Recruitment Unplugged: Inside Responsive Personnel

Recruitment Unplugged: Inside Responsive Personnel - Episode 4 - Stories from the Swindon Wildcats Golf Day

00:00 Speaker: Welcome back to Recruitment Unplugged: Inside Responsive Personnel. It's chapter four, episode four, whatever you want to call it. And this one is titled Stories from the Swindon Wildcats Golf Day. That's right. It's not all work. There is a lot of... It was work on that day as well. I've got to be fair to the guys. But you get to enjoy it as well. And this is a really cool day. Swindon Wildcats Ice Hockey Club. Mutual connection that us and responsive personnel have. And we're going to chat about it today and what went on. What we're allowed to talk about what went on, should I say. My name is Chris Dawes, but more importantly, delighted... I'm going to start this side to keep you out of trouble.
00:42 Speaker: It's the boss man, Danny Kimball. Thank you. Welcome back, mate. We haven't seen you since episode one. It's been a few episodes, but yeah, I'm back with it. Not with it, but you know. I was going to say, I'm here. I'm here. It's fine. And Dominic Randall. Hello, sir. I'm here every time. You are. You're the semi-pro. I dragged Danny back along today. Absolutely. You might have the next episode off. Here we go. That's recorded, yeah? Yeah. We're witnesses as well. It's all fine. And I can confirm because I think I know what we're doing next time. So yeah, let's do get a break. Lovely stuff. Yeah.
01:15 Speaker: Right. So this really cool golf day, which I've got to say I'm gutted. I missed out on. And I've already said myself and a couple of others have had this FOMO now, haven't they? We're not missing it again. There's a few of you that did miss out. We'll definitely be there next year. 100%. So the quick, give you the sort of detailed, and I'm going to read this one because there's a lot to it, but the event offered a fantastic opportunity for sponsors and business partners to enjoy a day of golf with like-minded professionals in a relaxed and celebratory atmosphere. When you say professionals, you don't mean golf professionals. Definitely not golf professionals. It took place shortly after the Wildcats season concluded, and it offered...
01:57 Speaker: a chance to unwind, reflect on the year's successes and build relationships for the future. Oh, I love that. And I'm going to turn to you, Danny, because am I right in assuming it was your baby, your idea? Yeah, I think me and Aaron now, player coach at the Wildcats, come up with it probably early part of the season, so probably September, October time. We sat and just thought about it and how do we connect and engage with the sponsors that the club have got at the moment.
02:24 Speaker: potentially look at new sponsors and get everyone together to celebrate what was a long old season for them. Timing it after the end of the playoffs when it could have gone a little bit better for the team was a great way for them to unwind before the end of season awards the following night. So yeah, it was a long time in the making, lots of planning.
02:43 Speaker: Lots of discussions, but we pulled it together and it was very successful. And the weather played ball as well. It did, in the end. Oh, in the end. When we got there at 6 o'clock in the morning, it was fresh. But by, I think, 12 o'clock, it was absolutely fine. A few red faces coming back at the end of the day. Yeah, it was. I'd be devastated if I forgot my hat. I'd be in trouble. There was a few hats that went on hastily at one point. Yeah, I can imagine. It was at...
03:12 Speaker: Bowward? It was, yeah. Golf, spa and hotel? Yeah, the hotel. So we were lucky enough that I've been a member there for five odd years on a personal level, on a corporate level. They had a fantastic day for us. So we hired out the whole venue. So it was only 72 golfers and probably 10 staff that were on site for the whole day from our perspective and all of the Bowward team. I think there's probably 15 of them that are running around all day for us.
03:41 Speaker: um the bar was open early doors like a few of the lads enjoyed a drink a warm-up drink about half past nine i think it was i think they opened the bar they did open the bar um but no yeah credit to boywood they put on what was a fantastic day um alongside us and i think everyone went away happy smiling engaged and ready to go for another season in a strange way already i can believe it it's a nice way to just diffuse uh everything yeah
04:09 Speaker: because you've got all the tension built up for the year. And just a great opportunity for the professionals to get out and play golf on a beautiful, beautiful course. It's a stunning course. You forget how nice it is. I think we were blessed with quite a lot of deer. We were out on the course. Oh, wow. A lot of geese at one point. And a lot of bottles of alcohol, I think, were on the course as well at one point. Well, I remember you saying to me that you were...
04:35 Speaker: There was like a travelling bar, wasn't there? There might have been. I can't confirm or deny. What goes on tour stays on tour. So, yeah, everyone was very hydrated for the day. We can say that. So, yeah, no one was struggling for drink. And you didn't. You played, didn't you? I played, yeah. But you didn't. You and the team were sort of busy. Yeah, we had our team in there. So, Hazel and Kim, who've been on the podcast with us, who we've met.
05:01 Speaker: And then the Wildcats office team, they were with us as well. So we had a bit of a mixed day working as well. But all of us just really making sure everyone on the course was having a good day, smiles on their faces. Like a concierge service, anything they needed, we were taken out to them. So making sure they're all OK and ready for when they come back for the evening meal and entertainment. Because that was the thing, it included breakfast and an evening meal, didn't it? Or a meal, sorry. Yeah, breakfast. I think everyone enjoyed that.
