Budgets and Elections

15 Apr
2011

Welcome to this week's Business Banter blog.

OK for regular readers of this blog, I've been a bit tardy in getting out information to you about what's been going on and what's about to go on across The Business Banter community.

Plenty of newbies to showcase, the new venue is going well and we're changing the day of the Edinburgh Banter.

As you know I couldn't make any of the Business Banters last week due to running the seminar programme at The Education Show at the NEC in Birmingham. I think they got around 15,000 people over the 3 days and I was cream crackered by the time I finally got out of the car on Saturday night/Sunday morning.

Also glad to report that the Event Organisers Forum held at The Beardmore Hotel and Conference Centre was a great success thanks to all the staff at the venue and the students I had working with me that day. The speakers and panellists were great too and we've already started thinking about ways we can build on the event for the future.

So rumours that the Business Banters were all the better for my absence I hope were unfounded!!

For the regular readers you'll know that this blog always tries to profile the newbies and then identify all who came along to the Banter the week before in the blog. While I still want to highlight the services offered by those who come along the first time, the notion of a Think Different Business Banter attendance list is both time consuming and not much value to anyone who comes to this page. Open to an alternative view of course.

What I would therefore like to propose is that you send me any copy of stories/offers/successes or similar which I can then add/edit/embelish for the rest to read. I might have to prompt some to do this each week but feel that this is a better approach than me simply flagging up a picture and name. It also means we get to hide the scary guys like Frank, Chris and Liam from potential newbies.

Travel Corner

As I'm often told I don't take enough holidays, and as such miss all the vagaries of travelling to far and distant places like East Midlands Airport, Paris Beauvais, Barcelona El Prat, etc. So I was delighted to be reminded about all the things I miss about CHEAP travel with this little video sent to me by the Irish Tourist Board.

And so over the next few months when you're pouring over the Internet looking for the best flight deals could I recommend we turn to Banterer Craig Parker of Skyscanner.

Elections and The Budget

Since I last wrote we've had The Four Horsemen of The Apocalypse(Cameron. Clegg, Osborne and Alexander) deliver their budget. We're obviously all in this together so let's not hear us whinge about the cutbacks, rising prices (diesel is up 10p a litre since I last wrote) and unemployment, the ability of the private sector to get the country out of the mess, etc., etc. Everything will be alright in a few years time when we'll have a few more years plus a few more added on to our retirement age to see us through these difficult times. Aye right.

And no doubt over the next few weeks we'll maybe hear from Gray Iain about how it wisnae his parties fault we're in the mess we find ourselves in. And the big tall geek will tell us how his party are totally different from his coalition buddies down south and they'll stand up for Scotland's best interests. Aye right.

As for Tartan Knickers Goldie let's just remind ourselves what her followers really think of the Scots.

I've been a voter and taxpayer for 35 years and have yet to get the chance to discuss the various issues on the doorstep with any party. Maybe they know they'll get a verbal doing and just avoid me!!

Anyway, political rant over. Aye right.

New Location

I'm glad to report that the move to Esquires Coffee House for the Glasgow Banter has been a unilateral success with everyone and I'll be lookimng to get some more on board with us over the coming weeks now that any uncertainty about location has been swept aside - a bit like the LibDems in May.

One of the benefits of the change has been the morning breakfast options which Michelle and her team have for us.

Esquires Breakfast Menu

Roll with Suasgae or Bacon - £1.20

Roll as above with Tea or Coffee - £2.50

Toast 1 slice - 75 p and 2 slices £1.00

Toast and Beans £1.50 (Maybe not ideal start for the business day but you never know!!)

There are a range of other options and the girls put on a veggie one for Gerry Murray the week Gerry didn't show!!

Change of day for Edinburgh Business Banter

I've also decided to change the day of the Edinburgh Business Banter from Wednesday to Tuesday as it was becoming more difficult to get across on a Wednesday due to a series of client meetings over the next few months in preparation for The Scottish Learning Festival in September. Once again this will allow me to start inviting people in or around the capital city to come along and join with us in Caffe Nero on Lothian Road between 0800 and 1000.

It's also good to see that other people have been bringing their own contacts along to the various Business Banters and I'm sure in time many of the regulars will benefit from the business relationships they have developed across the few hours we're all together.

Newbie Corner

We managed to attract a posse of newbies over the past couple of weeks and here's a little bit of information on each. If I've forgotten someone then apologies - see paragraph above and I'll add info in future posts.

Big thanks to Mike Mills in Edinburgh for holding the fort over the past couple of weeks abd keeping me up to speed with what's been happening there.

Ian Mackay - Technology Consultant, Epitome Solutions

According to their webiste Ian's company offers a range of services designed to help companies make best and most appropriate use of the available technologies.

