Penny Black’s Social Diary: Metal Meets Marsh; Haggie’s buffet
Penny Black has been out and about again, notebook in one hand and canapé in the other, keeping a keen eye on the insurance industry’s more whimsical moments.
Metal meets Marsh
While photos of insurance industry legends regularly litter my LinkedIn feed (and yes, we all love a conference selfie), very rarely do I get to see rock n roll legends.
Matthew Longbottom, senior media relations lead at Marsh, managed to get his photo taken with Bruce Dickinson, best known as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden, at the broker and risk manager’s Aviation Summit – a crossover Penny didn’t know she needed, but now fully endorses.
Longbottom wrote: “Iron Maiden were the first band I saw live, when I was 14. I never thought that (just a few) years later I would meet the Bruce Dickinson at the Marsh Aviation Summit. 14-year-old me is over the moon.”
Longbottom has managed to raise the bar on celebrity selfies at conferences. If you manage to beat him by getting a photo with an even more impressive famous face at an industry event make sure you tag Insurance Post and add #Penny Black!
Penny’s Lunch Box
Haggie’s Media Drinks always serves up a superb buffet for starving reporters. This year, insurance journalists went to The Vintry by Cannon Street and got to tuck into tandoori chicken skewers with mango chutney, assorted meats and breads plus some delicious cauliflower bite thing that Penny was so busy shoving into her mouth she forgot to note what it was or take a photo of it. Five stars.
Out of Context
“Nothing beats sitting across a table from clients and really listening to what’s keeping them up at night.”
Really, David Howden, founder and CEO of Howden? Penny suspects that is only the case if there are also canapés and a decent claret to help the conversation along.
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