Today, we’re setting out our plans for the Powwow in 2015. (Just click through the slideshow above for the potted summary.)
It’s been two years since the idea of an unconference-style Paraplanners Powwow was originally floated – and almost 18 months since the first national event was held.
Since then we’ve held a second national Powwow and – including today’s Powwow In The Middle and North of the Border – a total of nine Powwow events.
In the past year-and-a-half, more than 300 paraplanners have participated in Powwows in Edinburgh, London (x 2), Manchester, Nottingham (x 2) and Leeds.
No fewer than 16 paraplanners have teamed up to organise mini Powwows – for some it’s the first event they’ve ever had a chance to organise in their career so far.
Thanks to the participation of paraplanners across the country, it’s fair to say the Powwow is a flourishing not-for-profit movement.
And thanks to Powwow supporters – 7IM, AXA Wealth, James Hay Partnership, Prudential and Transact – we’ll be able to stage another national Powwow in 2015 and invest in new ways to Powwow.
Because that’s what we want to do this year: To extend the reach of the Powwows so no matter who you are, where you are and how you do it, if you’re a paraplanner you can take part in Powwows.
To do it, we’re going to expand the ways that paraplanners can participate in Powwows. In 2015, we’ll introduce:
- Howwows: Webcast-based powwows – with content voted for by Powwowers – offering practical tips on day-to-day paraplanning including techniques, trends and technology.
- The Big Tent: A digital teepee for paraplanners with a forum for online debate and discussion hosted at a spruced-up Powwow website.
- Grow your own Powwow: We’ll make it easier for paraplanners create their own Powwows by providing the tools and behind-the-scenes support, to run a successful Powwow event.
What’s more – as we said in a recent post – we’re exploring the idea of shared ownership: a cooperative in which, if it’s possible, all Powwow participants will be entitled to an equal stake in the Powwows and their future.
BBC Radio Five Live’s Formula 1 pit-lane reporter, Jennie Gow, has clinched top prize in a dramatic finale to the fiercely contested Powwow Troll Picture competition.
CFP TrollJennie’s ‘Formula Troll’ snap (pictured above), which featured the Powwow Troll and newly-crowned Formula 1 drivers’ champion, Lewis Hamilton, at last month’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, edged out Jo Hague’s forensically accurate art installation ‘CFP Qualified Troll’ (pictured right) to take the title.
But with the contest only open to paraplanners, organisers were faced with a choice about whether to shortlist Jennie’s snaps of the flame-haired character and risk plunging the Powwower community into controversy.
In a move designed to stave off paraplanner protests, Powwow organisers opted to invite Powwowers to confirm or deny Jennie honorary Powwower status in an online poll.
As well as voting for the pictures themselves, Powwowers were invited to respond to the question: ‘Should TV and radio presenter Jennie Gow become an honourary Powwower because she took a Powwow Troll to the Grand Prix in Abu DhabSwizzels Hamper Boxi and managed to snap pictures featuring Lewis Hamilton and Daniel Riccardio?’
82% voted in favour of the unprecedented move, paving the way for the presenter of ITV Sport’s Formula E coverage – who is sister of Argonaut Paraplanning and Powwow Down South organiser Alan Gow – to be crowned Powwow Troll Picture title winner.
Both Jennie and Jo received personalised Swizzel’s gift boxes – like the one shown on the right – as prizes.
(Note: We may have embellished the controversy stuff a bit.)
Yes, that’s the Powwow Troll pictured with newly-crowned Formula One World Champion Lewis Hamilton in the background.
It seems it pays to have a sister who works for BBC Radio 5 Live. Especially when she’s the pit lane reporter for the station’s Formula One coverage.
We have no idea how it happened but Jennie Gow, sister of Powwow Down South organiser Alan Gow, travelled to last weekend’s Drivers’ Championship decider in Abu Dhabi with the Powwow Troll in tow.
And what a weekend Troll had: Posing with – among others – Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo(right, above) and taking a tour of the Mercedes-Benz team’s garage (right, below).
