WiRE Blog

Met with some of our volunteer Network Leaders this week at the Cotswolds Conference Centre.  They are all passionate and deicated to supporting the rural business women who come along to WiRE network meetings and they work really hard to make sure the meetings add value to members businesses, importantly unlike most network meetings at WiRE Network meetings the emphasis is not on selling to each other, as one of our network leaders said, “we can’t all live off each other!” At WiRE meetings it’s about supporting and learning from each other. To get most value from a WiRE network meeting you need to put something of your self in and the most important thing you need to give to your commitment.   This ‘value’ does still add up to pounds and pence, to prove it one of our Network Leaders suggests you do a Cost/Value Analysis to compare the true value of all the network groups you attend to see which are the best value.

To get back to my original point the most valueable part of WiRE is our members and our Network Leaders are priceless gems!

We’re looking forward to meeting our West Midlands Network Leaders in a couple of weeks, and meeting of Network Leaders in other Regions throughout the year.  At the meetings our leaders get to meet each other exchange, best practice, feedback to us at WiRE HQ how we can do things differently and update them on what we’re doing for rural business women. Off now to put the suggestions from this weeks meeting into action!

We love doing, we put everything into supporting our members, and we forget to promote WiRE. However, WiRE is the members and there is no better illustration of what we do and why we do it than to hear it from a WiRE member.  Our members are diverse and interesting and all have a story to tell. 

Members, we need your stories, your case studies, and we need them from everywhere so we can tell people about your business and about WiRE.

To be added to our list of case studies you need to be a current member, have an up to date Maketplace profile and to send us your answers to the 3 following questions to info@wireuk.org

What is your business? (max 50 words)

Why is it different? (max 50 words)

How has WiRE helped? (max 50 words)

Let us introduce you to our Cheshire WiRE Network. Our voluteer Network Leader Anne Draper started the network from scratch in 2006 and ran it for 2 years then stepped down to give someone else a go.  Hilary Belshaw of Henhouse Productions took over the helm for 12 months, and the group made it onto YouTube. Anne is now back leading the group and this time she has the support of Helen Tandy and Jean Stainthorpe.

The group meet every other month and change venue each time and moving around the county.  They also change the day their meetings are held each time so that members can find a meeting that’s convenient for them.   Meetings have been held at a vets, a car showroom, Reaseheath College and various members’ businesses.

The group have regularly had a stand at the Nantwich Show (except the year when it was rained off) and they even won an award for their stand in their first year. The group are planning to attend again this year.

” Members are highly supportive, and open to putting themselves out for others- it’s not about selling. We all go to the meetings open to learning from each other. We are all ‘one woman bands’ and therefore often isolated in our businesses,”  says Anne. Compare to other network meetings locally the WiRE meeting is also low cost, attendees only pay towards the cost of coffeee and biscuits.

Cheshire members are now embracing social networking after two recent meetings have been themed on this (as the topic is so big) and to prove it you can now follow the Cheshire WiRE network on Facebook.

Click here for more information on the Cheshire WiRE Network

We are thrilled that 4 of our Local Network groups have been recognised for their dedication to support and inspiring women in business in their local areas.  Calderdale, Hitchin, Norwich & West Suffolk WiRE Networks have all been awarded the High Impact Badge of Honour for their event which took place during Global Entrepreneurship Week 2009. Just 240 out of 4,800 events received this special status!

To view the full list of award winners and find out which events were determined to be High Impact, go to: www.gew.org.uk/events/high_impact_events

Global Entrepreneurship Week this year, is taking place from 15-21 November 2010.

Well Done!

The WiRE Team

High Impact badge of honour

Why not turn your monthly network meeting into a ‘Blooming Great tea party’. Supporters are invited to organise a tea party between June 12 and July 12 to raise funds for Marie Curie Cancer Care.

Every year thousands of people put the kettle on and hold tea parties to raise money for Marie Curie Cancer Care. This year, with your help, they are aiming to raise £1 million. It can be as simple as having a few friends round for tea and cakes at home to hosting a much bigger party with neighbours, colleagues, your local school or social club. It’s really up to you.

