13 Aug How We’ve Kept Our Balance
Kara Neill, Events & Marketing Assistant
About five months ago I posted a story celebrating the fact that despite the hit of Covid-19, we still managed to successfully reschedule our events to later this year. It’s honest to say that I definitely did not expect to be sat here now telling you a completely different reality.
As you probably guessed, we won’t be running any live events this year. Childcare & Education Expo and Care Roadshows are a no go and for good reason. Although we knew this was the right thing to do, it didn’t make the decision any easier. As a small company, not being able to run our events would have a substantial impact and the thought of not being able to continue doing what we love is a tough one to face.
“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” – Albert Einstein
And that’s exactly what we did.
After being on the Government’s Furlough scheme for some time (apart from Emma who I think works while she sleeps), we realised that we had to find new ways of doing what we do. We had to find a way to keep giving back to the sectors that we love and making sure the company that we hold so close stays intact.
So after a whole lot of research and planning, we decided to enter the world of virtual events – launching the “Childcare & Education Virtual Summit” and the “Care Virtual Summit”. Being something we’ve never done before, which I’m sure many of you can now relate to, we were nervous.
Our driving factor was to accomplish something that the sectors really wanted and needed, so we sent out a survey to our whole database and asked them exactly that. Based on each sectors feedback, we knew people wanted updates, information, CPD opportunities and generally to feel a little inspired again. After researching how we’d achieve this, we decided to use the online event platform ‘HeySummit’. HeySummit gave us the option of hosting CPD Seminars, live Q&A’s and panel debates – all features of our live events and all features that would deliver the sectors requests.
In just a few weeks we had successfully put together two incredible events with a set of great speakers, CPD learning, offers and competitions, takeaway sessions, free resources and supportive sponsors. The best thing about going virtual is that the event can live on past its date, meaning attendees have access to all of the content forever! Although I’d be lying if I didn’t say how excited I am to see you all again face-to-face.
The Summits were a success, so much so that we’ll be putting them on approximately every 8 weeks! It’s been a great journey, albeit at times difficult and emotional but we’ve learnt so much and we can only get stronger from here.
Watch this space!
Check out our first Childcare & Education Virtual Summit here and our Care Virtual Summit here.
Upcoming Event Dates
Childcare & Education Virtual Summit
19th September
21st November
8th October
