ECC - Endings and New Beginnings

ECC – Update on Events

Following on from our last event in 2016, I took the decision to pause the ECC events as I realised that they were no longer sustainable in their existing format, and that further support was needed in order for them to thrive long-term. Sadly, whist that support was sought, there was no obvious appetite to provide it, hence there have been no further events over the past 2 years.

Like most things in the cycle of life, there are endings and beginnings so I feel it is time to formally announce that whilst the ECC will continue online, both on the Co-Active Network and our Facebook group, the time has come for the ECC events to come to an end in their previous format. And in the spirit of new beginnings, I will be launching something new, but more on that later…

Before I dive into my excitement about what coming next, I feel it’s important to honour and celebrate what has been. The ECC events and legacy are something I’m very proud of and held a special place in my heart, and if you’re taking the time to read this, then I’m assuming they did for you too. So take a minute to read on below and watch the video and take in everything that the ECC brought to you over the years.

ECC Legacy

The European Co-Active Community [ECC] was founded in late 2003 by myself and Antony Parry, with the support of CTI front of the room leaders Lori Shook, Andy Denne, and the late Jim Patterson. This lead to the first event being held in February 2004 in Central London. Following on from that a foundation group was established to develop and grow the community and along with myself and Antony, Andy Chapman, Colette King, Martin Carver, Richard House, Tina de Meeus, Margaret O’Keeffe, and Leanne Lowish all stepped forward to help make that happen.

Between 2004 and 2016 the community held 29 events that collectively had over 1,500 coaches attend. Including a 10th Anniversary celebration event and dinner in 2014. These events also inspired many other similar events in other European cities. This legacy was only possible thanks to the efforts of an extensive team of volunteer organisers (including those mentioned above) and speakers (see the list of credits at the end of the video).

To celebrate and commemorate this I have created a video slideshow of photos taken at the events starting in 2004 right through til 2016. It brought back so many amazing memories creating this video, so please take a few minutes to watch it and see if you can spot yourself (and your pals)! It’s a little long (8 mins) but there were just too many amazing memories and people to feature! (and you can skip forwards to see the shots from more recent events) Once you’ve finished watching and reading the rest of this post, please add a comment below and let me know what the ECC meant to you and what you gained from attending the events.

A Trip Down Memory Lane

What’s Next?

There were two key reasons that I stayed the course and ensured that the ECC events endured for 12 years. The first was a belief that, in the word of Helen Keller “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much!. and the second was that a belief that ‘no matter how good we are at coaching, it didn’t really matter if we had no clients to coach’. So helping coaches become successful at attracting clients and creating a sustainable income was always a strong driving force for me.

With that in mind, I have always had the intention of maintaining some kind of business development support for coaches, however until recently, I had thought that I would be hanging up my community building hat and retiring from that role. Much to my surprise though, through some discussions about perhaps holding one last event as a final celebration, and following some very clear divine guidance, it would seem that my community building days are not over and I will soon be launching a new peer support venture.

So to keep in touch and receive future details about either business development support for coaches, or information about future peer support events and and help shape what they look like, please enter your name and email below:

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ECC Credits