So, it's day three at RWM – and as Lee has just gone off for a meeting with a CIWM rep I had better remember that the show's full name is RWM in Partnership with CIWM! CIWM's 'clinic' here is a great big affair with reps from all the regions ready to answer any CIWM questions you might dream up. So, if you are headed this way it is a must-visit stand – located between the two halls, 4&5.
Lee and I have recovered our voices from yesterday, traditionally the busiest day of the three-day event, this year was no exception.
We come to RWM as a media partner every year. So, perhaps it's time to take a cool look at the benefits to LARAC of that arrangement. What does being an exhibitor do for us? What tangible benefits are there to LARAC by Lee and I being here?
Well, the first result this year is that, by the time the next Loop comes out we will be welcoming back into the LARAC family a council we were very sad to lose a few years ago, but who after a good conversation on the stand, have decided to rejoin. The next Loop will reveal who they are! Similarly, very soon we hope to welcome new partners who we've met here and talked with, not just this year but over a few years. Sometimes, it takes a while for these things to come to fruition, but events like these enable you to engage over a few days (and yes, even years) and really think about how organisations might complement each other. So, this year, we hope to have made a few of those conversations count, in terms of partners, and members I also feel we've started relationships with organisations new to us, and with whom we might be able to work in the future.
A little break there to attend a very interesting talk on behaviour change in northern Cyprus! Why? You might ask! Because, you never know what might come of it, or how we might be able to use some thinking from out of left-field ourselves. These big events do us good, you can't help but come across different ideas and ways of thinking. You just have to come determined to be receptive and in the frame of mind to re-interpret it with regards to your own day-job – the LARAC Office included!
To my left ideas are being bandied about re future LARAC development, and yesterday I had a fascinating conversation about developing useful website databases on the LARAC website, I also found out about free resources which I had never heard of before. I'll be testing them out and passing them on to members if they are any good. So the learning continues – and will carry on in October at our own national conference. I hope to welcome you there!