But does that mean Jennie Gow – a motorsport broadcaster with 5 Live and host of ITV’s Formula E coverage – will be the unlikely winner of a Powwow Troll picture competition? A competition which, strictly speaking, is only open to paraplanners?
Well it’s time for you to decide. It’s time to CAST YOUR VOTE in the poll to find the best Powwow Troll picture that’s been snapped since September’s Paraplanners Powwow. It’ll just take a minute so, to vote, just click the button below.
Meanwhile, here’s a selection of Powwow Troll snaps that you’ll be voting for (or not).
by Mike Dyke
It’s probably one of the best, if not the best, event for Paraplanners that has ever been created.
It takes all the normal rules of a conference – smart dress, delicate nibbles, polite conversation and technical sessions – and throws them out of the window.
This is an ‘un-conference’, which means the delegates get to choose pretty much everything that happens, from the topics to discuss to the very generous helping of sweets to the music in the background. What makes it even better is that the sponsors there are not allowed to promote their products! Woohoo!
The topics we chose were, of course, close to many Paraplanners’ hearts. To kick off with we had three group sessions that covered suitability reports and what we should/shouldn’t put in them; an equation on ‘trust’ from Cofunds and what technology do we use hosted by the always brilliant Jo Hague.
As the weather was so nice we all then got to sit outside on the grass – a bit like last day of school on a warm summers day – to discuss two of three offerings in the Pick ‘n’ Mix sessions – how can we keep up-to-date with industry knowledge and the sunset clause, cashflow planning and client reviews. The only problem was picking the two out the three you wanted to go to.
The Powwow wraps up with a session from Chris Darbyshire, which began with the history of futures (which dates back to 1700BC when they were used for trading slaves). This led on nicely to the Powwow itself where we discussed whether paraplanning should be regulated or not, whether there should be a minimum set of qualifications and, finally, whether paraplanning ever be automated – a notion widely and correctly described as RUBBISH!
The best bit of the Powwow is the ability to mingle with like-minded individuals over the course of a day to share and swap ideas.
As it turns out we are a very sharing bunch and everyone was very willing to explain how they do things. It’s also very good for getting new followers on Twitter and LinkedIn 😉
The Powwow boasts the best range of food I’ve ever had at an industry event. The pre-Powwow Chowwow at The Cartwright Hotel went down a treat for those who were there. The morning brought us some mouth-watering bacon butties which were followed by burgers, sausages, fajitas and even ice-cream for lunch. (Yum yum!) The range of drinks was equally impressive. They even had a long forgotten favourite of mine: Lilt!
What’s more, there was a box of chocolates on offer for the best-dressed for an unconference. And I can rightly say: They are very nice. (So I expect to see more people in shorts and t-shirts next year, weather permitting.)
Say ‘cheese’! It’s the Powwow 2014 portrait
Look! It’s the school photo from yesterday’s Paraplanners Powwow!
If you click on the image, it should open as a larger version which our photographer, Ady Kerry, says you are welcome to save on to your PC or mobile device. In other words, consider it yours; like the Powwow was.
By Claire Goodwin: So you’ve been to a powwow, you’ve read the blog posts and you think you might fancy organising a mini powwow of your own?
The interest in organising regional powwows has been so great that I thought you might like to know a few home truths about just what goes into these things. Although I’d like you to think we did a little charm dance and a powwow appeared, in reality it was quite hard work.
After you’ve read this, if I haven’t managed to put you off then dust yourself off, make yourself a cuppa and go plan powwow brilliance. You can do it!
So, let’s start at the beginning – why did we organise a regional powwow?
In all honesty it was a bit of a fluke. Jo and I are both passionate about paraplanning – we’ve been to the conferences, the meetings, embraced the social media thing and got the t-shirt.
We know how much of a difference it can make for paraplanners to get out there and network; the great stuff we all learn from it. We also know how important it is to raise awareness of what a paraplanner does.
We’ve been talking about arranging some kind of best practice discussion for almost a year. So when a sponsor approached us and offered to support us we almost bit his hand off!
