Lessons learned from the learning zone
Karen, Richard, and Matt are professional relations: business partners who are also family members. This issue, Karen edits her son Matt interviewing his Dad Richard about what’s going on at the Craven Business Expo on 18 June.
Matt
What is this “Craven Business Expo” – is it related to the “Skipton Business Expo” we were involved with last year?
Richard
Exactly right! Liz (Brewster, from Craven Consulting), who organised last year's events in Skipton wanted to go bigger and better! So she moved the venue to the Coniston Hotel at Coniston Cold. This meant the name Skipton Business Expo didn't really work so she decided to use the name of the district, “Craven”.
Matt
So what kind of event is it? Help me imagine it since I couldn't make it to the last one!
Richard
It's a fairly standard business to business exhibition. Exhibitors display their brochures, samples & give-aways. They have an opportunity to engage delegates in conversation & explain their business offering.
Last year, there was a Learning Zone with a few presentations for delegates, but it wasn't very successful (mainly because there weren't many delegates). So instead, there's a room set aside for delegates to “meet the experts”.
Matt
It's a real shame the Learning Zone didn't take off. Sounds like it was a learning experience, though! 😉
How did we get involved in the Expos?
Richard
I met Liz through the breakfast networking group organised by your cousin, Sarah, and attended the first expo in Skipton as a delegate. When Liz came to organise the second one, I offered to help.
This year, it seemed natural to stay involved and, for the first time, we're exhibiting. Not being too involved in the overall organisation has allowed me to think about what we want to achieve from attending the Expo as an exhibitor.
Matt
And what is that? Who are you hoping to see at our table, and what can they expect?
Richard
We plan to demonstrate our animation skills as well as showing excerpts from some of our online learning courses – possibly our new Reasons series of lectures. And we may have our ebook available. We also want some material to advertise the entertainment part of the business.
We've got a couple of books, signed by the authors, that we'll use to attract people to sign up to our newsletter. One is Patrick Grant's book, Less and the other is Mike Berners-Lee's latest called A Climate of Truth.
We're hoping to attract people who may be interested in winning the books, who'll have to want our newsletter too. It would be good to get people who are interested in our animation services, our ebook and the Reasons course. We’d also like to increase the number of people listening to the podcasts.
Matt
You said you're keeping costs down, but how do you judge whether it's going to be worth it?
Richard
This is a good question. It’s really difficult to gauge the success or otherwise of any form of publicity or advertising or PR, but from the point of view of supporting other local businesses and being a part of the Craven business community I am pleased we're doing it.
Matt
Last question: why are events like Craven Business Expo important?
Richard
If the question is about why are events like this important to us, at Foggy Outline, I'd probably say not very. But this is because of the circumstances of our business and what we're doing.
The other reading of the question is why this type of event is important to the local business community. They provide a relatively inexpensive way for small businesses to showcase their products and services to other small businesses. They also provide an opportunity for people who work in small businesses to meet others in a similar situation.
Thanks for the questions, they made me think about our relationship with this type of event. You tend to just get swept up in the hype around an event and don't really think about your underlying motivation.
Matt
Thanks, and fingers crossed we make some great connections at the Expo (maybe even with some of the people reading this)!
There’s more to this interview. Buy us a cuppa on Ko-fi to support our work, and you can read the unabridged version.
♟ 30 May–1 June, NEC Birmingham: Matt’s going to UK Games Expo for the first time. If you’re there, you might get the chance to play Spindlewheel or Bibliocalypse with him (or The Hunted, but only if you’ve already got your ticket – that one’s sold out).
🏢 18 June, Coniston Hotel: Craven Business Expo, where local entrepreneurs, professionals and businesses come together for networking and exhibits. Get your ticket.
📖 The ebook edition of What do we mean by climate breakdown? is all finished and will be available from foggyoutline.com soon.
Matt was in an episode of Legend of the Bones as Brother Tatwine, a monk who might just be a bit timid or might be a full-blown incel… 😬
🎲 Merely Roleplayers is back from a brief break with Act 1 of Vigil: Shadowfall. As if rolling blackouts weren’t enough for Sherrydown to deal with, now someone’s kidnapping people’s shadows for presumably nefarious reasons…
🔬 Matt published No stone unturned, chapter 3 of Camera Obscura. What would tempt our conscientious research assistant to break study protocol?
Richard highlights David Hieatt:
David runs Hiut, makers of bespoke denim jeans, and is the co-founder of The Do Lectures, a small magical event that happens once a year in a cowshed in west Wales. He also writes inspiring courses, blogs, newsletters and Linked In posts that help small businesses thrive.
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