As I like to be different my week starts on Thursday 6 November and what a day!! It’s hectic with various supplier meetings, management meetings, personnel meetings and, yes, you have guessed it, meetings for meeting sake. As the day draws to a close I’m getting excited; I’m off to the 16th Annual SPAA Travel…
My Week – Kirsty Orr
As I like to be different my week starts on Thursday 6 November and what a day!! It’s hectic with various supplier meetings, management meetings, personnel meetings and, yes, you have guessed it, meetings for meeting sake.
As the day draws to a close I’m getting excited; I’m off to the 16th Annual SPAA Travel Awards.
The glad rags are on and I’m looking forward to what promises to be a lively, lavish and entertaining evening… I was not disappointed.
After the 28 awards winners were brought to stage, joined by another 600 guests, we danced the night away into the wee small hours of Friday morning.
If I say anymore then someone will have to kill me as we have all attended these “travel do’s” in the past so we know the score.
Friday is again hectic, for my sins I have arranged a breakfast meeting at the Hilton in Glasgow, not a great idea when being so tired after a heavy night the night before (and no it was not a hangover!).
Breakfast meeting is followed by two more supplier meetings before I head back to the office.
Eventually I get home and the evening is all mine; I crash out – the night before is now catching up on me.
At last the weekend is here and I spend as much time as I can with the family as they don’t get to see too much of me during the week.
I go and watch my son play football; I got the blame that his team lost because I was there as I don’t normally go – typical.
Later I go swimming with my daughter and then head off into town with friends for a meal and a visit to the casino. I’m no gambler but don’t mind a flutter.
Sunday goes too quick and it’s back into the office very early on Monday morning. Typical morning of general management of the business; the MD is off on holiday.
I leave the office at 2pm, late as usual and with having had no lunch, to catch a flight from Glasgow to London City; I’m off to WTM. I have a quiet night on Monday in preparation for WTM on Tuesday.
Arrive at Excel on Tuesday and immediately I’m impressed yet again with the venue; I have that sense of “bizz” all around me; it’s only 0910 and the place is packed.
I head to the Global Village and visit our stand in the Technology area. It’s busy already. The venue officially opens at 10am so I don’t know where everyone was coming from, but it was great.
I have numerous business meetings planned throughout the day, going from one end of Excel to the other – I was shattered and believe me never again will I wear high heeled shoes just to look glam.
Going from the Global Village and Technology area through to Europe, from Asia through to the Americas it was heaving with people all conducting their business around me.
Having a cup of coffee was like being in a meeting zone; everyone there was either ironing out contracts, signing contracts, you name it they were doing it.
My only criticism of the venue is that there are not enough areas to go and sit with a customer or client if you don’t have a stand big enough to have to cope. At one point I thought there was going to be a fight for a table at Costa Coffee!
All in all I thought WTM was great this year, very well organised and a very worthwhile visit for me to make.
Back to the office now and it’s all systems go – customers going live, new products being delivered, new customer contracts going out. I’m looking forward to the next weekend for some quality family time – surely it must be here soon?
Kirsty Orr is deputy managing director for Traveltek
