THE IMPORTANCE OF COLLABORATION - NICOLA | Blog

At Lime Blue we have seen a huge increase in enquiries following the pent up demand for live meetings and social gatherings but they are often with very tight turnaround times and requiring at least one or two back up plans!  This is understandable after a year where the rules change on an almost daily basis as it has been really hard to plan longer term with real certainty, so short lead enquiries are inevitable. 

By talking to our clients and finding out about their own internal deadlines and expectations and what a plan B could look like, whilst explaining that we are no longer in the same landscape as we were prior to the pandemic, has been helpful.  There is now an understanding of how stretched hotel and venue event offices are and the time it takes for us to cost out various scenarios and do detailed proposals. Because of this we now send an initial summary of suitable venue or virtual offerings for our clients to feedback on in order to save our own resources and those of the beleaguered venues.

I am delighted to say there is also a real sense of collaboration within the team at Lime Blue Solutions – a desire to help each other out, come up with ideas and share knowledge to get things turned around faster and in a more productive way. Service is still our number one priority. 

Of course collaboration with our suppliers  has always been paramount but we are finding even stronger bonds with those that we have known for a long time and who have been really proactive during the pandemic.  A steady stream of new technology, new ideas, new activities (both virtual and in person) and gift ideas has enabled us to keep things fresh for our clients. 

This year has also seen the continued collaboration amongst “competitor” agencies both large and small.  The event agency community are such a friendly bunch - I guess unsurprising as the very nature of those associated with hospitality is to want to help others and to enjoy working with people. The team at Micebook have been phenomenal in advancing the achievements of last year as they continued ‘19’ – an agency forum set up to “connect, develop and influence at executive level” as they hosted the first real live “Retreat” at the Birch back in June.  It was such as great event, reconnecting with other agencies for some great content workshops, networking with suppliers but most of all being able to socialise and have those natural conversations which take place with a glass of wine in hand at the bar. I found some of the advice offered by my industry peers to be incredibly useful and I am looking forward to the next one in Belfast. We also continue to be members of the AIEA, the Alliance of Independent Event Agencies, which was set up to network, share knowledge, experiences and resources for independent and privately owned agencies.  Kerry, Paula, Chris and the rest of the board have been really helpful to members over the pandemic – always there for anyone that wants to discuss any issues or just to have a virtual coffee and a chat!.  There are of course many other great organisations out there for the events industry -  SITE,  MIA, HBAA recently rebranded to BEAM and many more. Whilst there isn’t enough time in the day for us to be part of them all - they all have something in common, collaboration. By working together we will see the  continued success of this industry and those that work within it who really go all out for their clients to have the best experiences possible. 

A collaborative approach leads to better communication, more innovation and improved processes so let’s continue to help each other out.