One of the good things about a career in marketing is that you get invited to some interesting events at lovely venues with nice people. On Monday evening, one of my legal clients invited me (and some of my accounting clients) to join them for a few drinks and tasty nibbles at the Portman Square Garden Party. And although the British weather often lets us down, on Monday night it really did us proud. We stood around on the grass, enjoying the warm sunshine, admiring the huge trees that I hadn’t really noticed before despite walking past each week, sipping wine and chatting happily as the distant traffic and West End shoppers carried about their business. It was relaxed and enjoyable and I had time to temporarily stop being the “busy marketing consultant” and to get to know the people behind the partner, assistant and support staff roles a little better. And it reinforced the need to take time out of our busy lives to get to know the real people we work with every day – whether they are clients, suppliers or colleagues. A simple pleasure that doesn’t have to cost a lot of time or money.