More than 200 people from across the Highlands and Islands took part in a business conference broadcast live today (November 8) over the Internet.

From the comfort of their workplaces and homes, as well as Learning Centres, viewers were able to participate in the free lunchtime Virtual Conference hosted by Learningworks, the Highland and Islands Enterprise (HIE) website designed to make skills training and development easily accessible to local businesses. Interest in the conference was so high that there were people viewing from overseas, including participants from Scandinavia and Pakistan.

Following on from the highly successful pilot conference held in April, renowned business expert and former Entrepreneur of the Year, David Hall, returned once more as the keynote speaker.

Building on Learningworks' key messages, that business success can be achieved through skills investment, David's inspiring address focused on the theme of 'Going Ballistic - Skills Required for Dramatic Business Growth'.

David's virtual address explored the strategy behind some of the country's leading businesses and demonstrated how local firms could emulate their successes.

During the talk David said "We can learn a lot from sports men and women because the attributes you need to succeed are the same both in sport and business. You need vision and the ability to recover from setbacks".

"I've spent the last 18 years studying what makes a successful entrepreneur and the key is to identify a customer problem, find the solution and then sell the solution to others.

"To truly make your business go ballistic you must ask yourself three questions - What can you be the best in the world at, what priorities will you focus on to drive your growth plans and what ambitious goals are you going to set yourself?"

As well as the 'virtual' online audience, a small gathering of around 20 local business people and partners heard David give his talk in person at the offices of Inverness biotech firm Lifescan Scotland.

At the end of the conference, David also announced details of an opportunity for up to 50 Highlands and Islands businesses to undertake a psychometric assessment which will rate entrepreneurial skills and highlight areas which require development. More details on this initiative can be found at www.learning-works.co.uk.

Conceived as a means to reach out to businesses throughout the Highlands and Islands using the latest technology, Virtual Conferencing provides businesses with the opportunity to participate in training and development without leaving the office.

HIE Director of Developing Skills, Alex Paterson, who chaired the event, said: "The last virtual conference was a success, as it was viewed by over 900 people, which includes those that downloaded it as a pod cast after the live event. Today we had more than 200 people joining us from Shetland down to Arran, and from Buckie over to Lewis. We were even joined by some viewers over sea, which demonstrates that using this technology is a great way to engage with a geographical wide spread audience.

"David's talk, as always, was practical and enlightening and we are already making plans for the next conference in the New Year".

The next Virtual Conference is due to be held early in 2008.