What were you doing this time last week? Were you on ‘the list’? If you know, you know.
Oh go on, we’ll let you into a secret – we organised one of the best events for quite some time, according to our guests, of course.
It was the Regional Winner’s event for the Heating Installer Awards. The campaign is in its eleventh year, meaning that each year we have a choice: roll out the same event as we know guests enjoy it, or add a little twist. Of course, we always opt for a little twist, which some years can turn into a full cartwheel to be honest.
This year we once again travelled over t’Pennines to Stelrad, which is based near Sheffield. The Stelrad team is known for its hospitality and delivered once again. We bounced from a few hours of industry updates, training and knowledge sharing into a full factory tour where we watched radiators being made from scratch – here on our own British soil! Stelrad is celebrating 90 years in business this year and you can see why. Oh and a quick plug…Stelrad is searching for photos of its radiators from yesteryear, so if you’ve any up your sleeve, now is the time to do a big reveal please.
The nature of life as a plumber or heating installer means that weeks can go by working on site on your own, with the only company being a homeowner. This simply means that when the trades get together, they really do get together!
So after a full-on day, thirty of us including this year’s amazing Regional Heating Installer Winners, key influential installers on the awards’ Board of Trustees, sponsors and awards partners had a quick check-in to the local 5* Travelodge, before getting to know the hotel bar, then another bar, then a restaurant with a bar, then…you get the gist!
In the early hours the ideas were still flowing and rumour has it the banter could be heard on the second floor. With a few bleary eyes on show the next day, we all ventured back to our home towns. A 24-hour event to remember (by some anyway), with useful learnings from the day sessions and very useful evening networking.
So, our takeaways:
- Around half of the guests have been to this event for a few years now – and half were new. Get them mixing from the moment they walk in
- Acknowledge and celebrate those in the room – all the winners, past winners and Board of Trustees have more than earned their place in the room
- Provide content geared around this exact audience – know which brands heating installers like, and which they don’t! Provide updates in their language (technical!) that are relevant and useful to them (unless the title of the new legislation goes over more than three lines, in which case expect the eye rolls this got!)
- Film, film and film some more. You can never have enough content and you never know what may come in useful, and when. Capture everything, edit later
- Make sure your events team fits the personality of those in the room too. There are many different types events, some more corporate than others. In this case, send the personalities that can handle a Travelodge bar and four different clients at 1am and you have a match made in heaven!
Want to become the best Heating Installer in your region? Enter the awards to be in the mix. Plumbers please go here.
Oh, you’re here because you’d like us to organise an event for you? Of course, just click here and we’ll get right back to you.