pauses - was masterful. But he was more than just an entertainer.
• His opening sent a frisson through the room. It may have been an example of well rehearsed spontaneity but - allegedly departing from what he had agreed with Paul -  he invited a number of people who had done 40 second elevator speeches during the breakfast session up on to the stage for some 1:1 feedback.
• This was done in a hugely empathetic way - but real tough love in action. What did we learn?
  • If what you say could be said by somebody else it isn't specific enough
  • Be clear about the problem you're trying to solve - talk it up to make it sound worse!
  • Sell the problem before the solution
  • If you use metaphors - say rowing  - then put them upfront and use the associated language - power, speed, strength and the risks e.g. drowning to position your solution
  • Your credibility is determined by the person you are speaking to
  • Balance expertise with humanity
  • Think in terms of units of impact - what do you really want people to remember?
• There was more - but you need to go to the workshop. Joel lamented the way in which the media had reduced everything to sound bites - but if that was the game you had to play it. He gave us a model for an effective three minute interview - typically the time you would get on radio or television.
• I read afterwards an article in the B4 magazine (see below)  whilst I was at the gym. What struck me was that there were the same phrases/stories in the article that we heard on the day. This was very powerful - have you focused on the  'units of impact' that you could repeat and repeat and repeat in the same way?

Organisers:

 www.joelroberts.com

www.b4-business.com

• An early start to get up to Bicester Golf Club for 7am or thereabouts. I thought this was just going to be a run of the mill breakfast meeting which would have been perfectly acceptable of course but it turned out to be turbo charged - more of this later.
• I had heard the host Paul Avins speak before and was familiar with his personality based business model - an engaging, knowledgeable and motivational speaker with the books and DVDs etc to support. His pre and post event care is impressive - reminders, thank yous etc.  - even if it is robotically generated.
• He is extending his 'Clubs' with new openings in Newbury and later in the year in Maidenhead and early 2011 in Northampton.
• Membership is subscription based at £99 a month and I liked the idea that he culls members who are persistent no-shows. The benefits are very personal - so I recommend you visit an Open Day to see if the style and content work for you.
• In summary, apparently if you're not doing video now on your web site, you're pretty much a Luddite! Success is a function of the books you read, the people you associate with and the strategies you put in place. You should resist all forms of negativity - including the news - and get on and do things whether you like it or not.
•  Oh! and keep learning! And then it was time for coffee.

Organisers:

 www.thebusinesswealthclub.com

• The second part of the event used a small group of four actors from Forum Theatre  to illustrate a change management initiative in a fictional workplace - in this case a manufacturing company.
• The actors presented the audience - like a soap opera - with a series of excerpts starting with the arrival of a new MD and following a major process re-engineering. The dynamics between the team - the MD, manager, engineer and office worker were then acted out.
• The audience was then able to coach the players where they saw breakdowns in the people interactions occuring.
• The actors were excellent and even in a Q & A session stayed in character. Once my initial reservations had died down it was thoroughly engaging. In a real workplace intervention, I was told, the script and roles would be fully contextualised - certainly food for thought.
• All in all this was a very worthwhild event - sight of a major blue chip employee engagement programme (BT), an introduction to a form of visualisation I wouldn't previously have thought about and the opportunity to join a new knowledge exchange group. Thank you UKWON!

Organisers:

 www.workplaceinnovation.eu/theatre-for-change

• A journey to Kingston on Thames to which, to bolster my green credentials, I travelled mainly by train and bus. The bus journey from Richmond to Kingston is delightful going through places like Petersham and Ham.
• There were, I guess, about 30 people at the event in the Rose Theatre - an excellent venue. Most attendees I noticed work at Kingston University. In conversation it was interesting to hear that they wrestle with internal communications challenges like any other organisation.
• The session essentially was in two parts.
• The first was an extremely interesting and complete presentation by Sharon Darwent, Head of Employee Engagment at BT.
• In summary, against a background of intense competition, regulation and performance challenges, they recognised that they needed to engage their workforce - it's worth pausing a moment here to think about the real diversity of their workforce in terms of size, skills and geographies..
• The Engagement Programme entailed a complete review of the HR suite of activities - Talent and Leadership,Recruitment etc. and a refocusing of the Performance Management system. Here there was a shift along a number of dimensions from:
  • annual to quarterly
  • HR led to Business led
  • satisfaction to empowerment
  • measures & targets to diagnostics and interventions
  • separate to integrated
  • events to every day

• Quarterly on line surveys were instigated with 20% of a manager's bonus based on the employee engagement score. In all, Sharon shared with us that the total strategic programme had cost £12m.

Organisers:

 www.ukwon.net

• Up to London today in weather so wet even the ducks were keeping their heads down. I was there to support a recruitment drive by Challenges Worldwide for volunteers to support their existing commitment in Mlawi and a new contract due to start soon in Sri Lanka.
• I had twenty minutes to speak to the 20 or so people there and I focused essentially on the impact it had on me.Quite frankly, I'd not had any interest in humanitarian work but here was an opportunity to use my business skills and my desire to help people develop in a way which really suited me.
• In his book 'The Inner Game of Tennis', Tim Galwey talks about Self 1 and Self 2. Self 1 is that voice in your head which tells you never to take any risks to be careful because you'll just get it wrong. In Self 2 you are 'in the flow' all senses and cpabilities aligned to deliver the best of your self in a non judgemental way.

• As I spoke to the group - I realised and shared with them that I had been in Self 2 for the whole of my time in Malawi.Malawi styles itself 'The Warm Heart of Africa' and what is amazing is that despite the deprovation the people I met - in and out 0f the office - were good humoured, energetic and had a quiet but undoubted pride in their country.
• Based in Blantyre, at the weekends  we were able to get to the southern end of  Lake Malawi. This included places like Senga Bay and Cape McClear and other areas of outstanding natural beauty such as the Zomba Plateau and Mulandje which is the tea growing region.

