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Past Events

Networking events are usually held on the second Tuesday of every month. In the past, we have invited inspirational speakers from business, enterprise and the not-for-profit sectors, we have provided skills for business and personal development, and we have held table networking events - all to keep the activity varied.

Our events in the last year are listed below.  

 

Women of Influence - Leading the Way

Date: 17 January 2012
Venue: Alla Turca, 192 Pitt St, Glasgow G2 4DY
Description: “Women of Influence” is our new theme for SWIB keynote speakers.

We were delighted to welcome Mary Craig OBE as our speaker. Mary is CEO of Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland. Mary shared her thoughts on leadership and gave practical and thought-provoking tips on being a great leader.

Laughing our way to Christmas!

Date: 13 December 2011
Venue: The Corinthian Club, 191 Ingram Street, Glasgow G1 1DA
Description: SWIB's Christmas event kicked things off with an uplifting and de-stressing laughter workout from Sharon Miller of Joyworks. It didn't take long for everyone to be laughing!

There were plenty of prizes to be won in the annual SWIB Christmas raffle, which raised nearly £500 for our Charity of the Year, the Emma Cameron Foundation.
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Venue fantastic as always. Excellent service.

A really enjoyable evening, just Christmassy enough and the raffles were amazing!

Great venue, had the 'zhuzh' that was just right for Christmas. Lighthearted workshop also perfectly pitched for this event.

There were also a fair number of comments about the food (which was disappointing) - this has been noted!

All a-board! with Lindsay Burley

Date: 08 November 2011
Venue: Mansionhouse, 20 Glassford Street, Glasgow, G1 1UL
Description: SWIB was pleased to welcome Lindsay Burley as our speaker, who outlined her journey from doctor, through health service manager to non-executive director and health board chair. Lindsay provided insights into being part of a board and how to apply to join one - perseverance can be key!

Winning business by collaborating

Date: 11 October 2011
Venue: Esca, 27 Chisholm Street, Glasgow G1 5HA
Description: We were delighted to welcome the Chief Executive of Co-operative Development Scotland, Sarah Deas, to this event, to explore how, by working together, businesses can achieve scale in buying, producing and selling.

Sarah gave us an informative talk, cleverly illustrated with toys and PlayDoh!
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There was a warm atmosphere and the company was good.

Food and venue good

Speaker was excellent & informative. Good networking at our table.

Great event

The speaker was very inspiring and Julie's presentation of Emma's charity was excellent.

I had a really good time with the people at my table - great SWIB company.

Venue lovely!

AGM & guest speaker Dame Elish Angiolini

Date: 13 September 2011
Venue: 29, Royal Exchange Square, Glasgow G1 3AJ
Description: SWIB returned to 29 for its Annual General Meeting and kick-off event for the new presidential year.

We were delighted to welcome Dame Elish Angiolini as our guest speaker at this event.
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The venue and the meal were excellent. I thoroughly enjoyed the evening and look forward to our next meeting.

The food, venue, timing etc excellent

Great venue and menu

A great night, excellent speaker and good in-depth chat about our businesses at the table I was at.

Food was good but portions a bit too big!

Very impressed by the speaker, a real privilege to hear Elish.

Outstanding speaker. Great service.

I was hugely impressed with Elish and I hope we can get more people of that calibre in future.

Really enjoyed hearing Elish Angiolini's entertaining speech. The food was wonderful and loved the atmosphere at the event - silver candleabras were wonderful.

Great venue, truly excellent speaker

August - summer lunch

Date: 09 August 2011
Venue: The Glasgow Art Club, 185 Bath Street, Glasgow G2 4HU
Description: Michelle Rodger shared her wisdom on how to write a killer press release and other media tricks of the trade.

Understand what's important to your readers (far harder than you might think), identify and READ the relevant press before you send in your release, get the journalist's name right, keep it succinct, use social media as well as mainstream press and specialist publications, and avoid technical terms & typos - just some of the helpful tips we were given.
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An excellent event

Food was very different but very good

Venue excellent

Good comments at our table about the food – different and tasty

Veggie food was excellent

Great event, thank you

Very good event: venue much nicer than expected, food much nicer and better presented than expected too

Timing seemed perfect and very nice that some people lingered for more chat

July event - summer barbecue

Date: 12 July 2011
Venue: House for an Art Lover, Bellahouston
Description: The barbecue was a table networking event so - even though the weather was kinder this year - we ate inside in the excellent Art Lovers Cafe.

Judging by the buzz of conversation, everyone had a busy time networking over plentiful food! In the member slot, Gloria Murray's tips for business growth were much appreciated.
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An excellent evening where all elements came together so well. As usual a great group of women and one of the best events I have been to this year - and there have been so many. It is difficult to think of anything more constructive to say, other than to keep up the excellent standards and keep raising the bar!

Lovely venue and food and timing was perfect.

The whole evening went well from beginning to end,food was great and there was a lovely relaxed atmosphere. Enjoyed the extra time to network and table swap.

Venue and timings were perfect

Lovely event.

Food and venue both fantastic but there was such a social buzz that we didn't get to everyone for the networking game! I wasn't too worried though as I had a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

Well organised as usual and lovely venue/food.

Very well organised.

Food was excellent and service well managed. Great networking

Excellent venue, great food.

Best ever!

An absolutely lovely venue and a very relaxed evening.

Making Social Media Work for You

Date: 14 June 2011
Venue: The Red Onion, 257 West Campbell Street, Glasgow G2 4TT
Description: Facilitated by Jackie Cameron of Cameron Consulting, we explored areas such as getting your social media strategy right, using your online time effectively, when quality means just as much as quantity and why you should be aware of your social media footprint.

