Markets crash as Banter provides safe haven

Other Events

A couple of events to report on in this week's blog post.

Building Banter

The Building Banter was launched on Friday in Kilmarnock with almost 40 attending the event.

Like the Business Banter Social Media Week versions (see below), the Building Banter is slightly more structured, centered around a few speakers talking about relevant issues in the industry. However, networking is at the core of the event and all who came along had ample opportunity to meet current and new contacts throughout the morning.

Both the local MSP and Council Leader spoke at the launch which says something about the importance the construction sector has on the economy.

A couple of regular Business Banterers were in attendance too - Frank Cozzo and Colin Abercrombie who helped me greatly by taking a number of photographs which we've published here.

Following the Business Banter Survey we conducted in the spring time we've been working behind the scenes to evolve the Business Banter model so watch this space as they say for further developments.

Edinburgh Business Banter

 The Edinburgh Business Banter - Lite version continues to take place and invites others from across the country who may be in Edinburgh of a Tuesday morning and fancy joining them in Lothian Road's Caffe Nero between 0800 and 1000. 

A quick visit to the Business Banter home page will allow everyone to RSVP to each Edinburgh Banter so that they can gauge who's coming along. Hope to make a re-appearance myself in the coming weeks too. 

Social Media Week

Hope to feature Social Media Week here on a regular basis. This is a key series of events across Glasgow during the week 19-23 September and glad that Tim and Daniella have such a pivotal role in pulling it all together.

We are delighted to announce that we now have 5 Business Banters, one each morning, in the approved schedule and are currently in discussions to pull the programme together.

Would like to thank the following people so far, with a few more to follow.

The basic outline for each event is as follows. Start at 08:00 with 5 or 6 micro presentations between 9:00 and 9:30 and then, after a general Q&A session, open networking until 11:00. Like the Business Banter itself they presentations will not be sales pitches and anyone who delves into that area will just get hooked from the presentation area!!  ;-)

As ever each event will take place in Esquires Coffee House and we hope to have social media expertise from across the spectrum - construction to telecoms, marketing to hospitality, finance and legal to the creative sector.

More details will  be available each week and hope that the wider Banter community will find one or more of the events of interest to them that week. So whether you are interested in finding out more about the social media tools themselves or how a variety of companies are utilising them to develop meaningful content for their target audience then I hope you'll find out more at these events.

Request for help

To help us stage and record these Business Banter Specials for Social Media Week would welcome some help in the areas below. As ever we'll promote any company or individual who is able to help us with any of the items. I'll also send out individual requests to Banterers I think may be able to help directly.

• Mobile air conditioning system - you might just have one in your office doing nothing.
• Mobile PA system - microphone, speakers and amplifier or similar
• Small stage/step - Looking for a 6 foot x 3 foot x 6 inch raised step for the presenters to stand on during their talk
• Photographer / Video cameraman
• 5 appropriate prizes, one for each day. We'll ask for business cards at each event and draw the prize after the last speaker.

The Business Golf Association

Before we go on to talk about the Business Banter newbies last week just a further reminder that the Business Golf Association event is taking place on 25 August and I'd really appreciate any help in getting this event into people's mindset for that date. While the Business Banter remains a free event, it'll be the success of the BGA and a few other events I'm looking to kick start in the coming months which will help fund the time and resource in putting the Business Banter together.

Click on the image below to find out more about the event and how to get involved.

The Business Banter this week

This week's forthcoming Business Banters are at the usual times and places.

Edinburgh, Tuesday, Caffe Nero, Lothian Road 0800-1000

Glasgow, Thursday, Esquires, Hope Street 0800-1000

Newbie Corner

This is the area where we introduce the newbies to the Business Banter Community. We've also created pages for the newbies in the Who's Who section of the Business Banter website, so if you want to find out more visit their pages here. If you have a Banter Cup beside your name it means I couldn't find a photo of you.

Ian Brown , Director at Distribution Unlimited

Distribution Unlimited Glasgow are the premier leaflet distribution company in Glasgow and the West of Scotland.  As part of the Distribution Unlimited group, we are also able to distribute leaflets and other marketing materials and information throughout Scotland.We have been helping our clients generate new business through our door-to-door distribution of leaflets and other marketing material for over 17 years.  We know the industry and have the people and systems to ensure that your distribution is handled in the most professional way possible.

  Raymond McGinlay, Founder / Chief Engineer, Becky Alves, Project Manager at Level Up  

With over a decade's experience in the web development industry, we have the skills and knowledge required to produce the very best quality work. We are an open, friendly and approachable team who enjoy interacting with our clients. We want you to be involved directly with the developers creating your website, able to watch your project grow and ensuring that the final deliverable is exactly what you require.Our main products and services include; Website Development, Content Management Systems, Social Media Integration, SEO & Online Marketing, Website Maintenance and Hosting.

Joanna Nicholson, Business Development Executive at Bibby Financial Services 

We understand that when choosing a finance partner you need to work with a secure and stable provider who has a proven track record in delivering rapid funding decisions, tailored to your business’ requirements. At Bibby Financial Services we believe we are that partner.As the largest independent factoring and invoice discounting company in the UK, Bibby Financial Services has been working with businesses for nearly 25 years, providing a level of expertise and tailored support that traditional funding providers such as the Banks often can’t match. Our extensive experience and teams of dedicated and local finance specialists, means we can provide you with access to the best funding solutions for your business.

