A trio of networking events: the inaugural Standingoutaganza

On Saturday, October 10th, I had a wonderful fun- and food-filled day in London Town . It was a day that started relatively early – I caught the train down to London in the morning to meet Mathilde, my business buddy. We met up for brunch and chatted about a few things business-related and other things not quite so business-related, but it was great to catch up. We then headed to La Lumière, a slightly odd looking building on Silex Street in Southwark in London. I was delighted to take part in the inaugural Standingoutaganza.

Standing Out® is a group on Facebook for freelance translators and interpreters that promotes and advocates changing things if things aren't quite going the way you want them to. It is also a positive, encouraging and supportive group cherished by many different people. There were 80 of us in total at the Standingoutaganza and it started with lunch (with some fabulous slow-cooked lamb that just fell off the bone – it was beautiful). There was then time for some networking followed by a two-hour workshop.

We discussed Standing Out®, where it started, what it means now and what it could mean in the future. There were some really exciting ideas and it was a fantastic opportunity to meet people in the real world when you think you already know a certain side of them in the virtual world. In small groups, we were asked to come up with a list of things that we thought Standing Out® stands for and I think you'll agree that it's a pretty impressive list:

After the Standingoutaganza drew to a close (far too quickly for my liking but hopefully the next one will last a bit longer), I then went and met an old school friend and we had a delightful curry at Dishoom in King's Cross. If anyone's ever in that area, I can highly recommend it – the food was yummy. I then headed home after such a fantastic day; I enjoyed every moment of it, and I'm looking forward to the 2016 additions of the Standingoutaganza – word on the street is that there there will be two next year! One possibly in Hamburg, which is a beautiful city and it'll certainly be an opportunity for me to visit my friends in Kiel, and possibly one in Porto, which is somewhere that's always been on my list.