Despite the threat of snow, Office* Show got underway and kept to timetable for 2018.
It may have been “Winter” outside, but the temperatures were rising in Olympia, as more and more intrepid and brave, but not lost souls, found themselves at the top of the towering stairs and the entrance to the 2018 office* show!
With the exhibitors, speakers, features and attractions in place there were few changes to the packed agendas across all of the shows on-site. The few that couldn’t make the event had been let down by their local transport systems and cancellations due to both existing conditions or the ‘snowmaggedon’ weather forecasts. Ironically, around the West of London and Olympia area, probably less than 10mm of snow fell throughout the whole week!
So, office* show 2018 got underway to schedule. The organiser’s team had done a great job in pulling together a whole new look to the show, from the layout to the learning themes, bigger theatre set ups and diverse agendas.
Gone were some of the tired old features and formats, and in came some interesting new attractions and speakers, including real gems like in-show displays of yoga for the office and a very popular “book corner” with a timetabled ‘meet the author’ approach and book signings!
With Keynote and learning theatre sizes almost doubled, based on pre-show bookings, it was such a shame that the weather and transport systems impacted on attendance thwarting those strong trends towards record numbers to be attending.
However as each day went on the delegates on-site grew hour by hour, as the outer-London regions train services became more and more timely in their daily services, and the ‘buzz’ around the show gathered momentum.
For Day 1 (PA Day, as we call it, old habits and all that!) – we had welcome guests to the stand, both Amanda Johnson of VACT and Jade Burke, Editor of PA Life took to drawing the two both of free prizes provided by VACT, and the winners chose the VACT Mastery Course to a value of £500 – see free draw pictures (Amanda left, and Jade right)
Members Voice Awards – Final 2017 announcements
Later in the day the ‘most votes’ for our pa-assist.com Members Voice Awards for 2017 were announced, with a number of the categories being presented at the show.
Here are some of the ‘most popular’ winners:
Left to right: PA Life (Publication); Lindsay Taylor (Book for the PA); and Todays PA (PA Training Provider)
Full details of Members Voice Award’s shortlists and ‘Most Popular’ winners can be seen here
The new and exclusive early start learning breakfast initiatives proved to be popular and the 6th year of the VA Breakfast, on 1st March 2018 (VA Day) had record advance bookings once again, exceeding 160 expected attendees. Always a great start to the second day.
The UK VA Conference got off to a flying start and all the sessions were well attended, but obviously impacted by the prevailing travel circumstances.
A separate overview has been prepared for the UK VA Conference, 1st March 2018, please see here.