We also heard from real businesses who have gained a wide range of benefits from using social media - as a communications tool, a hard-working promotional channel and - yes! - as a tangible positive effect on their bottom line.
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This was my first time and I really enjoyed it. The food was lovely, talks interesting and the girls I met were great. Will definitely be joining. Thank you.

Timing worked really well, This was my second meeting and I really enjoyed myself again, for some reason networking at SWIB events is far more relaxed and everyone is friendly and interesting.

This was my first time at one of these events. I loved the buzz I heard as soon as I walked in the door. I was immediately made to feel welcome - the format was great - I liked the fast pace and the fact that we were able to lunch and learn.

The food was delicious. Content was very good. I liked the member case studies.

Very good event

Venue and food were top class.

Beautiful venue, good service. Especially enjoyed Gillian and Morag's input.

Excellent food. Relaxed atmosphere.

The venue was very good

Impressed with food and venue. Overall an excellent meeting.

Great venue, much preferred Red Onion and would be more likely to attend again if another event at this venue.

Lively venue, good food

Red Onion was fab, I will be fantasising about that steak/frites combo for some time. It was a crammed-full agenda but Jackie's talk was perfectly pitched.

Event great as usual, would have liked more time in this topic to hear from member speakers

The venue was great and the speakers were really interesting.

May event - Jilli Blackwood

Date: 10 May 2011
Venue: The Corinthian Club, 191 Ingram Street, Glasgow G1 1DA
Description: Jilli Blackwood was our speaker at this event. Jilli is an internationally known textile designer and artist, but also witty, entertaining and inspirational in what she has achieved. Her illustrated talk demonstrated the breadth and originality of her work, especially the costumes for the Commonwealth Games Handover Ceremony in Delhi, 2010.
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Great speaker

Enjoyed speakers, their knowledge and passion

Good food, unobtrusive service, impressive venue

Thought venue was excellent, staff were very attentive and the food was high quality

Meet Fiona Chung - President of ASB

Date: 12 April 2011
Venue: Tapela, 104 Bath St, Glasgow G2 2EN
Description: Fiona Chung, President of the Association of Scottish Businesswomen, was our guest speaker at this event, and described what the ASB is and does to us. The event also featured table networking with a "table swap" during the meal.
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Good food, very noisy with chatter – great!

The restaurant accommodated my food allergies brilliantly so thanks for passing it on. Great event, thanks!

The team at the venue were lovely and sorted out my complicated catering!

Enjoyable

Good networking event

Good opportunity to get an understanding of how to help each other

Lizzie’s member slot was VERY good!

Networking lunch at Princes Square

Date: 08 March 2011
Venue: The Restaurant Bar & Grill, 2nd Floor Princes Sq, Buchanan Street , G1 3JX
Description: The popular table-swapping format returned to SWIB for our March event.
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Very welcoming and well organised

Excellent networking

Excellent member slot.

The speaker was fantastic! Very thought provoking.

Enjoyed the event. Felt welcoming, looked after. Met some interesting, friendly people

Well organised, good food and service. Good room

Very relaxed and enjoyable. Food was good, as was the service

Venue had lots of room to move around and meet. Being able to change tables between courses is very valuable.

Food good. Venue spacious and comfortable

Enjoyed the table networking. Also a great crowd, enjoyed meeting everyone.

My first event and was very pleased at how friendly and helpful people are

Met my very high expectations! Annie was very good, liked her talk about interns.

Excellent food. Central venue ideal, especially for lunchtime event.

Food was fabulous!

Meet Scotland's first female Chief Constable

Date: 08 February 2011
Venue: La Bonne Auberge, Holiday Inn Theatreland
Description: Norma Graham, Chief Constable of Fife Constabulary, was an excellent speaker at this event.

Her talk was inspiring, practical, thought-provoking and funny, and - as the feedback shows - much appreciated by those who came.
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"excellent speaker"

"I really enjoyed tonight"

"speaker very good"

"speaker was very interesting & entertaining"

"very much enjoyed Norma's talk - very inspiring"

"excellent well thought through presentation - inspiring"

"the speaker was very inspiring"

"Norma was fascinating - I was unsure what to expect but really enjoyed her talk"

"I wasn't expecting to enjoy Norma's talk as much as I did - very inspirational and positive"

"A quick note to say thanks for arranging tonight's speaker. Really enjoyed her talk, and was very impressed by the fact that she had taken the time to do some background research on SWIB. Also liked the way she drew some parallels between police work and the business world."


Previous speakers have included:

Kaye Adams 
Mary Dickson - managing director of First ScotRail
Cordelia Ditton - founder of Voicebusiness
Nora Farrell - managing director of Weber Shandwick
Charan Gill - entrepreneur
Nicola Horlick – founder of Bramdean Asset Management
Lorna Hughes - deputy editor Sunday Mail 
Viv Lumsden
Natasha Marshall - founder of Natasha Marshall Fabrics and Wallcoverings
Jaclyn McKie - Isle of Arran Distillers
Alison Peebles - actress and director
Judith Robertson - head of Oxfam in Scotland
Anne & Mhairi Rushforth - of Scotnursing & Halo Nurseries respectively
Linda Urquhart OBE  - Morton Fraser (& CBI Scotland)
Susan Walsh - principal of Cardonald College
Tina Waters - founder of the Tour Company
Lena Wilson - Chief Executive of Scottish Enterprise

Special events have included:

An open-top bus tour of Glasgow
A cocktail masterclass at Cafe Mao
An evening at the Tron Threatre, including a performance by Reeling & Writhing

We've been to venues such as Hotel du Vin (previously One Devonshire Gardens), the Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum, House for an Art Lover, Chardon D'Or, The Tron, Sloans, Abode, Two Fat Ladies and the Willow Tea Rooms. Not to mention Harry Ramsden's!