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Members Had A Moment

At the particularly well-attended meeting (for a summer holiday period) of the Burton Business Club at the Branston Golf and Country Club on Tuesday 12 August 2009, three members had an opportunity to speak for 15 minutes about anything they wanted in relation to their respective businesses in a Members’ Moment event.

Picture the scene; it’s a warm sunny evening, the french windows are letting the sounds and smells of summer into a lively group of people relaxing after another hearty meal at the monthly meeting of the Burton Business Club.  This month the subject was Member’s Moments, a new forum for members to hear much more about three businesses than the usual 30-second’s worth at the start of the meeting from each member. 

First up was Vickie Lovegrove of Seventy Three Designs Ltd, a graphical designer with a worldwide client portfolio that most graphical designer businesses would die for.  Her business has been going since 2003 and she gave an insight into how effectively she marketed her skills and experience from her corporate beginnings delivering what her clients wanted and needed.  Vicky learned the hard way about being wary of culture differences by relating her experience in presenting new branding proofs to her Chinese clients.   She was told after an embarrassed silence that people’s names only appear in red when they are dead!   She also related the story about one of her first major clients who was attracted to her company because the founder had a fixation about the numbers seven and three (The year that Vickie was born incidentally).  Luck or what?

Next up was Colin Smith of Proactive Appliance Testing Ltd who specialise in portable appliance testing (PAT) for businesses both large and small.  Colin brought his crop of horror stories about what he had found during his visits - 3-pin plugs that nobody in their right mind would use at home, cables that were only good for skipping ropes and stories of laisée faire employers that would not heed good practical advice on electrical safety.  Colin put members right over the commonly held myth that PAT testing needs to be done yearly – it actually depends on the type of business and activities within it.

Last up was an impromptu presentation by Dave Lees of Integritus on how to improve marketing performance at little cost which was warmly received by members.

Derek Liddle, the club chairman, informed members of the sad demise since the last meeting of one of the club members, John Hudson.  He will be sadly missed.  Derek went on to thank the presenters for their excellent contributions and also for the excellent debate following each one.  He asked members for feedback on the first Member’s Moments forum.