Networking... But not as we Know it!

The launch of the Faringdon and Swindon Profit Club was an entertaining affair and promises to be inspirational in the coming months I am sure.

Admittedly I already knew I was joining, but Sally Rainbow-Ockwell did a fantastic sales pitch on all the benefits of Profit Club and would have tempted me and certainly seemed to tempt plenty of the assembled guests too.

The event was held at the Faringdon Enterprise Gateway - remarkably only 23 miles from Morgan PR's headquarters here in Hungerford, and much of that route across the Lambourn Downs and provided a good excuse to pop in and see my Mum!

The Profit Club will meet here on the first and third Tuesday lunchtime of each month and then the second and fourth Tuesday lunchtimes it will meet at the Basepoint Business Centre in Swindon. Once a month there is also a two hour coaching session on a Tuesday evening that builds on the coaching component of the Club's regular meetings. All this neatly dovetails with the quarterly 90 Day Planning Seminars that have so helped my approach to business.

It was a joy to meet so many like minded - and one or two not at all like minded - individuals, but perhaps the most inspirational was Maggie Gill, who works for the Prospect Hospice, and was there for the announcement that this Profit Club would be donating 5% of its proceeds to the hospice.

We had a good chat and I was thrilled to be able to offer so PR advice and services for free, in a gesture of support for the organisation and its remarkable work. First point of business will be a release promoting the generosity of Sally's Profit Club and targeting that at the Swindon and other Wiltshire media.

The Managing Director of Swindon-based TransXL International Ltd, Jon Napper was a friendly guy, there with a colleague, another John. Refreshing to see a clearly successful business entertaining the notion that there is still something to learn.

We were paired together for a warm up exercise: asked to stand adjacent to one another, but facing in opposite directions, we gripped hands as if to shake as instructed, but were then told we could win a point for each time we pulled the other persons hand against our own hip. Naturally most people launched into competitive mode; we opted for co-operative and stepping closer merely oscillated our gripped hands between our hips and scored highly indeed.

I also met Andrew Chapman, founder of www.surf4wine.com and someone who was recommended to me by Sally. Andrew has a comprehensive range of wines on offer at his website and also specialises in designing labels featuring a company logo and other associated merchandise from his premises in Drayton, Oxon. Certainly worth a visit if you were looking to thank anyone for exceptional PR this year! I'm revising my incentives in the New Year so will be speaking to Andrew more then.

As a Profit Club member I can bring along guests, so if any of my regular readers fancy finding out more, do let me know! Alternatively sign up to Sally's newsletter by clicking here.