At the East Midlands Property Dinner awards 2009 the firm was lucky enough to win ‘agent of the year 2009’ – presented by sponsors Invest in Nottingham.

Tim Garratt & Matthew Hannah collect Agent of the Year Award from Lorraine Baggs

The event was very good (we were in a good mood!) and was presented by compere Giles Brandreth. A good compere holds an audience and Giles did this brilliantly. His irreverent but topical comments were very good. And relevant.

It was at the end though that I thought he excelled.

After all of the celebrations he took two minutes to say something that struck home. The essence of the talk was that Dinners were more than just a boost of ego’s, but rather an opportunity to meet people. And that meeting of people (networking the marketers would have it) is critical to business. It is important that we know who we are dealing with, that we like them and we trust them. And the internet or emails (or even blogs!) cannot do that.

We are a social species and we rely on contact with other human beings.

I was reminded of a story I was told some time ago about a very large Insurance company who, once per month took all of the staff to a venue so they could talk to each other. They communicated all day, every day, but vie email. The company recognized that this was not always a good thing – and that ‘putting a face to a name’ was very important.

I was impressed with Giles ending poem:

From quiet homes and first beginning,
Out to the undiscovered ends,
There’s nothing worth the wear of winning,
But laughter and the love of friends

Business friends have a true place in our lives – and can make the difference between a menial job and one which is self-fulfilling.

Getting out of the office can be good for the soul!