Participants at this yearโs two-day EXECSec Summit have spoken to media partner PA Life about how useful they found the event. Mandy Brown from DHL International describes the set-up of pre-arranged appointments with suppliers as โmuch better [than the traditional trade show approach], as youโre not just milling around.
โIt also avoids getting into an awkward conversation with anyone, when you realise itโs not what youโre looking for,โ she adds.
Leanne Graham from ACEVO, the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations, was looking for stationery and travel suppliers and Penny Martin of Johnson Matthey wanted to source venues for conferences and was also interested in corporate gift providers.
Bethany Fovargue was seeking providers of โthings that are that little bit differentโ and enjoyed a chat about a white-water rafting activity; she was also keen to hear from venues outside of London, as her company, Data Interchange, is based in Peterborough. โIโm enjoying the fact that I get to sit still and they [the suppliers] have to come to meโ, says Crossrailโs Kathleen Drum with a smile.
Folami Prehaye of the Milestones Trust comments on the educational nature of the summit: โItโs very informative… Iโve spoken to a lot of people and they say theyโre finding it really interesting.โ In a nice twist, Folami had originally booked the two days off as annual leave, but when her boss realised what type of event she would be attending, she was happy for Folami to take the time off for training purposes instead.
The participants were full of praise for the seminar programme that ran concurrently with the pre-scheduled appointments, with Abigail Sangster from Instant noting that the presentation on Excel given by Pitmanโs Shilpa Wymer was full of tips of which she wasnโt previously aware. Meanwhile, Claire Sinclair-Stedman, who works at law firm Ashfords LLP, commented on the talk given by Deborah Shaw of the Association of Celebrity Assistants and said how interesting it was to hear Deborahโs story of how she had got to the career position that she holds today.
The forum also gave participants an ideal chance to network as a peer group and thatโs vitally important, according to Hoare Leaโs Claire Harrington, as โoften we donโt have a support network in our own offices and itโs good to deal with like-minded individuals.โ
One thing all the delegates agreed on whole-heartedly is the fact that the event is such a hugely worthwhile use of a PAโs time out of the office. โItโs invaluable [given] all the knowledge Iโve gained and the contacts Iโve made,โ remarks Teely Webb from the University of Surrey/BP, adding that she canโt wait to take all of this new-found information back to the office.
Watch the video for yourself at forumevents.co.uk/forum/ExecSec-Summit/upcoming-events-execsec-summit.html
