ASSC Talks: Programme (Upcoming)

Tuesday, 6th December 2022 – 11am to 12 noon

A PRACTICAL GUIDE ON HOW TO UPDATE YOUR PROPERTY LISTING ON EMBRACE SCOTLAND (Please note relevant for current ASSC Marketing Members ONLY)

Now is the time to be making sure your holiday accommodation is as up to date and as visible as possible. The days are shorter and the nights longer, which means people have more time on their hands to dream, search and ultimately book their 2023 self-catering holiday in Scotland.

Please join us on Tuesday 6^th December at 11 am for a live webinar where we will show you how to update your accommodation listing on the new Embrace Scotland website.

We are delighted to welcome ASSC Board Director, Noemi Alonso who with her wealth of knowledge and experience on the subject of websites and booking engines has agreed to run a support session for ASSC Marketing Members.

Noemi will deliver a 45-minute webinar where she will guide you through a live update step-by-step. The aim of the session is to give you the confidence to update your own listing on Embrace Scotland and to make sure you get most out of this fantastic new website through making regular updates and sharing your latest availability and special offers.

The session will look at each stage of the process:

Logging in and resetting your password
Editing your property address and map location
Adding your website url and property description
Uploading images
Updating your facilities
Adding your opening times, pricing and late availability

Tuesday, 17th January 2023 – 11am to 12.30pm

SURF THE CHALLENGING TIMES WITH EASE AND FLOW

Life has been very challenging in the Self-Catering Sector over the last couple of years. Running your own business and perhaps supporting a team to embrace all the challenges has been exhausting at times rather like trying to catch a wave, only to be dunked off your surfboard by yet another obstacle just below the water line. Just when we think you are over the hurdle of Covid, booking patterns change and some of us are struggling to reach pre covid guest levels. The cost of living is having an impact on us all and the cherry on the cake is governments new licensing legalisation for SC.

Change CAN be challenging for us all – it can send us into overdrive as we charge head long into making decisions, working long hours to make sure everything is perfect, for some it can cause ostrich like behaviour, as we stick our heads in the sand and pretend there is nothing to worry about, leaving us unprepared to face the new protocols and for others it can cause high levels of stress leading us to become unwell and ultimately decide that shutting down our businesses is the only option.

This workshop, based on the ground-breaking Positive Intelligence program ™(PQ) from Shirzad Chamine , lecturer at Stanford and Yale Business School, aims to help us understand what motivates us all (our Sage muscle) and what interferes with us achieving our goals (our Saboteurs).

Come along to this 90- minute online workshop to find out how to begin to support yourself and other members of your self-catering team to be able to surf the waves of change with ease and flow and maybe even enjoy the view from the cottage window as you do it.

Hester Binge, Director of Education Guru and Self-Catering Operator

Hester Binge runs her own self-catering cottage in Dumfries and Galloway and as a relative newcomer to the self-catering sector she has experienced quite a few changes since taking on her cottage in 2017.

Alongside this business, Hester has been in the education arena for over 30 years , first as a teacher and in later years, as the director of Education Guru which is an education consultancy that supports teachers to develop engaging science and strengthen their mental fitness. She is also a Mental Health First Aider Trainer and a Senior Stem facilitator.

For Hester, the biggest impact in a leading a peaceful and contented life, was becoming a Positive Intelligence™ Coach. This ground-breaking scientific research-based programme has helped Hester and those she has coached to find positive ways to meet life’s changes and challenges that we all encounter along the way.

When not working, Hester enjoys riding her horses and finding exciting new retreats for her guests, like designing a bespoke Escape room, based on the folklore of Dumfries & Galloway.

For more information about Hester and positive intelligence, visit

Tuesday, 24th January 2023 – 11am to 12.30pm

MEET THE EXPERTS – An Opportunity to Meet our Valued Partners for Business & Trade Supplier Plus Partners

We are excited to be hosting our 3rd industry partner event and invite you to “Meet the Experts” – an inspiring session to introduce you to our leading Partners for Business and Trade Supplier Plus partners.

Previously our annual conference gave our members a great opportunity to meet our valued industry experts within the exhibition arena, so, in place of our annual conference this is our virtual solution – allowing our partners to engage with our members online. There will be product information – news and updates; offers; promotions; savings and tips and much more to inspire you as we approach the new season.

“Meet the Experts” is an engaging format which will bring you a short elevator pitch by participating partners during this “live” session.

Each pitch will introduce you to the partners and their business and after this session we will provide you with details as how to contact them directly, to help you with your specific needs and answer your specific questions.

We are delighted to welcome a number of new partners and this is a fantastic opportunity for you to hear what they, and are our existing valued partners, are able to offer you. They are all able to help you in different ways with their unique products and services and we hope you can join us to meet our leading industry professionals.

Meantime, to find out more about all our partners visit

ATTENDANCE AT OUR EVENTS

ASSC Members: ASSC Talks are free of charge as a way of continuing to add value to the already cost-effective membership
Non-members: £25 including VAT + Eventbrite fee

Joining ASSC: if you would like to join ASSC following attendance at a Talk the £25 attendance fee (if applicable) will be discounted from your ASSC membership. Various membership category options are available with discounts throughout the year . For more details visit – https://www.assc.co.uk/join-us/
For more information contact joyce@assc.co.uk
Terms & Conditions apply – see here