talkcreative 2007

Hello Everybody,

Thank you so much to those of you who attended talkcreative at Lord's Cricket Ground on the 4th October.

We have designed this blog to receive any of your feedback and as we continually strive to improve each event your thoughts would be most welcome.

talkseminars continues to grow with a record number of delegates attending talkcreative. Initial comments on the day were very positive with a large number expressing interest in forthcoming events.

Our official photos of the event will be posted shortly.

Finally special thanks must go to our Event Sponsors Trish Traynor and her team at 'Liquid Space' for their support.

All the best,

Richard

Richard Chase-Event Manager

   

      

Comments

[Fiona Beddoes-Jones]

Hi Richard,

well done guys, you've done it again! another great day!

Fiona Beddoes-Jones

[Benita Mayhead]

Hi Richard

Well done you for another great success! Hope you have all recovered after your hard work. Adele - the girls all did a great job and all looked as though they were enjoying it.

Thank you as always for a great day. I always take something from Gary even after having seen him several times. I think his materials worked well. Your change in style with having Michel Roux jnr interviewed by Roger I think was really good. It broke the programme up and allowed a more natural dialogue.

As always the venue was spot on (maybe a few more servers or stations for coffee as the queue was very long in the morning).

I have a client who is thinking about sending a team to the next one, so let me know what your plans are and I can get them hooked up.

Thanks again so much!

Benita

Benita Mayhead

Director, Chartered FCIPD

Cam Consulting

[Sara Eason]

Thoroughly enjoyed the day!!!

The areas I got the most value:

Workshop sessions with Gary
Mathew Pincent’s presentation … especially his advice on setting long and short-term goals

I found the talk with Michel Roux Jr interesting … but probably just because I am interested in cooking / eating / dining in posh restaurants!!

The venue / lunch was perfect … can’t think of any issues at all. Though it would have been nice if we could have been given a quick tour / history of Lords during the lunch break.

Would I attend again … yes … But I would like more practical sessions.

Sara

GB Group

[John Joyce]

Was useful and thought Matthew P was very good. I took away the following:

A) They all hated losing

B)They were all driven

C) They all were passionate about their professions

John Joyce

GB Group

[Jim Hems]

It was a great day. All of the speakers were confident and very good at presenting the message of creativity. Looking forward to the next one!

Jim

[Nigel Clark]

The day is divided into sections:

Roger’s bit about the relay – this is almost identical to last year – so lower value for me, as I attended last year
Gary – this first bit was good in my opinion – but again very similar to last year. I’d have liked more time on the tools that Gary recommends for opening up creativity, last year he did more on getting creativity accepted within an organization and this could have done with more time again this year.
Michel Roux, very interesting – but slightly irrelevant, had he discussed “mise en place”, or how a brigade works under the pressure of service, or the roux scholarship this would have been more interesting, but due to the very nature of the brand, there is little room for “team or individual creativity” within Le Gavroche workplace (apart from Michel), it even appears to cover no room even for optional operational procedures..
Gary again, useful, but would have liked clearer instructions on the ice cream creation, we missed the point slightly…. Maybe the Ask Einstein cards would have been better?
Matthew, absolutely the best and most entertaining bit, very interesting and delivered with authority and humour – but again, not an exact link to creativity… last years people where much more focused on the creative side… coffee…..
I think a free set of Ask Einstein cards should be given to everyone….

I think he should mix groups up around the marquee, unless it’s a company specific workshop then people more likely to open up within a wider group. Plus, it would get better feedback as a networking event. Going by myself I met more people last year.

Nigel

GB Group

[David Green]

Really enjoyed it, great, would like to go next year – Pinsent was great

David Green
GB Group

[Chris Pullen]

Hi Richard,

Excellent day as ever and very well organised. Gary was great!

Talk Creative has become a 'must not miss' event for me and my team. We've now seen Gary in action on three separate occasions and he never fails to inspire and bring new ideas to the table.

Chris Pullen
European Head of Marketing
Watson Wyatt

[Tim Stockil]

Hi Richard,

I thoroughly enjoyed yesterday's seminar and it was all very well organised (of course) and hosted (of course). I've got, of course, a few comments which I am sure you will expect from me - never slow to give my opinion, am I?

Major comment - I thought Gary was great - very entertaining and energetic and he said some very apposite things about creativity. The weird thing for me was hearing myself in an Aussie accent. I do a regular session exploring creativity for MBA students at Ashridge Management Centre (I did one last week, as it happens, so it was fresh in my mind) which starts with a 40 minute presentation and what Gary said was almost the same as what I say then. So of course I would think he said some good stuff, and it is good to have the confirmation.