'Epitome Solutions offers independent and impartial advice on technology to small and medium businesses. We want to help you find solutions that fit both your people and your strategy.'

Danielle Ellis, Digital Content Specialist, Standard Life

Looking at Danielle's LinkedIn profile it's easy to see she has a passion for food with a great blog called the Edinburgh Foody. Obviously she combines this with the day job of Digital Content Specialist and I hope the expertise she has in this field doesn't condemn this blog to a D rating! ;-)

Paul Pia, Director at PaulPia Limited

Paul, like quite a few of the Banterers doesn't have a photo on LinkedIn for me to nab for the Blog but will hopefully rectify that in the weeks to come.

Paul's company provides services as a director, as a trustee, and in particular a pension scheme trustee, and as a board advisor on issues of corporate governance, regulatory compliance project management and risk management.

Eddie Scott Reward Consultant and Owner of Scott Reward Ltd

Acording to Eddie's prfile on LinkedIn - A HR Reward professional with extensive experience of leading and developing strategic responses to business issues, most recently in the area of employee reward and performance management. Applies strong analytical skills to solve complex problems, and uses efficient planning techniques to implement solutions. Considers the big picture, ensuring local activities are in line with business strategy.

I'd say that's a pretty comprehensive overview of what Eddie's offering as a service to others.

Lynda Millar, Centre Manager at 23 Melville Street

Apart from the photograph there's not much more I can add at present apart from 23 Melville Street offers contemporary chic serviced office suites in Edinburgh. Our West End Georgian Townhouse comprises 7 luxury serviced office suites along with stylish and superbly equipped meeting rooms.

Mark Lister, Consultant, Coach and Partner at Lister Mcdonald

Again without meeting Mark myself I can only go with what's in the LinkedIn profile as follows: -

I enable organisations to think about the future and make it a reality. I believe most companies are hugely more capable than they think. I aim to help them look to the future, draw on their full potential and fufill their purpose. I'm an experienced, flexible, challenging and down-to-earth coach. I've worked with people across the UK and beyond on a wide range of matters. I've also lead many workshops for business and personal clients.

He came along at the end of the Business Banter to meet up with Bill Atkinosn but hope he can come along again in his own right so that I can find out a bit more for you.

Gary Macmillan, Director, Macmillan and Company

Had a brief chat with Gary a few weeks ago and he's one of the potential suppliers for a number of Banterers and some of the clients I have as they provide corporate gifts for clients. As the website states..'Macmillan and Company is a well established family run business specialising in the supply of promotional advertising business gifts, calendars and diaries. The company was formed by Les and Margaret Macmillan in 1972. In 1995 their son Gary became a partner in the company thereby adding continuity to the company through second generation commitment.'

Allan McLaughlan, Account Manager, Scottish Enterprise

Always good to see some of the support agencies represented at the Business Banters and Allan came along following some conversations he had had with Jim Henderson, a regular at the Glasgow events. Like most agencies just now they have their own challenges in supporting businesses across Scotland and hopefully I'll be able to pick his brains at some future point to see if there is any support available for some of the Banterers, including ourselves of course.

Michelle Smith, BA qualified Office and Systems Manager, Value Add Business Solutions

Met Michelle first at a Twetup a few months back and glad to say she finally made it to the Business Banter last week. A quick look at her website shos she is offering the following to clients

'We help our clients to perform better by providing streamlined back office support which is handled to exact standards and specifications. We listen to the client and assist where required. We work closely with clients giving exactly what they want, when they want it, and we plan to really understand your business and deliver on your requirements.'

There's an extensive list of services on the website to check out.

Colin Boyd, Decision Maker and Grant Ruxton Grant Buxton, Partner of Boyd Digital

Both guys joined us last week in Esquires for a morning coffee before dashing across the road to their relatively new premises. Their home page on the website offers a challenge to all taking a peek at what they do...

'How you doing? If you found this website one of two things have happened, either your business is doing well and you’d like it to do even better or your business has taken a slide and you want it to stop. We are here to help in both cases, with probably the best SEO and Social Media marketing team in Glasgow we can give your business a real boost or fix the problems that you’ve maybe over looked.'

We seem to have evolved a cottage industry of digital media experts within the Business Banter community and look forward to talking with them over the coming months as we seek to better the service offered at our events and the Business Banter itself.

Next up is Richard Smith, Creative, Cruinn Interior Design Consultancy.

Anither ah couldnae fun oan LinkedIn!! Having said that the services offered are unique to anything else we've had at the Business Banters before and I hope to be able to introduce him to the likes of Brian Madden next time Brian pops his head in.

