How to get value from business Conferences and Exhibitions

Top Tips for Making the Most of East Kent B2B

There are masses of benefits and the opportunities for learning, connecting and growing you will not find anywhere else.  Follow these tips and reap the benefits

Plan in advance

Check out the programme and choose the sessions you want to attend.  This way you won’t miss out

Be Digital

Make connections with other attendees/exhibitors before the event using our social media

Like us on Facebook - Follow us on Twitter - Join our Linkedin Group

Pack your cards

Bring a healthy stack of business cards with you and give them out to relevant contacts face to face as a physical reminder of your business

Be ready to network
Be ready with who you are and what you do

Speed networking

Exciting and high impact that produces exceptional results

Meet lots of new contacts in a short space of time, sessions running all day that are fun and really work

Be a sponge

There will be a lot going on at the same time so watch, listen and absorb.  Take notes during speaker sessions – there will be masses of golden nuggets of information that could easily have the power to change your business.

Follow up

Identify the most important prospects you met

Schedule time to follow up with them personally within a few days

Make a plan of what you have learnt and how to apply them to your business

Get the inside track from a former Dragon at the East Kent B2B

With the latest statistics from the British Chamber of Commerce’s 2nd Quarterly Survey showing the continuing stabilisation of the UK economy, many would-be entrepreneurs, who for the past few years have had to reign in their ambitions may now start to look at growing their businesses once more. The BCC recently upgraded its’ annual growth forecast for the economy - moving from 1.9% to 2.2%. The manufacturing sector is also recovering and for the most part, the figures are moving in the right direction. With such positivity now could be the time to grasp your entrepreneurial spirit and move your business forward.

Entrepreneurial South East region

Interestingly, almost half of the businesses listed in the Investec Hot 100 in 2013 were based in London and the South East. The list is compiled by looking at the compound annual growth rates of the fastest growing private companies in the UK. It is used as a gauge of entrepreneurial
business spirit and the South East featuring so highly would seem to point to a growing
entrepreneurial spirit within the region. Furthermore East Kent has been highlighted across many channels as the “go to” area in the South East for new tech start-ups and initiatives like “Grow for it East Kent” are successfully promoting the areas abundant resources and benefits to both the local markets and those from further afield.

Jo James, Chief Executive of the Chamber explains the focus of the next Kent B2B, “Fitting the needs of the region is one of the key points of the Chambers’ remit and so our next business to business event has a truly entrepreneurial slant across its’ programme, including Doug Richard booked as keynote speaker. We are looking forward to a great day of informative speeches,
practical workshops and abundant networking opportunities.”

Leading entrepreneur booked for business conference

Doug Richard is one of the original members of the BBC television programme, Dragons Den and has an incredibly successful career. He initially worked in Silicon Valley, building and selling two successful businesses before coming to Britain where he has, amongst other things, developed Cambridge Angels - an investment society looking to “pay it forward” offering advice, guidance along with financial help to new entrepreneurs. He now also dedicates time to “School for Startups”, a social enterprise dedicated to training and supporting entrepreneurs and helping small businesses around the world thrive. 

Appearing at the Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerces’ East Kent B2B on the 11th September at the Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence, Canterbury, Doug will be offering tips and candid, jargon free advice on the day. A must for any business person, whether you are an established business that’s looking to grow or a start-up firm.

Alongside Doug is Andrew Priestley as breakfast speaker who will share with you the 8 questions to make your business more profitable and QJ speaking about his Rockstar Approach. Add in the great exhibitors with workshops planned throughout the day, speed networking and lots of other opportunities to connect with new businesses and the event looks set to be a great day for businesses across East Kent.

Director General of the British Chamber of Commerce urges the Government to not be hasty with interest rate rises as he takes to the stage at Kent B2B

The annual Kent B2B took place on Tuesday 8th July at the Ashford International Hotel hosted by the Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce. Amongst the keynote speakers was John Longworth, the current Director General of the British Chamber of Commerce. Following the release of the 2nd Quarterly Economic Survey by Mr Longworth to the press in London he travelled to the Ashford event to discuss the results with the business audience from across Kent.

Survey results show stabilisation in growth

The survey is the result of 7,000 businesses across the UK and amongst the key headlines of the latest report were what the Director General called an “unsurprising” decline or stabilisation of the growth of the economy after it had “jolted forward” in the first quarterly survey results. However, these figures should be taken in context as many of them are actually still higher than their pre-recession 2007 levels and should therefore be viewed in a positive way.

Mr Longworth commented “these are strong results that show the recovery is moving forward.” As the first survey of the quarter to be released the BCC’s Quarterly Economic Survey is keenly anticipated by both the Treasury and the Bank of England. As such Mr Longworth argued that the Bank of England should consider carefully whether now was the right time to raise interest rates in the “very short term” or whether this would serve to limit the growth ambitions of many businesses.  At the Kent B2B Mr Longworth’s speech was wide ranging touching on key current political issues such as the Scottish referendum and the upcoming General Election along with key business issues such as infrastructure and exporting.

