LBDC | Lawyers’ Business Development Club |
London │ Dublin │ Dubai │ Boston │ New York | San Francisco
LBDC (London)
Exclusive Event
with
Guest Speaker
Margaret Byrne
CEO of SUNDERLAND FC
Accolades for Margaret Byrne, CEO
“Margaret was incredibly inspiring, and it feels to be like she is destined to be a hugely influential figure in the development of the game.”
This is how one of the guests described Margaret’s Talk to the LBDC | Lawyers’ Business Development Club | in London this morning (Thursday 14 November 2013).
A huge thank you to MARGARET BYRNE , the CEO of SUNDERLAND F.C. for giving up her time to be our guest speaker this morning at the “Lawyers’ Business Development Club“.
The venue was the wonderful modern atrium space at Hult International Business School.
Thank you also to all of you who attended in such large numbers this morning. It was great to see you.
Sponsor: Hult International Business School
My thanks to Hult International Business School for sponsoring our event this morning at their beautiful new London campus on John Street in Bloomsbury. Hult is one of the world’s top business schools.
Accolades for MARGARET BYRNE Talk
For those of you who missed MARGARET’s Talk in LONDON , I have extracted (below) the comments and accolades from the emails that were sent to me following our Event:
1. “Colin: thank you for organizing this morning’s talk. I thought Margaret was incredibly inspiring, and it feels to be like she is destined to be a hugely influential figure in the development of the game. (As a Fulham fan, I confess I am looking nervously at Sunderlands mini revival…) I look forward to the next set of talks.”
2. “Colin, fantastic event. Genuinely inspirational. Thanks for introducing me to [ ] too. Let me know when you’re free for coffee.”
3. “Hi Colin, I thought Margaret’s talk was amazing and she is a true inspiration. Could have happily listened to her speak for another few hours. By all accounts she seems to have the dream job.”
4. “Margaret’s talk was so inspirational, particularly from a woman’s point of view. Her very honest delivery resonated with many in the room. She is very clearly a successful woman and what a fabulous career! I thoroughly enjoyed Margaret’s talk and am feeling very inspired! Thank you so much again for inviting me along. Looking forward to attending the events in the New Year.”
5. “Hi Colin, what a great event, well done on 21 events in 24 months! You are some ticket! I thought Margaret was very honest. My takeaways; take the chance, think outside the box, trust your team, be commercial and do the ‘right thing’. She is very passionate about what she does, despite NOT having a background in football, but obviously her skill-set were recognized and leveraged. She is well engaged with all the right associations and advisory boards, which mean she keeps her finger on the pulse and continues to raise her profile & brand = smart lady, but very humbling that she went to Uni of Ulster (so did I) I she should be considered for their Alumni of the Year! Keep in touch.”
6. “Hi Colin, I wanted to ping you an e-mail immediately upon my return to my desk thanking you for organising today’s event. I am glad to have been able to finally make it to one of the LBDC talks. What you deliver for our legal community is unique and much needed. I hope to be back for another one soon. A s for Margaret Byrne herself, she is simply inspirational. What a marvellously idiosyncratic career path. I would be very grateful if you could please pass on my thanks to her directly. As an aside, my neighbour – one of my closest friends – is from Sunderland. He and his two teenage sons, all of whom are huge fans of the club, will be terribly jealous. Have a wonderful day.”
7. “Hi Colin, good to meet you. It was an inspirational talk, Margaret has achieved very much in a short space of time. Congratulations on a successful morning.”
8. “Hi Colin, it was great to meet Margaret and hear her story – v inspiring indeed and there’s a big takeaway there! Definitely what we all need to see and hear to know that anything is possible and to get the inspiration flowing! I am delighted to have found out about you and the club and only sorry I missed the earlier talks this year! Will look forward to the re-launch for 2014! In the meantime, I definitely want to hear more about your law firm set up and how you came to develop the club etc. so would love to hook up for a chat and a bite to eat at some point when you have some time – my office here is just by [ ] , so not far from your homestead, so just let me know when suits and we’ll get something in the diary maybe some evening after work when its less rushed.”
9. “Colin, it was very enjoyable, Margaret was very inspirational and showed that lawyers do have opportunities in the business field outside of a general counsel role. I look forward to meeting you at future events, have a good Christmas.”
