BIBA2018 - Wednesday Night & Beyond!

Being gluttons for punishment (or maybe it’s just gluttons!), after a big day of meetings the Wednesday night is the traditional point where the insurance world hits the clubs & restaurants of Manchester, and much in the way that the stands compete for broker attentions, so do the evening events (that’s one of the reasons we moved our big broker dinner to the Tuesday!)

Whilst I didn’t get out of the exhibition hall until an hour after I’d intended, my first port of call was a ‘Bordeaux Reunion’ for Brokers who had attended the AXA Management training sessions Al Stewart & Ken Wright run so well. They really have built up a bit of a community and the atmosphere was great, a quieter gathering in an area of a great local Pan Asian restaurant. By 7:30 the Brokers we’re drifting off to their other engagements, so with various options on offer I decided that this years ‘Hot Ticket’ was undoubtedly the @PukkaInsure 3rd year party at Menagerie. The sort of place that is far too young & trendy for me to go on any other occasion, it was great to catch up with what seemed the great & the good of the insurance world, I’ve known CEO Sam White from before Pukka through Action 365 and as well as being a phenomenally great businesswoman (choosing that expressing deliberately to emphasise, yes, not a bloke!), she manages to get just the right people along to her do’s.

On that subject, along with the usual drinks & nibbles, Sam had persuaded X Factor star Louisa Johnson to perform, a reprise of last year, and she was outstanding. 

Bed and another big breakfast followed, then back into the conference centre for day two. Opening at 9am, a slightly later start (to respect any sore heads perhaps?). Meetings wise it’s just like the day before, Probably a little less pressured as some people begin to head off home or don’t make it at all (if they not learnt about pacing themselves!), so an opportunity to wander round a bit more and take in the wider insurance world. 

A couple of things struck me, the first being the BIBA Hackathon. These things to be all the rage now & great that they had a competitive one as part of BIBA with some great teams, judges & hosts looking at some real issues, 3 of the 4 being very Customer focused and the last being how to help Brokers better understand how Tech can help their business. 

ERS has some old mini’s out & about around the conference centre, great to see some old cars that really are classics (its not all about #Driverless you know!), though the smell walking past a couple of them, I’m not sure they would pass modern emissions tests!

The stands were great as ever, I do genuinely think the AXA ‘Bouncing Balls’ were a clear highlight, not only could you see them from a distance away, they were strangely hypnotic, pulling Brokers in and convincing them to do even more business with us no doubt!

Sadly I had to leave early as I was booked to speak at the London Motor Show in the evening, but I thoroughly enjoyed BIBA again this year, (though I may feel less happy when I see how many things I need to follow up on once I get back to the office), I’m looking forward to 2019 already & hoping very much they keep it in Manchester! Thanks to everyone who was there, you made it a very special event. 

David Williams

Technical Director, AXA Insurance

@AXADavidW