Alongside Mr Longworth’s key note the Kent Invicta Chamber’s business to business exhibition and conference saw 2 marketing experts take to the stage offering invaluable advice to businesses across the county. Daniel Priestley spoke of the Key Person of Influence concept, outlining how any business person can begin to build their influence to become a key player within their niche. Warren Cass spoke of the recent trend of disruptive marketing and its impact on they way firms do business.

High quality content and networking opportunities

With 90 exhibitors and nearly 1,000 people attending the Kent B2B successfully mixes the needs of businesses to keep up-to -date with the latest innovations within business alongside offering fantastic networking opportunities for exhibitors and delegates alike.

Jo James, Chief Executive of the Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce commented “The Kent B2B is the longest running of our B2B events, as such it offers a broad range of businesses the opportunity to learn, network and do business. Today has been a fantastic success with many people commenting on the high quality contacts that they have made. Our keynote speakers and workshops are firmly focussed on offering delegates the very best advice and leaving them with real life actions that they can immediately implement in their business - whatever sector they operate in and at whatever level.”

Jo continued “All in all I think it was great day for businesses in Kent - finished off with a brilliant evening with our Annual Dinner hosted by the inimitable Gordon Banks. We will now focus our attention on our next B2B which will be in East Kent, in Canterbury on the 11th September. With ex Dragons Den star Doug Richards, Andrew Priestley and QJ confirmed as keynote speaker it’s shaping up to be another great event for businesses in Kent, and from further afield.”

10 top tips for effective networking at the Kent B2B exhibition

*Keeping engaged with the event will:

1 .Keep you up-to-date with all the latest news about the event.

2. Offer you tips and advice to ensure your attendance is a success.

3. Show you how to promote your presence - in local media, online and with existing/prospective clients.

*Keep in touch with us:

4. Join our Kent B2B LinkedIn group we post all the latest event news there, as  well as lots of useful advice from our blogs. https://www.linkedin.com/groups/Kent-B2B-Exhibitions

5. Follow and like us on Facebook www.facebook.co.uk/kentb2b - share and comment on our updates.

6. Follow us on Twitter - @KentB2B and #kentb2b - join in the conversation.

*Social Media:

7. Increase your activity across your social media channels.

8. Tweet your plans for the event - a countdown and how you are preparing for it, thank clients that have agreed to come, mention businesses you are looking forward to meeting, speakers or workshops you are planning to visit and retweet our tweets.

*General:

9. Change your email signature to include a message about the event and  encourage people to attend the event.

10. Update your website with the event details, perhaps a banner on the landing page that links to content explaining why you are attending.

Kent businesses report healthy growth through 2014

Kent businesses report healthy growth through 2014

As a growing centre for businesses – of all shapes and sizes – Kent firms are reporting strong trading conditions and burgeoning order books. Its proximity to the Continent coupled with strong transport links to the rest of the country and closeness to the Capital make Kent a great place for producers, manufacturers and retailers along with the leisure, tourism & service industries. With the economy growing well once more it seems that  businesses in the South East are reaping the benefits of this renewed confidence.

A sure sign that businesses are feeling more confident is reflected in the numbers of exhibitors at the next Kent Invicta Chamber B2B on the 8th July in Ashford and the good news stories that they report. Whether businesses are opening new facilities or developing their offering these businesses are certainly feeling the positivity that is being played out across the rest of the economy. 

The Kent B2B is an event that at its heart aims to connect these businesses enabling them to meet new contacts, suppliers and peers – ensuring that the growth of business within Kent continues and is sustainable. The exhibition and conference attracts a diverse range of local, county–wide and national businesses – all of whom have growth and development stories to share.

Positive changes for many businesses in Kent 

For example, The Kent Event Centre in Detling, near to Maidstone has recently opened the Maidstone Exhibition Hall a brand new 3,000 square metre building.  The building offers excellent facilities to exhibitors including a higher height level and of course has state of the art technology including fibre optic WIFI and hard wired points. Equi-Expo and the Kent Garden Show have both used this new structure and the centre has another eighteen bookings through the rest of 2014. An investment of this scale enables the Kent Event Centre to offer a wider range of large scale events, exhibitions and conferences in Kent and the South East.

Chegworth Valley, an organic farm growing fruit, vegetables and salads and producing award-winning farm pressed apple and fruit juices is exhibiting for the first time at the Kent B2B and are excited at the opportunity the event represents in raising their profile amongst the other exhibitors and delegates. Having recently added a delivery service they are keen to make new contacts and show the service and quality of produce that they supply. 

