It’s that time of year again, yes ISV, like many recruiters and recruitment suppliers are gearing up for Recruitment Agency Expo at London’s Olympia.

It’s the first big gathering of recruiters in the calendar (possibly the biggest industry event in the UK?) and kicks us off for the year.

You might have read our previous blog ‘Are Recruitment Events Dead?’. If you consider the number of exhibitors and registered visitors for RecExpo, it would certainly argue not. So, how can you justify and make the most of 2 days out of the office at a recruitment event?

Here are 7 things we’ll be doing at this year’s Recruitment Agency Expo:

1) Using video

There’s no escaping it and no excuse, video is the key to engagement when it comes to sharing news, particularly on social media. Marketing experts urge us to keep it personal and share human experiences, a video is the best way to do this. Whether it’s quick snippets for Twitter or Instagram, or longer edited and polished videos, we’ll be embracing more visual media.

2) Ditching the formal wear

The days of formal business wear, suits, heels and so on, seem to be a thing of the past at recruitment industry events. It is perfectly acceptable to go for smart, informal wear like branded polo shirts (we’ll be rocking some sassy new ones on the ISV stand).

3) Heading for these speaking slots

One of the best things about Recruitment Agency Expo, in our opinion, is the seminar and training programme. Where else can you get a bucket load of training and ideas for free, in one place?

We’ll be heading for Julia Doherty, from Green Umbrella’s, session on ‘Getting Over Your Live Video Fear and Thriving on Camera’, as well as Steve Beckitt from Sourcebreaker’s ‘How to Maximize ROI from Technology’.

For a quick-fire session to get us motivated, we’ll be aiming for Alex Moyle and Louise Triance and their ‘Inspire Recruitment’ slot.

4) Hosting our first joint seminar slot

ISV’s Managing Director, Amanda Davies, has a speaking slot on day 2, the Wednesday, at Recruitment Agency Expo. For the first time, we’ll be presenting jointly with a customer. Tek Experts provide BPO, IT and support services globally. We’ll be sharing the latest trends and tips with you on how to find the perfect candidate. Tek Experts will share their story of introducing testing and the benefits it has had across their business, including an amazing improvement in attrition rates.

5) Introducing you to our new Access RDB integration

Yes, we are launching our new integration with ISV Online and the Access RDB candidate management software. This means Access RDB users can use our range of candidate tests and training without having to log in to two separate systems. You can have a preview of the integration with this video.

6) Meeting clients, potential clients and partners

Recruitment Agency Expo is an ideal place for us to catch up with existing recruiter clients. Many of you will be heading to the conference so it will be great to have a face to face catch up, hear your latest news and show you, in person, any developments with our recruitment testing platform. Hopefully, we’ll meet some potential new clients and it will also be great to catch up with friends, other suppliers and partners from across the industry. Companies like Logic Melon (the job posting tool that also integrates with ISV), and Boomerang Funding (who we recommend when you need a funding partner).

7) Collecting and stocking up on stationery

What’s a trade show without the merchandise? We’re magpies for new shiny new pens and notebooks so get ready to swap giveaways and compare notes on who comes away with the best swag. Our personal favourites in the past have been our ISV post-it notes, pens, water bottles, mints and sweets, and of course squeezy stress shapes that double as missiles for your colleagues.

We hope to see you at Recruitment Agency Expo on Tuesday 5th and Wednesday 6th February 2019. Register for your free entry here.

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ISV.Online is the leading supplier of skills testing software and services to the UK Recruitment Industry.  Used by 9 of the top 10 UK agencies, by number of offices, and 7 of the top 10, by revenue, ISV.Online offers candidate skills assessment and evaluation software and online training tools, allowing agencies and in-house HR/recruitment teams to validate the skills of potential candidates and existing employees across a wide range of areas.