With six weeks to go, bookings are stacking up for this year’s Ladder Club seminar, which will take place for the first time at London’s Business Design Centre, on Thursday 28 November.
“The venue has changed, the subjects covered have evolved, but the essence of The Ladder Club remains true to those very first seminars that Lynn Tait and I organised over 20 years ago – to help would-be, newbie and emerging publishers climb onto and up the greeting card ladder, enabling them to avoid common pitfalls and enjoy the abundant camaraderie of the industry,” said Jakki Brown, joint md of Max Publishing, which runs The Ladder Club.
This year’s one-day seminar will include a stellar line-up of speakers. Award-winning retailer (and PG columnist), David Robertson, md of JP Pozzi, in Buckie and Elgin, will share his insights from behind the counter into what retailers want from card publishers and importantly, what they don’t want.
Well-loved independent sales agent, Rose Trow will reveal what goes on inside an agent’s head and what publishers need to consider to first attract an agent to carry their ranges as well as what will keep them happy.
The Art File’s co-founder Ged Mace will share his wealth of experience of running a successful greeting card business, including how to ensure that the costs of producing cards are kept at a viable level while Megan Purdie, the founder of Megan Claire will share her amazing journey from her leap of faith from an online start-up to leading design-led brand.
Andy Paterson, sales director of Woodmansterne will demystify how brokerage works in the card trade and the things for publishers to consider if they are approached to supply a broker.
The bedrock of The Ladder Club is its loyal group of sponsors – The Imaging Centre, Loxleys/Sherwood, GF Smith, Enveco, the GCA and PG Live – who will collectively cover all the cogs in the wheel of taking an idea of a card design right through production before it makes its way to retailers and ultimately the consumer.
“I learned how to do everything properly – not just winging it!” was Emma Bryan of Emma Bryan Designs’ summary of the benefits of attending The Ladder Club seminar last year.
For Sarah Burman of Burman Designs it was the “wealth of information, the little tit bits you wouldn’t think of or have any idea of where to find out about them,” that stood out for her from her Ladder Club experience.
To get more of a flavour of what treats The Ladder Club dishes up for publishers – take a look at last year’s event photos here, or browse video clips from last year’s attendees here.
The cost of attending The Ladder Club is £90 (+VAT), which includes refreshments and lunch. To book a place at The Ladder Club 2019, you can do so easily online on www.max-subscriptions.net/tickets/, or by contacting Clare Hollick of Keystone Communications (who looks after the booking for The Ladder Club) on clare@keystonecomms.co.uk, call her on 01733 294524.
There will be a ‘meet up’ dinner the evening before The Ladder Club, which is especially useful and enjoyable. This will be held in a pub close to the BDC.
For more information on The Ladder Club contact PG’s Tracey Arnaud on traceya@max-publishing.co.uk or call her on 01234 740051/ 07957 212062, or email Jakki Brown on jakkib@max-publishing.co.uk or call her on 0207 700 6740.
Top: The Art File’s Ged Mace, South West agent Rose Trow and retailer extraordinaire, David Robertson are to speak at this year’s Ladder Club.