Buckmore Park is a regular exhibitor of the B2B events. Their recent expansion has included the opening of a new Paddock Circuit that provides Turn Up 'n' Drive Karting during most weekends and school holidays. Other key events for them in the coming months include a special Hungarian Grand Prix event being held on July 27th as well as many more individual and team karting events throughout the year - great for friends, colleagues and individuals.

Local company with far reaching ambitions

The diversity of industry in Kent is amazing too - an interesting example of this comes via Zein Marketing who have recently been working with an exciting aviation project based in Lydd. 4x4 Aviation is a local firm looking to revolutionise the transportation of freight in countries with poor infrastructures - a truly innovative venture that could offer huge benefits to developing countries. 

With the range and nature of businesses around the region continuing to grow, events like the Kent B2B have become increasingly important - as an opportunity for businesses to meet and network as well as an opportunity for business owners to hear from industry leaders and take part in informative workshops. These great resources are all delivered in a way that ensures lessons can be implemented immediately, offering useful strategies and plans. The Kent B2B is truly the place to meet for those in business. 

5 top tips to make teamwork simple

With the World Cup well and truly underway and England out of the competition after the “winner takes all” match on Thursday, the concept of teamwork has never seemed so important and has never been discussed quite so much. With the strategy of the beautiful game being talked about the length and breadth of the country the concept of teamwork and how to get the very best from them is a hot topic. As important off the pitch as on - for many businesses a team that isn’t working cohesively is simply not working. So, what are the top tips, networking to make sure that your team works well together.

Teamwork does not mean that all members of the group must be interchangeable and able to do each other’s role. True teamwork is more to do with the synergy of the individuals, about the sum of the parts, and, at its best it will empower the team and lead to better results. Great teamwork should enhance the working structures and promote a sense of pride, achievement creating a motivated workplace as well as the ways and means to operate more flexibly. For any team to working effectively there needs to be leader and that leader is often the linchpin in ensuring teamwork happens.

Top tips for making a team work

1. Firstly, consider your position as a leader and the way that you work. Be aware of how you lead and then be flexible with your team - find the individual buttons that switch them to working the best that they can and work with them.

2. Make sure you really get to know your team well, play to peoples’ strengths even if that means changing their role or moving them to a different team.

3. Within the team ensure that responsibilities and roles are clearly defined - although roles aren’t necessarily interchangeable make sure that there is a connection between each of the team and that they are not too disparate from each other. For a team to work well there needs to be a DRI - directly responsible individual – for each task. 

4. Be involved and give feedback regularly - make it proactive, constructive and positive. Deliver in a way that encourages the opportunity to build dialogue within the team. 

5. And finally leading on from feedback comes celebrating and rewarding success. With the recent tough economy many businesses have felt the strain. As the economy begins to blossom once more take the time to acknowledge when things are great – it’s one of the best ways to build loyalty and trust within your team. 

Ensuring your team works well is one of the most important factors to helping a business to succeed, want to find out more about a World Cup winners take on teamwork? Then head along to the Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerces’ Annual Dinner on the 8th July - Gordon Banks is the guest speaker. And as it’s on World Cup semi-final night he’ll also be staying afterwards to watch the match. The dinner follows the Kent B2B – the longest running business to business exhibition and conference in Kent offering great keynote speakers – like the Director General from the British Chamber of Commerce, John Longworth, alongside two world leading keynote speakers; Daniel Priestley and Warren Cass. So, come along and find out from the best how a winning team works together. 

Ten top tips to make your exhibition a success

 Keep these top tips in mind and your exhibition is sure to be a success.

1. Be a great networker and you will do well at an exhibition.
You can refresh your skills and learn how to be a great networker at our FREE Maximise your Exhibition workshops held throughout the year (find out more here).

2. Set your objectives - what you wish to achieve. 
Design your stand to meet your objectives and plan your staffing needs early.

3. Train, train, train.
80% of the success of your stand is down to our staff.
 
4. Exhibiting is not just for leads but also to find suppliers and to ....
Develop customer relations, find business partners, research competitors, launch a new product, and get new ideas.

5. Market your stand to both customer and prospects. 
Invite them to meet you at your stand or in the networking area.

6. Messages on your stand.
Should be simple, visual and in LARGE print which stress the benefits - less is more.

7. Can I help you?
Not a good question, ask open questions that require more than a one word answer.

8. Don’t just wait for visitors to visit your stand
Lead generation can be anywhere, getting coff ee, at workshops and speaker sessions. 
Talk to everyone you can wherever you are!


9. Networking is about helping other people
Hard sell is not appropriate and not appreciated and less effective.

10. Don’t ...
Use a mobile, eat on the stand, sit down, have your back to the aisle, have a messy stand
or have cheap tacky give aways.

Remember to... Follow up leads as quickly as possible after the exhibition.