ACUMEN BUSINESS CONVENTION 2016
This year saw a record attendance at the seventh ACUMEN BUSINESS CONVENTION held at The Grand, Brighton on 10th May.
That should come as no surprise considering the line up of prestigious Speakers, fascinating workshops, abundant networking opportunities with over 250 CEO’s not to mention the flash mob song for the sponsors, dancing zebras, prize for photo bingo (aka Phingo!) or selfie with a life size zebra!
“I’m going to have to make sure this is in my diary first and foremost, before holidays”
“If you want to get some sound business advice, if you want someone to inspire you to do better in your business, it’s more than worth coming just for that.” Kevin Byrne, Founder of Checkatrade
Guests were greeted by four dancers in full zebra outfits and spectacular face paintings. Already the crowd was buzzing! And as every year there was plenty of Acumen magic this year too!
The compere Ibrahim Mikhail, a Commercial Solicitor who heads our Gatwick Office as well as charismatically comperes our conventions, got interrupted by a flash mob! First singing a rendition of ‘Help!’ by the Beatles, personalised for all the Sponsors. Then continued to wow the crowd with more song and dancing zebras! Three delegates were randomly selected by a computer shuffling all the names to stand up and introduce themselves and their businesses for all to hear.
The world famous Linzi Boyd, Author of Brand Famous inspired the audience to give Celebrity Status to their business and aligning the brand of their people. Kevin Byrne, Founder of Checkatrade gave a sincere, emotional and inspiring talk on building a household brand from nothing and the importance of appreciating your team.
The founder of ACUMEN BUSINESS LAW, Penina Shepherd, also gave a powerful and inspiring talk on The Freedom of Revolution (the title of her new book) and how to relinquish your business shackles and shift your business to another dimension. Penina said, “it was so exciting for me to be able to announce my new book in front of so many esteemed business leaders. I felt it was just the right audience to discuss the topic too. There is a revolution happening in the business world and most of us haven’t even noticed, but those at the forefront of the revolution do extremely well. We are lucky in our area here in Sussex to really have ground-breaking and innovative business leaders who are part of the revolution and, as such, it resonated with so many people in the room. The convention and its guests every year are revolutionary, and the talks provided by all the speakers were all really aligned which was wonderful.”
Workshops covered topics such as Social Media, Intellectual Property, how to minimise the risks of business owners being betrayed from within, and leasing a business property. Delegates were able to interact and really get the most out of these invaluable sessions.
Following a short Acumen News Update it was time for the keynote Speaker, Lord Karan Bilimoria, Founder of Cobra Beer. He told the fascinating story of the Cobra brand, leadership, entrepreneurship, and UK/India relations, rounding off with a Q&A session.
Throughout the day delegates tweeted their photos, the lucky winner was Susan Bentley of Scaredy Cat Communications. She received an Amazon Fire complete with zebra case! The twitter feed was live on screen with #Acumen trending all day.
Finally the evening rounded off with the drinks reception giving all a chance to catch up on the days’ excitement and activities bringing the ACUMEN BUSINESS CONVENTION 2016 to a close. Roll on 2017!