Having spent a morning last week learning the art of advanced note-taking with Smartwisdom, I was ready with my special pad and multicoloured pen to take notes for the weekly BRX blog. I’d had plenty of practice on the course taking notes at “conversational speed”, so was keen to put my new technique to the test. As instructed, I set my page up with my “spacers”, “organisers” and “switch backs” (cue lots of people wondering that on earth I was doing) and pen poised, was ready to start taking notes. So here is what I have.

Des Sutton from Man Bites Dog (MBD) kicked off the 60 second round and started talking way too fast for my note taking ability. I’d say it was conversational speed to the power of 10. Therefore, I have to admit, that I struggled to get everything, but he did mention MBD provides quality IT support! He also brought to our attention that we need to be aware of implications with regard to ownership of content on sites such as facebook. Des is looking for Office Managers in small to medium sized businesses that are looking to find cost savings on their IT spend.

Next up was Gavin Morton-Holmes from Destiny Plc. Gavin is looking for vehicle leasing companies that are looking to save both time and money by utilising his digital pen and paper. Gavin probably told a joke during his 60 seconds, but it either wasn’t that funny so I can’t remember it, or my note-taking was a little behind. I’m sure it was the latter!

George Emsden, our resident Money Doctor is looking for people in mixed dominational marriages, where one of the couple is British, to give financial advice to as the rules in this area are very complicated.

Mike Nightingale from Green Park Insurance told us of one if his many happy clients. Mike has managed to combine coverage for lots of very expensive cars which are located all over the world into one policy. Mike would like to meet other “complicated” clients with a large motor portfolio.

Richard Houldsworth from Splatt Print is looking for Training companies this week. Splatt can produce small and large, bespoke print runs in-house. They have recently purchased some new machinery and are expanding their services.

Jamie Denham from Sliced Bread Animation is looking for contacts within Internal Communications teams. They have recently worked on internal newsletters for clients with over 350k people.

Caroline Hampstead, our fabulous copywriter, taught us a new word this morning – Pleonasm – the use of more words than necessary to express an idea. Judging by the length of this blog, I think I need Caroline’s services! Caroline is seeking Ad Agencies.

Lewis Malka from Joseph Sterling, our very own Diamond Geezer, told us a story of a client who had a specific idea for an engagement ring in mind. His idea wasn’t such a good one when it came down to it, and as Lewis is a member of the Diamond Bourse, he was able source and offer other types of diamonds to provide a piece of bespoke jewellery, rather than just offer a standard ring from stock in a shop. A happy client, and more importantly, a happy fiancée!

Christian Ingerslev from Danesoft can provide any size of survey for any organisation, for example, employee or customer satisfaction surveys. This week Christian is looking for contacts within HR departments.

David Coburn paid us a visit this week and told us the great news that BRX India has now been launched. He also reminded us that we can always look to the broader BRX group when we need specific contacts in the London area.

Fiona Gale from Only Connect Solutions, a marketing and communications agency, with a strong slant on corporate responsibility, reminded us that “SME’s need to succeed, not just survive”. Fiona is looking for a sponsor for a televised competition where teams of 5 people compete against each other in an SAS style, providing great media coverage for the sponsor.

Our esteemed Vice Chairman, George Metcalfe wowed us with his lightbulb cufflinks and explained the fun of coaching was in the “A-ha” moments – when the lightbulb goes off in someone’s head and they get clarity. George is looking for people who are confused and not sure what do to next.

Roy Duncan from RG Duncan Associates wants to meet people who have had DIY recruitment disasters. Many people are trying to recruit finance staff without having the right expertise, often resulting in getting the wrong person. Using Roy’s services will avoid that problem.

Laura from HSBC is looking for people who are currently unhappy with their existing bank.

Michael Sinclair from China One Call has had a busy few weeks at the Business Travel Show and Travelex Exhibition. Michael is looking for travel companies, Tour operators and hotel groups, to help with visitors from China.

Alexis Garnaut-Miller from The Happiness Centre can help clients with “stress” by identifying the specific cause of those feelings and providing appropriate solutions. Alexis is looking for HR Managers in councils in London.

Zoe Antin from Opus Telecom is offering companies a free cost audit of their phone bills to identify where savings can be made. Zoe is looking for companies that are moving premises.

Mab from Olive Communications gave us the best tip of the day. We learnt how to secretly skive off work with the use of laptops in pubs, blackberrys from bed and video conferencing with a 3G phone and a clip-on tie. Inspired!

Our ten minutes this week was a very interesting presentation from Louise Hassett from Delfont Mackintosh Theatres, on her favourite theatre, The Novello. She walked us through the refurbishment of the theatre and it was clear to see the thought and care that went into making the theatre the beautiful venue it is today and why it makes such a great place for corporate hospitality.

Louise would like to meet companies that organise rugby and football events for clients so she can introduce the idea of theatre events to them. A trip to the theatre is much more cost effective in the current economic client.

Louise reminded us that both Twelfth Night and The Taming of The Shrew finish on 7 March – so get your tickets quickly.

Oh yes, and me, Kirsty Joly from Perfectly Tempered. I was so busy taking notes that I hadn’t given a thought about what to say, so frantically tried to think of the next event in the chocolate calendar. Mother’s Day is the 22^nd March this year – so buy your mum chocolates, she’ll love them. And don’t forget stepmothers…..