Gold dust gold dust!

As promised, I was supposed to fill you in on my visit to London last week. Can't believe my luck first of all. I was not sure what to expect but I looked forward to travelling to an innovation workshop in lieu of a much needed day off. All I knew was that Business Link (governmental info website) had gone out of their way to invite a broad range of business people to the meeting, and i wanted in.

The meeting was first of all aimed at helping the website service providers improve their impact and usefulness. As a bonus to those setting aside the time to come along, they layered in an informative series of lectures on intellectual property.

I got to tell you, this wasn't the draw for me. IP is part of my future and I will be giving it fair consideration in the coming months... but I was simply curious.

1.Who were Serco? 2.How were they proposing to extract the necessary info from us in order to satisfy their employers... us the taxpayers. 3.Who were the business owners going to be? 4.What hidden gems of wisdom will they hold? 5.Could I chat to some fairly important strangers about my experiences so far? Questions questions questions.

Did I get answers to my questions? Indeed I did;

1.Serco (employing 70,000 ppl) are in turn employed by the government for a great many things to do with delivery of public services. Most important to us on this day was the fact that they were hell bent on gathering real feedback and ideas for those who really need it. I was part of a market research focus group.
2.The way in which they were planning on hunting out the answers to their problems was interesting. They paid another company to assist with the data extraction. More money spent... but entirely worth it. The lady who spoke to us the most was Kate Shore of ipCapital. Specialist in IP trademarking. Also very very good at leading a brain storming session. A careful trade of information gradually took place over the 5 hrs. It was artful.
3.The other delegates ranged from new starters like myself to battle hardened business owners with over 20years experience. The business represented was incredibly diverse too. Sound engineering product inventor to corner shop owner. Angel investment director to furniture business owner/manager, and a restaurant owner thrown in.
4.Hidden gems of wisdom? Yea plenty. Tax experts, product inventors, employer experienced and brimming with the answers to my potential future problems. I filled a few sheets of 'things to do', including due diligence, educating clients and r&d tax credits.
5.Yes. I did. Happy to help :)

Next up? How to run: Part 3

Engine[er]

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Location:London