Packed agenda revealed for seminar to help would-be and upcoming greetings publishers
It’s just over a week to The Ladder Club’s big day, with the revival of the seminars for greeting card newbies taking place a week on Friday, 1 December.
And the agenda for the first Ladder Club event in four years has just been released with a packed schedule from registration at 9.30am through to the final scoop-up of loose ends and questions for all speakers to finish at 5pm.
Ladder Club co-founder Jakki Brown kicks things off at 10am with the welcome speech and intro to speakers and sponsors, before putting on her Max Publishing hat with co-director Warren Lomax to set the scene on the UK’s world-leading greeting card industry.
Jakki said: “We really hope that coming to The Ladder Club seminar will not only help you and your business, but will also be enjoyable, enabling you to forge valuable relationships with your fellow Ladder Clubbies and supporters.
“We’ll have handouts for some of the presentations, plus a goody bag of samples from some of our wonderful sponsors and supporters.”
Next up will be Bob and Adam Short, founder and md of The Imaging Centre, speaking on behalf of themselves and Ladder Club supporters Enveco, G.F Smith and Loxleys to work through the print process from imagination to actuality.
Brainbox Candy director and co-founder Ben Hickman follows with business advice demonstrating great designs are only part of the picture, Loxleys md Tony Lorriman will touch on recent developments that further improve the industry’s eco-credentials, with G.F Smith’s greeting card consultant Mark Jessett talking about paper and board, and Enveco’s Lucy Glover adding a whistlestop tour of envelope trends.
The GCA’s Amanda Fergusson and Adriana Lovesy will pop up for information and advice on support and help available from the industry association, then Ladder Club graduate Hannah Dale shares how she’s done things her way to build the Wrendale Designs phenomenon – and that’s all before lunch!
JJ Agencies’ Jo Bannister starts the afternoon session by taking people inside a freelance sales agent’s brain, before Red Card owner Sally Matson explains what retailers want, then the Progressive Greetings team cover making the most of the free editorial opportunities in PG and PG Buzz and why you should enter The Henries Awards, and the PG Live team work through some of the steps of being part of the only dedicated greeting card trade show.
Talking of trade shows, PG Live’s operations director Jim Bullough and Brainbox Candy’s Ben Hickman cover the important practical aspects of exhibiting at any fair and, last but definitely not least, Ladder Club alumni Iain Hamilton, founder and chief nitwit of Bewilderbeest, shares his journey to tickling everyone’s funny bones with his humour ranges.
There are already 40 attendees already signed up for the 1 December seminar at London’s Business Design Centre, where there will be time to network during the tea breaks and buffet lunch – a few places are still available at £90 plus vat, the same price as in 2019.
To book your place, head to the dedicated secure site www.max-tickets.net or you can contact Max’s Jim Bullough, who is looking after the bookings, on jimb@max-publishing.co.uk or call him on 07734 111633.
Attendees have already been sent the agenda, and social media assets for newbies, sponsors and speakers to bang the drum for the Ladder Club, which Jakki set up with the late Lynn Tait, who sadly died in 2017, to help would-be and new publishers find their feet in the greeting card industry.
With some people staying over the evening before, Thursday, 30 November, there’s a meet-up from 6.30pm at The Skinny Kitchen right by the Business Design Centre where food is available at your own cost. Please contact Jim on jimb@max-publishing.co.uk or 07734 111633 by Monday, 27 November, so he can reserve a table, or at any time for more information on The Ladder Club.
