Tag Archive for networking

January #NDBA #NDevon lunch

What a great turnout, we had 23 attendees for our first lunch of 2012.

A few mentions – it was great to see both Polly & Molly from Pollyclinics in Mill Road who were enthusing over the infrared heating panels that have been installed for their hot yoga classes!

It was also good to see our accountants finding time from their January 31st deadlines to pop in for a bit of relaxation, Sadie Procter, James Hellyer & new member Kate Parsons.

It was also good to see Ian Starling from The Voice North Devon’s own radio station – currently online and soon to be on FM.

A good turnout of twitter folk – star attraction was Taxi Anne – attending her first ever business networking event – go on give her a follow – I hope we didn’t put her off coming back.

Some of our regulars deserve a mention too – Lance Rice, Graham Lofthouse, Barbara Fryer, Robert Zarywacz, Jimmy Jewel, Gloria O’Connel, Elaine Isaacs to name a few!

To find out what these people do, and to network in an informal atmosphere, why not come along to our next lunch – at Serendipity in Bideford on 24th February. It is important to book first as numbers for this event will be limited to 20!

It really is informal, no elevator speeches to give, as it is all about talking to people to find out what they do, rather than being told! It all adds to the atmosphere!

Contact me, Kevin the number on our home page to book your space.

If you would like to receive our monthly newsletter please also contact me, as it will remind you each month what is happening in and around North Devon, and where each month’s lunch will be!

I hope to see you there

Kevin

 

2012 events

A quick and belated happy New Year to everyone – here is a list of our proposed events for 2012 – we start off on Jan 27th at the Chichester Arms in Bishops Tawton, and then our dates are as follows:-

  • Feb 24th – Bideford – Serendipity
  • Mar 15th – Barnstaple – Tweetup 5-8pm
  • Mar 30th – Combe Martin – Pack o Cards – to include a 2 hour (10-12) seminar/workshop on Twitter
  • Apr 27th – Chichester Arms
  • May 17th – Ilfracombe tweetup 5-8pm
  • May 25th – Westward Ho! – The Pier – to include a 2 hour (10-12) seminar/workshop on writing blogs
  • Jun 21st – Saunton Sands cafe – Tweetup 5-8pm
  • Jun 29th – Trimstone Manor
  • Jul 27th – Chichester Arms – to include a 2 hour (10-12) seminar/workshop on Facebook pages
  • Aug 31st – Pig on the Hill – afternoon family BBQ
  • Sep 28th – Combe Martin – Pack o cards – to include a 2 hour (10-12) seminar/workshop on LinkedIn
  • Oct 11th – Bideford – Serendipity – Tweetup 5-8pm
  • Oct 26th – Chichester Arms
  • Nov 30th – Bideford – Serendipity – to include a 2 hour (10-12) seminar/workshop on Twitter
  • Dec 30th – Broomhill

Not all locations have been booked, and are therefore subject to change!

Except for the tweetups, the rest of the events will need you to book first – please contact Kevin by email at kevin at kvassociates dot co dot uk – check out the individual events page for full details!

NDBA Christmas lunch will be…

..on 16th December at Saunton Sands Hotel!

We thought long and hard about having it at various other places, particularly hoping to have it in the Bideford area, but we decided that whilst we are in economic tough times, it wasn’t up to us to ask you to spend your money on an expensive slap up meal.

To that end we are keeping our cost to £20 per person for this event, and this will include the meal at the Saunton Sands as well as drinks on us as usual.

We are awaiting for the chef to issue the menu for this event and as soon as it is available I’ll be posting it up for all to see! In the meantime, numbers will be limited to a maximum of 20 people, so please book now, don’t wait until the last minute.

Just let me know – by email to kevin@kvassociates (dot) co (dot) uk or by phone 01237 451848 or indeed just leave a comment here!

I need a housesitter, not just any housesitter though…

…next year our son is getting married and so we are planning to take a few days off on either side and turn it into a real break away. We haven’t had what I call a proper holiday for over 3 years.

But…to have a proper holiday we need a housesitter – someone who will stay in our house, walk & feed the dogs, feed the goats, llamas & chickens twice a day, and make sure everything is locked up against the nightly visit of the local fox (he/she doesn’t come along very often but the night that they aren’t locked up is the night the fox’ll turn up)!

So, if anyone knows anyone who does that sort of thing in the area, can someone please give them my number or leave a comment here.

Thanks!

Kevin

Real benefits from networking

There are so many networking breakfasts, lunches and evening events we could go to, but what value are they to us? Is our time better spent doing something that will achieve tangible results rather than chatting to people who we are unlikely to use us as suppliers or have no interest in our business as potential customers?

To me, two of the biggest benefits of networking are ideas and advice. That’s why I tend to focus my real-world networking time on NDBA events and COMBEbusiness events, which cover my local territory of Ilfracombe, Woolacombe and Combe Martin, because I favour an open approach over a sales-based approach, which I don’t believe is always appropriate.

Last Wednesday, our COMBEbusiness event looked at the business training and development strategy we are developing at our immediate local level. We did something that often gets forgotten: we asked businesses what they need to achieve their development plans?

What was amazing is that instantly we saw people connecting as one business owner expressed a need and another one revealed how they could help with that need. This would not have happened if those people had not attended the event.

This demonstrated to me the power of networking. Yes, we are all looking for new clients and business, but I think that the opportunity to develop my business significantly is more important in the long term than winning one piece of work which won’t necessarily lead to more. In the longer term, being a better business will attract the higher value clients we want to target.

With formal business support from the public sector receding, this is a reminder of what a huge reservoir of experience and expertise exists within businesses in North Devon. I think networking can help the many of the area’s businesses develop and prosper.