Organisers:

www.challengesworldwide.com

• I went to church today - well it was the Refectory at Guildford Cathedral so you could say I was there in spirit! It was a lovely morning to drive across - a definite touch of autumn in the air with the mist hovering above the fields.

   

• I was there with a number of fellow passengers - this makes more sense when you read on! - from my Merlin Mentoring days supporting the launch of Passionate Innovation by Nigel Biggs & Marilyn Huckerby. Both have been closely involved with entrepreneurship and innovation in the South East for many years.

   

• Under the banner of Passionate Innovation they are using the language of flying as a metaphor and framework for their tools and techniques - Pilot, Co-Pilot, Flight Plans and Control Panels (as seen in Cockpits) - all of which have a nice verbal synergy.

   

• Their basic premise is that as companies grow they ossify and are incapable of spontaneous innovation - middle management gets in the way - that they then lack the necessary process tools to nurture development and then the capability to retain and access the knowledge at a later date. No problem!

   

• In addition to releasing their energy in to the marketplace they are hoping to build a 'C' of passionate innovation ambassdors. The 'C' could be Community, Cohort, Choir, Collection and /or.........
• The session reminded me of the importance of passion particulalry for 'entrepreneurs' in everything they say and do. Not trivial I know, but so vitally important.

Organisers:

www.passionateinnovation.co.uk

• Well almost!

   

• I learnt today at an event hosted by Skills South East that if you run a company with over five staff in the South East – think say, Oxford, Isle of Wight, Brighton, you can get support from them through their Leadership and Management Advisers. 

   

• Why would you particularly want to do this? Well, on a case by case basis, they can provide £500 for Owner Managers/Directors to cover coaching, mentoring or development in areas such as management, planning and budgeting or marketing. 

   

• In addition, a further £500 is available if you put up £500 as well for any senior manager or the management team. 

   

• Pick up the phone and talk to me on the Freephone number above now!

Organisers:

www.skillssoutheast.co.uk

• Some good friends introduced me just recently to a nutritional supplement called Juice+. So, on this particular Sunday I found myself in a hotel in Sussex with about 30 or so people at a Foundation Training day for new and well established members of the Juice+ community.

   

• Quite simply in three capsules, Juice+ gives you all the nutritional benefits of the fruit and vegetables we all know we should eat but I know I do not. Anything green does not suit my palate, but I realise as I go older I should be more sensible about this.

   

• I had another interest as well – I’ve been looking to expand my portfolio of business activities quite frankly to sustain the standard of living to which I’ve become accustomed.

   

• Juice+ is a scientifically proven ethical product with a well established track record, enthusiastic advocates and a very smooth support infrastructure. As a business model, entry costs are very low and growth and rewards come from essentially building your own distribution chain.

   

• Quite frankly I don’t like selling or ‘obliging’ people to buy. The product benefits, however, speak for themselves and it’s really just a question of spreading the word. From a business perspective I came away with two phrases.

• One I definitely heard ' the fortune is in the follow up'. THe second a derivative which I may have made up but 'the gold is in the old' i.e. those people on your contact list that you haven't been in touch with for ages!
• So, if you bump in to me in the near future, you’ll know what I’m going to talk about!

Organisers:

www.juiceplus.com

• Good to have a legitimate excuse to get up to London - which I always enjoy - and especially to go to a School of Coaching session which I know will be stimulating and engaging.
• A senior moment at the station after I'd glanced at my ticket. The date - 22 September - didn't look and feel right. I'd checked the map of the venue but not the date. It didn't help when I got there that the venue looked deserted but - rather like a surprise birthday party - every one was on the top floor having coffee!
• It was good to be reminded by Myles Downey of the Self 1 and Self 2 constructs of Tim Galwey - the 'Inner Game of Tennis' guy. It made me realise that for most of the time in Malawi I'd been in Self 2 mode - so liberating!
• Helpful too, that Myles reframed the issue of non directive coaching as I'd always struggled to understand how much of myself I was allowed to bring in to a coaching conversation. Together the coach and the player (client) co-create a relationship influenced by what they both bring to the table and the context in which this occurs.
•  An engaging discussion for the first session in multiples of groups where the talk was mainly on current issues which included:
  • A recognition that for many clients coaching is a discretionary spend and therefore suffering in the current environment;
  • The growth of internal coaching capabilities particularly in the Public Sector;
  • The continuing challenge of Coaching to demonstrate a tangible 'value add';
  • The absence of a vociferous championing body for the Coaching 'profession'.
• After coffee, a thought provoking introduction and practical demonstration by Andy Mais of Ken Wilber's Integral Model. I'll leave you to drill in to the detail of this - you could start with Wikipedia and Amazon Books.
• I have to say I like models - particularly the four box kind. What I was challenged to think about was the potential narrowness of my perspective in client interactions and the risk of getting 'sucked in to the client's view of reality so that only a single/two dimensional view of the context emerged. The four perspectives of the model help to position where the gaps might be.
• To close, a presentation of some research by Katharine St John-Brooks under the auspices of the EMCC on the potential ethical dilemmas for Internal Coaches. In fact, it soon emerged that there were many of the same challenges for external coaches. One area of debate was understanding the circumstances in which it was appropriate to 'blow the whistle' and maybe dis-engage from a relationship.

