The 2009 Prowess Conference

This week I have attended my first Prowess conference. Having been ‘housebound’ with children for many years, I was excited, but rather worried about the whole thing. Not least because I was presenting at two sessions!
The conference was held at Blackpools Imperial Hotel, a stunning Victorian building, often used as a base for Political Conferences. I was looking forward to seeing the inside of the hotel, as I have been to the modern boring Hilton further along the prom, but never in the Imperial. I was not disappointed; the rooms were full of stunning original features, from ornate plasterwork to huge marble fireplaces. The service and staff were excellent too, and the bedrooms I saw were very nice! I would welcome an excuse to stay there ;-)


The first night of the Conference involved registering at the Hilton, then boarding specially booked trams to a drink reception at the wax works. The tram drivers initially had the wrong instructions, and deposited a bemused party at the shut Pleasure Beach, but it was the tram drivers turn to look bemused when he was asked if he could turn the tram around! However, we all made it to the right place and it was a great ice breaker as we had our photos taken with the rich and famous. This was followed by a trip back to the imperial and a hotpot and apple crumble supper – yummy!

The second day was BUSY. After the platform speakers we broke into workshops, where I was doing New Technology. The conference was booked out…and the New Technology workshop was the only session to be booked out before the event started – so no pressure! Elaine Owen chaired the session, and it went really well, to the point we had to stop answering questions as we ran into lunchtime. I had the afternoon off, so I went to a workshop on negotiation. Oddly enough the speaker lives about five miles from me, although we have never met and we got on well – just as well, as we were asked to work together on a workshop the final day. It was odd how alike we though about business!

The Prowess AGM followed the final workshop, but I missed it to sit with Jo and talk about the final workshop (My time, my pace), then it was time to change for dinner. The dinner was combined with the Prowess Awards, and was a great success. The table plans were well thought out and I was sat with people who I had never met before, but now plan to travel down to London to work with.The post dinner dance was the best attended I have ever scene at this type of event, and after it ended many people were still hanging around drinking and talking. I left at 3am, but I know others were up until 5am!

The final day started a little more subdued – for obvious reasons! I was presenting in the second workshop, and nearly fell asleep in the first one! Again it was a good day, with lots more networking. The closing speeches were good – but the highlight for me was hearing from Germaine Greer. She is an amazing woman – so dynamic!

I really enjoyed the whole event and can’t wait for next year. I have lots of follow up emails and phone calls to make – but unfortunately they will have to wait until I return from Bulgaria next week.