Roadshow reminds me that being with people is great!

I’m typing away on the train from Sheffield to Reading. This is because we’re running a roadshow for the VMO2 Direct Business through September that’s taking us from Birmingham to Bellshill and pretty much everywhere in between. We kicked off in Birmingham last Wednesday, then held the next event in Reading yesterday followed by Leeds and Sheffield today.

When we first came up with the idea of the roadshow I had visions of travelling solo on the train to each venue, reading quietly and sipping tea (or gin, depending on the hour), as I watched the green and pleasant English landscape roll by. Alas my dreams were dashed as I found myself jammed into the train carriage to Leeds like a small sardine, mournfully watching the screen buffering as it tried unsuccessfully to connect to the WIFI. Any hopes of productivity were dashed, along with similar hopes of watching ‘Selling Sunset’ on the iPad which I’d brought specifically for that purpose. In the end I resorted to scrawling in my journal (unintelligibly due to the lack of elbow room) and reading my current book ‘Demon Copperhead’ by Barbara Kingsolver. No tea or gin were forthcoming.

But travel gripes are a tiny niggle because this roadshow is proving to be very special.

Why?

Firstly, we’ve carefully tailored every event to each location and each team, from the shout outs in the welcome section to those folks we know will be in the audience, to the customer stories we share at each meeting - customers local to the town we're visiting that day.

Our leaders partner to present the different segments of the roadshow, covering Marketing, Strategy, People, Customers, Recognition and Q&A, taking it in turns to support with topics and towns to spread the load and show up as a strong team.

Employees from each location have stepped up to share their customer stories and experiences. It’s safe to say they haven’t jumped for joy at having been asked to present, sometimes to up to 150 people, but I’ve given them some storytelling coaching to boost their confidence and their presentations have gone down a storm. It’s been a great way to share best practice as well as recognising people who’ve done incredible work on building and maintaining precious customer relationships.

Then we have our recognition section, surprising winners of our recognition scheme Sparkle who are in the audience. It's so fab, watching people's faces as they realise they've won, then seeing them come up to a huge round of applause with big smiles.

After each event we all relax over drinks and nibbles, precious time to get together for a chat and a mingle which we so rarely make time for these days. I did have a bit of a chuckle in Reading where we had fruit at one end of the kitchen island and brownies, flapjacks and cookies at the other. The brownies end was a lot busier than the fruit end!

By all accounts looking at the comments, people are enjoying the roadshow and the balance of information, fun and networking is working well which makes it all worthwhile. We review our messaging and content, based on the comments that come in from folks after each event, to make sure we're addressing what's top of mind for the team. The choreography is complex but worth it to create experiences that truly engage.

We spend a huge amount of planning and prep together, before, during and after each event. But now travelling together has opened the door to talk about other things, homes, hobbies, families, holidays...non-work stuff. We've got to know each other. Sitting on the train today, I think the other passengers can feel our positive vibe (at least I hope so. Maybe we’re just really annoying them. I’ll go with Option 1).

We’re about to blast through from Leicester to London, and from there I head home to Newbury. Safe to say we're all looking forward to being back home with our families for a few days before we head out to Peterborough and Bellshill. Amazing this roadshow may be, but it takes its toll on your batteries. Mine definitely need a recharge.

#storytelling #culture #communication #employeeengagement #roadshows #events #travel

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Louisa Houghton is a storyteller and employee engagement specialist. She's also many other things, including bee keeper, guitar player and German Shepherd despairer (if that wasn't a thing, it is now). Louisa is all about keeping it real, dispensing with the fluff and having some fun. She is a firm believer in the extraordinary everywhere. Magic can always be found if you look for it.

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