Breathless
Andrew Busby
Senior Industry Adviser, BOXTEC | Founder, Redline Retail Consulting | Amazon Best-Selling Author | ReTHINK Retail / RTIH / Modern Retail Top 100 Retail Expert | Forbes Retail Contributor | International Keynote Speaker
An apt title for this month's newsletter because that's how it feels after an amazing, incredible April, however as I write this from the apartment in Mallorca, it's now May 1st and if I thought I could catch my breath, I'd be very much mistaken.
Because having reviewed my diary for the upcoming six weeks, it's all about to get a whole lot busier! But before we get to that, what of the last few weeks?
The month kicked off with a proud moment for me, the launch of my new book, Breathless. The backstory being that during lockdown I kept a diary. Religiously. It swiftly became a labour of love, each day committing to the page my thoughts on the events of the day; from the Downing Street briefings, Barnard Castle eye tests, scotch eggs, 'next slide please', Neil Ferguson, Matt Hancock and much more.
For 422 days I managed to keep this up, until in May 2021 we were finally allowed our liberty once more. And such was the volume of inane drivel which came forth, Breathless is only volume one, volume two will be out later in the year.
This was swiftly followed by another retail dinner hosted by The Industrious , this time at the wonderful Pegasus Room at The Brasserie of Light, Selfridges. Once again, we were blessed with a fantastic group of senior retail figures who were keen to discuss the issues of the day.
But if that wasn't the highlight, the following week definitely provided it with the Retail Technology Show 2024, again held at Olympia. It never ceases to amaze how Matt Bradley and his team put on such an incredible Show, and this year was probably the biggest and busiest ever.
For me, it was wall to wall meetings, book signings, speaking, podcast recording and much more. Exhausting and rewarding in equal measures although the logistics of getting 100 copies of my book up to Olympia will remain lodged in the memory for some time.
But perhaps the best part of the Show was the opportunity to meet up with retail friends from across the spectrum, it truly makes me feel blessed to know so many highly respected retail professionals. I always learn so much from them.
And to the immediate future? Rather than slowing down, things are set to rapidly accelerate. It is most definitely conference time and in addition to speaking at several I will also be attending some other great conferences. So, the conference diary from now until mid-June looks like this:
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May 14-16: Seamless Middle East - Dubai World Trade Centre delivering a keynote on day 2
May 22-23: IRX & eDX - NEC IRX hosting theatre one on day 2
June 3-5: Shoptalk Europe, Barcelona
June 6: ReTec Europe King Power Stadium chairing the conference
June 11-13: NRF APAC - Marina Bay Sands Convention Centre Singapore https://lnkd.in/etkfdXkv
Please look out for updates on all of the above, and of course, I'll be reporting from all of them.