Organisers:

www.theschoolofcoaching.com

www.jmj.com

www.emccouncil.com

• To be quite honest, I have yet to experience any direct business benefits from the networking I do but that doesn't stop me sampling and evaluating new opportunities.
• I liked this meeting - no imposed agenda - just the opportunity to meet and talk to people - rather like a coffee morning or the local pub without the alcohol.
• I hadn't been to this venue - Palm Springs - before. And it was the sort of place/space where I'd quite like to have a party - light, open and being able to move from inside to outside and back.
• It's always re-assuring to know you are not on your own and that there is an immense variety to what people choose to do with the skills and experience they have.
• This is, I believe, the future of our country.

Organisers:

www.businessbiscotti.co.uk

• Not original I know but a useful soubriquet for the quarterly meeting of the Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce Transport Group which I attended for the first time as part of my 'really getting to know' the Thames Valley region.
• Having just written the posting below, there were some really quite awfully detailed slides in too many of the presentations.It didn't help that it was also a very full agenda and that the meeting started late.
• Trains encompassed a mix of the strategic and pleasantly tactical:
  • Strategic - Cross Rail, electrification of the GWR mainline, High Speed 2 and Airtrack - a link from Heathrow to Staines. Some of these have been around for more than a decade, some more recent - but now all caught up in the potential guillotine h' of the Government's Planning Review.
  • Tactical: This included the planned re-development of Reading station - including a major dislocation at Christmas - improved station traffic flows, parking and travel information.
• Planes: Not much really here other than a passing reference to the demise of the third runway at Heathrow and the fact that, apparently, it is one of the most poorly served airports by public transport in Europe. Heathrow, as part of the local infrastructure, is a major pull for inward investment and also a major magnet of employment.
• Automobiles: a summary of the ongoing development of electic cars, the range of benefits both ecological and financial and the need for a supporting infrastructure in terms of the recharging points. Interestingly, the ecological benefits of lower carbon emissions have been cancelled out since 1997 by the increase in the number of cars and the average annual mileage.
• So I guess you're asking - where do sleeping bags come in to all this? Well, apparently each local authority has a stock of 100 sleeping bags for use in the event of a major emergency or catastrophe - so be prepared!

Organisers:

www.thamesvalleychamberof commerce.co.uk

• I often say that there's no such thing as a Monday to Friday working week for people running their own businesses and here I am at a networking meeting on a Saturday!
• A new group for me - the Richmond Group - mainly of management consultants of a certain age as far as I can tell. It was a bit disappointing having registered and paid to find there was no recognition of this or a name badge. Although I was invited to stand up and introduce myself to the group as part of the proceedings, there was no particular engagement with me subsequently as a potential new member.
• Two extremely informative presentations - I will deal with the first because I still need time to fully digest the second.
• The first session was by Gareth Bunn and examined the way in which visual aids - including of course PowerPoint - actually can inhibit communication. This is because when we were apes the sight sense crowded out the sound - we needed long range focused vision for our hunter/killer roles.
• So now, if faced with a picture and somebody talking, 66% of our attention is on the picture and we probably don't hear much of what is being said. Solution - turn off the slide.
• Effective communication, Gareth went on to say, is a function of memory x personality so we need to create a lasting memory which usually comes from an emotional connection. In this context, if using slides, pictures work better than numbers or letters - back to the visual again.
• Gareth offered the metaphor of a kipper's skeleton as a framework for constructing a presentation - the head as the key message and the bones as arguments and evidence.
• Did you know that 1:12 men are colourblind? This means that they will get frustrated if you are using colour pie charts etc. Apparently this compares with 1:200m women - why because in their gatherer roles women had to be able to distinguish between red and green berries as in edible v poisonous.

Organisers:

www.rgconsult.com

• A lunch time session at the Microsoft Campus in Reading organised by Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce with about 40 attendees. We were there to listen to Steve Baker newly elected Conservative MP for Wycombe. So far, so normal.
• An engaging conversation with Steve whilst munching sandwiches ahead of the formal session. He too is very interested in entrepreneurship and involved with a number of local schemes. So far, so normal - but enough already to sense a difference.
• And then his 'formal' session - except it wasn't formal at all. He admitted he wasn't as young as he looked - which was a relief.
• He set aside the prepared speech and using the whiteboard took us on a local and global scale through - amongst other things -
  • The history of the devaluation of currency since 1750;
  • The rampant rise of the government share of GDP so that some elements of the public sector are now more statist than Eastern Europe was before the fall of the Communist block;
  • The need to curb global population growth by raising wealth and living standards;
  • The fact that the Coalition was in itself a coalition of coalitions far left through liberalism and conservatism to far right.
• He viewed entrepreneurship to be a major enabler which he quoted as 'the creative search to help other people'. This was achieved by business creating goods and services of value which people could freely choose to buy.
• And then, in a way in which poltical polemic was very much in the background, Steve passionately argued the case for entrepreneurs and business as the catalysts for the societal rejuvenation that we need now to overcome the challenges ahead. So far, so mesmerising!
• So far, so exhilarating - hence the deconstruction of my personal stereotype of an MP.

 Organisers:

www.thamesvalleychamber of commerce.co.uk

www.stevebaker.com

• Some 60 exhibitors and a programme of speakers - including speed networking - combined to create quite a buzz at the Madejski Stadium in Reading.
• Walking around the stands is a bit like browsing in a shop trying to avoid getting entangled with a sales assistant. However, even if  I had no need for a particular service I felt I had a responsibility to help their day go as quickly as possible by stopping and talking from time to time.
• The two sesssions I sat in on were both excellent. Firstly Nigel Morgan managed to bring the social media stuff together very cohesively and I think I'm now moving away from being Twitter averse. Ian Dickson's motivational talk centred on having a positive mental mindset and nobody would argue with that.
• If I had some feedback it would be that the area in which the workshops were run was insufficiently insulated from the noise outside which was very distracting.