05:29 Speaker: Bacon rolls went down quite quickly. Yeah, very quickly. And then, yeah, I came back in, a few drinks at the bar, and then, yeah, dinner, sit-down dinner, and a raffle. Oh, yeah. With various people contributing. Yeah, a lot of businesses contributed. We're very lucky to have prizes donated. A lot of people won prizes. There was a few extras.
05:50 Speaker: thrown in towards the end of the night, trying to get someone to win. But yeah, it was a massive success. Yeah, and a lot of people claiming their prizes and enjoying another golf day from winning a prize there. I'd imagine there's some big crossover here. I know we've talked several times in the episodes of one of the areas that you guys satisfy is the events roles. And it was like, well, you actually...
06:13 Speaker: It was nice to be the other side of it. Yeah, Bowood looked after us really well. So, yeah, massive thanks to their team. They set the whole day up for us. But, yeah, being on the other side of it was quite nice for a change. Yeah. No, I can imagine that that's going to be good. But it was a lot of effort to get people going and knowing what to do and when and bringing all of that. Probably back to Danny for that one. Yeah, it was. It was probably three months of chasing, organising.
06:43 Speaker: Just making sure the day was how we envisaged it was going to go. Putting everyone together, sorting out the teams. We were lucky that a couple of the clients that we brought along paid extra to have a member of the Wildcats on their team as well. So it was making sure that their personality and their probably golf handicap suited who they were playing with as well. Oh, really? Yeah, so it's not as easy as just putting names in the hat and drawing them out. We wanted to try and make it competitive but engaging as well.
07:08 Speaker: um but made sure everyone was relaxed with that we didn't want to be anyone feeling awkward or pressurized to go and play with someone um and we did i think we paired up a lot of the players with teams that complemented them as well both personality and skill wise um and we did yeah even collating all the prizes we had and the raffle prizes as much you think it's going to be easy calling on favors it's never easy um so we did we
07:33 Speaker: we were lucky we had gaucho support in the event we had crowd with it we had ramsey brewery along um and a number of golf clubs that donated prizes towards it as well so yeah just putting it all together um it was great and then on the day while i was playing we had dom comparing the night a little bit and then we had vic from the wildcats that had a little speech and put some stuff together from there so yeah all in all never easy
08:01 Speaker: But we will do it again next year for 100%. One of the key things we're obviously mentioning here is the Swindon Wildcats that it was this, you know, in collaboration with. I know the answer to this, but I'm going to ask the obvious question. What's the link with responsive personnel and Swindon Wildcats ice hockey? I think we've been sponsoring them directly for probably two seasons now. And when they did have the flood at the rink 18 months ago, nearly two years ago.
08:30 Speaker: We ended up housing them in our office. Oh, yeah, I forgot that. Yeah. So we kind of made a bit of a comment and said, we've got the spare space. And I think about half an hour later, I popped out to the shop. You said I was only joking. Yeah, we're happy to help. They just lodged. Yeah, we did. I think within an hour, I think we had probably the office rearranging, computers in and six of the WorldCat staff in the office. And that was probably early September. And I think we kind of kicked them out again.
08:59 Speaker: mid-january i think they wanted to go no i think they were quite happy i think our office is a little bit warmer than being at the rink as well so i think that was good um and it's just developed from there we spent a lot of time with them during the time they were in the office with us um a lot of conversations just in in generic conversations and how we can work together um so we've done
09:22 Speaker: probably three or four networking events. We've done the golf day now. We've got a few things planned for next season. We've got a big presence at the rink as well with the replays on match nights, the shirts, the shorts, a couple of players, the ice. So I feel like we've... We've worked with them. It does feel like probably two other people. World domination! We're not far off. But no, and I think it's a credit to the relationships that we've built with them both on the ice and off the ice. We've got great relationships with a number of the players and that was easy to see on the golf day. I think we had 14 of the players come along that attended. Bear in mind, they are.
10:07 Speaker: part-time as well so a lot of them had time off work and it was great to get them along and support the event which obviously The sponsors wanted as well. But we have. It's turned into a bit of a joint effort with the Wildcats team. And the latest one was the Easter egg collection. I think we had an Easter egg collection that probably raised over 300 eggs donated for prospects. Just over 300, yeah. Went down to the prospects. So there's lots going on. And I think it'll only get bigger and better. And I think it's...
10:38 Speaker: It will feel like a long summer with no hockey and nothing really happening from there. But I think at the same time, with what we know is planned for the future, then there's lots to look forward to again. I agree. And obviously, Visual PR Productions, we're proud sponsors as well. Which I have to say is that there's testimony to the whole involvement. I think another episode will possibly go into it in even more detail. But you and I would never have met.
11:05 Speaker: if we were sponsors of cylinder walkers yeah Circumstantially, you know, business gets in the way. It does. And I think it's great to see local businesses. Absolutely. Not only are there national businesses that support the Worldcats as well, but it's amazing to see local, smaller companies that want that engagement. Hockey is accessible to everyone. It's a family sport. The players are willing to put their time and effort into fan engagement, everything that comes with it. So from a brand awareness perspective, I think there's probably a better sport in Swindon to showcase your business up.
