An account of the MIA's "Raising the Bar" event by Velvet Software's Chris Gibbs
I set off from Swindon to battle through the storms and bad whether on Monday 10th March and defy the public transport system (wrong kind of wind for the level crossing apparently!) to attend the MIA's "Raising The Bar" Annual Conference at The Churchill, Hyatt Regency, London - and I was certainly rewarded for their efforts.
The conference was opened with the refreshing energy of the newly elected MIA Chair, Nick Milne and the morning’s speakers exceeded all expectations. We heard first from John Pearson, former CEO and Co Founder of Virgin Radio. He captured not just my attention but also the whole audience and gave us an insight into the "un-bottle-able" values that have made Virgin what it is today and how these may be applied to many businesses.
Liverpool, the capital of culture in 2008, was represented by Jacqueline Rogers and John Barry of the city's newest venue, the ACC. Jacqueline and John described how they built a team at the ACC and raised the bar within customer facing roles by putting in place a induction and training programme for everyone at the at the venue. Their hard work was rewarded when, prior to opening, ACC Liverpool was ranked 2nd in Meetings and Incentive Travel Magazine's survey of UK convention centres. I hope and expect that all eyes to be on ACC Liverpool this year to see if they can maintain these high standards and whether they continue to "raise the bar" once they are fully operational.
Paul Nisbett, Commercial Director, Malmaison explained how the little extras really do make the difference. By involving staff of all levels, adapting training to make clients' experiences memorable and enjoyable, whilst promoting internal team members, really does make a difference to the guest experience and helps to retain highly skilled, happy staff.
The focus of the morning’s speakers was on staff and how to develop a culture that pulls people to your organisation, making them proud of their roles and happy in their work. I thought this was particularly refreshing to hear as Velvet Software has worked hard to create the “pull factor” and have been successful in doing so, with voices heard across the company. Having worked in different organisations, I know how damaging the "push" factor can be and how easily a negative culture spreads. I sincerely hope that more organisations across the conference industry adopt the "pull" approach to their staff – people are worth the time and investment, they really can make or break a business.
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