On the eve of the GlassTalk networking event Paul Godwin, Jon Twigge, Andrew and I were sat in the bar hoping that it would snow heavily over night, and nobody could make it to Birmingham. We were petrified that the event would be a disaster, and we’d have to go into hiding afterwards.
In fact, Godwin had already stated that if it went really badly he would claim I had kidnapped his family and forced him at gunpoint to the Pavillion Room at the Hilton Metropole.
So, was GlassTalk a success?
At such short notice and without a dedicated event co-ordinator organising things, there was a very good chance that things could go really badly. I think we got away with it, though.
The staff at the Hilton were excellent, particularly Lisa who worked hard in the background. There were a few things we got wrong:
But, on the whole I think GlassTalk was a huge success. Here’s a snapshot of just a few of the emails we received yesterday:
Mason Thomas
Well done again lads really good job. You should try to capitalize on this you really could have something here. Look forward to the next one.
Alan Fielder
Dear Gentlemen of Wakefield and Cyberspace,
Thank you for the very enjoyable, informative, entertaining and thoroughly worthwhile experience that was GlassTalk. I know you all ran around like blue arsed flies for a lot of yesterday but I hope you all enjoyed it too and can find some time for proud reflection and a bit of self praise before you re-apply yourselves to the grindstone.
It was good to see you all and to see so many old friends and contacts and to meet many new ones; I had a blast, thank you.
Micky Calcott
Just thought I would drop you a line quickly to say thanks again for organising the event yesterday. I found it both useful and informative.
Please keep me updated on email in the future if there is anything I should know about.
John Ogilvie
It was a great event and credit to you and the team who helped stage it – it gave me some ideas for our AGM!
Dave Broxton
Well you must be extremely proud of yesterday’s event. Good turnout, interesting debate, great networking and no fights.
Gary Morton
Firstly very well done for yesterday. Whilst it was not resounding, it was certainly worthwhile, so congratulations.
From a personal perspective I was there to support you, I neither expected, or indeed wanted much out of the day.
However, I did gather some feedback and it was fairly consistent with my own observations.
The general feel was that it was certainly worth doing.
• Feedback on the venue was that it is good, but very expensive. Is it that important to have it on the NEC site. There are some great locations nearby that are better and much cheaper.
• The format was great, though I did feel ‘The Stig’ should have made an appearance !
• The discussion session should, perhaps have been time guillotined to no more than an hour or so. It went on too long for each session. The topics were pretty good though.
• If the above happened there would have been time for another round of Networking sessions. Everybody I spoke to thought they were very good and many came away with soft or positive contacts. Job done one might say.
• The evening was spot on, food good, entertainment good, free bar good and continuing networking good…… I like, it’s nice et al
Overall, bloody well done, lots to work on, but you always knew that. You are to be applauded for having the balls. You stood to gain little but you could have lost a lot. For that reason alone you deserve to succeed with it.
Alan Burgess
Sorry not to have time for our ‘on the couch session’ perhaps a gong or alarm clock for 45 min slots would help next time, however the Clarkson theme seating worked extremely well.
Really pleased for you, raised your presence, and didn’t hear a bad word, only suggestions of where the next one should be held.
Iain McInnes
A great event, everyone said the event was excellent and far better than expected.
Mike Rigby
It was an excellent day and a credible replacement for Glassex networking. Well done Matt, Andrew, Jon and Paul for organising it. Same again next year?
Neil Inwood
Bloody good event and well done esp in such a short space of time
Very impressed in the format style and great choice in Mr Dunlop’s ‘ring master’ abilities
What was extremely impressive was the seriousness and professional approach of pretty well everyone ….”Yeah we’re in business to sell and to make money….but we want to get it right, abide by legislation and best practice indicators, for the customers, as well as ourselves” was the message that came across …as I said, very impressed
If Watchdog / rogue traders had been a fly on the wall, it presented an entirely, completely, different picture of the std public perception of the D/G industry and the individuals involved.
Should we do it again?
I think the answer has to be ‘Yes’. I personally made some great contacts which I will be following up, and also strengthened my relationship with others I already knew.
There was a disappointing ending, however, as one of the guests assaulted another guest and was asked to leave the hotel. He then assaulted a Police Officer as he was ejected and spent the night banged up.
Just like the good old days of Glassex!
Conclusion
Thank you for everyone who attended, especially those who helped out in any way. Barry Dunlop and Paul Godwin paricularly did great jobs at keeping us entertained.
