Special Blog: HR Directors meeting

I’m glad I am doing only 2 stands this year (both happen to be in Birmingham!). In the past I have wasted time, money and effort on promotional stands. Often it is best that you do it yourself or not at all. In the past, ‘helpers’ have used half the time to promote themselves or not been very helpful. Another lesson I have learned is ‘’don’t take trunk-loads of promotional material, only to return with (you guessed it!) trunk-loads of promotional material! The recession helped here in that I could not justify huge print costs and had to think innovatively. So I decided to offer simple health screens (height, weight, body mass index, blood pressure) and to collect cards by the offer of a Free Health Screen. I also took information on our New Vision for Health and HR. I also needed a ‘stand-bribe’ and whereas most people would use chocolate to attract the crowds I decided on something healthier (tasty sticks of liquorice – total cost under £20!).

The recession also meant I booked late and cheap and found a fantastic capsule hotel. The price was half that of the other hotels, it was really cosy and I had one of the best hotel sleeps I have ever had (www.Nitenite.com)

Pre-preparation

Ideally for these exhibitions one should spend time setting up appointments but I was genuinely too busy to do so. I was glad with my plan to keep the information and the stand simple.

Getting there

I was taking up 2 banners, 2 chairs, a table and various other bits and so car was the only solution. I hired my good friend MJ to take me up and bring me back the next day. We had a 5 am start and a healthy Fast-Food-Chain breakfast (more of that later)!


On Day One

On arrival I was stunned by the unhelpfulness of the event organisers. When I finally found my stand, I realised that a cat would have had difficulty standing let alone swinging! Fortunately 2 others did not turn up and so I had enough space for my table, chairs and one banner. Once set up I gradually realised that my location was like Siberia (no-one was heading our way) and so with entrepreneurial chutzpah I visited other stands and got the lie of the land. I was advised to go to some talks since then I would also meet a few more of the delegates.

‘MagicWhiteBoard’ came to the rescue in that the venue did not allow blue tack in its walls – no problem put up white board first and then blue tack on that – brilliant!


The day ended with some drinks followed by more drinks with a wine-tasting. I met the delightful HR manager of Loch Ffyne restaurants and was privileged to hear everyone gush as they say who he was – ‘I got engaged at an LF’, ‘I had my most romantic meal at an LF’ ‘My taste buds are still recovering from an LF’ etc . I turned to him and said ‘My Goodness you would never get this reaction from people if you were the HR Manager for a Fast-Food-Chain!’ There was a tap on my shoulder ‘ Charlie, let me introduce you to Mr XY, the HR Manager for a Fast-Food-Chain!’ What can you say?

On Day Two

I attended two talks. One, about managing HR in the Met police. One, about strategic HR. I missed the ‘Carrot Principle’ but saw how delighted the crowd where with the speaker (Chester Elton) and got the book (an excellent read with some fantastic suggestions). It was clear from a LOT of delegates that they were unhappy with their occupational health or general health providers and from this I derive a new and simple aim ’To be the best medical services provider in the World!’

Follow up

The best value from the whole thing for me was meeting other suppliers who can enhance our offering. Some of these were in areas of:
Counselling and Employee Assistance Programmes
Sickness Absence Management and a 24/7 365 nurse call centre
OH providers across the UK

Hopefully Number One Health will also get new clients and we have spread our message!


March is the next and final show for the year.