In Chamber Shoes - Sarah Young

It's been a busy 9  months since starting with DACC last October. The ever changing events calendar sees me organising events from Business Breakfasts to Golf Days, Networking Events to Summer Socials and everything in between. Having such a diverse and constantly growing membership means that I am kept on my toes, a lot. No-one wants to see the same events being run over and over again, so coming up with a wide range of events is something that is always on my mind. No week is ever the same but here's a little insight into one exciting week!

Networking, Networking, Networking!

I take a wee detour heading to work this morning and pop into Dundee Football Club for a quick catch up with Keith Haggart to have a look at the layout for tomorrow's Joint Chamber Speed Networking event. The venue looks fab but there is still lots to do to be ready for tomorrow so I head back to the office to get ready. There is always a lot to do in the run up to our events. As always there are a few last minute changes to contend with, name badges to update and lots of information to be printed for the attendees to keep them in the right direction tomorrow. I pack the trolley (feel like an air hostess when I trundle it along behind me!!) and load the car before leaving the office for the day.

Connecting with other Chambers

An early start to the day sees me outside Dundee Football Club at 7am, in the pouring rain, not able to open the front door! A member of staff arrives and before I know it she's pushed the door open (turns out it was open already, I just didn't try hard enough!!) and hey presto we're in! Attendees for today's event will start to arrive shortly so we're straight into setting up the event. We've worked with Fife and Perthshire Chambers to bring the event together and have over 50 members in attendance. Before we know it the event is over and members have made lots of connections throughout the region, so many positive comments as attendees leave. I'm back in the office around lunchtime and the afternoon is spent updating the website with all our member news, sharing them on social media and making arrangements for tomorrow.

More events!

Alison and I have a meeting at Dundee House this morning for the forthcoming Dundee Jobsfair. Even though this is an annual event and has been running for many years there is still lots to discuss. Keeping the event relevant and interesting to the local pupils is on everyone's mind this morning. The Chamber are running the event management side so we give an update on what we have organised since the last meeting. After the meeting it's onto Dundee Carers Centre for one of our monthly DACC123 lunches. I'm there mainly to support Dan, he takes the lead on these events and enjoys working with members to help showcase their premises. The event, as always, is a huge success. Stacey gives us a very warm welcome and we learn more about what the Centre offers. After lunch it's back to the office to catch up on emails, send out survey's and reminders for past events and put together the events round-up.

Desk day, well almost

After a busy start to the week I've planned a day at my desk, but not before stopping by Scotscraig Golf Club to discuss our forthcoming Chamber Golf Day. I meet with their new General Manager Derek, and book the event for 22 September. Scotscraig celebrate their 200th anniversary this year and we are delighted to be hosting our Golf Day with them. Before long I am back in the office getting stuck into the emails and updating more members news on the website. I also need to send out our post event feedback for the DACC123 lunch. These survey's help us to grow and develop our events and ensure that the members wants and needs are at the forefront when planning our events. Before I head off for the day I start to organise our next event, Social Media Savvy, which takes place next week. A quick email to the atttendees and hosts confirms the details for the day and they get a sneak preview of the attendees for the event.

Celebrate!

On this day 10 years ago I got married! I've chosen to take the day off to spend with the husband and kids, it is the last day of his holiday and the first day of the kids school holidays so it's nice to be able to spend it with the family. I am given a lovely surprise of a Deep Tissue Massage at the Apex and afterwards I feel like my shoulders are 2" lower and I'm on Cloud 9! We head off to Porters for lunch, the kids love their burgers, and before we know it we're refusing dessert as we're all full up. The afternoon is spent shopping for our party tomorrow, a BBQ at the house with friends and family, before we head home and open the bottle of Lanson we received at Christmas time (it's been in the fridge since then, chilling nicely!!) a great end to another fantastic week!