Key networking opportunity at the IPIA Big Breakfast

On Mar 8, 2021 422

The Independent Print Industries Association (IPIA) will host its first-ever Big Breakfast, bringing together key print buyers and industry suppliers together every two weeks for an hour of informal and fun online networking using the Remo platform.

The not-for-profit association reports it has already seen fantastic interest in the series of networking events, with hundreds of registrations for the launch.

The debut event will take place on March 11 at 8:30-9:30am and will feature a 10-minute ‘Freshly Juiced’ speaker segment to give you new ideas, motivation and, hopefully, some inspiration.

“At the beginning of the year, if I am being perfectly honest, we were a little bit flat,” said IPIA marketing and events manager Sharron Mahony. “Using Zoom, and platforms like it, for personal and professional connectivity had given us all digital fatigue. We were drained by lockdown and just wanted to organise a physical event that involved hugging everyone!”

She continued: “Joking aside, we knew we had to come up with a new initiative that would add authentic value to our members, sponsors and the wider industry. The ongoing restrictions gave us very little room to work creatively, so we knew it had to be a digital ‘zoom-thing’ which, well, crushed our souls a bit.”

The IPIA embarked on a research initiative, surveying its membership and that of its sister trade association, the BAPC, and really focused on the people behind the businesses.

“We wanted to understand what support they needed to continue coping in their roles, and to learn if their digital connectivity tolerances matched our own,” added Ms Mahony. “They also confirmed our thinking and highlighted the direction we needed to go.

“Whatever we did, it should not take up hours of a person’s day, talk ‘at’ people for more than 30 minutes tops, and it needed to be fun.”

The IPIA Big Breakfast is a fortnightly networking event. The branding, by IPIA member Nutshell Creative Marketing, reflects the fun, informal format of the sessions.

Participants meet in Remo – the online platform designed just like a real room, where users sit at tables and move themselves about the room to catch up and meet people, just as they would at a physical event.

Tables seat two, four or six people, so participants can have chats on a one-to-one basis, or in a larger group setting. Users are able to bounce around and talk to various groups of people, with it taking just seconds to switch groups. “You can also use the Diner floor plan to see who is in the room and head on over to their table to have a chat. This creates a more ‘real world’ atmosphere and the conversations are more natural – no static zoom sessions for us,” enthused Ms Mahony.

The event promises not to feature elevator pitches, as “no one likes them,” explained Ms Mahony, adding: “We want to spark the sort of conversations that are about anything and everything, that’s how ideas are generated, and collaborations begin. Informal chat almost always leads to something pretty amazing that wouldn’t have come about otherwise.”

The hourly sessions are split by a 10-minute informative segment, dubbed ‘Freshly Juiced’. It enables a line-up of spectacular people from within the print industry and other industries to share their knowledge, wisdom and experience with participants.

The first of these speakers, addressing participants on March 11, is Grafenia Plc CEO Peter Gunning. In his talk, titled ‘WTF just happened?!’, Mr Gunning will share first-hand insight on how his organisation positively pivoted to meet the challenges thrown at the print market head on. He explains how client behaviour changed overnight and how printers and designers can adapt to this digital-first future.

The IPIA’s Big Breakfast will take place every other Wednesday throughout 2021 on the following dates:

March 11
March 24
April 7
April 21
May
May 19
June 2
June 16
June 30
July 14
September 8
September 22
October 6
October 20
November 3
November 17
December 1

Find out more information here: ipia.org.uk/bb