With Harrogate Home & Gift last week and PG Live kicking off tomorrow in London’s BDC, diaries are being filled with real events after what has been such a long time – with the booking line having now gone live for the GCA AGM and Conference, which is all set to take place in Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall on Thursday 14 October.
The full day conference and AGM will bring together the association’s publisher, retailer and trade supplier members, who will be treated to a great line-up of speakers on top of the enjoyable networking opportunities.
“I am so proud that our great creative city will be hosting this year’s AGM,” said Karen Wilson, co-owner of Paper Salad who, together with fellow Manchester-based publishers on the Council; Rachel Hare, md of Belly Button Design and Raj Arora, md of Davora have secured the perfect venue as well as working with Amanda Fergusson, ceo of the GCA to build a cracking agenda.
Rachel Hare, reigning president of the GCA is delighted that, having been held virtually last year for Covid-reasons that this year the physical gathering will take place in the creative powerhouse of Manchester, and has encapsulated the vibrancy of the city in the livery for the event.
Taking to the speaker’s podium will be David Greaves, joint managing director of Emotional Rescue, who hails from Manchester, leading independent retailer David Robertson and Jo Bennett, studio director of Card Factory.
“After well over a year of partial isolation we’ve all faced, I am really looking forward to seeing and welcoming everyone to my home city,” said David Greaves.
Alluding to the fact that they are both avid Manchester United fans and good friends, David Robertson quipped that he felt honoured to be sharing the stage with David. “The event will have two strikers – we could be the Yorke and Cole of the card trade!” referencing the winning combination of Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke, who scored 53 goals between them in during the 1998/99 season that defined an entire era of dominance for Manchester United.
“The agenda will also cover key issues affecting our industry, the latest greeting card facts and figures from the GCA Annual Market Report, and we’ll also releasing the results of the Consumer Research exploring the changes we are seeing in greeting card buying behaviour by region and ethnicity,” confirmed Amanda. “The afternoon session will include a Panel Discussion, with our expert Panel responding to questions. Please contact us with the topics you’d like our Panel to cover, and the questions you’d like answered and we will then assemble our panel accordingly,” she added.
The event will start with networking coffee and biscuits at 10.30am. There will be a further coffee break and lunch, giving everyone lots of time to meet up with old and new friends and talk to suppliers. The day will end about 4pm.
Tickets cost £75 (+VAT) and can be booked online via the GCA website, which can be accessed by clicking here.