 Organisers:

www.varietyevents.co.uk

www.morganpr.co.uk

www.iandickson.biz

• This metaphor came to me when I was looking at the slides being presented by Chris Piper of the Bank of England - a session arranged by the Chamber of Commerce. It was dominated by more suits and ties than I had seen for along time. Must  be the company I'm keeping!
• Why hosing? Because the fan diagrams used to extrapolate growth an inflation reminded me of hosing the car in the way they spread out across the screen
• What is being said?
  • Financial Markets:
    • Lower interests rates are being forecast for a longer period;
    • Financial markets are responding to short term events and remain jittery - sovereign debt is till a concern
  • World Trade Activity:
    • President has had to throw more impetus at the US economy - he has elections looming of course.
    • Germany is well in to an export level recovery because it is a significant manufacturer of capital goods whch go East. They should, however, focus too on trading with their EU members to give a broader based stimulus.
  • Domestic Business:
    • Whereever the debate is on the willingness of banks to lend or not, overall business lending is in decline. What lending there is is probably more expensive as well.
    • Exports are not responding with alacrity to the competitive rate of sterling which is hampering this component of recovery although some businesses exporting to both the US and Far East are doing well.
    • The consumer spending ratio has increased sharply as people both save and repay debt - this mitigates against  consumer fueled growth.
  • Spare Capacity
    • This is, apparently, notoriously difficult to calculate. The themes are that employment has held although resources may not be being fully utilised and wage rates are holding steady around 2%
  • Outlook:
    • The impact of the forthcoming budget and the inevitable fiscal consolidation will be a constraint;
    • Inflation will increase with the forthcoming VAT rise but is then expected to drift back to its long term average;
    • Credit will be generally less relaxed.

• My thoughts for SME's are that:
  • This is a bit of a 'will she won't she? conundrum.Unless you are in a particular geographic or product niche there's nothing to suggest that demand will step up.
  • Probably you're running on the lowest level of staffing, stocking and borrowing that you can to sustain the business in it's current state - so a very pragmatic outlook is needed;
  • You may be in a cost/price trap - rising or non -negotiable costs with customers looking to shave proces and stretch payment terms. This is about focusing on your loyal and model customers so they're with you when things improve.
  • The coalition government has a hugh responsibility to set a positive tone here. There is a view that they're not doing enough to promote and support businesses - both large and small.

 Organisers:

www.thamesvalleychamber.co.uk

www.bankofengland.co.uk

• This was a personal triumph of persistence and optimism.
• Persistence, because I had heard Topher speak at an evening session before and did not warm to his style or what I felt was a hard sell - so I left at the break. Optimism, because to move my speaking skills from where they are now to those of a paid professional speaker is a big ASK!
• So here we were, 150 or so, on a very sunny day in the usual subterranean hotel conference room in Central London. An interesting mix of people, keen to hear what Topher had to say.
• And he didn't disappoint - it was a full on day. For those who had paid for Executive tickets - and most of them didn't seem to know it - they had the privelege of doing a number of two minute sessions throughout the day getting feedback on the techniques Topher was teaching.
• This could have been cringingly embarassing but the warmth, genuineness and good humour with which they in their individual ways approached it and Topher's astute feedback made it good for them and us.
• On reflection, I'm not sure what the 7 secrets were.They might have included;
  • Timing any movement as thoughts change and moving positively to where you next want to be on the platform;
  • If using a microphone recognise it will cramp your hand gestures and don't put it right in front of your face;
  • Keep smiling - this was one of the most difficult exercises - it probably helps if you have film star teeth;
  • Use emotion and story telling to relate to the audience and draw them in;
  • Don't be afraid to 'ham' up accents;
  • Using the Satir body types (after Virginia Satir);
  • Get the balance between information and entertainment right.
  • Understand that it takes 20 hours to perfect a 5 minute speech!
• Topher suggested that trully professional speakers were being crowded out by celebreties who were not really very good speakers - a video of Sarah Palin was shown as an example.
• Professional speakers also have a range of product offerings from freebies, to medium cost and then high cost. For example, Topher offers range from free downloads to a two week intensive workshop in Florida for a maximum of 20 people on offer at $20,000.
• One of the themes which did resonate, which I struggle with and I'm sure many other business owners do, is that of knowing what you're good at and focusing on it exclusively. This takes us in to the realm of being a 'Key Person of Influence' - having a niche within a niche - and this programme was previewed on the day also.
• In all an excellent day and this was certainly Topher in a different mode from previously, intelligent, entertaining and an excellent role model as a professional speaker.

 Organisers:

www.triumphantevents.co.uk

www.tophermorrison.com

• I enjoy these Business Insight Events hosted by Bracknell Chamber of Commerce. The location is prestigious and within walking distance. It's also well attended and there is ample time to network before the proceedings start.
• This was, I admit, sufficient to overcome a lukewarm response I had to the prospect of a presentation from Mark Mathieson of Scottish & Southern Energy - nothing to do with him personally I should add!. I guess I've not been alone in bashing the pricing policies of the utilty companies in general.
• I was, however, soon engaged by the notion of electric cars as 'disruptive technology' - a term every strategy consultant likes to hear!
• Why disruptive? Because they will place geographically random although time concentrated demands on grid supplies. Geographically random because users will be dispersed. Time concentrated because it will most probably be in the evening when drivers get home from work.
• There was some other stuff about wind turbines, solar panels and Emissions targets which frankly was difficult to follow as one of the downsides of the Ascot venue is the small screen based Powerpoint slide delivery. I've asked for and still wait for a copy of the slides so I can see what I've missed!