11:37 Speaker: I agree. And I know you've even told me I'm probably not taking full advantage of it because we're such a tight-knit group. And as that golf day showed, there were sponsors, there were fans that were there representing the business that could be sponsors in the future. But there was partners, all sorts. And it's such a community. This season, the Wildcats have managed to achieve record attendance figures. They've just secured record season ticket sales already for the next season.
12:07 Speaker: It's just everything's booming. And so I got it. I knew why it was a logical thing to do, not just with the Swindon Wildcats ice hockey team, but the businesses involved. Yeah, 100%. And I think, like I say, we would never have met Chris. We probably, even Rachel from ESP and other people, Ian at IJT and everyone else, that it is a family community. And you have got that downtime during period breaks to have a chat with everyone.
12:36 Speaker: and have a beer with them at the same time. And they serve it in two-pint mugs as well. They do, yeah. That's happy days that I apparently make look very small. You do make it look very small. That's a normal-sized pipe. Yeah, it is. I love that. Absolutely brilliant. You've just said as well that there was a whole raft of Swindon Wildcats players there. Didn't manage to catch up with all of them, but here's a video with a few of them chatting. So, roll VT.
13:12 Speaker: So Renny, how's your day going so far? I mean, for me personally, maybe not as well as I'd hoped, but it's just been a really good day. It's good to see so many people out, all the sponsors. And yeah, it's a great group of lads I'm playing with today, so I couldn't be happier. So Tyler, how's your day going so far? Yeah, good. Actually, playing a little bit better than I thought. Saying that, we're currently looking for my ball. But yeah, it's a good day. Really nice course. Very well done. So I'm enjoying myself today so far.
13:41 Speaker: So Ryan, how's your day going? Yeah, really well. We've got a good company on the course and Responsive have done a great job putting it on. It's been a great turnout and the weather's held up, so it's been really good. Beautiful day out. Thank you to Responsive personnel for getting us all together and doing this whole day for us. My golf game is terrible, but here we go.
14:20 Speaker: So it was great to catch up with some of those players there. I mean, from what I heard, I was at the awards due two nights after or the night after. The day after. Yeah, the day after. And even the players were still talking about it and what have you. Everybody had fun, didn't they? I think, yeah, they were all quite happy to have. They take it seriously. Don't get me wrong. They're a competitive bunch between them. But the laughs and the jokes they had going around the course as well.
14:46 Speaker: I think there was noise coming from one hole to the other. I was probably on the golf buggies going around, shouting at each other. Words of encouragement. Oh, yeah, absolutely. But they all want to win. Golfing ability aside, they all still think they're going to win and they're the best ones at it. But yeah, the awards, they're all still talking about it. I think Paul Norbury mentioned it when he was talking that evening as well. Mentioned a few stories that I'm sure Danny can tell as well.
15:14 Speaker: which we can go on to. Or maybe not. Or the ones that you can't. Yeah, only certain ones. Yeah, yeah, no, exactly. First question that I've got. Out of our players, who is the best golfer? Oh, it's a tough one. I think Jake would like to have the title. Yeah. But I would give it to Ryan Wells. Consistent, smooth, just, yeah, great. I played with him in my team.
15:44 Speaker: We just was in awe of his ability. Really? One, just the accuracy, but how far he can hit a ball as well. It's ridiculous. And I guess it comes down to that handoid coordination with hockey. Any kind of thing with something in your hand and something to hit, I think they all go hand in hand. But yeah, there'll be a few that will try and claim it. I think there'll be a few that will try and claim to be the worst as well.
16:05 Speaker: I was going to say, you're going to ask the other end of the scale now. If you ask the other end, I've probably got about four names on the other end. But no, personally, I'd give it to Wellesley. He put the lowest score of the day. He had a good day. Turned up and performed. Yeah. But there was a few of them that can, they know their way around a golf course as well. I just find sports people so frustrating is that they're just so good at all of them. I think there'll be some practising for next year. They'll be getting it in.
16:32 Speaker: through the summer ready for next year to go again i think bally was one of them i think bally had he's never played golf before and he played three rounds leading up to it before yeah wow so yeah there was there was definitely a competitive edge between them Every time I saw Bally, though, he was in the sand. Well, can I point out, it was in that video clip where we had him. And if you watch it back again, he was taking a hockey shot, wasn't he? It was a hockey shot. It was a happy Gilmore. It was over that. We'd gone bowling with the little bit of relationship. Well, his left leg coming up. That was his hockey mind taking over. But that is just amazing, is that he hadn't ever played before. He'd just got a few in. We had a few of them that had not played or maybe done the odd round in their life. Wow.
17:14 Speaker: I think American Golf and Tony Valentine probably would have had some money go through their tails with some of the outfits that were on display. Yeah, they all loved it though. But yeah, and that's what we wanted it to be. We wanted it to be a relaxed day with the competitive edge. And just laughs all around the course. And I think you'll see from the videos and the clips that we've got and the photos, everyone's going to start smiling all day. And that was more than what we wanted. Talking about competitive, you had a few other little side competitions as well. Side hustles on the round, yeah, if you like. So what did we have? We had a...
