[gallery ids="4655,4677,4633" type="rectangular"]

The Giftware Association’s first educational event, the Trends Talks Day, was a resounding success for attendees as topics discussed included trends from the high street, through to social media and marketing to 2019’s colour of the year from Dulux. There was something for everyone with plenty of information to take home for the attendees and apply to their business, whether that is which platforms they use to promote their business on social or the next colour they will be using in their new designs. All the speakers were engaging, relevant and informative.

Kicking off the day was Michael Weedon, of exp2 and former BIRA Chairman with his facts and figures on the state of British high street, and it’s not all doom and gloom. Michael tells a tale of more hope and optimism, but also of actions needed to be taken by the government and those that can effectively change the future of the high street and make it a better place for business, which may involve a lot of adapting and improving in the ways that we shop.

David Glenwright, from JC Social Media, one of Birmingham’s premier agency for Social Media was up next educated the crowd on how best to use social media and the next ‘Big Things’ businesses should be looking towards in the future and how to use social media. Covering all topics from Twitter to Instagram through to how best to engage with members. One key tip to take away: don’t try to sell to potential customers, they will come to you if you post interesting relevant topics.

[gallery ids="4660,4661" type="rectangular"]

Our headline speaker was the Creative Director for Dulux, Marianne Shillingford, as well as an impressive background in colour and design, Marianne amazed the crowd with her knowledge and application of colour and unveiled the Dulux colour futures of the year as ‘Spiced Honey’ and all its usable palettes. She explained the current trends that have affected this colour again citing optimism, togetherness as the colour of the year usually matches the mood of the nation. She also talked the crowd through its four key components and palettes. Think palette for spaces for calm, Dream Palette for spaces for succeeding, Love palette for spaces for sharing and Act Palette for spaces for action, each with their own colours and end results, that a lot of the businesses in the room can apply to their products and gifts.

There was a networking event giving The GA team the chance to meet some of the members that they hadn’t previously met before at events like these such as the designers and marketing teams and a huge amount of appreciation for the speakers and the event itself.

“All the speakers were of my interest and kept the relevant subject’s fun. The food was lovely, and the staff were helpful” – Enveco

[gallery ids="4631,4664" type="rectangular"]

“Very interesting and inspiring day. Loved the variety and depth of all the talks. Looking forward to the next trends seminar already!” – Heaven Sends

“Absolutely delighted to be part of the GA's Trend Seminar, the speakers where all relevant to my design business, Colour, Social media and how the high street trends are. All these make a difference to how you look at promoting, designing and retail choices we make on a day to day basis. I would recommend this highly. Great Day!” – Meg Hawkins Art

“The Trend Seminar was extremely informative, with speakers whom were experts in their field. The day was well balanced and we took so much information away from the day!” – Buy From Shropshire

“I want to thank you and your team for organising an amazing seminar yesterday. All the speakers were engaging and everything they said had relevance to my business. Our three designers came away buzzing about the trend presentation by Marianne Shillingford. I would highly recommend that all GA members take advantage of such events – this is the best seminar I’ve attended in a decade!

Well done the GA” – The Art File

Sarah ward said of the day, “It’s great to get so many people in a room together and taking the time out of their busy schedules, we know with Christmas coming up it’s a busy time of the year, but the amount of knowledge imparted by the speakers was amazing and ensured that this event was well worth the journey to our offices. All the speakers were fantastic in their own ways and impressed the crowd greatly.”