 Organisers:

www.thamesvalleychamber.co.uk

www.scottish-southern.co.uk

• During my stay in Malawi as a voluntary business consultant I was invited to give a 60 minute talk to some 70/80 Malawi business men and women under the auspices of Business Consult Africa. Well, what a challenge?
• I was particularly keen not to engage in 'death by Powerpoint' and although slides were necessary I designed them as a set of 'topic guides' with a view to getting the audience to share their own experinces with me so that the session was more interactive.
• My main slides covered understanding the marketplace, customer needs and what you as a business were particulalry good at - the notion of competitive advantage and differentiation.
• I spent some time on the relative values of new v existing customers, what the characteristics of a good customer are and the idea of 'welcoming' complaints.
• Because of the size of the room and audience I was working with a hand held mike and at the earliest opportunity I passed it to a delegate to hear his views. This acted like a catalyst and soon many more people were willing to add their contribution to the discussion. In the end I may only have spoken myself for about 40% of the time!
• This will certainly go down as one of my most memorable speaking engagements!

 Organisers:

www.businessconsultafrica.com

www.challengesworldwide.com

• A new networking event for me to which I was introduced by Rob Yeadon whom I had met previously at The Real Business Club.
• There was an encouraging buzz of energy particularly at reception when I got there and overall it was a well managed and well attended event.
• The presentation was by Helen Winder of NetworkXpress who put her material across in a lively, humorous and engaging way. There were a number of opportunities for audience particpation which went down well.
• Helen talked us through a wide range of techniques including the handshake, smile, the need not to overtly sell and the importance of benefits not features.
• My one caveat was that I felt the presentation was too long - I may have been hypersenstive as I had another meeting to get to.

 Organisers:

see Linked In

www.networkxpress.co.uk/

• A chance to listen to Neil & Laura Westwood's story of their Dragon's Den encounter in August 2008 where they won investments of £50,000 each from Theo Paphitis and Deborah Meaden in exchange for 40% of their business.
• It was a heartwarming story as Neil related how he worked alongside his day job as a trainer in the Public Sector to get the whiteboard - for which he had exclusive rights - off the ground. His experieince in lean systems has been invaluable as he put his supply chain together.
• They credit Theo and Deborah with bringing a lazer light discipline to performance with a particular focus on cashflow, costs and margins. Both were described as being very supportive with a relatively light touch.
• As the Dragon's Den episode is shown around the world so their market expands with Turkey being one of the latest.
• Neil described the Stationery business as well - staionary. It took some time to get catalogue listings and major retailers on board. Magic Whiteboard is now available in Staples, Rymans,Vilking Direct and Office Depost. More recently W H Smith and Tesco have come on board. This is not without its problems because of the fluctuations in demands it causes.
• They have extended the range to include a magic blackboard, blackout blind and magic photo paper.
• In essence this is a very straightforward business being addressed with hugh energy, enthusiasm and commitment by Neil and Laura. They deserve every credit!

 Organisers:

www.iod.com/berkshire/events

www.magicwhiteboard.co.uk

• This was the prediction from Mark Berrisford-Smith, Chief Economist of HSBC when he spoke at the well attended Business Insight Meeting at Ascot Racecourse. The meeting had been put back from the previous Friday in the expectation that we would have a new goverment. As we all know now that was not the case!
• He believed that the UK was now out of recession and that a goodish job had been done in managing the recovery. He was sceptical about the benefits of quantitative easing - other commentators I have read feel that it has merely created another round of asset bubbles.
• Interest rates will remain on hold - Japan provides an historic example of what happens when they are raised too soon, although rates are rising in some countries such as Australia and Canada who have weathered the economic storm better.
• Banks will have to reframe their business models so that there is a clearer correlation betwen deposits and lending.
• Mark was at pains to pint out that we are not like Greece  - our position if not foolproof is much sounder.
• The devaluation of sterling should make our exports more competitive but we do not have a good record as an exporting nation. Apparently, our biggest export to China is scrap metal!

 Organisers:

www.thamesvalleychamber.co.uk

• At the same Real Business Club event, Phil Jackson shared with us the journey he and his partner Tilly - had taken to get their product - the Wean Machine placed with 23 distributors in 60 countries since June 2009.
• Key questions that Phil said needed to be answered when developing a new product included:
  • Does your product/service solve a problem that really exists?
  • What do people do at the moment?
  • Why should they use your product/service?
  • What price will they pay?
• An early decision was to outsource as much of the production and sales activity as possible so that they could use their strengths to better advantage.
• They moved early too to get the necesary patents in place to protect their Intellectual Property - this dovetailed nicely with a later presentation from Abigail Twitchen of Strategem IPM (www.strategemipm.co.uk).
• An important part of their product placement strategy was to avoid big chain stores but to find distributors and smaller retailerswho would be incentivised to sell because of an equitable approach to profit sharing.
• Phil enphasised the need to create a strong PR presence which included Trade Shows, a large yellow van and getting pre-launch awards such as the Baby Products Association Concept Award.
• Clear and ambitious targets are in place - 30,000 units a month by the end of 2010 and a million by 2011/12. Wow!

 Organisers:

www. theweanmachine.com

• Invited to give a 30 minute presentation to attendees at the Real Business Club in Wokingham where the theme for the day was 'From Concept to Reality'.
• The title 'So you want to be a millionaire' was my choice. Whilst I used some Powerpoint slides (7) they were only really the backcloth to an engaging conversation with the audience of 15 or so.
• I started with some positive pyschology encouraging the audience to' think it and feel it'. I got them to stand up introduce themselves to the person next to them 'Hi! I'm Chris Farrance and I'm a millionaire!'
• I recommended that they started their own collection of personal positive graffiti and pinned it up somewhere where they would see it everyday. Mine's on the back of the cupboard door where I keep my breakfast cereal so I see it every morning.
• We then looked at role models and I invited them to complete a 15 point personal checklist on the attributes successful entrepreneurs need to think about.
• We then talked about the need to be clear who the buyers are and what makes their product or service distinctive, the need to experiment, to 'Fail Fast' and to build a supportive 'Inner Circle'.
• Finally there was a Seven Step flowchart interestingly adapted from an article in Men's Health.

