Putting on a show

Whilst most weekends are for life beyond the office, one or two through the year do mean a bit of work. I’m fine with that though, because weekend work is usually only the good kind.

Early on Sunday morning I headed off to the home of the MK Dons to set up for our annual Avon conference. Ordinarily, I’d grumble at a 05:30 Sunday alarm, but there’s something about seeing a conference set being built from scratch that I find fascinating and inspiring. And whilst they’re long working days, it’s hard to moan at getting to stay in a 4* for a couple of nights.

I found myself in the Doubletree Hilton, which is built into the sides of the actual sport stadium. Whilst this is a pretty spectacular setting, what it does mean is that some bedrooms are seriously far away from the heart of things. The delightful room that I got to stay in was a good 10 mins walk from reception – so if you do get the chance to stay here, make sure you take trainers for the walk! On the plus side, once you’re in your room, there’s some very nice Crabtree & Evelyn product to enjoy.

When you work in a room with no daylight for a full day on a Sunday it’s hard to know where the weekend ends and the week starts. That’s the excuse that I’m giving to mention two things that happened on Monday, show day itself.

Holly Tucker, MBE, founder of Notonthehighstreet.com and Holly & Co was the conference guest speaker. I’m lucky enough to have seen a few good speakers in my time and given that, it does takes a lot for me to be really captivated. But, the girl power vibes coming from Holly were spot on for the people in the room. If you need a business pick-me-up, I urge you to listen to some of her stuff – she’s an all-round burst of colour and shot of happy energy!

(As an aside, the absolute best speaker I’ve heard in recent times is digital anthropologist, Rahaf Harfoush @foushy – look her up!).

The other highlight was pure joy. The Indie Killers. The band who played for the evening. This event was the first time this group of people had come back together post covid. So three years of pent up energy meant that the dance floor exploded when these guys started up. A playlist full of high-energy rock, indie and pop music covers was perfect. So if you’ve got any kind of party coming up, my advice is book them. Today.

Putting on a show like Monday’s takes a team of pros. And so shout outs go everyone who rolled their sleeves up and got stuck in! They made weekend working a total pleasure.