Broadsword MD Anna Green joined a panel this week at Cvent CONNECT Europe, joining event professionals at the Intercontinental O2, London for a dynamic two days with Dermot O’Leary as host and Alison Hammond as keynote speaker.

Representing EVCOM, and also with the Broadsword hat on, Anna contributed to a paneldiscussion entitled ‘The Agile Event Planner’ focusing on how essential agility and adapting quickly is in today’s world of work.

The panel spoke about boundaries, flexibility, the non-negotiables in and outside work and focusing on results. Everyone agreed that this approach helps to give teams the space to take time back in the quiet periods. Interestingly, all panellists also run fully remote teams, andspoke about the continued advantages of this model and ways to keep in touch and build regular check-ins into the working day.

Anna spoke about the importance of leading by example and ensuring there is time for the team to think, learn and reset throughout the year, as well as deliver meaningful work that contributes to the organisation.

Anna also emphasised the power of having a strong network across the events industry, for advice, encouragement, and collaboration. When asked for advice on how to start building that network, she shared that as a natural introvert, it wasn’t easy at first, but that the pandemic was the catalyst to take a leap of faith and step out of her comfort zone. Networking has really moved on in recent years and lots of events now include ice breaker sessions to help attendees make connections.  

For tips on how to keep the conversation going when you are networking, Anna references the Diary Of A CEO podcast episode on public speaking with Vinh Giang, a communications coach who introduces the FORD framework, a useful method for starting conversations. FORD stands for family, occupation, recreation and dreams. In the podcast, Giang recommends talking around these topics as they are open ended, leading to a more freeflowing interaction.