MEETING REPORT

Our SBC February 2007 Meeting.
(Click photo for slideshow)

Our February meeting was held at the very smart Atrium Business Centre in Dorking. Tucked away in the corner of a light industrial estate, it’s perhaps not be the easiest place to find (especially if you don’t use a sat-nav!) but when you get there, it’s well worth the effort!

Internet advertising – does it work?

The structured networking session was chaired by Richard Jones in the absence of Paul Cawthorne, who was on a golfing break (no surprises there then!) The discussion centred around internet advertising and directories, in keeping with our main topic for the evening, the SBC website – www.surreybiz.net . Members are already aware that we have one of the top independent business club websites in the UK, which is all the more remarkable given that SBC is a non-profit organisation.

Probably the best business club site in the UK!

After a substantial buffet, Deryck Svensson of Webskills UK, the Club Webmaster, took the floor to conduct a swift guided tour of the site – live online, using the Atrium’s wireless broadband network. He explained how the primary purpose of our site is to inform visitors about the Club and our activities, and encourage them to come along and sample a meeting as our guest, free of charge. The website works well in this respect, and is how most of our guests first discover SBC. As a result the site is also our main source of new members.

The search engines love us

Deryck went on to reveal our plans to adjust the emphasis of the site, making it a more useful tool to attract new business for our members. We already enjoy considerable visitor traffic and high visibility in the search engines – as Deryck demonstrated using the Atrium as an example. After it had been mentioned on our site for just a couple of weeks, a Google search for ‘Atrium Dorking’ brought up surreybiz.net as fourth in the organic results list on page one, beating its entry on Business Link and numerous other business related sites.

Use your free entry on our directory to win new business…

Our plan now is to help Members take advantage of the high profile of www.surreybiz.net by making sure their entry on our online Member Directory is as comprehensive as possible, to help convert visitors into new customers. The second half of the evening was a Workshop session led by web copywriter and online directory owner Keith Grover, of freelancecopy.co.uk, during which we worked in small groups to put together the basic content for our directory entries. Members present at the meeting will therefore be the first to benefit from the new free facility.

Free professional business portraits for lucky attendees

The Club’s photographer, Peter Searight of The Remarkable Studio, set up a mini-studio in a side room, and very generously shot some professional portraits of Members for them to use on the site. We’re hoping Peter may be persuaded to offer this service at future meetings for a very special ‘Members Only’ fee.

Free beer!

Yes, really! Our March meeting will be at the luxurious and very chic Hand and Spear pub-restaurant in Weybridge, re-launched at the end of January after a £1.3m refurbishment by new owners Young’s Brewery. The beer won’t be free on the night - but Keith did recommend the venue’s Meet the Brewer evening on 19 February, where the Young’s Head Brewer will be giving a talk with free samples and free hot food.

Meet the Brewer

Come along on Monday 19th of February. Starting at 7.30pm, Ken Don and Ian Swanson from Young's & Co will be taking you on a journey through the art of producing award winning Real Ales with lots of samples available to taste!

We'll be rounding off the evening with a hot snack to accompany your samples!

We look forward to seeing you there.

After the meeting, the SBC Beverage Circle adjourned to the Kings Arms in Dorking to round off another excellent evening.

View Slideshow now.