What's Floating Around Cloud 9? 8 December 2014

Welcome to another week and tomorrow we're holding a Christmas Open Day here at Cloud 9 Towers for some of our contacts from the various hotels and venues with whom we work. Whilst we are always (usually) ready to welcome visitors as its important to keep up to date with developments and news from the industry, sometimes, getting them all together is great fun and tomorrow should be no exception.

Our Mince Pie, Mulled Wine and Merriment Mash Up (well open day sounded a bit dull!) will be a great excuse to welcome some of our favourite people to the office and collectively update the team in a fun and informal way. 

 

We are incredibly lucky here that most of the lovely people who come to see us here are usually bearing all sorts of nice treats including cakes, chocolate (Shannon's favourite), biscuits and even the odd bottle of plonk (Paula's favourite), so its nice for us to be able to give a little something back.

We're planning to do this with a giant advent calendar competition and behind each of the 25 windows will be a different prize - it might be a brussle sprout, it might be a bottle of bubbly! Who knows who'll be lucky!

Do look out for photos and tweets from the day which we'll be running tomorrow @Cloud9em and #Cloud9Christmas! 

Of course if you have already made it through to this point in December without an advent calendar, then you might be able to pick one up at a discounted price given we're a third of the way through the traditional advent period! 

Gone are the days of opening a door on a piece of cardboard to find a Christmas wish or a festive character waiting behind it. Even half-melted chocolate treats lurking behind the numbered door doesn't seem to be enough these days. The more luxurious and unusual the better!

Traditional cardboard nativity scenes have made way for calendars shaped like Christmas Trees and carved wooden Santas and although there are hundreds of different ones to pick, hopefully you like some of our selection.

The 12 Beers of Christmas is a n eclectic mix of craft beers created by award winning UK Microbreweries delivered in an exclusive Christmas Tree Box. Ideal for anyone who enjoys a glass of quality ale brewed by one of Britain's independent microbrewers. The beers in this collection are all limited edition. All have been approved by the Best of British Beer tasting panel and the pack includes beers such as Crafty Dan, Runaway Brewery, Pale Ale, Lancaster Blonde and Tickety Brew Dubbel. Available via Not on the Highstreet.

Not everyone likes beer though, so how about this rather incredible, if somewhat pricey, Vodka Advent Calendar?  What’s better than a daily dose of vodka to spread some warmth in your veins? Plus, they come in tiny little bottles that

will make your soul really happy. Also available in whiskey, gin and cognac formats.

With everything from Whiskey Advent Calendars to Cocktail Calendars available, there is certainly a wide choice of tipples and toddy's to be had! However, nothing beats a good cuppa (we get through an incredible amount of tea bags here at Cloud 9 Towers) so what could be better than this!

The perfect countdown for tea lovers, this Advent Christmas Tea Gift Set features 25 individually wrapped tea bags, ranging from English breakfast and Earl Grey, to lemon & ginger, peppermint and Kenyan tea.  If only we could find a biscuit advent calendar to go with it and we would be sorted!

 

Now, if you have £12k knocking around, you could try a very special calendar which is new for 2014. Wedgwood has created the Advent House; an exceptional piece guaranteed to add excitement and build joyous anticipation during the countdown to Christmas.

Handcrafted in the UK, the Advent House is laser cut to imitate the refined look and graceful lines of Georgian architecture before being painted in alabaster and iconic Wedgwood blue. A delightful Wedgwood blue and white Jasper ware porcelain ornament can be discovered behind each window, 24 in total, each presented in an individually numbered pouch. The house’s rear doors open fully to allow safe storage of the ornaments before they are unveiled during advent. This truly captivating treasure trove is full of seasonal cheer and is sure to earn its place as a family heirloom of the future to be enjoyed by all, year after year. Just 3 limited edition Advent Houses have been made are are only available from Harrods and Wedgwood.

 

If you are budget is a little more realistic though, this is  the gift that gets sweeter every day! The Benefit Advent calendar is filled with 24 mini beauty treasures. Open the sweet shoppe doors to reveal a Benefit bestseller or surprise gift. It’s never been more fun to countdown to gorgeous. 

Overall though, the best one we have found this year comes from good old Markle & Sparkle! The 24 Advent Candle Gift set not only looks great, would be a classy addition to any home and is also much more reasonably priced than many of the others we've found and we might just get one in the sale now!  

So take advent-age of the date and grab yourself an advent calendar, we will be here we can assure you!

In other news this weeks, its time to remind you all that entries for the inaugural CHS Awards remain open until the New Year.

People love a good awards do, and the opportunity to shout about their achievements.

Awards provide recognition for a job well done, an incredibly important marketing and PR platform and perhaps most vital of all, the opportunity for new business through the showcase that the awards provide.

This will be a key factor in the CHS Awards, with the shortlist being announced at the Show in March 2015, and  with engagement from agents irrespective of size or structure, allow  any venue no matter whether independent, academic, or even those with the tiniest marketing budgets a chance to compete on a level playing field. For more information, please take a look at the CHS Awards website or call one of the team here on 0115 9333811.

Have a great week!