Next comment - always lovely to hear Roger do his 4 x 400m speech. What I thought he did very well was give it a little twist so as to focus some more (or perhaps I remember it differently) on having the courage to change a winning formula because then it became more about creativity and less about teamwork, which is how I remember it more. I thought this helped a lot as...

Comment three - I didn't think Michel or Matthew really spoke about creativity at all. Not to say that they weren't entertaining and interesting, just that what they had to say was not particularly about creativity. I don't think either had really thought about the subject for the day and poor Gary had nobly to try to pull something about the theme out of them.

I wonder whether your seminars are just too sports orientated for them to focus on creativity. It's not that sport is not creative, but it seems in my opinion to have more obvious lessons to offer around leadership and follwership and teamwork. Of course I realise you tend to work with sports people more and that may well have a bearing on the choice of speakers, but I wonder if the arts aren't a more fertile ground if you are to repeat this seminar.

If you want to go down this route, I can recommend Professor Sir Ken Robinson as one of the best and funniest speakers I have ever heard and a guru in the world of creativity. He is based at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, so he'd have to come a bit of a distance but then so did Gary. And he is often over here. He was Prof of Education at Warwick University and he chaired the government's committee on creativity, culture and education - I think he is represented by SfB.

Or there are others I could suggest if that would help.

One final thought - I would really have appreicated a list of attenders... is there one available?

Hope these comments are useful and count on me for future support.

All good wishes to you and Adele and Rog and Jules,

Best

Tim Stockil
Creative Intelligence

[Mark Hardaway]

Dear Richard,

I enjoyed meeting you and the TalkFortyFour 'team' at Lords yesterday.

I found the event inspirational and it inspired me to pursue further my interest in motivational speaking and coaching as well as my day job consulting.

In addition to your team, I met some interesting delegates and we have expanded our networks.

Thanks once again for an uplifting day

Regards
Mark

[Ian O'Dell]

“I found it thought provoking and re-assuring. All the speakers were excellent. I thought that there were several illustrations of where a relatively small change can make a disproportionate impact & that lots of small changes can make a big difference”.

Ian O’Dell, Supply Chain Exec

[ILouise Wilson]

“I really enjoyed the seminar. The speakers were motivational and inspiring and the relaxed atmosphere made it easier to fully take in what was being said. Before I attended the seminar I had always wondered how you learn to be creative now I understand that everyone has the ability it is all about not be afraid to dig deep and use it”.

Louise Wilson, Snr. Commercial Manager

[Chris Hillyer]

“I really enjoyed the seminar, it was well structured and extremely motivational. The speakers were really down to earth, relaxed and fun. I have taken many positive points from the day which I hope will inspire me to be more creative at work and at home”.

Chris Hillyer, Snr. Commercial Officer

[Cindy Wayman]

“Gary Bertwistle was excellent, as were Michel Roux Jnr and Sir Matthew Pinsent - truly inspiring speakers and I found myself hanging on to their every word. I now understand how important it is to be creative at work and at home, and not to fear it but to encourage it”.

Cindy Wayman, Exec Asst.

[Caroline Wilson]

“Talkcreative was a very inspirational day. With such a range of speakers there were so many different aspects to hear about. The creative workshops were different to anything I have ever seen before and they allowed me to see that there are many things I can put into practice at the office/home. I particularly found Gary very motivating with his ordinary attitude and approach. This made his presentations fun and relevant. All the speakers were very good and overall I found the whole day very worthwhile and motivational”.

Caroline Wilson, Communications Officer

[Caroline Wilson]

·“Roger Black – Very interesting and thoroughly professional speaker, thoroughly enjoyed his exploits and creative thinking of his 400m relay gold medal victory.

·Gary Bertwistle – I enjoyed his brash Aussie style presenting and the depths he went to put over his ideas about creative thinking. He made what could be a mundane subject very interesting.

·Michel Roux – I was not quite sure what to expect but the interviewing process Roger Black used brought out the best in Michel and again found everything about his restaurant very interesting.

·Matthew Pinsent – If you can’t get motivated by someone who has won 4 Olympic gold medals, you never will. Again I loved his exploits of his rowing career and how he spoke about what made him and his team mates so successful along with plenty of humour. An obvious bonus was being able to see and handle his 4 gold medals.

Overall the day was very enjoyable, especially as it had sporting themes 50% of the time. I am sure it will make me think more creatively in future especially knowing that a small change can make a big difference”.

Kevin Scott, Snr. Procurement Officer

[Deborah South]

“I thought it was excellent! It enabled me to look at things differently not only from a career aspect but from a personal side as well. I am trying to use his philosophy on a daily basis (having faith in myself - and having a can do attitude)! The talks were very motivational. It made me what to go out and do something total different and out of the normal surroundings”.

Deborah South, Commercial Manager