For our April meeting we once again took over the prestigious Oak Suite at the University of Surrey, with its excellent facilities and quality catering, for our latest SpeedNetwork100 event.

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We began the evening with informal networking over the buffet, catching up with the news, and extending the usual SBC warm welcome to all those non-members attending.

A new slant on speed networking
We moved on to the more formal networking session where we experimented with a change in the format from the conventional speed networking arrangement, where half the people in the room are all talking at once and competing to be heard. Whilst this is great fun, it does strain the vocal chords, and is really only sustainable in intensive half-hour bursts!

We opted instead for forming groups of eight in which each person only had to describe their business once to the whole group, rather than ten times in quick succession. This allowed a more in-depth exchange of information within the group, so that participants could ask questions about each other’s business in a general discussion forum. This proved to be a great success, with the session extending significantly beyond its planned time limit.

The China Syndrome…
We then re-assembled for the presentation from our main speaker, Brian J O’Connor. Brian is an international business speaker and consultant with a portfolio of major blue-chip clients. His main focus is upon the growing need for innovation in business, particularly in the face of the threat to the ‘old economy’ of the West posed by vastly increased competition from China and other Asian manufacturing economies.

Brian had a host of case studies and colourful anecdotes to illustrate his theories, together with practical suggestions for improving the performance of any business through an innovative and creative approach. This thought-provoking presentation kept the audience engrossed and led to some interesting questions, with the result that we again over-ran the time slot.

Back to the buffet!
A straw-poll of those present indicated that many felt ‘networked out’ by this stage and would prefer to finish off the buffet and chat informally rather than re-convene into structured groups.

The evening came to a close at 9pm as usual, and the Beverage Circle adjourned to the Jovial Sailor at Ripley for a nightcap and a civilised discussion of business, politics and a sprinkling of gossip!