17:50 Speaker: The furthest hockey helmet, so obviously with the Wildcats theme, so longest in two on one of the par fives. Yeah, one of the longest holes on the course. So yeah, I did start that one with IJT Landscaping, one of our clients. I, not being a golfer, thought they did okay. When I went back at the end of the day to see how far the hockey helmet had moved, it was considerably further. So explain that one to me. So furthest ball on the fairway in two shots.
18:17 Speaker: so then you put a hoggy helmet yeah yeah and if that was beaten then that moved the helmet yeah so yeah it did get quite a way down there it licked just off the green which was wow very impressive two shots yeah shots which probably 500 odd yards yeah so sam brown from evolve lifo one of the people that printed all our stuff for the day yeah he won it oh wow
18:40 Speaker: I think he was the penultimate player on the hold as well. So he knew what he was aiming for. Yeah. Well, the other end of that, we had the closest to the pin on hole 17, closest to the flag. And I think Reid Sayers from the Wildcats, I think he played it first. I think his team were first on it and he stayed there all day. Wow. No one got closer than him. Can you remember how close he was? 74, 76 centimetres. Impressive. Wow. His name was the only name on the sheet.
19:10 Speaker: That was from the tee to the flag. Short par three, but still to get that close is good going. I'd be doing well to get it on the green. I'd do it just to hit it. Just to make contact. And then probably the favourite one of the day was every team got given a yellow golf ball. I think Danny ordered the cheapest ones from Amazon possible. Even I knew they were terrible. So everyone was tasked to...
19:38 Speaker: give me the ball back at the end of the day. Someone had to play it on every hole. So you pass it around the team, play it on a hole, get it back at the end of the day and then win a prize. Danny assured me only two or three would get it round. I think we ended up with nine that came back. Because you're hoping that they lose it somewhere. A bit of fun, lose it. Some tried to con me and told me I never gave it to them because they lost it on the first hole. Sam.
20:06 Speaker: Gave it back to me and said, I'm not playing with that. So they gave me back a perfect yellow ball. But some had been, I think one team had fished out of the water. Yeah, there's definitely at least one team that we saw swimming for that. They put some effort into it. Yeah, they put some effort to get it back. But the problem with having nine come back is we'd only accounted for two prizes. Probably two or three prizes for that. So improvisation, Wildcats, what can we do? We got everyone out on the putting green and Aaron Nell had brought up some hockey sticks.
20:36 Speaker: Just in case. Just in case. They were in his car. So yeah, in happy Gilmore style, we set up a putton competition between those teams on the green. Some fantastic photos, probably the most laughs of the day. We played four rounds of it. Round one, no hockey players were allowed to take part.
20:58 Speaker: And then we allowed them to have a go. So some were better than others. Some got very close to the hole. But yeah, then we got down to two winners. I can't remember. I think it was Bally's team and Rob's team. It was Rob from the Spoke Guardians. Yeah, so they won another four ball on the course. So Bally can put his practice in. Yeah, absolutely. He's got a whole summer to use that. But it was a fantastic moment. I think Bo would even comment here. They've never seen...
21:27 Speaker: anything like it before. Everyone just loved it. Probably wasted about half an hour, but everyone just enjoyed that. That's so cool. I think we probably had about 100 people around the green. Yeah. Saw some of the photos. Watching the cheapest yellow gold ball goes towards a hole. It was one of those moments where you look around and just saw everyone smiling with a drink, having a laugh, but just engaged with it as well.
21:53 Speaker: I have to applaud your creativity because it's not even obvious or cliche that you've done there. You've thrown in a few extra things there. Yeah, we wanted to kind of make it that fun element as well rather than just playing 18 holes of golf can take four or five hours and trying to put an odd bit of thing in there that will kind of give you a bit of a laugh and just change the dynamics a little bit. Yeah, definitely paid off. Brilliant. I do. I love that one.
22:20 Speaker: You've already mentioned about the competitive edge amongst the players, but we can equally counter that, is that the friendships and team spirit between the players was clear to see. Yeah, and I think all day, I think you saw them gather together. I think they had their breakfast together, which was really good. They all get on so, so well. I think they took over the driving range. Yeah, they took over every bay. I think they took over one of the bars very early in the morning. But for them, it's been an eight, nine-month season that's been hard for them. It's winter nights, travelling over the country. I think having that time where they're not...
23:00 Speaker: pressurised there's nothing on them they've come together in the middle of the week or on a Thursday just to relax and enjoy it from there and yeah testament to the guys they all loved it and that's what you want from them from there that they are human at the same time exactly and it's so good to see as a fan it's great to know that that spirit's there but equally sponsor and a business I think businesses have got a lot to learn from that haven't they yeah yes
23:28 Speaker: With the hockey world, you see that you go through a long season. There's some tough times. There's some great times. But the one thing that keeps it together is the morale they've got as a group of lads, really. And that carries through to the off-ice team as well. The office, the equipment managers, Lucy, the physio. They're all in it together. No one's left behind with it as well. And it's clear to see.
