More than 100 people gathered at Elms Cambridge BMW’s £8.5million showroom in Cambourne to collaborate with like-minded professionals. Advice and anecdotes were exchanged at intimate Think Tank hub sessions chaired by notable local experts including Anglia Ruskin University’s director of International Enterprise Strategy, Professor Lester Lloyd-Reason, and food writer and broadcaster Tim Hayward, who recently saved Fitzbillies cake shop.
Big Issue Founder John Bird launched UNITE with a passionate and inspiring account of his achievements and future aspirations to help disadvantaged members of society into employment. BT Futurologist Dr Nicola Millard took to the stage to speak about the importance of effective communication, while BSkyB’s Sarah Anderson gave an informative talk about Sky’s Rainforest Rescue campaign in Brazil. During the event, all three keynote speakers took part in Cambridge Conversations’ “Ten Sofas Ten Minutes” initiative, where people are invited onto an inflatable couch to chat about their vision of the perfect society.
Kirsten Corrigan, UNITE organiser and founder of Cambridge brand communications agency Method, said: “Bringing together some big names and such a large number of local businesses to share expertise was an ambitious project, but the feedback has been so positive that we will definitely be running the event again next year. Contacts were made, countless collaborations are planned and pearls of wisdom have been taken on board. We are already looking forward to UNITE 2014!”
Managing director of business development firm Momentum and President of JCI Cambridge, James Mitchell, said: “UNITE’s Think Tank speakers and topics were engaging, informative and initiated some very healthy debates! The atmosphere was conducive to discussion and this resulted in the recruitment of new JCI Cambridge members and event attendees. I personally think it was one of the best events I’ve attended in quite a while.”
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For more information about the UNITE Summer Business Forum and the people who took part, please visit www.sbfunite.co.uk
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