We’ll be meeting up in the next couple of weeks to decide what we do next. Should we do it again next year, or even sooner? Should we change the venue (I vote for Wakefield)? Do we keep it small and exclusive, or aim for 500 people next time? How do we improve on the format of the day?
Your thoughts as always will be greatly appreciated. I’ve also added a poll to the right hand column, as to whether we should hold the event annually or twice a year.
I would also like to add a big thank you to all that came.
One thing that surprised me is that we still had money behind the bar. What’s wrong with the double glazing industry that we can’t even drink free beer:)
There have been suggestions that it could be held in Manchester. Personally, I think it should stay in Birmingham, as it’s about as central as it could be.
Anyway, thanks very much.
I have already sent an e-mail congratulating you for what turned out to be a stimulating day. Many of us in the trade press had concerns that it might have been an excuse to have the real gathering in the bar but the format worked well.
My one criticism is that by overrunning we were deprived of the speakers later on. Of particular regret was to hear the people from the GGF justifying their existence. Please ensure that a strict guillotine is enforced next time.
Another request is to consider the South as a destination. There are some of us who burst out in unsightly rashes at the thought of going to Birmingham and/or the NEC.
Michael Gannon
Editor
Glass and Glazing Magazine
Just to add my congrats to those given already, a thorougly enjoyable and useful day. Well done on being the ones to stand up and be counted by kicking it all off. The overall impression of the day was as a civilised, proffessional and informative forum to meet and greet exisiting and new friends – this was well appreciated by everyone i think.
ps – I got up just after 4am to catch a train down, and went to bed just after4am, 24 hrs later. Do I win a prize?
Hats off to you guys for doing this and Godwin for doing his thing as usual. I agree with most of the comments already posted and in particular that the Metroploe is a major ripoff. If it could be done somewhere else without compromising anything in terms of space and organisation it would be worth considering.
I think that geographically it makes sense to be in the middle of the country unless you go bi-annual and do one in the north and one in the south.
Yes, put a timer on the sofa sessions, cut lunch to one hour and finish half an hour later and then you could fit in an afternoon networking session.
I am sure much has been learnt from this and that you will be encouraged to do it again.
Having read the feedback on the web site I totally agree is was a great success and I am sure there should be future events. I think the size of attendance was very manageable especially as there were none of my competitors and we should definitely keep them out? Seriously though 500 would be too much congratulations.
Should the event be annual or bi annual?
Easy – if the free bar has not been drunk at the annual meeting, it automatically rolls over and becomes bi annual.
Hopefully I shall make the next one to assist!
Hi Matthew/Andrew, so there WAS a fight but AFTER I wimped off to bed at 1.30am. That’s a relief, what with money being left behind the free bar, I was wondering if the industry had gone soft. Could we get a “blow by blow” account without identities to protect the guilty? Might it be worth donating the remaining beer vouchers to a charity nominated by the sponsors?
I concur with most of the comments already expressed. Should it happen again? Of course but you knew that by noon on Wednesday. Frequency and location? Twice a year would seem about right, maybe in October in case we lose another show (Dear God I hope not!). It could be held North and South to attract regional players and hosted at a venue that offers better value. The only good thing about the gouging exploitation fest that is the Metropole is that with no other attractions in a ten-mile radius it keeps everyone in the same place…oh and I hear it’s marginally more comfortable than Steelhouse Lane nick.
I know firsthand how difficult it is put an event like this together. In fact the only thing harder is to run the “difficult” second event. That said, I think you have everyone’s support so it should be easier to sell next time. What impressed me most about Glass Talk is that despite your lack of experience, your passion for the industry, enthusiasm and hard work provided 150 of the “great and the good” with an overwhelmingly positive experience at a time when other organisations are failing to demonstrate leadership in our industry. Not bad for the Chuckle Brothers!
Well done!!
I was only able to stay for part of the day, and unfortunately missed out on the free bar, but I thought it was an excellent idea that was extremely well executed. Certainly everyone seemed to get a lot from the event, and dare I say, was probably more productive than last years Glassex at a fraction of the cost.
Without putting pressure on you guys, I do think this event should be repeated. I have read your comments that it could have been improved by using event organisers, but I have to disagree. You are in the industry, you understand what is important and what isn’t, and I thought you pulled it off well.
