PA Show 2020
The Contemporary PA team took some time away from our home offices recently to attend the PA Show at the Excel in London. With a focus on personal development, the PA Show offers executive support professionals access to CPD accredited training and professional talks and discussions from leading lights in the field. The two-day show takes place annually as part of the International Confex.
We kicked off the day listening to a panel give useful advice on using social media and LinkedIn for business. We decided to attend different seminars and swap notes on the topics discussed.
Gemma went to a talk by Mark Wright, winner of The Apprentice 2014 on digital marketing and how to get it right, using simple but effective strategies he himself uses in his business Climb Online.
He not only offered hints and tips but suggested tools and platforms to use to make things a little simpler.
His biggest emphasis was on video content for social media and how simple it can be to create them at 1-2 minutes in length, providing value to your clients. His suggestion was to use the website Answer the Public for content ideas to create your videos around.
The stylist Kerrie Ellis inspired us to condense our wardrobes by creating a capsule wardrobe of 27 pieces to create a multitude of outfits. She highlighted the importance of giving a good first impression by wearing outfits and colours which complement you and your body shape well. We each had a colour analysis and I learnt that my colours are Warm & Bright, such as orange and light green which is great news as I love wearing colour!
I picked up lots of useful tips from the panel at my seminar on how to attract and retain clients. The key points were that you should think outside the box when it comes to following up and sealing the deal; use snail mail to avoid being ignored due to inbox overwhelm or video apps to capture attention. The panel suggested that rather than focusing on a niche, it’s more important to recognise your skillset and interests and know your value. They advised that a niche shouldn’t be more than 50% of your income, therefore perhaps have several so you’re open to different areas of work (which would make it more varied and interesting for you too!) Always focus on what you love to do!
Rachel attended an awesome session with Jenna Davies from the IAM HUB. Jenna helps businesses with public speaking but offered a great session on how you can apply this to networking. Did you know that body language has the biggest impact on people rather than the words or tone?
Jenna focused on how mindset can help when you feel nervous- think about the positives of networking rather than the negatives of how you'd feel. Lastly, Jenna focused on how to engage with the audience; don't stand there alone quietly at the back of the room, get off your phone and make a conversation!
It was great to have the opportunity to wander around the stands and visit the Event Production Show next door. We took part in magic tricks, watched a beatbox performance and had our make-up done.
As we all work remotely, it was lovely to have the opportunity to spend time getting to know each other.
Find out more about the team https://www.thecontemporarypa.co.uk/our-family
