The Main Event – We Threw Out A May Day And You Responded
Now that we’re two months on from our first in-person event since a certain Pandemic, we’ve all been reflecting on the event itself, the speakers and most importantly, on our audience. We know you all work in a sector which has a very busy Events Calendar and we never take it for granted when you come to ours.
Paul has been Bulletproof’s conscience and Mike its heart and soul since day one, and our mission remains to bring you content, events and genuine insight that justify you taking time away from working in your business to think about what you may need to be doing when working on it.
So, if we’re all going to have a Stand-Up Meeting to help us create next year’s conference with your needs in mind (details coming very soon), what’s on the agenda?
In terms of what went wrong, there’s the fact that we can’t share some of the audio from the event with you as a result of a technical issue. New venues tend to create new challenges, but they certainly wouldn’t stop us working with HOME again – we loved doing so, and I personally won’t ever argue against trying to get our community together in a cinema.
Which brings me to the whole point of this article – what went right?
I’d like to start out by talking about our host. I’ve known Nicky Unsworth for years, and I suspect many of you have as well. She was and is an agency trailblazer, and when we were looking for someone with credibility and experience to guide you through our event she was at the top of our list. It was the first time she’s hosted, but hopefully far from the last – she added her own context to each session and if you’re looking for a Non-Exec who can really make a difference to your business then she should be at the top of yours.
Paul, Mike, Gemma and I were, as expected, warmup acts for our headline speakers, but although we can’t and won’t say that we stole the show it’s no small achievement to deliver an engaging and insightful session on how to make commercial insurance work for agencies or on how to achieve financial confidence. I’m not going to get into the legal content I delivered, save to say that following my co-founders is no easy task.
And now, for the main event(s)
Sarah McKenna was a tireless cheerleader for us in the run-up to the event, and her presentation blew as many minds as we expected if not a few more. Sharing her three proven steps to stability and profit based upon years of public and private sector experience with humour and insight, she left behind a blueprint for hiring, firing and doing your best work along with a frankly disturbing photoshop of Mike and I as Gladiators. No, the BBS hasn’t come knocking just yet and I hear Nitro and Apollo’s jobs remain pretty safe.
Marianne Page has a particularly unique perspective and story to tell through her time as a senior manager at McDonalds, but her presentation went way beyond expectations to demonstrate why trust and loyalty from both your teams and your clients is built on the foundation of consistency and operational excellence. If you don’t own a copy of her book “Simple, Logical, Repeatable”, then it belongs with anything you’ve read by Daniel Priestley.
Finally, we heard from James Ashford. In conversation with Paul, he gave us a raw and honest recounting of what happened when he sold GoProposal, how he stayed sane during the process and found inspiration all over again the day after. We very often ask our community why they’re looking to sell and what they want afterwards for themselves and their family, and James took us through every step of the story and every single high and low. We’re hoping he’ll share the next chapter with us as often as he can.
You can watch James and Paul in Conversation below: