Was it any good ?

K

keeniemeenieman

Longterm Registered User
CPW Networking meeting on the 22nd Nov 2013.

This happened last friday ?did anybody go ? any comments ?
Strange that no one has commented on this event ,i would have thought that the odd training provider would have mentioned it or at least some one who attended?
 
I think a few of us are still recovering :D

I would be interested to hear some feedback too, good or bad.
As this helps us look at what needs improving for the next one.
 
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Good event. Saw some old friends, met lots of new contacts, put some faces to usernames. Mostly involved drinking Guinness and taking the piss out of each other, but that's what networking is all about.

The raffle prizes were excellent, generous donations by all, and for a very good cause.

MW
 
Was it any good? - Yes

keeniemeenieman said:
CPW Networking meeting on the 22nd Nov 2013.

This happened last friday ?did anybody go ? any comments ?
Strange that no one has commented on this event ,i would have thought that the odd training provider would have mentioned it or at least some one who attended?
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This was the first one of these I've attended and I found it quite interesting. Picked up some useful information from the various exhibitors which I will be following up on. I wasn't able to stay into the evening sadly. It was quite difficult I found to get chatting with people - my observation was that a lot of people there already knew each other and were chatting in 'closed' groups which made it difficult to intrude to introduce yourself.
 
so ... how many people came to the event?
are there any group pix ... or was this a complete No-No?
any surprises matching up people with online identities? wanna be gutsy and tell us?? Hahaha!

KL
 
OK, I'm biased. I was there, wearing several hats.

1) As a mod, it was great bumping into old friends, making new ones, putting faces to names, and hopefully encouraging some newbies. I canvassed a good few of the exhibitors as to their opinions, and feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Similarly from delegates. For the newbies finding their way in new and scarey world, I hope we / YOU, shared advice and expertise, and I was certainly thanked profusely. For the old hands, it's the best networking opportunity you'll ever get.

2) Guest Speaker. Dunno, you tell me ! I love doing these things, but too short to cover the subject in any depth. Hopefully I encouraged a few people to experiment with kit, demystifying hardware.

3) 'Master of Ceremonies'. Probably a disaster, and my apologies to the other guest speakers whose intro's i managed to cock up, or totally miss, 'cos I was too busy talking and lost track of time.

4) As an exhibitor. Excellent. Next time, I'll have more toys. :)

Overall, an excellent show, and all due credit to admin for making such an impressive effort. I attend as either visitor or exhibitor, many mainstream exhibitions / conferences every year, organised by specialist event management companies, all of which cost vastly more. And I've never had as much fun at any of 'em.

One way or another. I started talking to people at 8am...and didn't quit until gone 3am. Voice was shot, and Guinness / Brandy intake, ensured that my bloodstream has sufficient alcohol content to never freeze for the rest of the winter.

V :)
 
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KingLeonidas said:
so ... how many people came to the event?
are there any group pix ... or was this a complete No-No?
any surprises matching up people with online identities? wanna be gutsy and tell us?? Hahaha!

KL
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There were over 300 people, not including exhibitors.
I met lots of people, but mostly just to give them a name badge.
I think its always going to be a little hard at events like these to introduce yourself to groups of people, but I think you just need to be a bit pushy. It may look like people are talking in groups of people they already know, but often they have just met, or only know some of the group. It was a networking event so people shouldn't feel like they are intruding, that is the purpose of the event. It was posted on here that me and Stoney were going to be in Wetherspoons the evening before, so people could have come and met us then, but no-one did :(
 
I think you get out what you put in. If you keep yourself to yourself you'll get minimal out. If you put yourself outside of your comfort zone, walking up and introducing yourself to people............. then that's actual networking!

Master of ceremonies was a legend of course!!
 
Sounds like it was a stonking day (and night). A real shame that transport off my little rock prevented me from getting there, make the next one in Summer so I can swim!
 
Would like to say, it was the first one that I have managed to get to and it pretty much ticked all the boxes for me. I met lots of new folk, made some amazing contacts, AND won a nice little prize (courtesy of Visioneer) for my trouble! I thought the speakers were well chosen, relevant and that perhaps for next year, get some past recruiters to back up the points Tom Richmond made in terms of gaining employment and developing your career. Perhaps include a piece one female operators also? Lastly, the one constructive point I would make is that the SIA know full well that they are going to get pinned to the wall with the new changes that are coming in, and they seemed underwhelmingly unprepared to deal with what they faced.....kudos to Lynn from Elle Security for letting that guy have it right between the eyes. The questions relating to how the SIA propose to deal with some operators were not very well fielded in my view. Anyhoo, just a few thoughts. Thanks again, CPW thought the day was excellent.
 
