What's Floating Around Cloud 9? 28 Jan 13

Welcome to another week and we're late this week, as it's been a bit manic to say the least.....

We do try not to churn out the same old news, views and event stuff every week and therefore, the time we invest in our blog posts can be considerable - as a result, when we are all busy bees, we'd rather not stick something out that isn't representative of Cloud 9.

This is one of those weeks...so instead...we've picked some of the best event photos and images from the last twelve months and we promise to do better next week! 

As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words...so here are five of our favourites....

Vinitaly

Ibiza 2012

Hadrians Wall Border Lights

Great North Swim

 

The 13th Annual Chocolate Show

 

 

 

What's Floating Around Cloud 9? 21 Jan 13

Welcome to another week!

Awards are and have always been our mainstay and whilst activity on the Midlands Media Awards, Fresh and another couple of exciting new programmes (which we are keeping under wraps for now) are all progressing nicely, we thought it timely to focus on some of the great opportunities for eager awards entrants in 2013!

It doesn’t seem to matter which industry you are working in these days, there is bound to be a programme that recognises and rewards your sector and it doesn’t matter if Car Parks or Catering is your thing, there will still be an awards event that is either up your street or your cup of tea……

So why should you bother?

Winning a business or industry award provides independent recognition of your expertise and success. And if promoted well, it allows you to stand out from your competitors. Reasons why organisations should enter awards include the opportunity to raise the profile of the company, demonstrate you are well-run and successful, attract media coverage, increase the company's appeal to potential investors and be seen as a good employer, which can help attract top flight staff. Winning is also a fantastic morale booster for everyone and sometimes provides a valuable prize.

It might be that the prize is simply a trophy, but what that can represent can make all the difference in attracting new business.

So, you have completed a great project, written a first class article, provided unprecedented service or designed a ground breaking logo – which is the awards programme for you?

One of the most comprehensive sources of information about awards events, which includes links, deadline and event dates is the Boost Awards site. You can search by sector, discipline and even for regional, national and international awards and by registering, you can get an alert when the deadline is looming.

Whilst we love awards (it’s our business afterall) we don’t necessarily advocate any of the following even though some of them are clearly very popular and well supported!

The Golden Collar Awards: As far as weird awards ceremonies go, it seems that every dog has their day. In the case of The Golden Collar Awards, the most prestigious pups tinsel town has to offer are celebrated in an awards ceremony with (just slightly) less tension than the Oscars. This year, Uggie, the adored (and now acclaimed!) Jack Russel terrier The Artist was named this year’s top dog.

Bad Sex in Fiction Award: Founded in 1993 by literary critic Rhonda Koenig, and the editor of Literary Review magazine, Auberon Waugh, the annual Bad Sex in Fiction Award singles out an author who writes about lovemaking so awkwardly (and unconvincingly) that readers may be convinced the person on the other side of the pen has sexual experience akin to likening breasts to sand bags!  While the awards aim “to draw attention to the crude, tasteless, often perfunctory use of redundant passages of sexual description in the modern novel, and to discourage it” some of the nominations exist in a realm far more cringe-worthy than a Judd Apatow movie. 

 Merlin Awards:  Now that we’re on the esoteric side of things, it may be a good time to give a shout out to the Merlin awards, a ceremony instituted by the International Magicians Society that is to magic what the Grammy’s are to music.
As long as you meet the reasonable criteria of talent, showmanship, originality, skills, and an ability to entertain under any conditions, then the next Merlin award winner could be you! 

The Psychic of the Year Awards: If you have been blessed with clairvoyant powers that transcend the banally bleak existences of us Muggles, you may be in the race to win a spot on the acclaimed Psychic Hall of Fame. In celebrating the 29th anniversary (there is definitely a numerological significance to that number) of the Australian Psychics Association, the country’s best psychics have been announced and awarded.
If that’s not enough to get your telepathic juices flowing, a new magazine called the 2012 Australian Psychics Directory has just been placed in news agencies around the country, where you can find a comprehensive list of reliable readers – tarot readers, that is.  

 Darwin Award:  Survival of the fittest is a wonderful thing really, particularly when it comes to the Darwin awards, a posthumous honour-giving tribute.