 Organisers:

www. the real businessclub.co.uk

• An EMCC event in London at a venue overlooking Regents Park. A lovely sunny evening with a clear blue sky that made it difficult to tear oneself away from the window just watching the evening rush hour hustle and bustle of the metropolis- but needs must!
• John Gilkes of Jericho Partners presented a summary of face to face research he had carried out towards the end of last year with a number of senior HR professionals to guage their views on coaching.
• A significant and understandable conclusion was that in many cases reflections of the value or otherwise of coaching were being crowded out by the unavoidable demands of the business as 'unusual' model that they now find themselves having to deal with.
• When probed there seemed to be various degrees of fuzziness on how coaching could help, how it could be aligned to corporate goals and how the benefits could be measured.
• It appeared that there was little evidence in many cases of a codified selection process for introducing coaches in to their organisations although some good practice was evident.
• Budgets might lie with HR (for leadership development programmes in particular) but more typically in two thirds of the cases with line management. This  made it difficult to quantify how was actually being spent.
• Interestingly but not surprising the view emerged that relevant experience (of the industry for example) was more valued than coaching qualifications.
• In the discusion which followed it was suggested that coaches may have an important role in helping clients define and assess good coaching outcomes.
• This was an interesting and timely piece of research which rather like a good ending to an episode of a soap left you wanting more.

 Organisers:

EMCC

www.emccouncil.org

www.jerichopartners.co.uk

• An interesting conversation on the subject of coaching supervision at the Masterclass with a Partnership colleague - Marina McGoldrick.
• Coaching supervision is increasingly being recognised as a must within the Coaching industry as it seeks through training and accreditation to become a recognised professional service.
• The benefits of supervision are becoming increasingly well understood and can be delivered in an affordable way - certainly a potential concern as many of us try to manage our business expenditure.
• Marina currently runs groups in and around London and is keen to extend her services in thsi area - see the weblink below for contact details.

 Organisers:

Marina McGoldrick

www.ashbournemcgoldrick.co.uk

• Back in the real world, a thoughtful session run by my friends at the Partnership.
• Interestingly, the session was being filmed so that it could be put on their website and on Facebook - a good example of the way in which modern media capabilities can be used to create more impact.
• Paul Barlow gave a very polished commentary about the need for the changing leadership style now needed to cope with the increasingly febrile world in which we now find ourselves. Ambiguity, unpredictability and adaptive responses are now here to stay. Given his IT background, his faith in IT was understandable but I'm not sure how it would have worked as an election pitch!
• Hazel Valentine then spoke very thoughfully and spontaneously about the benefits of leaders adopting a coaching style and its particular relevance given the conditions that Paul had outlined.
• Hazel then went on to introduce the Partnership's new programme for Coaching Leaders - the Certificate of Professional Development in Coaching Practice - which has been accredited by Stathclyde University.

 Organisers:

the Partnership

www.the-partnership.com

• A 14 day holiday in South Africa which I had only visited briefly before on a three day business trip to Cape Town.
• Rather than arrange it my self, I used a local travel agent (see below). It reminded of the value of experts. Using a company called African Pride who are experts in travel for that part of the world they put together a stunning itinery.
• We made the decision because of a threatened strike to switch at some cost from BA to SAA. BA will have to work hard to get our custom back.
• The visit had four parts - a Game Park in Kruger, a drive along the Garden Route, wine tasting in the Cape Winelands and finally time in Cape Town.
• Whilst there were a few hitches, they were dealt with superbly and overall the friendliness and service was stunning. At no time did we feel uncomfortable - no sign of the much reported crime.

 Organisers:

Specialist Travel

www.specialisttravel.info

• A journey to Wokefield Park not helped by the chaos around Junction 11 where there are major roadworks - it's like a giant Meccano set.
• This was a new group for me where I was in guest mode and pleased to see several faces I knew from other events I had been to. That's always an icebreaker of course.
• An excellent lunch where conversation was faciliated by the table host - there were about eight to ten of us on each of the tables and I'd say about 30 people overall.
• A chance again to practice my Elevator Speech - notionally a minute but in fact most went on a little longer. An interesting mix of people with a range of different offerings.
• There was a well delivered 20 minute presentation by Eleanor Yearwood on the styles used for managing conflict. Whilst conflict was generally viewed as being negative in impact, my own view is that a certain level of constructive conflict is necessary for organisations to survive.

nrg-networks

www.nrg-networks.com

www.keytalent-partners.com

• Across to Cookham for the February meeting of the Co-Coaching Group. Once again it was re-assuring to be talking to coaches like myself and sharing both the good news and the challenges.
• We split by choice into two groups with the group I joined starting with a discussion around content for a Leadership event that was being run in a local school. An intresting point here was to refflect the 'pulse rate' of the school day in the workshop agenda.
• We then had the coaching practice and again tried what I would describe as double handed coaching i.e. two coaches to one coachee. It worked well, allowing the first coach to unravel the narrative and the second coach to be more fully aware of what wasn't being said.