23:52 Speaker: Which, you know, again, going full circle just for a second, is that that's what I love that you know that from a business for responsive personnel. But equally in terms of, you know, when you're out with your clients and your candidates, is that you very much see that, you know, the spirit of everyone together is vital and you keep an oversight on that. Yeah, I think we talked last time quite a lot about the right person in the right role. And that comes from, you know, professional sports the same.
24:20 Speaker: Some people will thrive at one club and not do so well at another. So where we go and who we're putting where, new starters are always important to us in their new roles. And it doesn't, as we've said, it doesn't always work. It's not a perfect world, but we will find them the right role where they fit. Exactly. And that's why I just sat here and I could see that full circle. Excuse me, and it was worth mentioning it. Not all plain sailing.
24:49 Speaker: Edgar's bed versus golf bag and golf trolley. I can't comment on that. Yeah, it may have ended up in the water at one point. I think there's on the 11th hole is quite downhill and it's got water running around it and in front of it. We were lucky enough. We had a great view of what was going on from another hole.
25:11 Speaker: Eddie may have been having a wee in the trees at the same time. And as he turned around, his golf trolley is heading towards the water. Please tell me he ran after it. He did run after it. A couple of steps towards it. And I think he just knew it was going to happen from there. But yeah, I think if you were anywhere near where it happened, you heard the laughter. I think there's probably about 20 of us that saw it happen. And he did. He fished it out. And there was a...
25:37 Speaker: Yeah, there's a few comments made at Eddie on the day and at the awards due the following evening. But again, it's one of those stories that we remember for years to come with it from there. And yeah, you couldn't have had probably worse people with Aaron watching it and Wowsy watching it as well. So yeah, seeing it go in and then Eddie fishing it back out was, yeah. So apologies to Bowwood for any wet trolleys, but we can blame Eddie for that one. We're getting a waterproof cover for next year. That's what he needs. Yeah, absolutely.
26:06 Speaker: And you're hopefully going to be sponsoring him next year. Absolutely. There you go. That's something you can buy him straight away. It's just great to see he's back, to be honest with you. He's a great player, great character. Are there any other stories that you're able to share from him? I don't know the answer to that, so we may have covered that. No, I think they were the main ones. I think there was a few instances where people had buggies that...
26:31 Speaker: Maybe a two-person buggy might have ended up before people buggy at some point. I think we tried to, we had round two brewery over for the day as well. So there was drinks that was flowing throughout the course of the day that probably the norm on a golf course, especially at a place like Bowood. But I think the staff at Bowood appreciated what the day was going to be about. And I think at the end...
26:55 Speaker: they comment how well it had gone and how great it was to see everyone happy with it as well so they were brilliant for the day yeah there's no more bad stories We did have to wait for one of the players to have a wee stop during the award ceremony, which probably got one of the biggest round of applause when he walked in a couple of minutes later. So we had to wait for him to come. So Vanya ended up going for a little bit of a pit stop in the toilet in the middle of the award ceremony. The winning team as well. It was the winning team. We had to wait for him for a bit. And I think, again, there's some photos that are circling where everyone's on their feet applauding him.
27:32 Speaker: Yeah, imagine walking back from the toilet and you've got 100 people applauding you. It was, yeah, a special moment in a strange way. Yeah, exactly. He didn't realise it was going to be quite so successful. No, yeah. So I think he's been applauded for going for a week. Did he turn around and go, I have done it before. Yeah. I'm trained. Yeah. I'm semi-pro at this week. It's fine. I've done it for a few years. It's fine. Obviously, there's one, sadly, he's not going to be with us next season. Yeah, he's not back next season. But we wish him best of luck at Streatham. Your best.
28:01 Speaker: cracking guy cracking player as well um but his his profession's kind of taken a bit more of a priority at the moment understandably but we wish him all the best and hopefully we will see him again because he was a great great guy um obviously we talked a lot about the players for obvious reasons because even for the all of the the corporates that were there it was that was one of the the the hooks really to it wasn't it you got to play
28:29 Speaker: at the very least on the same course of them some of the teams had a player as part of their team therefore born everything and and yeah but it was very much about the the organizations getting out of the office and coming together and playing uh just going to quickly play another uh video that is a few words from some of the uh the commercial uh players that were there so roll vt
28:58 Speaker: So guys, how's your day going so far? Yeah, it's been great. Great weather turned out. Responsive and the Wildcats have done a great job hosting this tournament. Our group's had a lot of fun. Golf's been dreadful for me. Wildcats have been on fire. A few others are doing alright. A few bad ones as well. So how's your first golf day out with the Wildcats and Responsive going? Yeah, very good. Golf's rubbish.
29:27 Speaker: but the day's good, good fun, nice weather, enjoying it. We're having a fantastic day, sun's out. I'm not sure the golf is going as well as we'd hoped. We'd like to send a massive thank you to Swindon Wildcats and responsive personnel for the invitation today. But we're three holes left from finishing, so we're hoping to change the run of our luck.
