Proud of Derby
I had a fantastic end to this week – attending the Marketing Derby Annual Business Event at Derby Theatre.
It was great to hear more about the efforts across the city to beat the Derby drum and the continued success of the inward investment company leading the charge.
I was particularly proud that so many of my clients featured in the presentations.
Sarah Brigham from Derby Theatre highlighted the prowess of the city’s cultural offer – including my clients Sinfonia Viva orchestra, regional dance house Deda and Derby Feste.
Derby Cathedral Quarter was quite rightly applauded for winning the best city centre location category in the Great British High Street Awards – the result of nine years hard work by all at Partnerships for Better Business, the Cathedral Quarter businesses and, JJPR.
The importance of the re-ballot to re-establish the St Peters Quarter as a Business Improvement District (BID) came through loud and clear.
Derby College was praised for the quality of its further education offer in the city and county – reaffirming its ranking as ‘Good’ with ‘Outstanding’ features by Ofsted last year.
The star of the morning was Dean Jackson, Founder and Owner of HUUB Design and HUUB Events who challenged Derby to be ‘dare to dream’ and follow the example of Disney in taking care of the detail and seeing everything through a customer’s eyes.
Dean asked me to meet for coffee just before Christmas to talk through this presentation and his innovative ideas for bringing it to life.
After providing him with some key messages and bullet points – he transformed words on paper into a fun and interactive video presentation – complete with a Chopper bike!
I therefore go into the weekend, and beyond, with a renewed sense of pride in my PR business, the fantastic clients that I am privileged to work with and the city where I live and work. Bring on 2017!