Association for Coaching

www.associationfor coaching.com

• I always enjoy going to Cliveden but the only trouble is - usually running late - I'm never sure exactly where the entrance is and often have to double back.
• A well run meeting with tables of 8-10 participants where the dicussion topic for the session was 'Customers' facilitated by one of the organising committee. The format is that half way through people move to another table.
• No rocket science here, but a good review of the wide ranging issues reflecting the diverse perspectives of the attendees -from small to larger corporates and manufacturing to professional services.
• Key points included the importance of existing customers compared with the excitement of the new, using a broader definition of customers to include all stakeholders, the importance of good relationships to help mitigate price competition and the wide range of direct marketing options now available. Interestingly, direct mail still has a place tp play.

IOD Berkshire

www.iod.com/berkshire

• My first visit to this Business Club which offers a forum for new and not so new local businesses.
• In addition to opportunities to network there were a number of presentations from service providers to the SME sector in the shape of seminars, 1:1 advice sessions and stands.
• It provided a nice antidote to the more usual frenzy of network meetings and an opportunity to engage more deeply with the attendees.
• I ran a morniing and afternoon session on 'Elevator Speeches' which was less about the words thmeselves but about taking more time  to get your 'First Impression'right, to notice the body langauage in particular of the person you are talking to and how to use your product/service benefits to engage the right side of the brain in particular.
• I offered the organisers some feedback suggesting that they ran 'problem sharing' sessions where people could share their experiences and concerns. Running a business can be very lonely at times!

The Small Business Club

www.thesmallbusinessclub
co.uk

• A very well supported breakfast event held at the prestigious Ascot racecourse where we met in the main stand.
• Michael combined some very good humour with a frank review of the UK's prospects. His view is that the core and fundamental flaws in the Banking Industry have not yet been addressed and there will be more tears and public anger.
• He felt it was unlikely that the Conservatives would get a big enough swing at the general election to have an outright majority but hoped that David Cameron would nonetheless be bold in dealing with issues like the overhanging public debt.
• On balance, he felt we had done well to stay out of the Euro if only because it meant that we could devalue sterling (by some 25%) because of our independence.
• On climate change, he came across as a bit of a sceptic and felt it would be very difficult to change behaviour using existing tools and techniques. China and India with their rapidly growing consumer societies were unlikely to forgo the material benefits for purely altrusitic reasons.
• Also showcased was a new service for small businesses provided by NHS Plus to provide support for occupational health problems. You can ring them on .

Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce

www.thamesvalleychamber.
co.uk

• A real live case history from Kerl Haslam who shared with us how he and his team built a mobile payment system challenging the orthodoxies of the banks (who believed they owned all things financial) and the telecoms companies (who believed they owned the networks)
• What emerged was the absolute need to be able to run a 'long race' undetered by the crashing economy or the death of Michael Jackson - which was breaking news when Kerl was pitching to his major US investors.
• You can sign up for the mobile payment system at www.beemme.co.uk.

Innovation & Growth Thames Valley

www.innovationgrowth.co.uk/

thamesvalley

• An opportunity to visit Syngenta's largest global Research and Development Centre at Jealott's Hill which is midway between Ascot and Maidenhead and thus very local!
• It's amazing isn't it what goes on virtually in your own backyard? Here we saw research into herbicides and pesticides focused on improving agricultural yields to meet the burgeoning food needs of the world.
• It seemed a bit prosaic to look at - greenhouses with plants - including sugar cane - in various stages of growth and decay.
• It's a challenging business model which needs deep pockets - a typical run rate is two products in ten years at a cost of £100m!
• Syngenta have an interesting outreach programme into the surrounding community - particulalry schools which is well worth looking in to - see the Learning Zone on their website.
• All in all a very professionally run and informative evening.

IOD Berkshire & Syngenta

www.iod.com/berkshire

www.syngenta.co.uk

• A new group for me as I look to broaden my networks..
• A good, hands onl coaching evening with practice and constructive and expert feedback.
• A number of 'devices' were used - two coaches with one coachee where the challenge was to manage a seamless line of questions for the coachee.
• Then a very brave coachee was allowed to choose from a sucessive rounds of questions from the other coaches.
• I was reminded again of the principle of clean language which is a useful tool for all coaches.

Association for Coaching

www.associationforcoaching.com

www.cleanlanguage.co.uk

• Off through the snow bound picture postcard countryside to this intriguing workshop at Hampton Wick.
• I had met with John previously at an Improvisation event he had run and was very interested to see how this could be used in a corporate training context.
• This was a trial run and John and Stephen had very perceptively invited a number of people from Toastmasters International because they are familiar and comfortable with the process of offer constructive feedback.
• There were a number of improvisation exercises designed to bring attention to non verbal means of communication and develop confidence and teamwork within the group.
• There was also a set of very practical inputs relatining to how perceptions are formed, a model sales process - both planning and delivery - and an understanding of team dynamics.
• This was a very energising event which fully justified defying the adverse weather conditions giving much food for thought.

John Craddock and Stephen Newton

www.xtseminars.co.uk

• A much welcomed drive out into the Oxfordshire countryside which helped mitigate the fact that I was running late and in conflict with my SatNav - which was right and I was wrong!
• I met with Jackie at a very well organised event in Oxford - 'Rasing the Bar' and was happy to join her breakfast workshop becuase I want more customers too.
• The 'Big Issue' when you are running your own business is how to keep all the plates from propspecting to managing the cashflow - spinning at the same time. Jackie offers  disciplined and well structured marketing support for your business.
• One of the best parts of the session for me was the sensible amount of time Jackie allowed for networking. I met with Sylvia Doyle - www.reward-first.com - who I'm sure will be part of my professional network going forward.