John Clark, Director & Owner at JI Management Ltd 

Our belief is that the needs of our customers are of the utmost importance. We are therefore highly committed to meeting those needs and are able to undertake work for the Client wherever it takes us. JI Management Ltd looks for a high percentage of future business to be from repeat customers and referrals and this ensures that we concentrate on developing solutions to your problems which are right for you. 

Catriona Cripps , Owner at Wildcat Solutions

Wildcat is an Accredited Sage Business Partner which means that we have to keep up to date with the latest releases of the products and we have to provide exceptional service.We chose Sage software as we feel that means we can provide our clients with a wide range of products that talk to each other, with a common “interface”.  We don’t like jargon (!) – that just means that if you learn to use one product, then you will find all the others work in a similar way. 

Rob Levick, Creator: 'The Expert Business Builder' | Business Mentor | 

Rob Levick has the proven experience, skills and business acumen to help your business grow and make substantial profits.Rob began his career in accountancy in the 70’s and his work across a variety of industries taught him the value of marketing and strategic planning in the success of business development. Robs full career history and references are available here. Rob’s straight talking, professional approach, and passion for people in business is at the core of his business growth strategy programme.

Lesley McLuskey, Managing Director at Billmar Franchise Services Ltd 

I enjoyed a successful career in the Financial Services Industry for many years working with businesses of all shapes and sizes. I have helped many businesses at all stages in their life cycle, from start up mode to expansion/franchising and ultimately protection of their assets and profits. 

Linda Gallagher, Associate Partner, The St. James Place Partnership

The St. James's Place Wealth Management Group offers a wide range of high quality wealth management services to businesses and individuals. With £29.1 billion funds under management, we are well established as one of the UK's leading wealth management organisations.At the heart of our business is the St. James's Place Partnership, which brings together some of the most experienced, able and highly-regarded professionals working in financial services today, with an average of 17 years in the industry.

Evelyn Laurie, Principal at redmarketing

redmarketing+ specialises in providing creative, yet practical, marketing and business development assistance to businesses and public sector organisations.We work closely with our clients to develop and implement strategies for their business which are aligned to their vision, their corporate values – and their budgets – and which clearly focus their marketing activities on getting the success they want, both now and in the future.

Cheryl Ryder,  Creative Director at CSC Images 

I create specialist design and marketing solutions for customers and have experience in Branding, Marketing Strategies, Business Development, Account Handling, Graphic Design and Web Design. I am also heavily involved with Social Media and utilise those benefits with more traditional Advertising and Promotional Marketing.

Douglas Bell, Owner, gas-elec Safety Systems 

I own the Scottish Regional Management Franchise of gas-elec Safety Systems. We specialise in Gas and Electrical safety inspections of residential properties (landlords and home-owners) and small businesses. We are Gas Safe Registered and registered with NICEIC. We specialise in Gas Safety inspections, Gas appliance servicing, Electrical inspection and testing (Periodic Inspection Reports and PAT testing) and Electrical installation work. 

Daniella Fionda, Healthcare Consultant at Premier Choice Healthcare 

The Premier Choice Group is an award winning independent private health & protection insurance broker. We can help you find the right medical and insurance policy to protect both your family and your work colleagues, wherever they are throughout the world. We provide the very best rates, and in many instances can purchase rates much more competitively from the major medical and protection insurance providers than would be available from them direct. 

Richard Wilson, Sales at McKay Flooring Limited

The products and services we offer include

The supply of quality hardwood, granite and speciality floor coverings across the UK from this website, and from our central Scotland showrooms / The installation of our flooring in homes across Scotland / Dust free sanding and resealing of existing wooden floors / Supplying and installing hardwood floors in commercial premises across the UK / Installation of parquet block and marquetry / Supply and fitting of acoustic subfloor systems / Supplying and installing Junckers sports flooring - we're one of only two Junckers approved contractors in Scotland

Sharon Comrie, Director at The Personal Group 

The Personal Group helps your company be seen, be heard and be noticed Our focus at The Personal Group is on providing you with the knowledge and tools to communicate with your clients and potential new business.   Our range of truly bespoke training services help you promote your business, increase your brand awareness and help you drive sales. 

Glen Cook, Managing Director at Quantum Marketing Solutions 

Quantum Marketing Solutions (Scotland) Ltd is a friendly marketing & business development consultancy that offers cost effective, practical advice to help you grow your business. I believe that good advice should not cost the earth and should always add value to your bottom line. In an increasingly competitive marketplace where there are more and more methods of communicating with potential and existing customers it is important to ensure that your key messages stand out.

Musical Interlude

Raiding the musical archives again I came across this brilliant song by The Waterboys from 1985.

Twits of the week

Forget about FFs or Friendly Fridays as they're called. This is the 'A' list of Twits this week from the Business Banter Community. So thanks for all the mentions using the #TDBB hash tag this week

Kim McAllister - @KimMcAllister

Thea Newcomb - @NewThea

Michelle Rodger - @tartancat

Brian Canavan - @aperturemarket

Colin McKeand - @ColinMcKeand

Esquires Coffee House - @PeekayPenguin

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 on myself, Jacky 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: 

Hot Desk Office Space

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 offering opportunities for Banterers and others within their network of contacts to share this space on a 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 are already using space on a part-time basis. Come join us!! ;-)  

 Until later this week  

TUESDAY - EDINBURGH

THURSDAY - GLASGOW

Take care and keep busy                   

Jacky

Previous Blog posts can be found here