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I was asked to work my inner Deborah Meaden on Friday at the superbly run Plunge event with City of Bristol College. Organised by the guys from Working Knowledge,  I joined a panel of over 50 business experts aka dragons from across Bristol. The brief? To add a dose of reality, advise and inspire over 360 16-17yr old students taking their first forays into enterprise.

I’ll admit, I was a little nervous about meeting fellow dragons. Being afforded the title ‘Expert’ and ‘Dragon’ set certain expectations.  Despite studying business, working in marketing and being self-employed for over two decades, the fear of not being up to the grade was palpable. These fears were heightened when:

1. I was mistaken for a student at registration (yay!)
2. I entered the experts room in non Meaden inspired cycle-friendly ‘executive shorts’ and boots to be met by a sea of suited and well heeled business people (oops!)

Fortunately, fellow dragons were friendly, knowledgable and down-to-earth. Most owned thriving  businesses as well as having specialist skills in key business functions.  I got to meet the face behind the tweets – @alifmtp @bristoloffice. And I spotted Bristol & Bath Marketing Network’s Oakleigh Wood and @copymojo across the sea of faces but didn’t have the chance to say hi.

Groups changed over the day, however, my core group included Diane of training specialists Intelligent Dialogue, Rebecca – business development expert from Rejoove, Ovi – an Education Studies Phd student and Julie a seasoned Plunge dragon and business expert.

The day was well structured and fun.  Dragons were put through their paces with extensive briefings, copious amounts of paperwork and grade scales for a dizzying number of areas.

The ideas were superb – a kinetic smartphone charger, a webcam-mp3-satnav to stop you falling asleep at the wheel, pull-on shoe grips to help you walk in icy conditions, hair vacuum for hairdressers that instantly tidied cut hair etc. The list goes on….

Many student groups had dwindled. This meant that some were downbeat – others rose to the occasion and their enthusiasm was infectious. Ben (Hair Away) deserves a special mention for his unswerving attention to detail and professionalism, which grew as the day went on. Marlon from the webcam team was a slick salesman (Diane said she’d employ him in an instant).  And Evan of the motion sensitive TV controller (the eventual winner) was passionate and eager to learn. We loved his team’s suggested celebrity endorsement of the Pope.

What did I learn?  From a marketing perspective, virtually all of the students solely considered consumer marketing. This was to be expected – and I was impressed with those who had thought beyond this.  Though B2B isn’t so ‘sexy’ – and you could see many of them wince when you suggested trade shows, trade press and strategic alliances – it’s absolutely crucial for those starting out in business looking to expand routes to market.

Many insisted on using billboards and advertising and we were told that, despite students being avid Facebookers they would not view it as a promotional channel. This was true – and surprising that they opted for advertising given its diminishing effectiveness, relatively high cost and limited reach.  Some didn’t understand the concept of PR or free editorial causing me to consider its power and subtlety as a communications tool.

Also, chatting with Peter Weeks of Metaphor Consulting after an initial pitching session, we mused about it’s key lesson – helping students to ask for money.  As James Lott from Working Knowledge said,“As a nation, we’re awful at asking for money.” Something I’d heartily agree with – and it’s a skill which is often undervalued or seen as uncouth. Maybe that’s why Jerry Maguire’s “Show Me The Money!” catchphrase has become so often quoted. But probably not the most appropriate phrase to drop into a business conversation.

I enjoyed and heartily endorse the experience. If there’s one in a city near you – I urge you to get involved. It’s a blast – and only a wallet of paper money (£1 notes?!) is involved..