Jackie Jarvis

www.marketingco.biz

• A well attended and very stimulating session presented in a very facilitative and engaging way by Elizabeth Lank.
• This is an area of particular interest for me because I think that the theory and practice of organisational design has lagged behind today's 24/7, global and multi-cultural companies.
• I had also recently presented a half day workshop with a senior leadership team who were struggling to reconcile the undoubted strenghts of silos with the need to deliver a cross functional end to end customer experience.
• With matrix management generally seen as too problematic, Elizabeth's solution was to think in terms of 'communities' of people with shared interests.
• People might come together because of a cross functional project, shared credentials e.g. HR or indeed areas where there was no specific organisational agenda such as local community issues.

EMCC

www.think.plus.com

• A content rich and energetically delivered day from Tony Mann which helped me understand the gaps between my knowledge, understanding and experience.
• A fundamental issue is understanding the different responsibilities of the client - who is the 'Task Leader' and the 'Process' which lies with the Facilitator.
• Meticulous preparation is key and this involves sharing the format of the day not only with the Task Leader but also  with the particpants - ideally ahead of the event.
• Good facilitators are adaptive - they can match the various techniques to the capabilities and personalities (think Myers Briggs) of the group.

TJ Events

• A well attended event (70 ) of two hours or so at the Microsoft Campus in Reading
• A number of initiatives were outlined relating to:
  • Rebalancing the economy away from financial services and back to ‘value add’ manufacturing;
  • Setting up Technical Colleges and increasing vocational apprentice schemes;
  • Helping the long term unemployed back into work.
• Theresa wondered if people were becoming more risk averse which she attributed to the dominant role of central government in so much of the decision making.
• Support for Entrepreneurs dominated questions from the floor and comparisons were made with the US (as usual) but also Scotland which has had some success recently.
• The impact of Red tape and the increasingly pernicious legislation – for example Employment Law – was raised.

Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce

www.resourcestrategicchange.com

•  An extremely well organised and well supported event at the Kassam Stadium in Oxford – strong speakers, good exhibition stands and an energising buzz throughout the day.
• The opening speaker was Darren Shirlaw who shared with us some of his research about where the economy could be heading and how businesses should position themselves going forward.
• His key theme was that (in his opinion only) the recovery will be ‘W’ shaped – but that the middle point of the ‘W’ will be a horizontal bar something like this V         V
• Along with a number of commentators he believes that the buyer’s psyche has irreversibly changed – think frugality, think demonstrable value, don’t imagine the buyer is going to subsidise costs you really shouldn’t be carrying in your business.
• Interestingly he also presaged Theresa’s comments (see above) about attitudes to risk and recommended a profiling tool for business owners.
• I like their  branding -  ‘Love Business’ and the opening page to their web site ‘ It’s your business. It’s your baby’.
• For more of my impressions of the day please feel free to email me.

Raising The Bar Events

www.rtbevents.co.uk
www.shirlawscoaching.com
www.navitasip.com

• Nigel’s event started off  a good networking run for me – serenditipy or what? 
•  A good sized audience (70 ) for this afternnoon session in the positively atmospheric barn at Norden Farm in Maidenhead.
• Nigel consistently weaves an entertaining and marketing content rich mix and this session was no exception.
• The key challenge he highlighted (for me) was the core dilemma between thinking (principles and tactics of savvy marketing) and doing – as in Get Off Your Ass’ (GOYA).
• One of Nigel’s recurrent themes is the need to professionally manage your marketing effort – be it call handling, database management or delivering the  ‘Seven Touches’ – ask Nigel or me what this means!

Nigel Temple

www.themarketing
compass.com
chris@businesscoachingth
amesvalley.co.uk
nigel@nigeltemple.com     

• A very professional, well delivered and content rich presentation in the very pleasant environment of Ascot Racecourse.
• This is a seriously professional topic area – so treat it accordingly and get advice!

Peninsula

www.peninsula-uk.com

• Held in the very well appointed offices of the Ascot Business Park.
• Modest attendance, say, 25 .
• A presentation and subsequently passionate Q & A session with John Gummer MP.
• From a card draw, I had one minute to present my coaching offer.

IOD

www.ascotbusiness
park.com 

• A half day workshop with the chance to offer as a mentor - and one of a team of four  - thoughts, impressions and feedback to three businesses at various stages of development.
• Getting a critical mass in any business is a huge challenge no matter how good what you have is.
• The challenges are testing the attractiveness of the concept, getting people to pay for it sooner rather than later and then articulating it as scalable business model so you can draw in investors.
• It’s really a privilege to spend time with people like this – thank you!

Thames Valley Innovation & Growth

www.innovationsgrowth.
co.uk/thamesvalley

• An evening event in London presented by Alison Hodge & Louise Austin with some 40 attendees.
• This was a very practical experience with the focus on engaging the right side of the brain – that’s to say the creative and emotional side.
• There was a lot of stimulus material including picture post cards and soft toys as a way of encouraging people to feel and visualise issues.

EMCC

www.emccouncil.org
www.alisonhodge.com

• At the prestigious L’ortalan in Shinfield near Reading where the discussion topic was ‘Delegation’.
• This is a well structured event shaped by a series of topic relevant questions presented on this occasion by Andrew Smith of Auricas.
• The questions were then discussed by the four table based groups with the help of a chairperson/facilitator who reported back to the broader group at the end of the discussions.
• A neat touch was that half way through people moved to different tables to get the most out of the potential networking.

IoD Berkshire branch

www.iod.com/berkshire
www.auricas.com

• Having previously attended a one day event on the ‘Fundamentals of Gestalt Theory’, I was interested to learn more and signed up for this two day event.
• It proved to be stimulating, extremely interesting and for me quite unnerving in places- but of course there is a view that if you don’t get out of your comfort zone you don’t learn.
• This was, however, a worthwhile investment and has certainly helped me on my journey to become an effective executive coach.

Gestalt Centre

www.gestaltcentre.co.uk