We thought it was about time we peeled back the curtain at Legal Geek and let you know what we have been busy doing behind the scenes, what makes us tick and how we’re making our events the best they can be for you. We’ve been busy bees, from celebrating our birthday to setting up our own events consultancy. But first, and some might argue the most importantly, coffee.
A hot cup of sustainability
At Legal Geek, we are avid coffee drinkers, and so we felt it was our obligation to head to the London Coffee Festival back in April to learn how to be more sustainable and taste some delicious beans.
There have been many attempts throughout history to try and ban this ‘essential’ substance due to its stimulating effects, but it still remains one of the most popular drinks worldwide with over 400 billion cups consumed each year. At Legal Geek, we are helping to keep this figure high and have the pleasure of working with the delectable Climpson and Sons.
Not only helping to support a more sustainable coffee industry by buying locally, but we also love how this company aligns with Legal Geek. Starting from a stall on Broadway Market before opening a café in an old Butcher’s shop, their Founder Ian started his dream by roasting coffee himself. We are big advocates of all hands on deck when it comes to building your business, as our Founder Jimmy is a great testament to.
Buying locally is just one of the ways we can be more sustainable, but once we’ve finished our cup, here are a few simple tips to help put our waste to good use.
Rather than throwing the grounds away, sprinkle them on your raised beds, keeping those pesky snails away from your vegetables and herbs. Alternatively, according to the Beauty Lab Chemist Danusia Wnek, the grounds can be used as a natural physical exfoliator, lifting off dead skin cells and making your skin appear smoother and brighter.
We’d love to hear from fellow coffee enthusiasts what their bean of choice is and any other tips on how to reuse your coffee grounds?
A Magnificent Seven
2022 marks our seventh anniversary, and to celebrate, we thought we should find ourselves a company mascot. Putting the power firmly in the hands of the people, we opened out this question to our LinkedIn community. We’re yet to crown a winner with some interesting suggestions ranging from an Otter, Legal Eagle, to the Legal Beagle.
When doing a bit of research into mascots, there are some obscure choices out there. From Sammy the Banana slug doing his thing for the University of California – Santa Cruz through to Sammy the Shrimp, Southend’s 8-foot pink cheerleader. Mascots can be a powerful tool to bring a brand to life. We still have no idea what the breed of dog is called other than the Dulux dog.
According to Fuzzy Duck, the traits of a good mascot include being memorable, having appeal & personality, and people feeling they can trust it; all qualities that Legal Geek embody. Who are we kidding though…it’s all about the merchandise.
Putting people first
Our passions include the legal industry, events, the planet, and our people. We are, therefore, very proud to say all of us here are trained Mental Health First Aiders. This helps us have a better understanding of mental health and factors that may affect our team’s wellbeing and the attendees at our events. Check out our recent article for more information on mental health.
In addition, we are a London Living Wage Employer, which means we pay our team and freelancers a fair wage to meet their everyday needs working in London. We want to try and create an improved legal profession by leading by example and encouraging others to join us.
Expanding our offering
At Legal Geek, we are a small but perfectly formed team who have had one hell of a ride over the past few years.
Pre 2020, we had never organised an online event. From the swanky studio we hired for the Thomson Reuters takeover through to the Singapore Trade Mission. Working with the Department for International Trade (DIT), we hosted a free virtual trade mission to support UK LawTech growth into Singapore, aiming to foster commercial and co-innovation partnerships between organisations in the UK and Singapore. Although we could not be there in person, unlike back in 2018, it was brilliant to see some familiar faces.
Across all the events we do, we always make sure that we adhere to our simple ethos:
– Come to make friends, not to sell
– Dress comfortably (please, please, no ties)
– Come to learn and to teach.
– Look after your fellow law-gends; you may need their help someday.
– This is your community; please pitch in and help. You will be rewarded.
If all of this wasn’t enough, in addition to organising our conferences, we have also launched a consultancy offering, Conference Geek, allowing us to put our skills to use to help others with their corporate events. We have had the pleasure of working with some brilliant brands, including Pinsent Masons and the International Bar Association. If you want to organise an event and don’t know where to start, then get in touch.
Thank you for indulging us whilst we share some of our news. It isn’t often we flaunt as we are used to being backstage, making sure everyone is having a brilliant time. However, we are very proud of what we have achieved, and we wanted to share. Watch out for our next instalment of ‘Behind the Scenes’ in the coming months.
High Fives,
The Legal Geek Team