The ceremony “commemorates individuals who protect our gene pool by making the ultimate sacrifice of their own lives... winners eliminate themselves in an extraordinarily idiotic manner, thereby improving our species' chances of long-term survival.”
Previous winners include a would-be robber who, when his gun failed to fire at his intended victim during a hold-up, peered down the barrel and tried the trigger again, only to shoot himself; a teenager who tried to muffle explosives – with his crotch; and an extremely bright individual who wanted to make fireworks display for New Years, so he opened a hand grenade with a chainsaw. 

  Ig Nobel Awards:  The irreverent Ig Nobel awards parody the Nobel Prize, where improbable scientific research and unlikely (and, at times, trivial) studies are awarded. Winners of previous awards include a team of medical researchers who found that decision making is impacted by the need to urinate, and an inventor who designed an alarm clock that runs away and hides when it goes off. Peace prizes have been awarded to a man who determined that illegally parked cars can be solved by flattening them with an armoured tank, while another team of modern-day Mother Theresa’s pioneered research into the activity of locusts' brain cells while watching Star Wars film clips.

The Stella Awards:  If you too have noticed people filing outrageous and frivolous lawsuits far too frequently (#firstworldproblems) then The Stella Awards may be of interest to you. Named after Stella Liebeck who, in 1992, spilt hot (McDonald’s) coffee over herself and was subsequently awarded $2.9 million in damages, The Stella Awards have maintained a commitment to giving these ludicrous lawsuits the attention they deserve.  
Other noteworthy cases include a woman who was awarded just under $800,000 after she broke her ankle over a toddler who was running inside a furniture store, and a man who was granted almost $15,000 after being bitten on the backside by his neighbour’s dog. Injuries are seriously the best things that have ever happened in these people’s lives. 
Most Phallic Building Award: This one is pretty self-explanatory, so we’ll just leave you with a selection of pictures via the link to ponder on...
The Foot In Mouth Award: Awarded by the British Plain English Campaign, The Foot In Mouth Award is celebrates the most “baffling comment by a public figure”. For more explanation, see below quotes by previous winners:
“I know who I am. No one else knows who I am. If I was a giraffe and somebody said I was a snake, I'd think ‘No, actually I am a giraffe.'” – Richard Gere
“I love England, especially the food. There's nothing I like more than a lovely bowl of pasta.” – Naomi Campbell
“I know what I believe. I will continue to articulate what I believe and what I believe – I believe what I believe is right.” – George W. Bush

Ernie Awards:  On a less tongue-in-cheek note, The Ernie Awards bring to light the most misogynistic comments made in Australia. Named after former Australian Workers Union secretary, Ernie Ecob, who was famously quoted saying, “Women aren’t welcome in the shearing sheds. They’re only after the sex”, the awards name and shame the say-ers of that year’s most sexist comments. 
Here are some gems:
1995: Justice John Gallop, Australian Capital Territory Supreme Court: (upon imposing a bond upon a man convicted of raping a 12-year old girl), “Our jails would be full if we locked up everyone who did this.”
1999: "Magistrate #1" (in a case reviewed by the Judicial Commission): “Women cause a lot of problems by nagging, bitching and emotionally hurting men. Men cannot bitch back for hormonal reasons, and often have no resource but violence.”
2002: Archbishop George Pell, Catholic Archbishop of Sydney: “Abortion is a worse moral scandal than priests sexually abusing young people.”
Yeah, an Ernie is probably a trophy you don’t want in your pool room. 

And of course we are currently in “Hollywood Awards Season” with The Golden Globes which were held on 13 January which delivered a few surprises.

The winning films set the tone and Les Misérables was named best comedy-or-musical whilst Argo shot down Lincoln to take the best film drama award.  The Oscar race was blown wide open by some of the winning decisions at The Golden Globes.

By rights this should have been Lincoln's night. Steven Spielberg's meticulous tribute to the civil war president strolled in as the lofty frontrunner, having led the nominees at the Globes, Baftas and Oscars alike. So it was startling to note that it was promptly sent packing with just one prize to its name (a best actor gong for Daniel Day-Lewis), whereas Django Unchained – an altogether brasher, bloodier approach to the subject of American slavery – came away with two.

Many will feel that the real "best drama" at this year's Globes came courtesy of Jodie Foster's extraordinary speech on receiving a lifetime achievement award. Judged in terms of emotional voltage and sheer nail-biting fascination, Foster's monologue (not so much a public declaration that she is gay as a celebration of privacy in general) risked casting Argo's high-wire antics as so much excitable tomfoolery.

