Launch of new BMW and Stunning New Premises at Vines of Guildford

I went along with my friend Karen, to the Vines BMW showroom in Guildford on Friday night (7th September).

The event was about showing off, (what turned out to be) the stunning new premises and the launch of their latest model!

I went along because I love cars, particularly German ones, and again it is always a good opportunity to meet new people ...and as it turned out, I met quite a few!!

We spent the evening looking at the cars on display and talking to lots of people.

The BMW staff were all helping out on the night, and those I spoke with were very friendly and attentive serving drinks and canapes.

I got speaking to one of them, a lady called Cathy Hartley, and I was very impressed by what she had to say! She was talking about how everyone working there was really friendly and that some of the staff had been there for years - which is surely a testament to the management team at Vines!!

I can only speak from experience myself, but this seems to be something that the majority of companies would love to achieve!

I spoke with Mark Hollands (the Dealer Principle, and above in the photo with Karen), about what Cathy had said, and he reinforced the team spirit that existed. (Interestingly, he also had a major say in the way the new showroom was designed - clearly a man of taste too!)

I remember some years back someone told me a story about a CEO in charge of a large corporate and when asked who he looked after most - his shareholders or his clients, he replied 'Niether. I look after my staff. If I look after my staff they will look after my clients, and if my clients are looked after, they will make sure my shareholders are happy'. This has always stuck with me (I am afraid I cannot attribute this, as I didn't catch the name of the CEO), a philosophy Mark seems to believe too.

For the ultimate customer buying experience, and follow up customer care, I think the team at Vines in Guildford would be hard to beat!

After that Karen and I wandered around the show room, identified the car I would like at some point in the future (that's me and Karen sitting in it!)before hearing Mark announce the prize draw. As we became very quiet and waited for him to make the announcement - I was stunned to find out it was me!!! How fab was that?!

I won 2 days in Germany at the Nurburgring driving the thrilling new BMW M3 Coupe (much to the envy of a number of my friends)!!

I was still in a state of shock when I spoke with Sara Moule (who drives the car I am after)and Ashley Andrew (Regional Sales & Marketing Manager & National Sales Manager respectively), as they told me what to expect.!

A great evening methinks!!

Helping new author to launch his book!

We know a really lovely guy called Tom Evans who has written a book called 100 years of Ermintrude, one family, 3 lives, 99 stanzas.

It is a lovely book which is inspiring, moving and poignant....to find out more check out the website

We work with Tom on the Guildford Ecademy events, and he is truly an inspirational chap, and even more creative than me, in that he is constanly overflowing with ideas! He is currently helping other authors who have 'writers block' so that they can be creative once more. As we are writing a book, he is a very useful chap to know!

Anyway, we decided he needed to be signing his books, so here you can see us with Tom, as he signs copies for us, and for those people we decide to give it to as a gift.

If you would like a signed copy of this book, we have a handful that we can give away, just contact us on 01252 783524 or email us at enquire@relishpeople.co.uk - once they are gone they are gone!!

We are now looking forward to when our book is print...I feel a social event coming on!!

Kim

Speed Networking with Women in Business Group!

Wendy and I do a lot of networking - it is a great way to advertise our brand, and keep the name in the forefront of people's minds!

We went along to our first 'speed networking' event with the Women in Business Group at Dummer golf club and there were about 30 women in all.

As well as being able to meet lots of new people, we were also able to have a go at having one shot of a golf ball for a raffle prize. It was as much as we could do to hit the ball (I had forgotton how difficult it could be - my one experience in a driving range resulted in me hitting the ball backwards as the club swung back!! Everyone in the driving shed had to duck very quickly, as the ball rebounded back and forth around the shed!!)

It was a very upbeat and energising event - although it was difficult to hear what was being said all the time, due to the noise level, as you can imagine with that many people talking! We met some lovely people, and there were at least 2 or 3 people we will be following up with, as we hope there is a potential for future business!

Once the networking was over, we sat with a couple of other ladies and chatted about all sorts of non business topics, which caused us much laughter!

These events can sometimes seem quite daunting, and yet there is always something to be gained or learnt from them. Be prepared for these events to be a long term strategy, the aim is to make long lasting relationships and know that each person you meet knows at least 20 other people, who are the people you are really after.

Fun in the Sun!

I can't believe where the week has gone! Or how the weather keeps changing!

This time last week, Wendy and I were at a polo game, which was a first for us both.

We were invited by one of our friends, a lovely lady called Katherine Seal of Seal Events who was sponsoring the event. She also provided lovely food through her other company Limefooddesign.co.uk.

We met up with another of our good friend's Kelly Stevens of the thewomensnetworkingcompany.co.uk. and Wendy and I had no idea what to expect.

I was pleasantly surprised that the game was very entertaining, particularly when the horses came thundering past within feet of where we were sitting. The rules completely escaped me, however, one of the players told me that it was similar to the rules of the road, and involved hitting the ball down the line on the right...so that helped!

I was driving on the day, so I was not drinking, which meant Wendy could! Bless her by the end of the day, the sun had got to her, as she was feeling slightly wobbly and by the time she got home, distinctly unwell! AW alright, she had a little too much to drink! However, she is always good for a laugh,even when sober just more so, when a little inebriated!! As you can see from these pictures, we all had a fantastic time! Although whether Wendys' head realised that once she got home......

If you ever need catering for a corporate or social event or want to organise a corporate event, then Katherine is the person to contact.

