the Monday Musings column from that consultant bloke

It is hard to believe that two weeks have passed since I paced my Murrayfield hotel room rehearsing my presentation for the next day at the BIFM Scotland region conference. With four runs through the session coming out at 25 or 26 minutes I was comfortable that I had it down pat and was ready for a good sleep. This evening I am in another capital city hotel room and an ocean away from Scotland, but I’ve just been sharing experiences of public speaking with a guy who has gone off to his room to rehearse his slot at a sales conference tomorrow. I wish him well.

Over the years I have attended, organised and spoken at dozens of these sort of events of both the in-company and public varieties. I had heard good things about the BIFM Scotland event in the past, but had not been able to attend one until this year and so I was delighted to be asked to be one of the speakers as well. The venue, the conference centre within the iconic Murrayfield stadium was an added bonus as I always feel that I draw energy from such places.

An ambitious programme was planned and the event had sold out all of which promised a great day, and strolling across the park to the stadium in the sunshine added to the good feeling with the added lure of sausage and bacon baps to greet me. Plenty of others had also turned out early and networking was in full swing.

The day lived up to its promise and I think that it was the best Facilities Management event that I have attended so far. With a good mix of speakers and topics, including a couple of external perspectives of our industry, there was something for everyone.

All credit to the regional team for putting the event together, to their media partner and sponsors, to those who came on the day and not least to the team at Murrayfield conference centre for putting on such a great event. I blogged here the Monday preceding the event saying that I was hoping for  some inspiration from a return to the city and I was not disappointed for I think I could have flown home without the help of British Airways that evening.

Next year the event is provisionally scheduled for October 9th; I’ve pencilled it in and would recommend that you give it some serious thought, but do remember to book early if you get the chance for it is likely to be another sell out.