I like planners.
In fact I like them a lot.
My job means I mostly hang out with other planners of all ages and stages and casts of mind and temperament. They, you, have all sorts of wonderful qualities and quirks, and I can put my hand on my heart and say that I have rarely had a boring conversation with a planner.
Planners are curious and quick and interested in everything. They can be funny and sparky and ponderously clever. But the thing I most notice is how generous you can be with your time and your ideas and your personal IP.
The APG AI group is a brilliant example of this. Led by Tom Roach we’re meeting regularly, and sharing new thinking and ideas across time zones. We’ve formed groups of planners who’ve never met each other before and are working openly and collaboratively to come up with practical plans and thinking that we can ALL use to get the best out of AI. There is minimal politics, maximum listening, SO many brilliant ideas and we’re going to share the lot once it’s completed.
How many other groups of professionals would display this level of open sharing? The scientific community perhaps? My list is short.
APG is a not for profit. We’re run for the benefit of the whole planning community and we put our members’ interests first in everything we do. So we rely on planners’ generosity in giving their time and thinking to run training and take part in events and help create an engine of new stuff for the APG.
On Wednesday Craig Mawdsley and Bridget Angear delivered the first afternoon of our Strategy Management Course. It was awesome.
Their motivation is purely philanthropic.
And the list of events below is an advertisement for the generosity of planners; inspiring younger strategists, sharing their best ideas and thinking and putting themselves out for the good of all.
Thank you all.
Monday 13th May | 5pm-6pm BST | Online
One of the best things about being a creative strategist is your portable skills. We talk to Will Humphrey, strategist for 15 years who went to work for McKinsey. We'll ask about the skills he brought with him, why he was hired, how he works now and what it’s really like to transplant yourself and your skills to a completely new discipline and kind of company.
Wednesday 15th May | 6pm-7pm BST | Online
The crafting of the proposition has a mythical status in awards papers narratives. But is it justified or overhyped? Has the shift towards experience rather than just message-based advertising reduced its importance? And how on earth do you know whether you've written a great proposition?
Michael Lee, Chief Strategy Officer at VCCP London and former APG Chair, will cover off a number of well-known case studies and provide some practical advice on how to craft your proposition to increase the chances of stimulating a creative leap of genius.
Tuesday 28th May | 5pm-6pm BST | Online
In this session Martin Beverley, Co-Chair of the APG and CSO at adam&eveDDB, will be focusing on how to write brilliant briefs and deliver brilliant briefings.
He will cover principles for writing the best and most effective briefs and creating the most inspirational briefings. There will be plenty of examples, tricks and tips that can be put into practice.
'Get the Best Out of AI' with Oli Feldwick is a series of expert seminars, each a deep dive into different aspects of how we use and think about AI. Our next session takes place on 21st May from 5-6pm BST online. Oli will be doing a deep dive into how we need to change the way we work and think to adapt to ethical AI.
Find out future dates for other sessions here.
This is the best grounding in the principles and practice of creative strategy that you can get. Charlie Snow is one of London’s top planners, combining training for the APG with the day job at adam&eveDDB. The course takes you through every stage of the planning cycle explaining what to do and when to do it with multiple examples, models, and ways of applying your thinking. Universally described as ‘excellent’ and ideal for new planners as well as clients and others who use planning as part of their role.
Email Alison@apg.org.uk to book your place.
Wednesday 12th June | Times TBC | Online
This practical half day workshop will teach you how to use the most powerful strategic models available to planners. You’ll learn a series of strategy frameworks that you can use to solve your branding problems, including Brand Positioning, Customer segmentation, Comms/Campaign Planning/Psychology/market insight generation, Project Planning, Selling and much, much more.
Planning guru Jon Leach will give you the theory, case history examples, a step-by step guide for their application and tasks so you can have a go yourself.
Go here to learn more and book your place.
Sarah Newman
APG Director
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