Our day out at #KirkleesConf
Last month was the long-awaited return of Kirklees Business Conference at the John Smiths Stadium, which had been postponed in 2020. It is a great opportunity to exhibit your business, as well as circulate and connect with a variety of people from the local business community.
In this blog we retell highlights from the event and the people we saw on the day at #KirkleesConf. You might also be interested in our top tips for attending conference blog – https://www.sayerssolutions.co.uk/blogs/2022/exhibiting-your-business-at-conference/
Or just watch the video we created using John Steel’s images of the day – https://youtu.be/-lWbJPxF8og
As Merewyn climbed the stairs and entered Kirklees Conference, she was greeted by the smiling faces of Nemi and Aiden at Stafflex and while saying hello, in the corner of her eye she could see John Steel – official event photographer – snapping away.
See John Steel’s full gallery of Kirklees Conference here –https://gallery.johnsteelphotography.com/-kirkleesbusinessconference22
Making her way round, she found the FSB stand, where she was delighted to see a plate of scones (with Jam and Cream) available to entice people to the stand. Merewyn deposited her bag, scoffed a scone, said hello to the FSB team – including Development Manager Barney Mynott, Regional Sales Manager Nick Bradley and new Membership Advisor on our patch Andrew Sheddon.
She then set off on her many laps of the conference hall and was delighted to see many of her Tuesday West Yorkshire FSB crew, with many remarking how our weekly networking events, over the years, had helped to build solid connections and how nice it was to see people in person. These include Martin Duddridge, James Houtby, Michael Goddard, John Gilbert, Marc Dawson to name a few.
One of Merewyn’s favourite aspects of attending Conference and Events like these, is seeing a mixed variety of people.
These include personal favourites like the wonderful beauties Helen Mervill from the Laura Crane Youth Cancer, Bernadette from Kirklees College, Sam Melton from the LEP and Rachel McDerby from the Chamber. These lovely people always have a friendly smile and help you relax and feel more comfortable in the environment – which can initially feel a bit overwhelming and terrifying (even for an old timer like Merewyn).
Talking of old timers … Merewyn was able to catch up with people who she hadn’t seen since before the pandemic, like David Broadhead, who previously, spent an evening with each month as part of FSB duties, and long-time networking connection Philip Smith, the Social Progress team and Tracy Sheldon.
Merewyn was also overjoyed to see people, like Caroline Verdon (AKA superstar Radio DJ and Chart Topping Award Winning Podcaster), who were attending for the first time after being invited earlier in the week by Merewyn.
There were of course many people who we met for the first time – and those who we’d only met through online Zoom meetings.
Unfortunately, Merewyn didn’t get a chance to participate in the speed networking sessions which were being held throughout the day, nor listen to any of the speakers who were running seminars on the floor below – which has added the extra value of attending for Merewyn in the past.
However, while at Kirklees conference, Merewyn took advantage of the John Smiths stadium tour, led by Eorl Crabtree and Kristen Jackson from the Huddersfield Giants. Merewyn really enjoyed going pitch side and says that seeing the ice bath and physio benches in the changing rooms has made competitor sport more appealing.
Amongst the exhibitors, Sayers Solutions was pleased to have one of our clients exhibiting, who in everyone’s opinion smashed it out of the park!
When asked how they were getting on, they said that they had never felt more comfortable at an event, and not on edge as previously felt at other events.
They came home with pocket fulls of business cards, lists of people who had signed up for more information and a couple of weeks’ worth of follow up sales calls to make.
Going to conference takes organisation and planning
If you think you can JUST turn up and make sales from it, you’ll be most mistaken … or lucky, but in business, we need something more certain than chance.
Want to find out more about Sayers Solutions and the service we provide?
Visit our website and perhaps even book a session with us – https://www.sayerssolutions.co.uk/book-a-session-with-sayers-solutions/