But what then? How would this event look? How would we get people to go along? We were stumped. We tried to start organising but we didn’t get very far; we just didn’t have the structure or the systems.
By chance, out of nowhere, along came this. Ahhhhhaaaaaa a Powwow! A gathering of like minded individuals who were to meet to learn things, share things and fix things.
This was exactly what we were trying to do, just on a smaller scale and without the teepees, totem pole, or campfire (we decided to keep the chocolate idea, we could manage that one).
So the concept of the first regional powwow was born.
After some suitable flattery to the organisers of the main powwow we joined forces for the good of paraplanning and chocolate. Hurrah!
Now down to the serious business: what did it actually take to arrange Powwow Up North?
Well let’s start with a word to the wise shall we?
We are paraplanners; it’s our job, not our life.
Occasionally we might think or talk about our jobs outside of work but other than that we have families, friends, a social life, a whole other world. Organising a powwow seriously encroached into this.
Unless you are some kind of paraplanning automaton I’m guessing you have a life too. So ask yourself if you are willing to sidestep this real life for a few months. Prepare to eat sleep and drink the Powwow, because you will; you just can’t help it.
At ten o’clock one Saturday evening, Jo was overheard uttering swear words at the online ticketing system when she got a little frustrated with it. I woke up at 5.30 one Tuesday morning having had a nightmare because we all had exams coming up and we would have to spend three days away from the Powwow – what if something happened while no-one was available? – what about our powwow? It was quite traumatic!
It was probably equally traumatic for our loved ones and let’s not forget our employers in all of this.
If you are thinking of organising a powwow you will spend the majority of time outside of office hours sorting it out. But in all honesty, there were times when we had to do things IN office hours: conference calls, replying to emails, speaking to journalists etc.
This cannot be done without the support of an understanding employer and for this we are both grateful. You need to make sure that you have their support before you decide to put yourself forward for this. It’s great for personal development and CPD; there will be things that you learn that you can put into practice in your normal working environment but this will impact on you at work. There’s no getting around this fact.
Speaking to journalists can be fun too. One of my personal highlights was when Jo was misquoted in an article – ‘Clive Goodwin and I are organising a best practice meeting.’ – oh it was a sheer joy explaining to everyone that I was in fact ‘Clive’!
The logistical bit was actually quite easy once we had the support of the main Powwow; it was the emotional attachment that we hadn’t bargained for.
So Powwow Up North was not like speaking at a conference or writing a blog. Yes, we had to muster up the courage to stand in front of twenty-odd people and rouse them into a lively debate, to tap into what they wanted to talk about. We had to be prepared to improvise. More than that though, Powwow Up North was our baby.
For this reason, on Tuesday the 15th of October, I transformed into some kind of weird character that no-one recognised; a kind of cross between Christoph Waltz and Miranda Hart (yes, that weird).
When Jo saw me at the venue for the first time she said “Claire, are you ok? You seem a little…wired!”
Of course, she was spot on. I was a little ‘wired.’ But I didn’t need to be – thanks to the commitment of the people that turned up to powwow.
Everyone was happy to participate, share ideas, be open and honest in their discussions. Some people even brought their own chocolate! They were an awesome bunch.
The emails that we have had since, and the thanks on the day from our fellow Powwowers, have made it all worthwhile.
And that’s it.
That’s the spirit of the Powwow.
That’s why we did it; why we dreamt about it and why we lived Powwow Up North for a few months.
It was bloody well worth it.
By Jo Hague: Paraplanners joined together again recently to gather for Powwow Up North – the second in a series of opportunities for like-minded paraplanners to share their thoughts about the good, bad and ugly of paraplanning.
The evening began with two group discussions voted for by participants before the event – one for sharing technology tips and another to discuss potential minimum standards for paraplanners.
Our technology catch-up revealed some hidden gems that you may or may not already use including uktaxcalculators.co.uk and invidion.co.uk (links as promised to participants on the night).
But paraplanners are more than just technicians. We also found our way to a meaningful discussion about how to choose and use cashflow modelling tools and how we use risk tolerance questionnaires once the client’s results are in.
