Time flies when you are having fun…
Where did that month go? They say the older you get; the quicker time seems to disappear. I think the busier you are, the quicker time seems to disappear! How have we got to October, out of summer and definitely moving into Autumn? I have been on the road for the entire month, starting with a short vacation followed by Bruges, London, Lodz and finally Birmingham. It has been a whirlwind of workshops, conference moderation, meeting design, travel and more moderation. So far, the busiest month but as all #eventprofs know, this is the beginning of the ‘season’ so we should expect this!
Moderator Tip – Vacation when your clients do 😊
Further to last month’s blog , I took a few days to recharge ready for conference season. Naively, I chose the week my clients all returned to work. As at this point, there was only me in the business, so coming off the grid was impossible which is fact of life for small business owners. But you can still enjoy a wonderful time by being strict about when you check in with work emails and calls. I made the choice to check in at the end of every day, with an out of office offering a what’s app option for anything urgent.
Next year, I’ll be communicating better to find out when it’s down time for the majority of clients and head off for some R&R then!
Another month, another celebrity chef interview 👨🍳
This month I got the opportunity to interview Jason Atherton, the day before he opened his 20th restaurant, The Betterment. This 4-star Michelin chef was a delight to be in conversation with. He was caught in traffic, so we had a speaker briefing whilst he was in the Blackfriars Tunnel in London (not ideal FYI ;-)) and the interview was enjoyed by attendees of Venues + Events Show. He was candid, did a great impression of Donald Trump and shared insights into leadership and creating a ‘brigade’ If you have the chance to watch The Chef’s Brigade then please do. Anyone in leadership could use this programme as a guide.
My First..
Personal Assistant. Please welcome Charley to the team @SammeAllen!
A great quote I read says, “Be strong enough to stand alone, smart enough to know when you need help, and brave enough to ask for it” After huge deliberations and major stress trying to juggle everything in the business, I finally got brave and asked for help. I was beginning to struggle with how effective I was being with my clients which is obviously a non-negotiable, so it meant it was time to get some support.
With the business and conference and event bookings going from strength to strength, it is time to focus all energy on clients, meeting design and developing the business and Charley is supporting me with the behind the scenes work that is so important to all businesses. Contact support@sammeallen.com for any finance or administrative matters and of course, any diary requests if you can’t reach me.
From Concept to Creation – a case study
Coming home on the train from Birmingham on Friday, I had a big smile on my face. Having successfully supported a client from the very beginning of the meeting design journey, through to recruiting support facilitators, working with an amazing production/logistics team and finally delivering on site last week their successful bi-annual event, you can see why that smile was wide.
We started with a very strategic top line brief, however the client was really open to drilling this down to understandable objectives for the event. This is turn helped me with meeting design concepts. Banging heads with my colleague JJ, 6 workshop concepts were presented to the client, with 3 being taken from design to delivery last week. Looking at the overall event, we also made changes to the conference programme to meet the objectives of the clients request to engage the participants with the Executive team.
We ran 3 different workshops, 3 times during the day, with 300+ participants in each one. They were all very different, focusing on elements such as ownership, collaboration and trust and customer service. It was a hectic day but feedback so far has been incredibly positive, from both the client and their staff, our participants.
For more information on how I can support your event with innovative meeting design that will meet your event objectives and engage your attendees, get in touch! You know what to do 😊
And finally…
October is going to be a rollercoaster in the world of the Emcee/Moderator!
Brussels, London, Ostend and a lot of meeting design and preparation for an exciting November. Hoping in the gaps I get to spend some time with my family and friends and a focus on wellbeing to ensure I can be the best support for my clients.
Be Happy,
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