You know we like to do something different for our networking – well this one really was special!
On Tuesday 1st December we had the well-attended joint Counterpoint Networking and Aspinall Business Club (ABC) Networking meeting at Port Lympne Wild Animal Park. We met at 8.30am for bacon sandwiches (and a vegetarian option!) and teas and coffees before hearing a little from Adrian Harland, Animal Director, about the work that goes on at Port Lympne Wild Animal Park, and just as importantly all the work that is going on across the world in the name of animal protection and conservation.
Neville from the park (Wildcat keeper) also told us of the great success of the Wild Cat Hootenanny that was supported by our member Gordon Haining. He also thanked members Jaci Godman-Irvine and Jane Unsworth who have been volunteering at the zoo, which is a benefit of being a member of the ABC.
I talked a little about the recent research I have been doing about the effectiveness of the Counterpoint Networking Site for our members. I found that the Counterpoint Networking site is becoming more and more well optimised for Folkestone and Hythe which is a specific strategy we have been following for the last few months. (The site is already very well optimised for Shepway). For example, Foreman & Jones have recently listed their profile on the Counterpoint Networking website and already they appear on the first page of Google (above their own site!) for “hypnotherapy hythe”, “hypnotherapist hythe”, and “sleeplessness Hythe”. Hayley Jones of Foreman & Jones gave us a testimonial.
We then had a talk from Simon the monkey-keeper who told us that he actually grew up in the animal park as his parents were both keepers! He has been working here for years and just like all the other keepers and workers we have met, he was so enthusiastic about his work.
We then made our way down to the enclosure housing the de Brazza’s and Colobus monkeys and were lucky enough to meet them and feed them! We were surprised (as you’ll hear on the following video!) that we were actually able to go into the enclosure and feed the monkeys out of our hands – not just throwing food over the fence!
It was such a special event, and everybody thoroughly enjoyed it – we won’t go on anymore, we will just let the pictures speak for themselves.
We hope you join us for our next meeting.
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what a brilliant morning… those little critters were so gentle, especially the de Braza’s taking individual grains delicately with their leathery fingers… and gently holding onto your thumb with the other hand so the food source didn’t disappear!! A wow factor for a business meeting without a doubt…. thank you so much and see you next time ! x
Great event.. nice to have breakfast with some monkeys… too many jokes there!
Look forward to the next one!
Gareth
Red Dragon I.T. Ltd.
http://www.rdit.co.uk
I went along to Port Lympne Animal Park for the joint Aspinall Business Club & Counterpoint Networking group’s meeting.
To be honest i assumed we would just be throwing food into the monkeys cages – but i was so wrong! Most of the group (including me) were really surprised when we learnt we were all actually going IN the cages with monkeys! It was a great experience! We also all learnt so much about the work that the animal park does, not just here in Kent, but across the world!
I just wanted to say thank you to Port Lympne for making it such a unique event!
In the coming weeks i hope to be able to sit down with the guys at the Port Lympne to discuss ways in which my new site http://www.KentBusinessDirectory.co.uk can support this worthwhile local charity!
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