One thing I hope I can suggest for future events, is slightly better planning for the “speed dating”. I’m not complaining because of the lack of women, but two of the people I met on table 1, appeared on table 2 and 3. Whilst they were very nice people, I would have liked to have met someone new. It was also a shame it was restricted from a timing point of view, although I do understand why.
All in all though, I thought it was excellent, and I look forward to hearing about your next event.
Well done again guys.
Mathew,
Thanks for organisinmg the Glass Talk event.
It was good for an old timer like me to stay in
contact with the industry. I enjoyed it and would like to take part in any future event.
Well Done!
Thanks everyone for the positive feedback. I was impressed by everyone there except one (and as Matthew said, he was arrested ! ) .
We will be watching all of the feedback carefully. We did come to the Hilton pretty late and it was with doubt as to whether we could commit to even fifty people originally. As it became such a major event there are already signs from the Hilton that if we give them more notice they would do us an much improved offer. We should be able to extract a better deal next time but anyone who knows of good venues with capacity for the day and the number of rooms – please let us know.
Almost everyone I spoke to agreed we needed more of the networking and to keep the talks down a bit. We will work on the best way to make them snappier and perhaps break them up a bit too.
With more rounds of the networking time I will also come up with a bit of software to make sure everyone meets as many people as possible next time – I know a few of you ended up with some others on the same table all three times. Hopefully it was not too much of a problem for most of you.
Twice a year sounded like too often for me until I saw the idea above of having them in different locations – that might work or would it dilute it?
But basically, a big thank you to everyone. I have no doubt that what was originally a slightly dubious idea for many people has overnight turned into a regular industry event.
And a personal apology to the people involved in the talks we missed out or were waiting to here them. We will tighten up next time.
Finally, thank you to all of the sponsors – I think the drinking was responsbible, restrained and a credit to the industry and the entertainment was brilliant.
Thanks,
Jon
You where on my list of people to contact today so thanks for the prompt.
A very worthwhile exercise and well attended. We felt the morning session worked well and should have continued into the afternoon. The afternoon session items went on to long and if you do it again I’d suggest sticking with the morning format longer into the day. Session topics should be kept down to 20 mins’ maximum otherwise people repeat themselves.
I’d say you could look to do this again around the October time and again next spring. It gives people the chance to react to what has happened in the industry and allows us to keep on top of it.
Overall a good idea that has worked for you and you are to be applauded for that.
Well done.
Hi Guys.
Sounds like the event went extremely well and the comments are all positive and constructive.
The timing is always the most difficult issue – something you’ve planned to take 30 mins is either over in 5 or goes for for hours – the ‘hosts’ job is to keep the ‘conversation’ on track and ensure it keeps to time.
Easier said than done but a fantastic experience and i’m sure the next one will be an even bigger success.
One question – do you think increasing the numbers would detract from the sofa interview technique? (unless there were some video – large screen format for people at the back to watch and hear.
Our congrats again on your hard work coming off in so spectacular a fashion.
Jonathan .
Jonathan
Interesting idea – the big screen format. Definitely something we will discuss. Thanks.
RCG
Well done Andy and Matt for organising such a good event.
For the first one it was pretty good and i am sure you will learn from it and make the next one even better.
I met new contacts and renewed old frienships and generally came out of it with the knowledge that although the industry is facing tough times, people are prepared to work and get on with it.
This was confirmed by the fantastic turnout on the day.
The venue was spot on, and i took up the advice by Andrew and booked my room early at a rate of £62.00 for a single room, which i thought was excellent value.
The venue should be twice a year, but i am not convinced that it should be in different locations.
Once again well done to all the organisers and staff at the hotel.
Don’t start. It’s Matthew and Andrew – not Matt ‘n Andy. Lol!
Matthew — I do not think there is any doubt – people want more and I suspect twice a year would work very well.
There has also been some excellent suggestions and feedback to make next event even better
You, Jon, Andrew and Godwin did an awesome job – you really could organise a P up in a brewery
Barry
Congratulations ~ an excellent event with a surprisingly positive atmosphere given the current economic climate.
Made some vey useful contacts which will help Proskills in its endeavors to promote upskilling in the glass sector.
We hope to be involved in future events, perhaps a session on training opportunities / accessing funding etc
Andy Bradburn
Fantastic job done by all involved, loved the format and could see it working twice a year so the size of the event does not become too large, ( if you are unable to get to one then you could attend the other). Made some good contacts and hope I can keep in touch, thought the interview on the sofa was a good idea,Did everyone notice how nice the sofa looked!!
won’t rabble on, Well done again.
