Nearly 100 Paraplanners and expert speakers headed to teepees in Northants for the annual Paraplanners’ Powwow ‘unconference’ which took place yesterday. The fifth Powwow was a sell out and saw 80 Paraplanners and another 15-20 expert speakers and other guests taking part. Many donned traditional Powwow warpaint to get in the mood as they got together to swap technical knowledge and listen to experts. The agenda was decided by the Paraplanners themselves.
The new host this year was Caroline Stuart FPFS, a Chartered Financial Planner and head of technical at Financial Planning firm DB Wood in Newark. She took over as host from Paraplanner Richard Allum who continues to work with a team of volunteers to organise the popular event he founded over five years ago which has since spawned regional and online howwows and mini-powwows.
Ms Stuart said: "The highlights for me were hearing about how people are actually implementing the things that they are learning when they get back to the office. It's really pleasing to know that the Powwows are having such a positive effect and helping people improve their skills, knowledge and processes so they enjoy their role more and provide a better service to their clients, which is what it’s all about really.
"Another highlight for me was watching Justin Urquhart Stewart (of 7IM) speak. I have been lucky enough to see him at a couple of events before and was really looking forward to his session. He was so funny and interesting that you barely even noticed you were actually learning stuff, which is perfect for a Powwow!
"But, I have to say, the biggest highlight was the way that everyone came together and just mucked in; just to see everyone speaking with each other, sharing ideas and generally just getting on with it was brilliant. At lots of professional events, you always see someone standing at the sidelines looking at their phones just for something to do because they are too shy or nervous to really join in.
"The Powwow is perfect for those guys as it is such a warm and friendly environment that there is never anyone sat on their own looking lost or lonely. In fact, I was one of those guys; I was a prime example of the sort of person who just hid in a corner with my phone but now I join in as much as I can. I have made so many really good friends because of the Powwow and so it was lovely to see everyone joining in and having a really great day."