Morgan PR drops the ball at 4Networking breakfast in Reading
Dropping the ball is a metaphor for making a mistake and when I fumbled a catch at 4Networking Reading this morning it naturally prompted a raucous cheer from the assembled networkers... which turned to a cheer as I quipped: “If you drop the ball in business, you will need some great PR... my name is Nigel Morgan, from Morgan PR, and we create reputations.”
It must have seemed convincing - one networker even asked me if I had dropped the ball on purpose! The truth was where my fingers fumbled my tongue was sharp witted enough to recover! Such is the fun atmosphere of 4Networking you can have a laugh while building those important business contacts.
There was a good crowd at the Holiday Inn on the Basingstoke Road in Reading for the meeting, a delightful mix of familiar faces and the soon to be familiar.
The ball was being tossed around to choose who did their 40 seconds next and I was happy to pitch in whenLorna Smith, from award winning health insurer WPA, was too polite to mention the name of a provider who had complaints upheld against them – while WPA has gone many years without a single complaint upheld. At the strategically beneficially moment I coughed hard with a hack that sounded remarkably like BUPA!
We had an entertaining 4Sight Slot from Andrew Cox from Northwood Risk Management Ltd, who posed the question of what we should do with young drivers. He revealed some terrifying statistics and explained the burden of high prices levelled against young drivers – and the schemes that exist that can help minimise those costs for our own drivers.
Delivered with passion and a sense of humour it was everything a 4Sight Slot should be and had the audience contributing and applauding aplenty. My first one-to-one was with Andrew and it was encouraging to learn he plans to take a series of talks to a much wider audience.
I was able to explain the potential that social media has to take his message to a much wider audience and the subject injects passionate responses in most people and hopefully we will have the opportunity to work together soon!
Next I met with Gerry Crawford from Sports Performance Buddy Ltd, who I had previously met when he recently visited the Newbury Business Group. He is selling a sports training device and as a first time visitor was keen to know if 4Networking would work for him. I explained how getting on the 4Sight circuit, as I have done with my Twitter tour, could transform 4Networking into a truly powerful selling tool – for while the 10 minute slot is not about selling, it is a chance to showcase the expertise and trustworthiness that people do buy!
Finally it was great to meet up again with Keith Burr from Recognition Express. Keith is a branding wizard who can put your logo on just about anything and our paths frequently cross – but as 4Networking says, you should actively seek to meet with those you know to further build those relationships. Chatting to Keith it was clear he sees the potential of social media to help Recognition Express to reach new customers and Organic PR works especially well for a company so busy helping other businesses promote themselves as this gives you plenty to talk about!
It was also good to meet Dr Maria Anassutzi, founder and director of Anazzutzi & Co Limited, which offers legal and business strategies ranging from intellectual property services to legal counsel services and also Julian Evans from Littleton Evans Mediation, who specialises in helping businesses and couples avoid seeking legal recourse.
Both had been at the Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce Sales and Marketing Forum in Newbury last week and made a point of saying how much they had enjoyed my talk on social media. It is always nice to receive unexpected feedback!
After the 4Networking meeting I sat down with one of the most savvy HR professionals that we know: Carolyne Wahlen from Gap HR cleverly offers preventative HR (indeed you can find her on Twitter as @PreventativeHR) and has this wonderful metaphor of likening good preventative HR to practicing safe sex - which to be honest, deserves a blog post of its own! Coming soon we promise!
A special mention much surely go to StJohn Hunt, from IT software solutions company Growing Concepts, who is a relatively new member to 4Networking and unwittingly struck on a effective approach to enjoying your breakfast!
Traditionally everyone is tucking into their full English as the round of 40 seconds introductions kicks off - so you are just as likely to be mid mouthful of bacon when it is your turn. StJohn had started with a yoghurt and brought his breakfast back to the table for the 4Sight Slot, guaranteeing at least 10 minutes of uninterrupted munching. Inspired!