30:05 Speaker: It's been great, the turnout's been big, there's a lot of sponsors and corporate people here so Danny with responsive has done really really well and the day's turned out to be a really really good day.
30:31 Speaker: The day so far is going absolutely brilliant. Guys running it so smooth. All the freebies. You kind of ask for a better day. Yeah, it's very well organised. Lovely day. Lovely people. Yeah. Thank you. Oh, he's nailed it as well. Thanks, guys. Thanks to Responsive and Wildcats for a great golf day.
31:05 Speaker: So there we go. We got to hear from a few of them. Clearly a mixed bag of golfing prowess, but all of them enjoying themselves. Yeah. Fair to say. I think from those videos, most enjoyed the weather and commented that that was better than their golf game. So we did well there, but can't imagine if it rained and their golf game was terrible. Can I just pick you up on that? You said we did well there. So you're taking credit for the weather. Absolutely.
31:32 Speaker: Who chose the date? I'm impressed. It was me. Yeah, there you go. If you can take credit for it, you will. No, we knew we kind of wanted it to be hopefully in the better weather. I don't think there's anything worse being out on a cold, wet golf course. It was cold at six o'clock in the morning when we arrived at Bowwood. But by 11, half 11, we were all in shorts, all sun cream was coming out, hats were going on.
31:57 Speaker: and refreshments were being needed. For me, it's just, I mean, it genuinely is, it just sounds perfect. It's motivated me to pick up my clubs. As some people know, I'm also a professional motorsports commentator, which means my weekends are gone between sort of March and November because I'll be working at circuits or studios somewhere. And of course, that's the normal time that I'd play golf in the past. And so I haven't played golf for...
32:22 Speaker: 12 years probably. I did knock the dust off of my golf clubs and everything in the garage ready. But it inspired me because it reminded me that the laugh that you guys have been talking about there, but I've been through a couple of challenging moments in my life. And golf was brilliant because you have, A, you've got the fresh air, you've got the camaraderie, you've got the banter, but you end up focusing on that.
32:51 Speaker: damned games so much that infuriating game you forget about everything else yeah you're out and kind of not saying you're untouchable but you put your phone away yeah you're getting your steps in you're in the fresh air And it is an escape from there. But I've done some really good conversation on the golf course with clients or candidates that we've had along in the past, different things as well. And I think you do need the escape from the busy nine till five, Monday to Friday. And when you're busy at weekends as well, you've got to fit something in that you get the pleasure from and the joy from as well. So I think it will fresher you and it will make you more determined to focus on the business further down the line. And we did, we had...
33:33 Speaker: existing businesses that we supply staff into there was current sponsors from the wildcats that we're aware of and we had new companies that from both responsive and from the wildcats we've never knew existed in a strange way yeah so to bring all three kind of dynamics together hopefully we'll generate some some more sponsorship opportunities but it's also given us new contacts to liaise with and engage with on a regular basis as well and we've done that already there's been numerous things that have come on the back of it
34:02 Speaker: um i think ijt have taken more people from us from the landscapes in front as well so that was good and yeah there'll be relationships that we've built and carry on building on no it is always used to say that it was a great place to do business and things and and that was really the idea of this episode wasn't it is to put a personal element to these these episodes as much as possible that it's not just let's talk about the details of work all the time
34:28 Speaker: No, we do more than just work. So we are allowed out sometimes. Yeah, everyone out again. Yeah, allowed out the office. So yeah, I think the biggest challenge will be, I think everyone that played this year wants to come back next year. So how many teams can we fit on a golf course is the problem. Yeah, it could be we go a little bit bigger next year. But at the same time, we do want to remember those people that were there on the first one.
34:49 Speaker: Agreed, yeah. First refusal, that kind of thing. It makes sense. Well, my name will be in the next... Yeah, we've been watching you already. Good. I thought you were interviewing on the 18th Green. He's already said he wants me to do some MC stuff and whatever else. Yeah, it's going to be a right busman's holiday for me, isn't it? I said before, I'd love to do it, especially listen to the spirit of the day. I mean...
35:15 Speaker: It's got to have been what you imagined it would be, but probably accepted it wouldn't be as crazy as that. But it was. Yeah, I think deep down I knew that there would be the craziness to it as well. But yeah, for me, I did have a sleepless night the night before. I knew in my head how I wanted it to go. I probably drove the team potty with little instructions about what happened during the day.
35:39 Speaker: But no, from my perspective, from Braywood's perspective and from the Wildcats' perspective as well, it couldn't have gone any better. Sounds it. Genuinely does. Not often does it live up to the desire and expectation, but it sounded almost like it exceeded. Yeah, it exceeded expectations. It started at nine o'clock and you texted me and said, meet you at quarter past six. I was thinking, hang on a minute. Braywood's not that far away. But yeah, it was just get there, set it all up.
36:02 Speaker: It's part of it. It's worth the effort, wasn't it? Anyone that knows Danny is the detail. Absolutely. Clear instructions. And I agree with that. I genuinely do. Yeah, hopefully is that we'll see some of those companies get involved with the Wildcats. You aiming to do it? You are. You're going to do it again next year.