In conclusion, then, we're none the wiser. At various stages of this most confounding of awards seasons, the favourite's baton has been passed from Argo to Zero Dark Thirty to Les Mis to Lincoln and now back to Argo again. The Globes have spun and brought us all full circle.

We suspect now that the Baftas may plump for the musical while the Oscars will go for Lincoln. But who knows? The experts are in uproar and the consensus is a joke. The real best drama may be yet to unfold.

One thing is for sure, we will be glued to our screens on Sunday 10^th February for The BAFTA’s and again on Sunday 24^th February for The Oscars.

Of course, you could actually win a couple of tickets to TheOscars. Not to sit next to Brad or Angelina we suspect, but you could win a Red Carpet Experience with 2 tickets for the bleachers.

The winners also get Airfare for two to Los Angeles, 2 nights hotel accommodation and a Gift bag with Oscars merchandise and 2013 Program. It’s free and you have until 12:00 PM (noon) PT on Friday, February 1, 2013 to enter

So that’s it for this week, we’ve lots to tell you about upcoming events but for now, we’ll wish you all a great week!

Enjoy!

What's Floating Around Cloud 9? 14 Jan 2013

Welcome to another week and blimey it’s a busy one!

We are gearing up for the launch of the Midlands Media Awards set for 1^st February which we are running on behalf of the Birmingham Press Club - the oldest Press Club in the world. 

This exciting awards scheme will recognise and reward the very best local and regional journalists, broadcasters and photographers and will deliver an outstanding event celebrating the diversity of the media throughout the Midlands.

With an impressive and impeccable two stage judging process and categories created to reflect and reward the rich heritage and modern innovation within the media, this is an event not to be missed.

The Midlands Media Awards cover Derbyshire, Herefordshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Rutland, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire (West Midlands).

Entries are welcome from anyone working within the local media, journalists, broadcasters and online news contributors and there are over 20 categories to choose from including one which will enable the public to vote for their favourite source of news and information.

The event is set for Thursday 13^th June at the Botanical Gardens in Birmingham and to keep up to date with information about the awards, use #MidlandsMediaAwards on Twitter.

The CIPR Northern Conference for 2013 will take place a week later at the Great North Museum Hancock, in Newcastle, 19 June.

The theme this year is Power to the People which is incredibly relevant in a post-Levenson world, so whilst the full programme is to be announced, tickets will be available from late January and early bird discounts are available for advance bookings.

Fresh 2013 is also on the go and as we celebrate 10 years of Fresh, its going to be a big, big, big, big year…we have plans to host a Freshtival, not a Festival, but a Freshtival.

 We have already seen a sneak preview of the  new Creative which will accompany the awards this year from our friends over at Palmer Hargreaves and although we are chomping at the bit to tell you all about it, we are under pain of death not to reveal any details until its ready to go, so look out for more news in February.

In other news this week, if you do any work at all for the Travel Industry, be it websites, advertising, design, media or PR, and you fancy something completely different in 2013, then we have a great suggestion.

Our friends over at Beachcomber UK along with Email for Travel, have set up a great new website promoting the first ever Travel Trade Crusade.

The Travel Trade Crusade! ---- 12th -14th July 2013 - is a mad road trip across Europe, taking in 5 countries in 3 days that raises money for good causes. Only teams from the travel industry or those associated with the travel industry can enter and compete with each other along the way to tick off certain challenges set by us. Most teams will head back to Blighty at the end of the rally.

So if you are a Travel Agent, Tour Operator, Holiday Attraction, Travel Press, Travel Design or Advertising company, Travel Industry official body, Consortia, Airline, Airline company, Representation Company or Hotel Group…the list goes on of who can take part.

The competition lasts for 3 days starting in Calais at 9.00 a.m. on Friday July 12th, 2013 and finishes in Amsterdam on Sunday July 14th, 2013. Its been designed to be fast and furious to minimise time away from the office.

The challenges and points scoring system are unique and that’s all we’re going to say! 

Check the challenges section for more details, but ultimately, they are designed from the bizarre to the brilliant and will give you stories to tell for years. Some challenges can be ticked off anywhere and others are evenly distributed across the countries.

Because of the unique challenge system, teams are required to take a camera with them. Don’t worry, you don’t need any high-end recording equipment, just a digital camera that can take photos and short video clips.

So, do something very different in 2013 and make sure you take part!

