BRIGHTON AND HOVE
MY FIRST WEEK By Amy Lishman, Membership Manager
A
t the start of May, I joined Brighton Chamber as the new Membership Manager. My job as Membership Manager is to get to know Chamber members and help them make the most of their membership, and to find new businesses who want to join one of the most active and diverse Chambers of Commerce in the UK. Usually the first week of any new job is a series of inductions, getting to grips with systems and processes and finding out where the tea and coffee is. My first week was a little different thanks to the Chamber’s action packed events diary. Here’s a little flavour of my first week as Membership Manager. The highlight of my first day was joining part of the #GoDoBootcamp, a dynamic induction process with the new intake of entrepreneurs at Entrepreneurial Spark, the world’s largest free business accelerator for early stage and growing ventures (The Chamber is based in the Brighton Hub). I love the atmosphere and spirit of community at
the hub already and it was only day one.
things differently.
Tuesday was a day of meeting Chamber members and I hosted one of our fortnightly member meet-ups for businesses. We chatted about what they do, who they’d like to meet and ways to connect with local businesses. These sessions are a great chance for new (and not so new!) members to get together, start building their own network and to chat in a small group about the ways they can use their membership. After work we ran our New Member Welcome, kindly hosted by Heart FM, where new members come along to find out how they might use the Chamber to grow their business.
On Thursday the Chamber team were at the Let’s do Business Brighton Expo, now in its 8th year. We had a colourful stand with fresh fruit and free massages courtesy of member Back2Balance - perfect after standing on your feet all day!
It was an early start on Wednesday for our Pop Up breakfast hosted by Brighton Spiegeltent. 120 people networked and enjoyed the delicious breakfast baps from Spade and Spoon, and exhilarating performances from Head Start Acrobats, who performed a showcase from their Brighton Fringe show. It was an inspiring and energetic start to a Wednesday. It confirmed to me that Brighton Chamber likes to do
Friday was all about catching up after a busy week. There was a lot of interest in the Chamber at the Let’s Do Business Expo, so my priority was getting in touch with people who wanted to know more about membership. I had a brilliant first week at the Chamber and the next month promises to be much of the same. If my first week is anything to go by, I can assure you it’ll be anything but dull!
To find out more about membership and how it could help your business, contact Amy on membership@businessinbrighton. org.uk or call 01273 719097 Photos by Vervate
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