36:23 Speaker: I don't think we get a way of not doing it again next year, to be honest. No, agreed. Yeah, I think once the fixtures are announced and when the season will come to an end, we'll try and plan it to be the same kind of the weekend after the playoffs. Some of the imports that will be coming over will be heading home early May. So, yeah, if it follows the same suit as this year, it'll probably be again the back end of April time, depending on the fixtures from when they're released in a couple of months' time. And we know what we're doing this time.
36:49 Speaker: Yeah, it should be a little bit easier. But then we just need to think of a few new twists. What I was about to say, I mean, there's the sort of double-edged sword on this is that I've just said it sounds like it exceeded expectations, you know, so, so well. And it's like, do you sit there and repeat it? Or did you come away kind of going, oh, that would have worked?
37:13 Speaker: Try that. Or have you got to put time in to find a couple of things? I think you can go too extreme, which we don't want to do. I've been on a couple of golf days. It's contrived then, isn't it? Yeah. A few golf days I've been on with Galpcho restaurants for a prime example. Every food, every hole is sponsored by a food outlet.
37:33 Speaker: or a drink outlet so you're eating probably nine meals and drinking nine different drinks throughout the course of the day i could pull while you're trying to play i could do that forget the golf which sounds amazing but when you start on a vodka then move on to champagne and then to something else the golf becomes it becomes second nature to it from there and i think that you can go to corporate with it if you need a caddy for those though just yeah come along for them but you can kind of over complicate it yeah i think we're probably
38:03 Speaker: will have something different next year but the main bulk of it will stay the same probably Look at more of an auction for the evening as well. I've got a gavel for that. I've got a gavel because I host auctions. We'll change a few bits. There'll be a few new mini games in there, I'm sure. As people are going around. We'll probably change the evening a little bit. If the weather depended, it could be a barbecue. We could probably look at inviting a lot more people down for the evening where we hired the whole venue for the day. We had capacity to probably fit another.
38:36 Speaker: 100 odd people in as well. So if there's anyone that wanted to come. Yeah, and again, the amount of fans that don't play golf that go to the ice hockey that still wanted to come along and just was like, can we come and just be part of it? We probably didn't want to do that this year because we wanted it to be more sponsor-related. And I think you needed to give it a go first. Yeah, we didn't want an extra 50, 60 people turning up and not really knowing what they were going to be.
39:00 Speaker: doing or part of on the day. So next year there could be the opportunity to bring people along in the evening. And again, we don't want to take it away from the end of season awards that happened the following evening, which has its own success as well. So yeah, there's things that we can add to it. I mean, that might be the odd thing that we take away from it, but the fundamentals will stay the same.
39:22 Speaker: Well, I know that we had a comment from you guys saying big thank you for the generous donations that helped make a memorable day from Gaucho, Crowd, Swindon Home Finders, TH White Construction, Ramsbury Brewery, Responsive Property Management, Simplicity, Evolve Litho, De facto Capital Limited and Cardwave.
39:43 Speaker: It was, yeah. That's a very impressive list. It's not a bad list, and I think we had donations from Cardwave donated an afternoon tea. We had Gaucho donating vouchers for their restaurants. Swimland Home Finders did a lovely golf towel for everyone on the day. Oh, wow. Yeah, everyone had a golf towel in there. Yeah, everyone went away with branded golf balls, a golf towel, water bottles, refreshments.
40:09 Speaker: um and elsie's bakery is one that we had on there that donated over 100 cookies for the day as well i know they went down they smelt very good at seven o'clock in the morning yeah i think there was one or two people that had more than one cookie there was um but no as well people like that that make the day special um and without their support of it it wouldn't have been as successful as it was and i know that for for the people to take part is that you either had the ability
40:36 Speaker: So if it was just, say it was just me, for example, instead of putting a team on is we could put naming and it was a price per person and you guys would put us in the team or you would book a four ball or you would book a four ball with one of the players and it all had different tiers. Yeah, we did. We probably had five or six individuals that we paired up into teams. Yeah. We had one of the guys from Optimum here that come along. He was paired up with a couple of the Wildcat players as well. Rob Stokes. Rob Stokes. Yeah. We had a couple of...
41:05 Speaker: Hockey fans wanted to come along and just share the day with us as well, which was really, really good. And we did. I think we had four or five companies that paid a little bit extra to have one of the World Cup players in their team. And again, they embraced the day, communication, the feedback, the photos and the memories that it made for having that accessibility to them.
41:25 Speaker: pay dividends for everyone really yeah i think the players are so accessible through the season with the fan festivals that they're so used to engaging with the fans or with the public that it was so natural so well yeah the sign-ins the fan festivals are always there i think that's what's different to any other sport and i'd agree on a you know wrap up in a second but as an aside is that i would agree 100 with that and that's what hooked me on ice hockey 2019 first time that i went uh and so my daughter would have been seven or eight and i finished my motor racing commentary season november time
42:01 Speaker: And I was like, I want to do something different with the girls and my wife and my daughter this weekend. And I managed to get tickets for us to the game. We went rinkside with the Littland because they reckon that's the better place sometimes for the Littlands. And the fifth... No, in fact, it was when we first got there and they're warming up on the ice and we're like going, oh, wow, this is incredible. And we stood by the other side of the glass.