Finally this week, we are looking forward to Friday as we take our first fam trip of the year down to London for an exclusive event with the Jumeirah Carlton Tower.

The luxury, five star Jumeirah Carlton Tower hotel is situated in the heart of Knightsbridge and is located within walking distance of Harrods and Harvey Nichols department stores and the exclusive designer boutiques of Sloane Street.

Jumeirah Carlton Tower was voted Europe's Leading Business Hotel 2011 at the World Travel Awards; top three best hotels for service in the UK in the Condé Nast Traveller Gold List 2011 and 4th place for Best UK Business Hotel in the 2010 Condé Nast Traveller Readers' Travel Awards.

Synonymous with sophistication and luxury, the 216 room, 5 star hotel overlooks the private gardens of Cadogan Place with spectacular views over London’s skyline.

Excited, you bet we are!

Have a great week everyone!

What's Floating Around Cloud 9? 7 Jan 2013

Happy New Year everyone and here is to a great one!

We are off to a busy start at Cloud 9 Towers with several new exciting projects on the go including the Midlands Media Awards which we are running on behalf of the Birmingham Press Club.

As a showcase to great talent in Journalism it’s never been more important to celebrate the ethics, integrity and sheer hard work of the journalists behind some of the regions best loved newspapers, magazines, news shows, radio programmes and online news feeds.

In the media world of 2013, only the bravest, most innovative media companies will survive. Digital experimentation, technology, the editorial teams and individuals and old-fashioned media values will have to fuse to create platform-neutral media business models for the future. 

The Midlands Media Awards exists to highlight and reward the very best of the regions media companies, teams, individuals and to showcase attention grabbing headlines, campaigns and real journalistic flair.

We are still working on the details, deadlines and dates for this important event, but we promise to update you soon…

We are also very busy with the plans for the 2013 CIPR Northern Conference which this year will be held in the North East at the fabulous Hancock Great North Museum on 19 June.

'Power to the people' will be the theme : In a post-Leveson world where the traditional media is on the back foot and social media is everywhere and all seeing, the opportunities and challenges for professional communicators have never been greater.

Join us in June 2013 for a one-day conference focusing on how organisations and PR practitioners are getting to grips with the new media landscape and coming to terms with the ever-increasing range of skills you need to communicate effectively with your customers and stakeholders now that it is the people who are taking control.

A full schedule, speakers and additional information will be available shortly but we can promise you a very full day.

Fresh continues to be very much in the forefront this year and as it celebrates is 10^th Birthday; we are committed to delivering a Freshtival in 2013 – no that’s not a typo, that’s exactly what we are planning!

A real celebration of creativity and innovation for the regions whether you work in PR, Advertising, Design, Media or Digital, then Freshtival 2013 will have something that appeals to you.

We aim to launch this great event next month so keep your eyes peeled for news and make sure you follow @freshawards on Twitter to stay up to date…

Talking of Twitter, we have an incredibly poor showing for Cloud 9, and it’s our aim by Easter to nudge up to around 1000 followers – is it that we are boring?!

We would be delighted to think that we are bringing informative, and innovative news about hotels, events and unmissable diary dates to the greater world, but it seems that we are not able to spread the word with our Tweets as our following is, well dire to say the least!

Katy Perry, who operates from a Cloud 9 Location http://twitaholic.com/ (although not ours!) has over 30 million followers and has posted almost 5000 updates so maybe that’s our fault as we have done less than 2,000!

So that’s a bit of New Years Resolution for @Cloud9em this year – up our Tweets and our followers – after all, how else are you going to know what’s going on?!

Oh, and whilst you have a minute, please give us a like on Facebook – we are celebrating our 10^th Birthday this year and have an appalling record – in fact we would start to think that no one liked us!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cloud-9-Event-Management

In other news, we are also working on a couple of other projects which we need to keep under wraps for now, but rest assured that once announced, will make for an interesting time ahead for us and those involved….you have been warned!

Finally this week, we want to pledge some of our News Years Resolutions to you all…

• We promise to deliver the best free venue finding service we ca
• We promise to finally update our website (its 10 years old and we have just been too busy delivering great client events to worry about it!)
• We promise to continue to deliver the very best events we can for all of our great clients, old and new
• We promise to continue to be the most friendly, professional, and ethical event Management Company in the East Midlands!

So to reiterate, Happy New Year everyone, we look forward to working with you!