We’re now back in the office and collecting our thoughts after returning from the Vox Conference Centre in Birmingham, after attending Linn Academy 2017.
We hope that those of you attended came to say hi – I know we saw lots of familiar faces, and many new faces, too! It was a busy day, and lots of people learned a lot.
The speakers show that it’s not just about Linnworks anymore! John Lawson flew over from Atlanta to give the first speech of the day, evoking a great reaction from the audience. With other speakers coming from Amazon, eBay, PayPal and GFS, not to mention Chris Dawson from Tamebay in the Main Hall, and the workshops running in parallel with the Linnworks team, as well as CJ Rosenbaum, talking about IP protection and our own Adrian Daniels, the challenge was to choose! Luckily they usually record everything for later!
In addition to all these competing demands for the attendees’ time, 1 to 1 sessions returned from last year, with members of the Support, QA, development and Implementation teams available to review queries and issues with Linn customers in person, and there was a range of partners in attendance, including us!
With approximately 40 apps, experienced developers, our Digital Marketing team and the man himself, Tejas, we were there to show the attendees just how much eBusiness Guru had to offer all of them, so they could do more with their businesses, and spend less time on the majority of their business tasks and processes for the same or greater results. 
Starting with a chance to grab breakfast and network, the Linnworks team established a positive attitude. In addition to the coveted Linn Academy Hoodies, the goody bags contained a programme and various other useful items and information. One of the items in the bag looked especially useful:
In addition, a new initiative this year saw attendees getting colour coded lanyards – BLUE for Linnworks team members, GREEN for partners, sponsors and speakers, RED for Linnworks users, and BLACK for sellers not using Linnworks, but interested in learning more about what it could do for them. This meant that everyone didn’t just know your name from your badge, but they knew quickly what assumptions they could make when talking to you. As a partner, I found that especially useful, since talking to someone who has never used Linnworks requires you to take a very different approach to discussing their problems and solutions!
The Linnworks team had their own, light blue hoodies, of course, in addition to their blue lanyards, so they stood out in the crowd, having converged from the south of England, Estonia and beyond!
But we made sure that we were distinctively eBG, even if it WAS under our first Linn Academy hoody:
Even with some travel issues forcing a few cancellations and delays, it was still the busiest Linn Academy yet, with almost double last year’s attendance. With its high windows looking out over the NEC site, and the sun burning through the early morning fog, though, the Vox was spacious and open, and the Main Stage and Workshop room had lots of space for the attendees to see what was going on and listen.
We met a lot of old friends, and made a few new – It was great to meet our friends and partners from RouteGenie, TopHatter, Fyndiq, CoolShop and GFS among others.
Our own Adrian Daniel’s workshop, on Apps, was very popular, and we had a surge of questions and queries following it, but we were glad to note that the whole day was busy, with conversations about everything from Online Marketing, Website Support and Development, Custom and Existing Apps as well as Implementation and Training. It was great to engage with sellers, especially, helping them to see how their businesses could grow and develop not just with Linnworks, but with apps and assistance from eBusiness Guru.
As Adrian pointed out in his speech, Apps are there to add new capabilities to Linnworks and your business, and to give you easier access to new marketplaces and tools. The whole team worked with sellers and partners to see how quickly seemingly small decisions, such as using an app or 2 could open up new markets and opportunities (for sellers as well as the channels and sites themselves), and enable their business to grow and become stronger, or save time to make their costs lower and increase their profits.
Come 4:45, the event staff unveiled (quite literally) buckets of drinks, and everyone had a chance to relax, talk about what they’d seen and heard, and make sure they had swapped cards, taken notes and flyers, and would have plenty of opportunities to explore the next day.
At 6 pm, as the vendors broke down booths and stowed freebies away, while many of the attendees went home. For those who had the option of staying on retired to the Sky Bar, on the top floor, for some additional networking and relaxation. With nothing left to run and organise, the Linnworks team let their hair down, and we joined everyone to catch up on anything we might have missed during the day, and to answer even more eCommerce questions!
Retiring at the end of the day to head back home, I have to say that Linn Academy continues to grow, and continues to add value, especially for Linnworks sellers. It’s rewarding for us to meet so many people, with faces both new and old. I have no doubt that we’ll continue talking to many of them over the coming days and weeks, to help them find new customers, keep the ones they have, and find new places and ways to sell their products (Or to find sellers WITH products).
So much to do, so many great people to work with! We hope you all had a great day if you attended. For those that were unable to attend at the last minute, our commiserations. Please let us know if you would like to arrange a call or even a visit to discuss your needs and projects.
Don’t forget to look at all of our Apps. With new apps and integration, and updates weekly, there’s always something new to check out on our Linnworks Apps page.
To everyone we met, you were fantastic. To the speakers who came so far to entertain and educate, you were fabulous, and we heard so many people that had great things to say about what they heard and learnt. To the Linn Systems team, thanks for being great hosts. To my colleagues from eBusiness Guru, it was, as always, great to work with you, and I think I speak for everyone when I say: Thanks for the Haribo!