Looking back – Looking forward

A review of LBN 2012 – 2013 from Co-Chairs Beth Curl and Zoë Dawes

Thank you to everyone who came to our LBN  Creative Showcase and AGM on 18 April. For those of you who couldn’t make it here is our ‘Chairs’ Report for 2012-2013.

Grateful thanks to all last year’s committee members Kay Cook, Sharon Matthews and Caroline King for all their support and commitment.  A particularly big thank you to our treasurers Mary Hastie and Emma Mallinson – we know that this is a hihgly responsible job and we are very grateful to you both for doing it for the last two years. The support of the committee is invaluable and everyone has worked hard to arrange a range of interesting meetings.

Last Year’s Meetings

  • May – Zoë Dawes ran a very informative session on Social Media, dispelling the mysteries, sharing top tips and got several of us blogging and tweeting straightaway.
  • JuneLynda Stott talked about Networking and the different things you get from different business networks.  We feel that LBN fills a particular niche with a unique blend of inspiration, support  and friendship.
  • JulyKay Cook, Sharon Matthews and Caroline King organised a Meet a Member session and told us about their businesses.
  • We has a break in August for the holiday season
  • SeptemberJackie Wilkinson facilitated a session on Integrated Performance and related the holistic way she prepares for international archery competitions to how to approach your business. We finished with a silent coaching session, which  certainly helped me to move  some issues forward.
  • OctoberCatherine Connor of Aspire Photography training hosted Bouncing Back from the Depths at Dalton Hall. Catherine inspired us all with accounts of her business challenges and how she had met them
  • November – first joint meeting with the Ulverston Business Alliance Women’s Group.  Guest speaker Jonathan Denby of the Damson Dene Hotel gave a very entertaining talk on the Women in his Business.  We introduced a new meeting time of 16.00 to 18.00 hours. We had an excellent turnout of over 40 people and a great opportunity to meet lots of women in business. Thank you very much to Helen Penny for arranging this joint meeting.
  • December – Kay Cook organised a fun Christmas Quiz at our Christmas drinks evening at the Strickland Arms and we had a charity raffle for St John’s Hospice.
  • January – Beth Curl organised Goal Setting for 2013, our best attended (non-joint) meeting. We met at Kendal Hostel, which gave the owners a chance to show us their newly renovated premises and facilities.
  • February – Sharon Matthews organised another Meet a Member seesion where Diane Nowell of Copywritten and Helyn Connerr of Astroinnovation told us about their businesses and Caroline King described her successful student placement from Lancashire University  Business School.
  • March – second joint meeting with UBA at the Newby Bridge Hotel .  Craig Sherrington of the award winning General Burgoyne Pub, cooked as he talked and told us about his business and then we all got to sample his delicious food.
  • April – various members helped to put on a very successful AGM and Creative Showcase which was held in the beautiful new Brigsteer Hall.

Highlights of the Year

Getting the new website up and running was a big achievement in 2012-13.  We now have a much more user friendly website.  Special thanks goes to Phil Meades for setting up our WordPress website and dealing with all the problems and queries so efficiently.  Gemma Jackson and Zoë helped with design, content and transferring all the membership details

Gemma Jackson, our LBN administrator for several years, stepped down in December to give more time to her family and business. Gemma – thank you for all the hard work you did as our LBN administrator.

We are delighted that Diane Nowell offered to take on the administrator’s role – many thanks Diane.

Aims for Next Year

Zoë and I agreed to stand as Co-chairs for another year because we felt we learnt a lot from our first year in office and want to build on this and get LBN onto a really firm footing for the future. We found that working as co-chairs was great – we each travel for work and it meant that we could cover for each other and keep things moving forward.

We are looking forward to working with the new committee and thank you all for volunteering. Our new committee members are Emma Dodd – Treasurer, Kay Cook, Debra Jessett, Danielle Hone, Diane Nowell.

Goals for 2013-14:

  • To learn from our experience and make 2013 – 2014 a really successful year for LBN
  • Increase LBN membership
  • Put on an interesting and inspiring programme
  • Enjoy working with the new committee
  • Listen to members and make LBN what you want
  • Streamline our systems and processes and get everything in good shape for when we hand on the baton in April 2014.

We are always keen to hear your views, so please do tell us

  • What you value about LBN?
  • What you would  like from LBN?
  • What should we do more of /less of?

We are very much looking forward to supporting LBN in 2013-14 and building on its established position within the business community of south lakes and surrounding areas.  We will go to go from strength to strength in what should be a very exciting year ahead.

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