Your tea party will help to provide nursing care and support to terminally ill people in your neighbourhood. Day and night, Marie Curie Nurses care for local people, helping them spend their final hours in their own homes with their families.

Marie Curie Cancer Care has put together a free pack containing invitations and materials you can use to organise a tea party. They’ll provide stickers for your collection pots, a quiz and lots of ideas on themes to make your tea party fun.

To get your pack call 08700 340 040 or visit www.mariecurie.org.uk/teaparty

WiRE York Network at recent meeting

Click here to find out more about our York WiRE Network

At WiRE HQ we are busy organising another fantastic conference and to make sure we are providing the best speakers, we asked our Network Leaders from across the uk to recommend the best speakers from their meetings.  We have had a great response and are now working through the shortlist.  Confirmed this week is Suzanne Kimberlin a professional coach, recommended by our Wiltshire Network. Su is going to be inspiring everyone and settings the mood of the day.

We are already looking forward to WiRE member Cally Robson’s workshop ’Productize’. Cally Robson is a product development specialist and has been running workshops at the British Library’s Business & IP Centre since 2006.

You may have already noticed that Carry Somers will be speaking at the conference, sharing her business journey with us. Among Carry’s many achievements is winning the Country Living Enterprising Rural Women Award in 2006 for the best growing business.

Click here for more information about the WiRE National Conference 2010

Cally Robson

Carry Somers

• If you are expecting to walk a room full of ‘suited’ business women and feeling out of place- think again! It’s very informal.
• If you think you are going to get business at your first meeting – think again! It’s about building trusting relationships.

Members of wheldrake WiRE Network

“We meet at the King’s which is a lovely old hotel. We usually have a speaker, on something of interest, we have had a ‘Show & Tell’ where everyone has 5 minutes to sell themselves or ask for what they need. We have held ’clinics’ for example on marketing, business literature and public speaking. Every few meetings we do ‘WiRE on Location’ where we visit a member’s business, and members are able to offer constructive feedback and another point of view- which works really well, in the summer we even did a treasure hunt.  There is nothing like this around here – it’s business but not Suity” Emma Heathcote-James, Network Leader, North Cotswold WiRE Network.

“It’s intriguing to see all the different types of businesses. The atmosphere is really friendly, we have a good laugh, it’s business but not serious and stayed”, Anne Hardesty, South Norfolk WiRE Network.

” We have introductions and networking, then a presentation from either a member or an external speaker, followed by a sort of show and tell where a member gives a more in depth talk about her business.  We are very flexible and listen to what members want, so the meetings differ from month to month. The group are very supportive of each other and very friendly to new members. There’s nothing like it in the Selby area, the group is more informal and less daunting than some other networking groups and the reasonable cost makes it accessible to everyone.” Kirsty Harvey, Network Leader Selby & District WiRE Network.

“Members are extremely supportive and help each other out whenever they can. They are friendly and non-judgmental and there is no feeling of competition within the group”. Kate Pratt, Network Leader Chiltern & Dacorum WiRE Network.

“We always get new people at each meeting and there is a really good mixture of businesses and a real diversity of experience. The members are just fantastic, everyone is keen to help each other. There is a really good balance of social and constructive business.” Victoria Crompton, Oswestry & Welsh Borders WiRE Network.

Recently we caught up with Jen Tiller of Reality Quest, our Hitchin WiRE Network Leader.  Like all our Network Leaders Jen is a volunteer, she runs the network group alongside her business and she is a WiRE member.  Jen was the second network leader the group had had when she took over from Julie Foster last year.  We only expect our network leaders to be in post for a year but they often stay longer because they enjoy it and there is more they want to do.

Jen recently organised a Visitors Day for the network group with the added lure of a dessert buffet.  Money raised from the evening went to a charity. “We ended up with 27 women and there was a tremendous buzz in the room,” The evening was such a success that Jen is planning to hold another visitors evening which will support a different charity in a few months time.

“Being with people in the same boat, with people you can rely on and ask any question,” is what works well at the Hitchin WiRE Network, believes Jen, “it’s nuturing, while also being of real value to experienced business women.”

We love talking to our Network Leaders, each WiRE network is as unique as the businesses within them, but their enthusiasm and committment to supporting rural business women is the same.