Blankety Blank got things going
Nothing breaks the ice quite like asking a room full of GM professionals to fill in the blanks. "I knew the remote worker was actually dialling in from a beach in Bali because I could hear a ____ in the background of the Zoom call" set the tone nicely, and by the time we moved into our first huddle discussion on leaner, smarter assignment packages, the whole room was talking - about real cost-cutting challenges, virtual home searches, recorded tax briefings, and the eternal question of how to protect the employee experience while the business asks for savings.
Nothing to Declare? Then again, maybe something
Our compliance session, run with Grant Thornton's Katy Bond, proved that a gameshow format doesn't have to mean lightweight content. Teams went head-to-head on tax and immigration "gotchas", including one particularly brutal question asking which pairs of countries do NOT have a bilateral social security agreement. Only 12% of tables got that one right but most pulled it back with the question on the 183 day rule. We also picked apart what happens when you ask AI for immigration advice, and learned about the peculiar case of Svalbard, where you have an unconditional right to work, but not, technically, to die. Two teams in our quiz correctly answered 77% of the questions correctly - no Chasers were getting anywhere near those guys!
"Sorry to the person whose breakfast I stole under their very nose! And to the person I said who smelt unbelievable then walked off." - The Traitor
Gameshows on every corner
The gameshow spirit didn't stop when the main sessions broke for coffee. Our partners took over the networking space with their own live gameshow stands, recreating The Chase, Catchphrase, Crystal Maze and Play Your Cards Right - turning every break into an excuse to keep playing, keep talking, and keep meeting new people from across the industry.
Our Survey Says... it depends
After lunch, our panel discussion tackled three of the biggest topics in Global Mobility - strategy, policy redesign and scope - and put the room to the test with live polling on each one. It wasn't stale, it wasn't scripted... it was feisty and challenging, with Chris even being put on the spot several times, despite simply moderating the discussion.
The headlines? Nearly half the room blamed operational bandwidth, not perception, for GM's ongoing struggle to be seen as strategic. On Core-Flex policies, opinion split almost down the middle between "essential evolution" and "administrative headache." And on scope - remote work, business travellers, and non-traditional moves - the room was torn between seeing it as GM's best opportunity to grow, or simply an inevitable burden, with barely anyone willing to dismiss it as hype.
The panel's honest, unscripted verdict was that "it depends" isn't a cop-out - it's a challenge to think clearly about your own business drivers rather than copying someone else's template. Cat Vose of AtkinsRéalis put it best: "Talking to people and trying to find out what they're trying to do isn't strategic. Acting on it is."
Our keynote speaker, Louisa Clarke, co-author of The Human Centric Leader, closed the formal sessions with a challenge that stayed with the room long after the applause died down. With 82% of UK managers falling into the "accidental manager" category, Louisa reminded us that behind every assignment, every policy and every spreadsheet is a human being - and asked everyone in the room to commit, there and then, to properly seeing one person within the next 48 hours.
Then, the awards
We wrapped up celebrating our community: the brilliant Ros Harvey was name Community Champion, Rolls-Royce took Expat Academy Team of the Year, Mott MacDonald claimed GMPD Team of the Year, and Rachel Harrington picked up our inaugural Strategic Leader of the Year. Congratulations too to Irina Trusca, Delicia Coombs, and Uliana Tillema, all recognised for the part they play in our community.
As one attendee summed it up afterwards: "Excellent! Not a boring minute. Really enjoyed. Very insightful." Another called it simply "a wonderfully full day of celebrating all things mobility."
That's what the House Party is really about - and it's exactly what Expat Academy membership gives you access to, all year round: the technical depth to solve your toughest GM challenges, and a community that genuinely enjoys tackling them together.
If you weren't in the room this year, we'd love to have you at the next one - and there's plenty more coming up, including our Global Workforce Colloquium on 4th March 2027.
Get in touch to find out about membership.