42:24 Speaker: And the likes of Bully and all that lot suddenly interacting with the youngsters in particular, the other side of the glass, and just sort of winding them up and doing, oh my gosh, she loved it. Then the fist bumps as they're going out of the changing room to the ice in the other way, and she'd come back going, oh, I've got six fist bumps and blah, blah, blah. And as parents, we know if you make our Littlen smile that much.
42:46 Speaker: I'm hooked. Yeah, 100%. I am hooked. But equally, I'm not going to lie, as an adult, I love interacting. We sort of have some giggles in the bar afterwards with them and stuff. They are just so interactive. It's just brilliant. And I think they need that as well because it is stressful. You've got 1,400, 1,500, 1,600 people watching on a match night.
43:07 Speaker: Yeah, the slightest thing does get scrutinised. But to be able to have a chat of it with them at the end of the night, over a beer, just sat there and unwinding, it's an escape for them as well. Yeah, I haven't encountered ions in the pub yet. No. So he gets scrutinised by me a lot. That's one of the rest. I'm sure there's time next season. He's avoiding you, I heard. Absolutely.
43:29 Speaker: Guys, absolutely wicked to catch up on this. Sounds like an awesome job done by the whole team to make it work. Brilliant event. I've definitely got to make sure that I'm on that one next year. No, thank you. And, you know, hopefully this sort of just, I wanted this to sort of look at something that went well, talk about it from...
43:52 Speaker: the ice hockey players perspective the organizers perspective the the commercial attendees and that networking and that personal side and and this was a very much a sort of like opening our eyes to to you know what is important so definitely well done guys brilliant job been a pleasure thank you thank you very much great job we'll see you next time for episode five
44:13 Speaker: We did know what it is, but I've forgotten what the topic is. I think we might have a few special guests come along as well. That's right, we are. We're going to have some guests. So keep your eyes peeled for episode five. But for now, from us responsive personnel, we'll see you next time. Cheers. Hi, guys. James here. I want to say a great thank you to responsive personnel at Swindon Wildcats. It's brilliant there. It's a lovely golf course. And honestly, we've had a great time. And you know what? I'll share how much of a good time we've had with a great shot.
44:48 Speaker: i nailed it as well thanks guys just like to say that the day so far is going absolutely brilliant guys running it so smooth all the freebies you kind of asked for a better day yeah very well organized lovely day lovely people yeah thank you yeah good actually yeah playing a little bit better than i thought and saying that we're currently looking for my ball but yeah it's a good day really nice course very well done so i'm enjoying myself today so far it's been great
45:23 Speaker: the turnout's been big, there's a lot of sponsors and corporate people here so Danny with responsive has done really really well and the day's turning out to be a really really good day. Wow it's a fantastic day, the venue you've picked is excellent, the weather you've organised is even better but it's really great to be sporting responsive personnel, fantastic recruitment company in Swindon and the Wildcats as well, great team.
45:48 Speaker: I mean, for me personally, maybe not as well as I'd hoped, but it's been a really good day. It's good to see so many people out, all the sponsors. And yeah, it's a great group of lads that I'm playing with today, so I couldn't be happier. Thanks to Responsive and Wildcats for a great golf day. Pretty good, actually. They brought the weather for a change. But yeah, it's a good day. Really good people. Yeah, it's nice to be out on the golf course, actually, to be honest with you.
46:14 Speaker: Like I say, they're a good team. They've organized a really good event today, so it's nice. Yeah, it's been great. Great weather turned out. You know, responsive in the Wildcats. They've done a great job, you know, hosting this tournament. Our group's had a lot of fun. Yeah. Yeah, no. Gold's been dreadful for me. Wildcats has been on fire. A few others are doing all right. A few bad ones as well. Hi, guys. Lovely to be here. My name's Max from Ramsbury Brewery and Stillery. We're here today at the lovely Bowood Golf Club.
46:43 Speaker: to support Responsive and the Swindon Wildcats. Cheers! Yeah, really well. We've got good company on the course and Responsive has been doing a great job putting it on. It's been a great turnout and the weather's held up so it's been really good. Yeah, very good. Golf is rubbish. The day's good. Good fun. Nice weather. Enjoying it. We're having a fantastic day. Sun's out. I'm not sure the golf is going as well as we'd hoped.
47:11 Speaker: We'd like to send a massive thank you to Swindon Wildcats and Responsive personnel for the invitation today. But we're three holes left from finishing, so we're hoping to change the run of our luck. Yeah, what a wonderful day. Let's thank Swindon Wildcats and Danny from Responsive for the invite. So thanks very much to Responsive and Swindon Wildcats. It's been a lovely day, beautiful weather, some very average golf.
47:40 Speaker: Beautiful day out. Thank you to responsive personnel for getting us all together and doing this whole day for us. My golf game is terrible, but here we go.