February 2013 Meeting

[kwatt]

Re: February 2013 Meeting

Ouch Bob, get well soon.

You could always moonlight as a pirate for kids parties though. 😉

K.

[SAMURI]

Re: February 2013 Meeting

Thanks Lawrence

I have no chance of getting a boxing licence now so a new career is out of the question.

At least the R26 Gas put in my Eye is covered by by F GAS certificate. 😆

Bob

[SAMURI]

Re: February 2013 Meeting

Thanks Ken

I was in a ward with animals and kids mobiles hanging from the ceiling and my daughter said it should have had pirates on the wall.

At least I was let out of the hospital on Monday so the food is better.

With all the moans about the NHS I can say I had excellent service and could not have got better if I had paid private.

Bob

[Lawrence]

Re: February 2013 Meeting

Whitegoods Conference 2013

For all those that attended and contributed to the recent Whitegoods Conference please accept our heartfelt thanks for your involvement and we hope that you found the conference to be, as ever, as useful and productive as ever.

Our apologies for the late start this time but, due to some unexpected late availability of the meeting room and the late arrival of the AV equipment the meeting was stalled for a short time. However, that did not deter the WTA team and other enthusiastic people from working till after 1am the night before to set the meeting room up, print name badges and much more in preparation for the following day.

The meeting commenced with an introduction and short update on WTA progress from the current chair, Lawrence Carey.

Lawrence detailed some of the progress that had been made as well as informing about the WTA’s work over the past year with various manufacturer’s and government bodies to help the members interests.

Much of this information can be found in real time within the WTA member forums but a summary of this was given.

We then had a talk by both Lawrence and Kenneth Watt of UK Whitegoods on customer service in general using the amusing “Dallas taxi driver” story to highlight the perceptions that customers have and, how we can do better as an industry in this respect.
As usual with these presentations the actual presentation was merely a collection of bullet points around which a live and vibrant talk was given with all the information being presented in that medium.

The next talk was by Ian Dales and Lawrence on progress with DEFRA, WRAP and others in respect to repairs, reuse and recycling. The talk explained some of the thinking behind current government policies and where it was likely to go in the future as well as how the WTA was helping input member’s opinion.

After lunch Malcolm Scott from Swift Distribution gave an update on industry trends with the main point being that the built in and integrated sector continues to grow despite the glut of bad news in the media about retailers going bust.

Much of the rest of the day was left open in response to requests from attendees and members feedback from previous meetings asking that more time was allowed for people to browse the stands and take meetings. We listened and left as much of the day as possible free to allow for these wishes.

Feedback that we have received thus far has indicated that everyone thoroughly enjoyed the meeting as well as finding it very productive and, on occasion, lucrative as well from contacts made.

We will look forward to seeing you again in February 2014 but, in the meantime don’t forget that we hold the smaller and more informal meeting in September.

[ELDAR59]

Re: February 2013 Meeting

Thanks to you too Lawrence and all the members of the WTA team once again for all your hard work in putting the meeting together.
As well as the informative meeting, It not only gives us a chance to escape for a day or two, but also as you say, to network and make new contacts.
Then there’s the debriefing in the bar later………..
Much appreciated, well done to all involved.

[kwatt]

Re: February 2013 Meeting

Yes there was less content, because a number of people asked for it to be so. So, it was.

And, TBH, it was a whole lot less stressful for myself and Lawrence in particular as there was a lot less pressure on us especially.

That said, others like Ian picked up the slack.

But it is absolutely spot on that there was a lot less to report and discuss this time round and that it was a bit more low key, a bit mind, it wasn’t exactly as if it was some big secret.

Thing is that like all these types of events you get the most from it by being there. Sorry, but that’s just the way it is and there’s not a lot anyone can do about that.

If you all want more content then that’s absolutely fine and I’m sure that it can be done. Hell, I had a presentation that could have lasted an hour or more as Lawrence can attest but, it would likely have proven controversial and would have probably taken up most of a morning at best.

And, that was only one of four that I had prepared and we went through the night before.

Getting to the bar later, chilling out and having a yap with friends was not only utterly brilliant as usual but also a relief.

K.

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