18 Sep 2015  •  Our News  •  5min read By  • Amy D’Arcy-Burt

Behind the Scenes at our Regional Events with Amy D’Arcy-Burt

With the new series of Regional Events now up and running, Events and Marketing Assistant Beth Brown caught up with Amy D’Arcy-Burt to see how her first few events have gone.

For those of you who don’t know Amy, she is one of our Regional Support Managers (RSMs) who looks after many of our southern practices, from the coast of Bournemouth to Portsmouth and up to London and Oxford.

Amy has been running informal ‘Breakfast Clubs’ for her practices for many years now and was therefore really keen to get her teeth stuck in to these new events! Amy volunteered herself to be the first of our RSM’s to host a Regional Event in her area.

This new series of events was developed earlier this year to help provide bespoke training solutions to our practices on their doorsteps at a low cost. The Regional Events are informative yet informal, providing delegates with practical dental business tips in a relaxed environment.

BB: First of all, tell me why you were so keen to start hosting your own Regional Events?

ADB: My practices inspire me to provide that little bit extra for them, my ‘Breakfast Clubs’ help me to do that, but I wanted to kick-start these events and enhance the support I give to my practices and help them to thrive.

BB: With an array of topics and speakers lined up to present these events, how did you choose the topic for your first event?

ADB: I asked my practices what training they need – they are the ones that choose the topic, not me! The first Regional Event I hosted was an e-marketing event back in April with Brendon Macdonald of dental digital marketing agency ApexHub. This was a niche topic that practices really striving to be one step ahead wanted training and support on, so I was thrilled to be able to provide them with that support.

BB: After e-marketing, what was next on your agenda?

ADB: My practices told me they wanted support with CQC requirements. Since the changes were made earlier this year, there has been a lot of uncertainty about what practices need to do to remain compliant. I therefore hosted two workshops focusing on these key CQC changes and essential information my practices needed to know. The workshops were hosted by Pat Langley of Apolline, both of which were fully booked, which shows what a hot topic it is! The feedback from the workshops was fantastic, so big thanks to Pat.

Pat Langley CQC Worksho[

BB: Now you’ve hosted a number of Regional Events, what has the reaction been?

ADB: We’ve had some great feedback from clients about the events so far. I think people appreciate quality training events at a really low price and my clients are thrilled that the events are now coming to their doorstep on a frequent basis. Also, because the events are three to four hour sessions, it’s not a whole day out of the practice, which is a big plus point.

BB: What about you – how are you finding hosting your own events?

ADB: It’s been a real learning curve for me! I am always trying to find ways to improve our future events and offer a better experience. I’m really enjoying hosting these events, it’s so satisfying to see my practices engaging and interacting with each other, forming lasting connections and friendships. We’ve built up a great network of like-minded people and hopefully it will continue to grow!

BB: What events have you got coming up later in the year?

ADB: I’ve got two more events to squeeze in before the year’s over! In November I’m hosting an event with Richard Collard, Director of Medenta Finance, in the New Forest. The event will focus on turning telephone enquiries into consultations. Later on this year, I’ll also be running an event with well-known Dental Business Coach Ashley Latter which will support practices by giving a step-by-step approach on how to get more patients signed up to your dental membership plan in an ethical way.

BB: If you were to sum up your first few Regional Events in three words, what would they be?

ADB: Inspiring! Informative! Engaging! The best bit… the Practice Plan family coming together more regularly!

Keep your eyes peeled for more details on our upcoming Regional Events on the events page of our website.

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