And if you are in business for yourself and want a great networking group - check out the womensnetworkingcompany, as Kelly keeps the meetings lively by inviting interesting guest speakers!

As regards the polo day - I think it is well worth going along and just giving it a go! I had made it part of my personal goals to attend all the social events in the summer, and this is just another tick in the box!!

Bank Holiday Weekend in the sun!

Hello again!

I regularly update my blog with some of the things that Wendy and I get up to and this weekend we have had a fabulous time!

Wendy, for those of you who do not know, is a Reiki Master, and one of the groups she belongs to decided that they would have a stall at the Thai Festival Weekend, which was being held in the Secretts Garden centre in Milford, Surrey, and was organised by The Mudita Trust Charity, raising finance to help educate girls from some of the poorest areas. It also coincided with the 80th birthday of King Bhumibol, the King of Thailand, so yellow was a bit of a theme!

I have to be honest, on the first day, when we arrived, neither Wendy or I held out much hope of it being very busy - and how wrong we were!! It was packed solid all weekend! Apparently they expected over 50,000 visitors - that's how wrong!

Everyone was in really good spirits and very friendly. There were numerous stalls, a very large number selling Thai food (which just made our mouths water, although niether of us indulged, as result of a bit of a health drive at the moment!). There was a stage, where different Thai dancing, martial arts etc were performed and I have to say the costumes were dazzling!

The stand we were on, was organised by Jill Roberton and Diane Betts, who gathered together a group of therapists offering neck and shoulder massage, reiki, infinite balance and hand reflexogy.

We both worked on the Saturday morning and the Monday afternoon, and it was only when we got home we realised how tired we were - and some of the girls (and lad!) had been there the whole weekend, they must have been exhausted! It is not so much that we were physically running around, but for anyone who has been on an exhibition stand - constantly talking and smiling with strangers,takes it out of you.

Still, Wendy and I know that things like this are a great way to network and get your business known to even more people, and as we were allowed to put out our brochures, it made it even more worthwhile. I know Wendy managed to hand her business card out to at least 2 people!

Well worth helping out and a great time was had by all!! And I would highly recommend watching out for the next one!

Netwalking - The highs and lows!

Last week Wendy and I went on a country walk in Guildford with a crowd of people.

Wendy and I are members of an online community called Ecademy, and one of the groups led by Tom Evans and Jenny Littlejohn, run a networking meeting with a difference!! A Netwalk!

The idea is that you walk and talk and build relationships whilst you do so. It is a great way to get out and about, exercise, meet new people and old friends.

We met in a country pub near Shere, and walked through the Surrey Hills for about an hour and a half and although is was raining, everyone had a great time!

As I had just returned from holiday, Wendy and I managed to talk the whole time (no change there then!) and to catch up on everything that had been going on.

Unfortunately, I did not take in too much of the scenery as I was too busy watching my feet to make sure that I did not fall over (one broken foot is enough for anyone!) which was a bit of a shame as the Surrey Hills are beautiful.

By the time we got back to the pub, we were soaked through. Most of us had hair stuck to our heads, very muddy boots and trousers soaked up past our knee caps, however, Wendy seemed to come off worse.

Her trousers were ruined, they were not only very wet, but they were also ripped, as she had caught them on a branch on the way round, so when it came to going home, she decided that she would take them off and drive home in her underwear!

We joked briefly about what she would do if she was stopped on the way home and she said it was unlikely.....However, about 5 minutes into the journey, I get a call from Wendy. "You'll never guess what?" she said. "what" I replied. "My petrol light has come on and I might have to stop to fill up!" It was so funny, I could barely see where I was driving for the tears of laughter!!

Anyway, I followed her back as far as Farnham, after which she assured me she would make it home - thank goodness!

The moral of the tale? Make sure when you are going on a walk, dress appropriately and make sure you have a spare set of clothes in the car!!

Kids with Confidence & Motivation!

Wendy and I were really fortunate to be asked to run a workshop on Confidence and Motivation for youngsters between the ages of 12 and 16, recently - and boy did we learn lots!

Hart Development Centre are running a pilot project called "The Get With it Project" which has been set up to get youngsters off the street and to do something interesting over the summer holidays. In particular, it is aimed at combating antisocial behaviour in a positive way by providing activities such as sports tournaments, ceramic painting, health and beauty and team building games.

We had already run one workshop last year for a group of people who had been long term unemployed and obviously, we have kept in touch, as it is a great way to do something worthwhile with the skills and talents that we have, so when Wendy and Cheryl discussed this, it seemed like a great idea!

And it was! I was a little concerned over the age range (12 year old boys and 16 year old girls - big difference in what would keep them interested, as we found out!), however, we managed to choose some great exercises that meant that everybody in the room could get something from - we did a creative exercise, a physical one, one that tested the "little grey cells" and one where everyone had an opportunity to participate - a panel of "experts" taken from the group who were there to answer questions, and let me say now that some of the questions were very though provoking - such as why adults demand respect, and don't always show it?

The feedback we got was tremendous, in that Cheryl said that she was impressed how they all became engaged and how they concentrated for so long.

So what did we learn from that day - as they were as much our 'teachers' as we were theirs? Well that treating these young people like adults, tends to encourage them to behave like one. That they were still very open to puzzles like the 9 dot exercise and solved it much faster than some adults, who naturally over time become more fixed in their way of looking at the world. That anyone with the responsibility of keeping 30+ youngsters entertained needs a medal - it was exhausting!

Fab!