10. “It was a fantastic talk and I am so glad that I came. Thank you for organising, yet again, another great event. Margaret Byrne is inspirational, and her talk was extremely informative. What came through the most for me though was her personality. She is a mixture of confidence , self-belief and ambition, devoid of any pretentiousness or arrogance. No doubt that she is exceedingly competent, but I am sure that this has been the key to her success. The simplicity of it is so inspiring and I left the talk feeling as though I could achieve anything if I just take risks as she has done! I will definitely keep an eye out for Sunderland now (I hope they stay up this season)! [ ] sends his apologies- he is gutted he missed out but he had an urgent matter come in this morning which meant that sadly he had to stay in the office. Please do keep me informed on the upcoming talks the other side of Christmas. Hope to see you soon.”
11. “Hi Colin, it was lovely to meet you and thank you again, the talk was wonderful. I was going to mention on sports matters you should hook up with [ ] from [ ] , he would have loved to have attended and (like you) has a tremendous network. I also know many of the sports guys [ from Law Firm X ] would have loved to have heard Margret speak. Looking forward to seeing you at the start of next season’s talks.”
12. “Hi Colin, this morning was great, myself and [ ] really enjoyed it. Margaret is truly an inspiration. I loved her story and she comes across so nice / normal as well! Kudos to you for pulling in such a top quality speaker! Let’s definitely meet up for a pre-Christmas drink sometime over the coming weeks, before it all gets completely hectic. See you soon.”
13. “Hi Colin, I’m really glad I made the effort. It was great. To start off outside law then go through family and criminal roles and then pull off a role like that is simply stellar! Let’s definitely make time for a coffee before the Xmas break.”
14. “Hi Colin, thank you, it really was a great talk, really inspirational. It was also lovely to hear about how things are going for you. It would be great to catch up over a coffee.”
15. “Thanks Colin – very interesting talk this am. Good to see lawyers doing different roles!”
16. “Hi Colin – great talk – really interesting insight.”
17. “Hi Colin, thanks for a brilliant event. Margaret was fantastic, very honest and open about an industry you wouldn’t normally expect that from. Looking forward to attending more in the future.”
18. “Hi Colin, good to see you. Glad that I made it albeit late. I t was very interesting to hear Margaret’s talk – my dad is from Gateshead so never known much about Sunderland only Newcastle! Hopefully catch up soon.”
19. “Thanks Colin –great to meet you and really enjoyed Margaret’s talk. Look forward to coming again next year and best wishes for the holiday break.”
20. “Colin, thank you so much ! Another great morning! Very sorry I was late. Margaret was just brilliant.”
21. “Thanks for inviting me again Colin. Margaret certainly is inspiring and there was a great turn out. Looking forward to catching up again on 29th in Dublin. See you then Colin.”
22. “Thank you for a great morning Colin. Margaret was a fantastic speaker. [ ] and I really enjoyed the event. Look forward to the next event in 2014.”
23. “Colin, I thoroughly enjoyed it and am very much looking forward to the next one.”
24. “Colin, I really enjoyed this morning and it was great to see you – albeit briefly. I am delighted to see how successful these events have become. Well done and talk soon.”
25. “Nice one Colin for organizing that event, quite a coup on your part”.
26. “Great to see you this morning. Margaret was a fascinating guest speaker. Let me have a few dates over the next few weeks that suit you for a coffee and we’ll sort something out.”
27. “Hi Colin, good to see you again this morning and it was great to meet and hear from Margaret! What an incredible story and career!”
28. “Hi Colin, “I thought that it was a fantastic talk – really interesting and frank and I very much enjoyed meeting Margaret. Thanks for organising a great event.”
29. “Seriously Colin, what a great talk. I have not been able to stop talking about Margaret today (to [ ] annoyance I’m sure). She is simply an amazing woman! Have a great rest of week. Thanks again.”
30. “Thank you very much for organising today, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I thought Margaret was exceptional – an excellent communicator and I think those of us present
realised quickly how lucky we were to have that level of access to her.”
31. “Colin, thank you for having us at the event, it was a unique opportunity to hear from someone with that kind of legal background in the sports industry and it was interesting to hear about Margaret’s experiences. We will keep an eye out for future events.”
32. “Hi Colin, what a way to finish a stellar year of great speakers! As you rightly pointed out, Margaret came across as modest and unassuming (given her level of seniority), but there was in evidence a steely determination and unflappable sense of self-confidence simmering below the surface that has clearly been a major driver in her success. Given the turbulent time of late at Sunderland F.C., I thought Margaret dealt with some challenging questions in a refreshingly open and honest manner. I look forward to catching up with you at the next event.”
2014
I look forward to seeing you when our LBDC Talks resume in 2014.
Before then, I am sure I will meet many of you for coffee / drinks in the coming weeks.
Take care and speak soon.
-Colin
The Lawyers’ Business Development CLUB 