Tickets were completely sold out for this year’s Members’ Lunch at Gordon Ramsay’s Heddon Street Kitchen. If you weren’t one of the lucky attendees, you can catch up here.
BIMA members came, ate, listened, connected and chatted over a busy agenda that set BIMA’s stall out for 2018, and gave a packed restaurant plenty to chew on.
A year ago, BIMA presidents Nat Gross and Tarek Nseir presented their 3-point plan for changing the face of the organisation. One year on, they gave their update on how things have progressed:
i) BIMA Structure – BIMA is an organisation for all the UK’s digital communities, and this year’s expansion of regional and functional councils, together with a restructuring of the former executive board, has helped embed the bilateral relationship between individuals and the BIMA executive; specialist communities and the national agenda.
In Q2 2018, we’ll be announcing the next tranche of councils.
ii) Future facing – This year, we’ve redefined our purpose and focus, which now looks like this:
• Recognise excellence
• Build connections
• Drive change
• Explore the future
Over the coming months, you’ll see lots of different examples of us becoming an organisation that spends more time looking at where we’re going than where we’ve been. The emphasis of the BIMA Awards, for example, will be placed a little more on innovation and a little less on best practice. And the categories for the BIMA 100 and Hall of Fame have been refined to attract entries beyond agencies.
iii) Commercial growth – Our growth matters; it’s how we increase our ability to drive change. 2017 was the strongest year for new memberships on recent record, and we’ve lots of activities in place to ensure 2018 continues that trend.
In addition to improving our targeting of lapsed and non-members, a new programme of strategic partnerships will give our members more reasons than ever to value their BIMA membership.
The first of those partnerships – with Microsoft – was revealed at the lunch.
This is a hugely exciting development that will see BIMA and Microsoft joining forces at briefing events and roadshows, and give BIMA members new opportunities including:
• Funding
• Access to Microsoft experts
• Access to early releases of software / services
• New customer introductions
• Joint publicity
You can find out more about the new Microsoft partnership here .
We said a fond farewell to the brilliant Bridget Beale, our outgoing MD who’s returning to her native New Zealand…
…and we welcomed our brand new MD, Holly Hall.
Chris Sheldrick worked in the music business and was constantly frustrated by bands’ inability to get from the hotel to stage without getting lost. His novel approach to geocoding, by giving everywhere in the world a unique 3-word address, is transforming the world’s systems that no longer need to rely on postcodes.
Chris’ story showed how innovation, disruption and the purity of a simple but brilliant idea that starts with ‘What if…?’ are things that anyone, anywhere can create – with the right support, know-how and technology.
Given that our new partnership with Microsoft aims to offer innovators on any scale those things, it was a timely and inspiring message.
Afterwards, guests chatted, planned and exchanged contact details over generous quantities of wine.
See you next year.
If you have any photos of the lunch that you would like to share please email rache@bima.co.uk. Sadly, our lovely photographer, who was taking photos during the lunch had his camera stolen on his way home. It’s such a shame as Francis took some amazing photos that some thief has stolen 🙁