I thoroughly enjoyed the day. Will definately be attending the next one and was so chuffed to have won a MSO course on the raffle. I went along on my own and was pretty much on my own the whole day, but that is due to several reasons.
1. I attended all the talks apart from one. The one that I didnt attend, I went across the road and had lunch.
2. As someone has pointed out, it seems that small groups of people seemed to all know each other, so I didnt want to just burst in and say "hi"
3. I am a newbie in the security industry so at the moment I am fine to sit back, observe and learn

As previously mentioned, I shall be back at next years show

Regards
 
The Security Advisor said:
I think you get out what you put in. If you keep yourself to yourself you'll get minimal out. If you put yourself outside of your comfort zone, walking up and introducing yourself to people............. then that's actual networking!

Master of ceremonies was a legend of course!!
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I think you mean 'bell end' as opposed to 'leg end' !

Strangely, it's actually getting the nerve to make that initial contact with others at these gigs that's the hard part, and for some it's incredibly difficult. Get over it ! Communication skills should be a major part of your skill set !

Similarly, if your an exhibitor, get someone on the stand that LIKES talking to people !

V :-)
 
Visioneer said:
I think you mean 'bell end' as opposed to 'leg end' !

Strangely, it's actually getting the nerve to make that initial contact with others at these gigs that's the hard part, and for some it's incredibly difficult. Get over it ! Communication skills should be a major part of your skill set !

Similarly, if your an exhibitor, get someone on the stand that LIKES talking to people !

V :-)
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I would thought if someone had to "get the nerve" to speak to a person they didn't know, then they are in the wrong line of work for sure and possibly have issues :)

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk
 
We had a superb day at the event. It was the first time we have attended as a Company (I've been as an individual before), although we did not exhibit, we did donate a raffle prize. We used the day and event to pre-arrange some London networking meetings and an interview, as well as attend some of the talks. A great excuse to catch up formally or informally with contacts and colleagues.

For us it was a great day and only marred by having to get the train back early evening. All things considered we will hope to exhibit next year and are more than happy to volunteer a speaker for one of the slots - in fact we'd love to have a speaker slot.

A superb effort by Mally and CM in organising, to Vis for all his effort and all the other members who volunteered and assisted in making the day; as well as the events team at the VSC. Thanks.
 
SCT said:
I would thought if someone had to "get the nerve" to speak to a person they didn't know, then they are in the wrong line of work for sure and possibly have issues :)

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk
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You'd be surprised. I recently attended a mini 'Defence Contractors' show in Paris, at the British Ambassor's Residence, with the MD of one of the companies I'm working with. He spent the whole show scowling at the floor, pointedly NOT talking to any delegates, 'cos he didn't trust the barstids'.

At his insistence, I left him to deal with any prospective end-users, (bad idea) and concentrated on the B2B potential with the other exhibitors. I gave him a sh!tload of worthwhile B2B enquiries, which needed HIS input to make work, and he couldn't be arsed.

He's now an ex client, despite his gucci toybox.

V
 
Visioneer said:
You'd be surprised. I recently attended a mini 'Defence Contractors' show in Paris, at the British Ambassor's Residence, with the MD of one of the companies I'm working with. He spent the whole show scowling at the floor, pointedly NOT talking to any delegates, 'cos he didn't trust the barstids'.

At his insistence, I left him to deal with any prospective end-users, (bad idea) and concentrated on the B2B potential with the other exhibitors. I gave him a sh!tload of worthwhile B2B enquiries, which needed HIS input to make work, and he couldn't be arsed.

He's now an ex client, despite his gucci toybox.

V
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Actually, it doesn't surprise me at all. Been there, got a few tshirts. :) The difference in perception of how some people see themselves and how they really are never fails to amuse me .
 
We attended , a bit delayed with cows on the track !!. After a short stroll from paddington, we arrived to a well organised front door & quickly badged up.
As we entered the main area I took a moment to purchase a strip of draw tickets and then onto the exhibitors! for a first time visit it was all very interesting!I am going to have a hard job deciding who to take my training with as they all made good pitches.
Well done CPW an enjoyable day out,made even better by a phone call to say I had won a raffle prize - thank you Horizon security solutions Will be seeing you in the new year.
 
Thanks to all that attended! and all the great feedback so far received.
A hard six or so months chained to the desk to get things prepared, looks like all the hard work paid off :) Was my first time assisting in running a conference at this level and being one to always improve. If there is any constructive critisim or suggestions and you would like to pass it on to give to the team annonymously or not, on any improvements or what you would like to see more of please let me know.

I didnt get much of a chance to spend much time away from the front desk but what I seen looked good.
Big thanks to all the exhibitors and attendees that made the day what it was.

Thanks
Christina
Secure Assistance
(Working on behalf of CPW as PA to John & Mally)
 
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