The minimum standards and qualifications discussions showed that there is a problem in recruiting the right type of paraplanners when just using Diploma as a benchmark; that is the question of overlooking experience. There was a healthy debate and general acceptance that training and competency routes for paraplanners need to be more clearly defined; there is also considerable need for quality paraplanner-specific CPD.
The subject for our main Powwow group session was voted for on the day – “Making complex stuff simple” won out and led us into discussions about how we can cut out jargon whilst staying compliant.
As we find on our Powwow journey, the group discussions are all the better for paraplanners who are willing to speak up and, as it turns out, Northerners are more than happy to share their thoughts! Who’d have thought?
If you were there – thanks! You were smashing! Have you seen the pictures yet?
We want to hear what you have to say about your own Powwow experience on 15th October so please tell us about it by completing this quick survey.
And, as the sun sets on Powwow UpNorth, it rises in the South (there’s something not right there…). If you’re interested in getting involved with Powwow Down South, take a look at the latest news about the event and – if you’ve got a moment – to help decide when and where to hold the event by completing this VERY quick survey: Where and when should be hold Powwow Down South?
Hot on the heels of the first ever Paraplanners Powwow last month, the first ever Powwow Up North took place last night at The Chambers in central Leeds. No teepees this time but plenty of interest from paraplanners across the north of England (and Scotland, believe it or not) and here are the pictures to prove it!
If you’re interesting in hosting your own Powwow, take a look at the two-part post we’ve published: ‘How to start your own Powwow: Part one’ and ‘How to start your own Powwow: Part two’.
Last week, we gave you a flavour of the organising principles behind the Paraplanners Powwow and how these might apply to starting your very own event.
This week, we’re letting you know about 6 practical ways in which we can help one another and support your successful Powwow.
1. We’re all in this together
As soon as you’ve resolved to set up a Powwow, feel free to get in touch by tweeting us at @ParaPowwowor e-mailing [email protected].
We’ll set up a project for your Powwow using a bit of kit called Basecamp. Basecamp provides an online space where organisers of your Powwow – no matter how many there are and where they are in the country – can decide on things, set tasks and keep tabs on progress without clogging up your e-mail.
It means that everyone, who needs to be, is in the know about your Powwow’s organisation.
2. Our survey said…
Because Powwows are designed by paraplanners for paraplanners, you’ll need a tool to gather opinion from potential Powwow participants on subjects from the preferred date and location of a Powwow, to voting for topics to discuss on the day.
To do this, we use the survey tool, Wufoo, and we’d be very happy to set up surveys for you.
3. Where in the world-wide web?
Your Powwow will need its own page on the web – like PowwowUpNorth’s – where people can find out information and book their spot at your event, so we’ll build you one here at paraplannerspowwow.co.uk.
And, speaking of booking a spot…
4. The future’s Eventbrite
For the Paraplanners Powwow, we used the online event management tool, Eventbrite, to handle all the ticketing and bookings and cancellations and wait-list and delegate lists and all that palaver. Eventbrite’s brilliant, so we’ll set up an Eventbrite page for your Powwow – which will include a gizmo to plug-in an online booking form for your Powwow’s page at paraplannerspowwow.co.uk.
5. Twitter ye not?
Alright, so @ParaPowwow doesn’t have an enormous following on Twitter, but it does have more than 200 followers, and that’s a start when it comes to letting people know about your Powwow.
In other words, we’ll tweet news and information about your Powwow from the @ParaPowwow.
6. We’ll send e-mail for you
(We couldn’t think of a snappy title for this bit.)
In the run-up to the Paraplanners Powwow, we collected lots of e-mail addresses from potential paraplanning participants.
We’ve used this same list to e-mail people about Powwow Up North, and so we’re happy to let people on our list know about further possible Powwows using e-mail too.
So that’s it: How to start your own Powwow in two parts. Missed part one? Here it is.
And if that’s piqued your interest why not get in touch about organising a Powwow? Just tweet us at @ParaPowwow or e-mail us at [email protected].