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Argyll & Bute Social Enterprise Trade Fair & Dragons Den 28-30th January 2008 - Report

Event attendees with the exception of invited guests* were drawn exclusively from the ABSEN Membership. They reflected the diversity of that Membership bringing together a range of social enterprises ranging from new and emerging enterprises to mature businesses. The details of the attendees are listed in Appendix 1 The conference agenda is Appendix 2 *Guests were selected on their ability to contribute to the ongoing development of ABSEN and its Members. Representatives were invited from national agencies e.g., First Port, Social Enterprise Academy, Charity Bank, Scottish Urban regeneration Forum. Local guests were either officers from Argyll and Bute Council (Community Learning and Regeneration and Leader) or from Highlands and the Islands Enterprises. The invited keynote speakers were Jim Mather, Minister for Energy, Enterprise and Tourism, Dick Walsh Leader Argyll and Bute Council and Roddy McDonald Head of Strategic Development & Partnerships, Third Sector Division, Scottish Government. This is the first Trade Fair ever held in Argyll and Bute for social enterprises. In order to promote networking and trading all delegates were asked to mount a small exhibition detailing their social enterprise and its activities. This part of the event and the networking it engendered proved extremely popular with delegates. Whilst the evaluation forms, comments and emails received post-event were all extremely positive it is difficult to be precise about the extent to which attendance has helped generate business. However, we can evidence that delegates learned more about each others enterprise, swapped information and shared experiences – for example one group shared detailed information on funding sources. 74% of respondees found the event VERY Useful. 65% of respondees identified partners with whom they would trade within the next 12 months.

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