The whole event was brimming with inspiration and thought-provoking conversations, providing us with the opportunity to be part of a community of 'changemakers'. With an impressive lineup of speakers and engaging conversations, attendees were able to share their ideas and information, encouraging a collaborative environment to take action and support one another.

One of my key takeaways from the Summit is the importance of taking personal action. If each person took on a small responsibility, the collective impact would be significant. This was illustrated by the metaphor of planting a seed, which will ultimately lead to growth, and directed at the audience with the question "What seed will you plant today?".

An inspiring example of taking personal action to create a positive impact is the company "Farm Urban." Their goal is to make cities, towns, and organisations greener, healthier, and more inclusive. During a panel discussion, Dr Paul Myres shared how the business began with the simple idea of installing small-scale urban farming systems across the city, empowering communities to grow fresh, nutritious food locally. His example illustrates how one idea can have a wide range of impacts beyond the initial intention. Sometimes, growing ideas from seeds can be literal.

The next discussion was just as engaging – a lot of which can be attributed to the fantastic Jannine Barron (who we are lucky enough to have as our mentor) and her empowering energy booster, which involved a thigh-slapping rendition of Queen’s ‘We Will Rock You’. Interestingly, the final discussion of the day included a nice link back to my previous thoughts thanks to the input of Erika Rushton from Kindred. I won't go into too much detail, but just remember, sometimes in order to solve the big issues of the day you need to start with picking up dog shit.

Our CEO, Russ, also facilitated one of the day’s Catalyst Conversations. The session was titled “We need to sack whoever is doing the climate crisis PR” and Russ was joined by a brilliant panel comprising: Simon Thomason of Leap; Ilona Alcock of Elevate; Richard Dickson of Play It Green; and Maria Soleil of Soleil Marketing.

Russ kicked off the conversation by asking why mankind’s most important message has faltered. An engaging 40-minute discussion followed, during which Russ and the panel covered topics such as the difference between opinion pieces and actual news content, the spin that is given to climate change stories by climate deniers, how we can use creative marketing and branding to change public perceptions about climate change, and what we can do to reach beyond the echo chamber and get everyone engaged. It was a brilliant and oversubscribed session, so definitely check out the audio recording when it becomes available.

Because we don't like showing up empty handed, Tim designed the banners and cards for the event, which made the perfect photo backdrop for social media snaps. In turn, Russ took on the responsibility of writing the Summit Manifesto, which led to an incredibly powerful end to the Summit, giving us all goosebumps when it was showed as a video to the whole audience (see below). Feedback was unanimously positive, with someone telling Russ: “I’ve never been moved to tears by the closing words at a conference before.” Hopefully they meant it positively. While this would have been sufficient praise, Avery & Brown was actually acknowledged with an award for “Silent Helper”, which put a great end to our day. You heard it here first, we are now officially an award-winning agency!

The Summit was a complete success. It provided an opportunity to connect with loads of new people, listen to inspiring speeches, and motivate us to continue achieving great things at Avery & Brown. We are pretty sure that, together, we will make this a year like no other.

Enough talk, let's take action and make 2023 #TheBetterYear.