What's Floating Around Cloud 9? 25 July 2016

Welcome to another week and did you know that last week was National Two Left Feet Week here in the UK? Here at Cloud 9 Towers it got us thinking. Are there any hotels and venues in the UK that cater specifically for anyone who in addition to having two left feet, might struggle if they are left handed?

Let’s face it. In many ways, the world was designed for right-handed people., but around 12& of the world’s population are lefties (If we are allowed to use that term). It must be pretty tough to be left handed and statistics show that left handed people die at a younger age from accidents than right-handed or ambidextrous people.

Simple things that we take for granted like using a computer must be an issue and if you are using something like Excel and you need the numbers then on your keyboard they will be on the right. It’s not all bad news though as studies have shown that left handed people tend to be better at 3D perception, which makes them well suited towards the design and architecture industries. Four out of five of the original designers of the Macintosh computer were left-handed!

Additionally, Studies have shown that when faced with a decision regarding which queue to join (and you know how much we are like queuing the UK), most people will veer in the direction of their dominant hand. That means lines on the right are usually longer than ones on the left. As a result, people who are drawn towards the left side will spend less time waiting.

But back to the hotels and venues. Well, there was a little news back in 2001 when there was an announcement about a brand-new Flemings Hotel opening in Frankfurt, called Flemings Left-Hotel.

Everything in the hotel was optimised for the left-handed - from door knobs to faucets, from nail clippers in the bath rooms to the computer equipment in their business centre. The hotel manager as well as all of the staff were left handed apparently, and then it turned out to be an Aprils Fools Day Joke.

However, whilst we can’t find a hotel that seriously caters exclusive for Left Handers, we can find a destination and it just happens that its one we know quite well here (Paula has been several times).

Mullingar, in County Westmeath, Ireland become the Left-handed Capital of the World back in 2013. Mullingar in the native language translates as the Town of the Left Hand Mill and legend has it in the seventh century (aren’t we informative!), a local miller refused to grind St Colman of Lynn’s barley as he was already using his mill to grind wheat for the King. Colman then caused the mill to move anti-clockwise so it could grind both the wheat and the barley which is where the name comes from.

If you want a truly international Left Hand Day, then you need to wait until August and then you can really embrace being a leftie!

Have a great week & enjoy!

What's Floating Around Cloud 9? 18 July 2016

Welcome to another week and this week at Cloud 9 Towers we are being joined by Libby Simpson who is here on a week’s work experience. Whilst we won’t be asking her to do any venue finding this week, we are conscious we do want her to get a taste of what it’s like in our company. 

We like to think we are pretty nice people and we won’t be asking Libby to do anything that any member of the team would do as part of their normal work routine, but what makes a good experience for both an employer and those undertaking what can be their first encounter on a work experience placement?

Work experience is the ideal learning opportunity for young people, and can often kick-start a career or learning curve. The key is to show enthusiasm, according to the experts.

Around 80% of employers think work experience is essential, according to a survey by the City & Guilds vocational training organisation, and two-thirds of employers would be more likely to hire a young person with work experience over someone who hasn’t had any.

There is plenty of research to say why work experience is vital, and with stints in the workplace, young people can begin to build their own networks to make use of in the future. But to capitalise on the experience, a young person braving an office or work site for the first time needs to know how to prepare and how to use and learn from the experience.

Youngsters might sit in the wrong seat or feel awkward, dress inappropriately or not fully understand the task they have been assigned, but they might also learn how to react to situations and pick up well on what they should be doing. Smaller companies, like Cloud 9 Event Management, might offer a broader taste of work than large organisations with lots of different departments.

It is a simple enough concept and work experience should be what it says on the tin, proper work experience and not being treated like a skivvy or only making the tea. So here at Cloud 9 whilst we don’t want to bore Libby to death, our pile of hotel and venue brochures is getting seriously close to collapse, it’s that high. Especially post Meetings Show when certain members of the team seemed to collect information from just about every exhibitor! So we are hoping that a little geography lesson along with a little filing might be a good place to start.

This will also help us with some research for our daily #VenueTipoftheDay posts on social media and help organise our Venue storage cloud, on which we post the latest information on venues by region in the UK and then globally for our venue finding division.

It won’t all be filing though, social media plays a big part here and if nothing else, we do know that youngsters embrace this well so that will also be key for Libby here.

And you never know, we might just persuade her to write a blog for us for next week.

Have a great week and enjoy!

What's Floating Around Coud 9? 11 July 2016

Welcome to another week and we’re in Awards mode this week here at Cloud 9 Towers with three main events on the go.

Firstly, it’s the Midlands Media Awards which we run on behalf of the Birmingham Press Club and these are scheduled for Thursday 20 October at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre. Charlotte in the team who manages this project is being inundated with entries and as Headline of the Year is always one of the most popular categories, we are really looking forward to seeing some of the entries this year following the recent referendum on the EU.

The Fresh Creative Awards which we’ve run alongside Cloud 9 for many years are also having an overhaul or a refresh if you will pardon the pun. Although the competition in the market is fairly intense for awards in the creative sectors, Fresh is one of the only independent programmes in the UK and is totally integrated, covering all disciplines from Advertising through to PR. We’ve changed the model for these awards and also split the Fresh brand down into three core sectors with the Awards being the main platform.

The second platform is a new programme called Fresh Adventures which follows the model that we have successful used for judging over the years, and it’s a series of creative and inspirational trips for professionals working in the creative and communications industries, who can connect with likeminded people, and enjoy experiences in Europe and beyond to reignite their creativity and passion.

The third strand of Fresh is a little under wraps for now, but let’s just say its exciting times ahead and we look forward to sharing the news soon.

Last and by no means least is the CHS Awards which we run for the CHS Group and is aligned to the Conference and Hospitality Show which takes place in Leeds each year. Year one showed just how popular the awards were and this last year’s event which was held in April cemented the programme in the industry, and was attended by over 250 guests in a glittering ceremony in Manchester.

So, planning is well underway for next year and along with the CHS Group, we have big plans for the event!

In other news this week, did you know its International Cherry Day this coming Saturday? We thought this was a perfect opportunity to feature a hotel (as we do) called The Cherry Hotel. Now there are an abundance of hotels our there with names like Cherry Court, Cherry Tree, Cherry Tree and the Golden Cherry, but not one we can find called The Cherry Hotel – and we should know as venue finders!

In fact the only Cherry Hotel we can find is an historic hotel building located at Wilson, Wilson County, North Carolina. It was designed by Charles Collins Benton in Beaux Arts style and built in 1917. It is a six-story, "U"-shaped brick building with approximately 200 rooms. The interior features a two-story lobby with Art Deco style lighting fixtures. The hotel closed in the 1980's and was subsequently converted to apartments.

So if you can find a hotel with the correct name, we’d love to know, just for the sheer joy of it!

Have a great week and enjoy!