Well done to all involved in creating a new and unique opportunity for people great and small to get together and discuss issues vital for the future well being of the industry. I thoroughly enjoyed the day which passed far too quickly but I’m already looking forward to next time.
Hi All
It was a great day. Look forward to the next one.
Think twice a year would be very beneficial.
Keep me informed of future events!
Thanks again.
Hi Ma & An
What a superb day you pulled off. I found the morning networking session of particular interest and would have settled for an hour for lunch in order to have a forth table. I am a bit Mutton Jeff so the volume of the afternoon interviews could have been louder; pleased to hear it was not just me. As for the venue as others have said anything away from the fleecing you get at the NEC would be better. At least once a year seems good to me, twice a year and we might see a drop off of interest but hey you were oversubscribed. How many events can say that? Godders did a great job on the couch. Great job guys.
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I can only add my thanks to you guys for hosting an excellent day, as good as it is to see many old faces it was great to meet lots of new contacts.
To address the “not enough time spent on networking question” perhaps in future we can have a display area or “washing line” showing all the companies and contacts etc who are attending this could help in gaining early commitment by us all to the event.
The venue worked for me, the timing of GLASSTALK coincided with the start of the Homebuilding&Renovating show at the NEC. From where I have just returned and I am pleased to report that my customers exhibiting at this show have gained some very positive leads.
I would like to add my appreciation to all connected with the organisation of Glasstalk.
I thought the format worked very well and would like to reiterate most others comments that the network sessions were especially valuable.
I also enjoyed the ‘on the couch’ sessions too. Good subject content and the dissapointment of not fitting in the last two sessions has been covered by others so I will not dwell. Well done to all the interviewers and interviewee’s for their professionalism on putting on a good show.
PS : The choice of Pete The Thief for entertainment was inspired.
As for future events, I am certainly in favour. I like Birmingham as a location as it is pretty much within 2 hours of most of the major cities, although venue wise I don’t have any great feeling for the Hilton Metropole.
A couple of ideas for future events. If 2 a year is the consensus, then maybe keep the March event in Birmingham every year and then make the autumn event regional going NE, NW, SE, SW in-turn which may help to attract different attendees.
Also with regards to the format, the ‘on the couch’ was great and could be explored further but maybe alternate it with other formats so that it doesn’t become familiar.
I had an idea that at some point in the future you could try a ‘Question Time’ format. You could have 5 panalists from different sectors of the industry eg :- 1 from a systems company, 1 from the IGU sector, 1 trade association representative, a fabricator and also an installer.
The questions ideas could be submitted by RCG website users, you guys could select the 10 best and then narrow it down to 5-6 questions by running poll on RCG.
Paul Godwin i’m sure could play the part of David Dimbleby admirably.
Great event. Very well done, everyone concerned. For the future, one of you looked doubtful when I suggested twice a year, but I like the last two ideas from Keith Pacey and Mark Barsby. “Washing line” and alternate Regionals. That’s what networking is all about.
This was a great start but I would prefer to see it kept to a similar format and moved around rather than have it grow into an unmanageable monster. There are other venues around the Midlands, but I can’t think of one with such good travelling connections. If you can get a better deal, stick with the Metropole for the main event.
Myself and David Peters our Northern Manager really enjoyed the event. We were able to make several very worthwile contacts and our only regret was we needed a little more time networking. The venue, food, free bar and the entertainment was exceptional and it is always a pleasure to meet up with old friends and business colleagues that you have not seen for a long time.
The team that put the day together deserve hearty congratulations, well done.
Please let us know when the next one is arranged and we will be there. Twice a year would suit Appeal if that is the way it is decided.
Thanks again for the invite thoroughly enjoyed every minute.
Regards
Maurice Morley
Appeal Conservatory Blinds
A couple of people have raised the idea of having the event over two days. Anyone else have opinions on that?
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Well done to Matt & Andy Glow-ver, ( from Paul) John Twigg and Paul for pulling off a really good event. It was perfect timing for us as we were exhibiting at the Homebuilding Show the next day, it turned out to be an amazing show with our composite window with over 120 quotes to do. All in all a perfect week – its amazing what some spring weather can do.
Looking forward to next years event – same date please!
Just want to say thank you for the invite, i have a really good day! I thought the whole set-up was fantastic, and a good day for all concerned!