The UK chapter had a brilliant event last night, graciously hosted by Redhouse Lane Communications in London. The theme was a recap of some of the highlights of the IABC Conference held in New York last month. Several members who had attended, some of whom were conference speakers, shared their top 3 learnings from the event. I don’t know how anyone could have come away from the meeting without resolving to attend next year’s conference in San Francisco. The enthusiasm of the speakers was contagious. Marc Wright of simplycommunicate shared several video snippets (which you can find on his website). Russell Grossman, director of communication for the UK Department of Business and Enterprise, always one of the top-rated conference speakers (and always one of my favourites), talked about the value of the whole conference experience — beyond the sessions. Russell, by the way, brings his laptop into sessions and takes amazingly detailed notes, then shares them with his staff to get even more professional development value. Brand new member Sabine Jaccaud (who attended conference first, then joined), Olivia Gadd, Susan Walker, ABC, and chapter president Ellen Coomber also shared top tips they picked up. It was great for me, because my schedule at conference was so crazed that I missed many of the sessions that I really wanted to see. And as several people pointed out, there are always several going on at once that you want to attend. So an event like this one provides real value, to both those who attended and those who couldn’t.
How about you? Tell me what your favourite session was, or the big idea you came away with. Who was the best speaker you heard? And do you plan to be in San Francisco next June?