A big success.

That was the unanimous verdict after the seventh LinkedIn Local Bournemouth and Poole event.

Held at Poole Audi’s showroom in Old Wareham Road, Poole, the ‘not for profit’ evening attracted around 70 people providing a great opportunity to meet off-line the people many only knew online.

Beverley Poole, Host of LinkedInLocal Bournemouth and Poole, said: “I have tried to create a warm, sociable networking environment, always in great locations, where people can get to know each other and to really understand their business and how they might connect.

“An added bonus is that by using  a function on the LinkedIn App, everyone in the room can also connect with each other right there on the night, so there will be more people to connect with the next day.”

LinkedInLocal is about four years old globally with more than 1,000 hosts in 600 countries.

It is held every eight to ten weeks.

All the ticket fees go to the chosen charity for that particular event with the £670 from the latest LinkedIn Local Bournemouth and Poole donated to GOODE catering which supports prostate cancer patients at Poole Hospital

Previous good causes have included Dorset Cancer Care Foundation and Diverse Abilities with more than £4,800 raised  to date.

Sponsors for the latest events were:

Poole Audi (showroom, arrival drinks and hospitality).

Zim Braii (food).

Chris Muirhead, Palm Print (brochure design and print).

Ginny and Sophie Williams, Kalmology (holistic therapies).

Justin Wharmby and Dave Dodge (photography).

Wayne Ferguson, WFMedia (videography).

Heidi Roper, from ViewHR, offered her knowledge on changes to HR and parental leave and held a fun session about work styles which thoroughly engaged the audience and caused much amusement.

Beverley’s ‘right hand team’ includes Matt Smith of Smith Hobbs Wealth Management and Matt Thomas of Haven Financial Solutions, pictured left.

The next event is at Bournemouth’s Village Hotel on Thursday April 16.

The guest speaker is Tom Wright of Biddable Media, a specialist in AI and open web advertising.

Sponsors are sought to cover catering costs at the April event.

They will receive advertising across the LinkedInlocal pages and in the booklet on the night.

Tickets for the April 16 event will be available on Eventbrite from Monday March 9.

The LinkedIn Local dedicated page with 840 followers can be found here