Menter a Busnes Article

There’s nothing quite as daunting as walking into a room full of strangers! That was exactly my experience recently, when I participated in a Speed Networking* evening held at Bryn Morfudd, Llanrhaeadr, near Denbigh. I nearly left the building like a shot.  But, I took the bull by the horn, registered and began to feel the warm, welcoming atmosphere of the evening.  

Of course, once you begin to settle in and have a good nose around the room, you soon realise everyone’s in the same boat.  I also realised that there were quite a few familiar faces in the room.   But there was no time to waste, as Glyn Owens, the Compere for the evening, explained what was ahead of us.  

The Welsh Assembly Government’s “Local Supplier Development Project” was funding the event, arranged jointly by Menter a Busnes, Denbighshire County Council and Denbighshire Enterprise Agency.  The purpose of the event was to gain and promote new contacts from a wide variety of large and small businesses in Denbighshire.  It was, indeed, a fantastic opportunity to promote and market your business, and familiarise yourself with many businesses in the area.   

In the meantime, it was time to get to grips with the speed dating game.  Half the representatives were given the opportunity to test their flirting skills across a long table.  This was, indeed, the highlight of the evening, when each ‘couple’ opposite the table, did their best to promote their company to the other, against the clock.  When the time was up, one side of the table moved and offered you a new ‘partner’.  I soon realised if you had a good marketing person opposite, your time for promotion was sparse. 

The evening was a great opportunity to build new business contacts, in a relaxed informal environment.  Where else would you see an explosive expert (fireworks company!) representatives from an identification system company, a concrete company, a quality ready made food company, photographers, hairdressers and a Welsh goods company, all under the same roof'  It was definitely a brilliant feeling, being part of a new family – business people in the same boat as yourself, establishing, developing and building successful companies in the area. 

The biggest problem facing us as we left the event, was explaining to our husbands and wives, how successful we’d been at our dating game!

Ffion Clwyd Edwards 30 March 2006

*The communication and public relations company Momentwm (01352 704212) developed the “Noson Bachu Busnes” premise on behalf of Menter a Busnes.