The member to member workshops are one of Buckinghamshire Business First’s greatest success stories. For some time now members have been signing up to either deliver a masterclass in their area of expertise or to listen to a masterclass in an area they want to improve on.

Several workshops are lined up over the next few months. Take a look at the links below to see which you would like to attend.

Upcoming events can be found here > 

The Member to Member workshops have proven so popular that some are being moved to larger premises to meet the growing demand for places, as is the case for Simon Breese’s ‘How to Run a Successful Sales Campaign’ workshop on October 21. Snap up your place now before they all run out >

Experiences of one workshop host

Lorraine Forrest-Turner recently delivered a workshop on ‘Writing for Online Audiences’, which was described as a “good combination of training and interaction with the group” by attendee Hina Pancholi of Vita Organics.

Lorraine herself was delighted to host the workshop:

“I believe that Member to Member workshops are the best form of business networking. In my experience, in a workshop environment, attendees talk more easily to each other than they would at a ‘standard’ networking event. There’s none of that awkward ‘how was the traffic’ conversation because everyone has a common interest – the subject of the workshop. Plus, a good workshop facilitator should initiate discussion.

“I always try to make my workshops as interactive as possible (and give attendees a chance to ask questions, discuss points, talk to other people at the workshop, etc.) but it’s not always possible to do this thoroughly in a short 90 minute session. At my recent Writing for Online Audiences workshop, several delegates hung back to chat afterwards.

“From the workshop provider’s point of view, there is no better way to demonstrate your products and services to potential prospects. The non-sales/educational aspect of a workshop creates the right atmosphere for building relationships and, if you’re any good at what you do and there are people there in need of your services, you can also generate some useful business leads.

“It’s too soon to know if my workshop generated any new business for me but I have made some useful new contacts and I’m meeting up with a couple of people this week. In fact, one lovely lady invited me to another networking event as her guest. So I not only get the chance to meet lots more people, I get in for free!”

If you are interested in hosting your own workshop, email events@bbf.uk.com with the details, making sure to put ‘Member Workshop’ in the title of your email.