Northern Packaging Professionals!
If you’re anything like me, you’ll enjoy meeting up with industry colleagues at packaging shows and events, but find that living in the North of England it is usually a long way to travel. For some time now I’ve been thinking of starting networking sessions for those of us working in the North of England – the facebook group UK Packaging Professionals Discussion was created as a starting point. I’ve spoken with a lot of people in the course of this year. After careful consideration I’m excited to let you know that I have agreed to chair the northern branch of The Packaging Society – NEPkgS. I’ve been a member since I started the Diploma in Packaging course in 2004 and although there are excellent events planned by TPS in London and Nottingham, have been disappointed by the level of activity here in the North. The only way to fix that is to do something about it, and with the help of my occasional colleague and associate Steve Jackson will be organising the first of, hopefully, many meetings in the North of England soon. You will not have to join up to attend – we just want to get as many people together as possible.
The North of England Packaging Society covers all of Yorkshire, and the North West and North East up to the Scottish border. Ideally, I’d like every packaging professional in the region to be within an easy drive of at least two events a year. This is a big ask – we’re effectively starting from scratch so this is where you come in.
Please get in touch if you;
- Have ideas of who you would like to see speak, where you would like to visit or know a great place for a social
- Are interested in hosting an event /tour at your workplace,
- Would like to speak at an event
- Help us organise an event near you
Events could be a simple meet up for networking drinks, a talk by an industry expert, a visit to a manufacturer – anything packaging related.
If you are already a member of TPS, keep an eye out for emails and newsletters with details of the new events (it’s also a good idea check your preferences for communication are up to date in your IOM3 login, if you use it). Events should also appear in the events section of Materials World magazine.
Non-members can join the UK Packaging Professionals Discussion Group on facebook (completely independent of TPS, but run by myself and a few others), connect with me on Linked-in or subscribe to my monthly newsletter to be notified of new events.
If the last few months have shown us anything it is that us packaging professionals need to stick together, we do a lot of chatting online, but it would be good to do it in person!
Cheers,
Sarah
