It’s good to talk (and drink, and argue...)

So – this week saw the inaugural co-operative enterprise hub conference. For those of you who don’t know, the co-operative group (you know, one of the worlds’ largest co-ops), funds a national programme to support co-operative businesses to be able to access specialist consultancy and training and stuff and there’s nothing else in Europe like it! (see link here)

Anyways – they held their first national conference in Leeds recently, and I not only had the pleasure of being invited, but also of leading one of the sessions.

As a freelancer, things like conferences are always a difficult choice – I’m not usually paid to attend them, they mean that I can’t be earning money elsewhere and it takes me away from my family – but in this instance, it was pretty much a no-brainer for a change: the opportunity to hang out with my peers (other co-operative enterprise consultants and trainers) for 2 days, share stories, reflect on experiences and ideas and challenge each others’ views and approaches is something that I’ll always jump at the chance of (especially when there’s a conference bar involved...)

So thank you to the enterprise hub for the opportunity to spend 2 days of my life in a most worthwhile way (and to everyone who ran around 'behind the scenes', making sure the rooms were all set up properly and everyone ended up when and where they were supposed to be) – and I'm already looking forward to next year!