Richard's website offers the following insight into what they do - 'Our surroundings are important, whether at home or at work we require an expression of who we are and what we believe in. As we develop, adjust and explore our environments we get the chance to unravel and re-build our perspective of what our surroundings mean to us and how we are affected by them. Cruinn, a proud Scottish Interior Design Practice, are a group of experienced individuals who have a passion for and a deep understanding of this process. Each project brings with it an opportunity to unfold, create, reveal, encourage, support and enjoy; and at the centre of all of this for us is our client. We believe in providing a first class level of service by acting purely as the vehicle for our clients to realise what they want and need from their surroundings; by subscribing to our knowledge, our originality and our precision. We take notice of the small things, because as our clients know, there is nothing bigger than the small things.'

Jennifer Sutherland, Director, JAS Bookeeping

I've known Jen for a few years now and I can honestly say she's saved me a great deal of time and money since I made the decision to have her attend to my accounts each month. When you're s small business you're sometimes tempted to do as much as you can to save costs. When it comes to bookkeeping its a false economy. Much better to get someone like Jen in a day a month or whatever it needs for you to get the information into Sage or the accounts package you use and have the details available for the VATman and Accountant at the appropriate times.

She's also just joined the Think Different Hub by taking up one of our desks inthe office on a part time basis. She's an amateur dancer of note, likes a wee sherbert now and again and has a good sense of humour. Now you can't say that abut all the bookkeepers you've ever came across!!

Paul McLaughlin, Senior Sales Executive at Administrate

Administrate offers an integrated solution for a number of clients. I tried to find out a bit more detail through the website but couldn't find any additional information. Paul though is asenior sales executive with 16 years of well rounded sales experience. This has brought with it the ability to communicate at all levels and to work well managing, or being a key member to any team as well as a positive work ethic which allows the confidence to work on my own.

Hope to find out a bit more about everyone above over the coming weeks and add any relevant information which may help some of the others develop collaborative partnerships.

Each of you have now been indoctrinated into the Think Different Business Banter Community and we've created a web page for you. (Follow this link, search for your name then click on that link too -http://www.thinkdifferentevents.co.uk/bantercommunity.htm) You'll notice the picture may be out of focus and we don't have a great deal of detail about you, your social media links, contact details, and even some description about what you do. If you want to add this detail for others to see please email me and I'll add it in. See here for an example - http://www.thinkdifferentevents.co.uk/spotlight.htm.

Finally, while I have LinkedIn with many of you, I'd be delighted to accept an invitation from any I haven't connected with to date.

Musical Interlude

This week's music is provided courtesy of The Stone Roses, one of the best bands to come along over the past 30 years or so.

The Stone Roses debut, released in 1989, made a huge impact in terms of inspiring other groups to form and start up. Oasis anyone? Liam took his sense of cool and swagger straight from Ian Brown the Roses singer. Preparation for this record started as early as 1984. The Stone Roses had struggled, written songs, performed them across the country refining them. Released a couple of singles along the way. John Leckie ( legendary producer - Cast, The Fall, Muse and a whole load more ) helped them when it came to the recording of this, their debut album proper. It has been voted best album a number of times in recent years in The Observer, NME and Q amongst others.

My favourite three tracks are

I am the resurrection

Waterfall

and

I Wanna Be Adored

Technology Corner

I'm always on the lookout for any new technologies that can help us deliver a better experience for our clients and audience at events. While the technology below has been about for a few years now I'm looking to exploit it for a number of projects that are coming on stream. If you've got any other technologies you'd like me to showcase here drop me a line.

In the Spotlight

Think Different Business Banter is all about building business relationships and the Spotlight pages provide an opportunity for Banterers to tell us all a little bit more about themselves and what services or products they offer their clients. Providing this information online also gives Banterers an opportunity to update us all on changes to their company's services, special promotions, links to other media stories and the like. Find out more about how you can Get in the Spotlight.

This week the Spotlight falls Bryan Little Click on Find Out More to read the whole interview. Click on the photos below to see who has been put in the Spotlight so far:

This week's 5 top Twits are

Forget FF you really want to be on this list of Banter Top 5 Twits of the Week

@5thTweets

@ScottishBIS

@PoLRweb

@twintangibles

@tlcstudios

Office Space

Still available on flexi terms to suit small businesses

As some of you who have visited our offices in St Enoch Square will know we have ample space to work in. To maximise the usage of this working space we are now offering opportunities for Banterers and others within their network of contacts to share this space on flexible footing. Details of the offer can be found by clicking on one of the images below.

Colin Abercrombie, Clare McLeod, Norma Corlette and Jennifer Sutherland already using space on a part-time basis. Come join us!! ;-)

Until later this week

Take care and keep busy

Jacky

Previous Blog posts can be found here

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