What's Floating Around Cloud 9? 28 November 2016

Welcome to another week and wow the countdown to Christmas has really started although we’re a bit fed up with the whole Black Friday thing here at Cloud 9 Towers.

We lost count of the emails we had collectively last week about it and if that wasn’t enough, it’s Cyber Monday today and we’re all groaning in the office about the sheer number of sale, deal and discount offers pinging our inboxes every few seconds!

A generally happy lot we’re not anti-Christmas and we all like a bit of retail therapy (especially Janet – just ask her about shoe shopping) but enough is enough. So here is the Cloud 9 Guide to the better things you can do to avoid the Black Friday/Cyber Monday madness that is gripping the nation!

First, have a big office tidy up and get rid of your rubbish. See what can be recycled, donated or thrown and get ahead with a big Christmas clear out. Good excuse to make room for your Christmas Tree and dig out those decorations at the same time.

Next, plan. Instead of staying glued to your screen all day, have an office get together and plan 2017 in advance. Key dates, key client activity, industry news and events – get ahead and get planning. If you haven’t got a 2017 diary yet, then this is the one bit of shopping you are allowed to do!

Our third tip is to walk it off. Instead of munching your lunchtime sarnie at your deck as usual, get wrapped up warm and take a walk – even if it’s just round the block. We’re all advised to do this anyway, but how many of us actually do it?

Number four on our list is to get charitable. Pick an adopted charity for the year ahead and see what you can do as a company to support them. Get a logo, get them online and make it clear that is the cause your organisation is backing for the year ahead. Maybe you can organise to volunteer periodically as a team building exercise?

Update your Christmas Card list – give everyone half an hour to get their personal Christmas Card list up to date, and then have a collective office list for clients, potential clients and prospects – and then actually write a few cards – don’t rely on printed rubbish – get personal.

Share a skill is tip number six. See what core skills people in your office have and share it. We’re not talking Strictly, X Factor or I’m a Celebrity here, so no dancing, singing or eating kangaroo’s wobbly bits. If you are a social media queen, or a coding king it might be nice to share some key tips with your colleagues. Provide them with the basics and let them have a go.

At seven is one stage further. Ask the team what skills they would like to learn in 2017 and get online and see what courses or training is available in the New Year. Sites like Eventbrite often list a range of courses covering core business skills which can develop skills both personally and professionally.

Our number eight tip is to stage your office Secret Santa Draw. Okay, we are trying to encourage you not to shop, or think about shopping but at least you will have an idea of what you will need to get your allocated person with a little notice. We won’t tell anyone if you go online and crack!

Lastly, and this is dependent on the boss. Stay in bed. Avoid all electronic devices, emails, advertisements, and notifications. Not that practical for anyone trying to run a business we know, but at least you can avoid the communication overload!

Have a great week!

What's Floating Around 21 November 2016

Welcome to another week and we’re in interview mode here at Cloud 9 as the search for our Brand Ambassadors continues.

We’ve already appointed two great people, firstly with Fiona Marshall who is our Essex lady with a kiwi twist. With a varied career from photography to tractor sales since moving back home from New Zealand she has spent 10 years in the MICE industry building an extensive knowledge of events and overseas destinations. Travel is Fiona’s passion and she is equally at home with a backpack or butler service. Her fancy dress collection is second to none and although tone deaf loves nothing more than warbling her favourite 80’s classics to anyone who will listen!

Covering the South West and based in Bristol we have Liz Gadd. Liz has a twenty five year career in marketing, PR and events recruitment and was previously in PR and Marketing in the hotel industry.  An experienced sponsor of awards events (which is how Paula and Liz met!), Liz has organised over 1000 events in her career, spanning conferences, awards, team building events, exhibitions and seminars, both for her own businesses and her clients.  Alternative career choice would be…a dog walker!

So, two down and seven to go and although we’ve had over 300 applicants, we firmly believe that quality and not quantity counts so getting the right people to represent our brand is paramount.

We like to think we’re nice people here at Cloud 9 and not too intimidating but when you are on the lookout for great people, you have to try and get a real sense of the person you are interviewing. With this in mind we’ve been looking at some of the weirdest interviews online to make sure we don’t make the same mistakes and we certainly hope our candidates don’t behave in the same way! 

One fresh design graduate had had two interviews already at a leading fashion designer. Their business partner loved the portfolio, and they thought they had the job in the bag. Come the third interview, the designer’s husband, came in the room and asked one question: “What’s your star sign?” On hearing the answer, he walked out telling the graduate they couldn’t employ anyone with the same star sign as his wife!

Another candidate had already sailed through two interview and for the third informal one, was offered the opportunity to go to lunch at a top restaurant – which also went well – with a line manager. On returning from lunch, and feeling confident it was time to meet the Chief Executive. Pulling up a chair but releasing the height mechanism by accident, the chair flew up and hit him in the mouth, knocking out his two front teeth and leaving blood everywhere. The up side to this was that he did get the job! 

Our final horror story revolves around a candidate who went for a job interview at a large company in North London. Arriving on time, parking his car, he did some last-minute prep, and went in confidently to the interview. The interviewer’s office overlooked the car park and half way through he saw a tow truck taking his car away. Telling the interviewer that his car was being towed away, and looking for some sympathy, he expected her to suggest that the interview be suspended. Instead he was met with an icy cold response and decided then and there that he didn’t want to work for someone so ruthless.

So, that’s it for this week, have a good one and we look forward to introducing you to some new members of the Cloud 9 team soon…

What's Floating Around? 7 November 2016

Welcome to another week and our review of a latest trip to Londonderry Charlotte and Stella undertook - this is especially useful if you would like to plan ahead for a spooky and spectacular Halloween 2017.

We are well travelled here at Cloud 9 Towers, and last week we were lucky enough to be whisked away to the lovely Londonderry courtesy of Tourism Ireland and Visit Derry.

The trip included an exciting visit to the Jungle NI for a Fright Night experience we’ll probably never forget, and a tour of some of the great venues in Derry with the opportunity to view the beautiful celebrations in the evening.

We tried to take as many photo’s as we could during the weekend, so that we could make our weekly blog as interesting as possible for you!

The moment we said goodbye to the lovely Nottingham, with only a 50 minute flight from East Midlands Airport to Belfast City Airport, there is a wide range of airlines who offer this service, with talks of direct flights to Londonderry itself in the near future.

On landing we were whisked away to the Fright Night experience, and we don't have many photos from there - just squealing and screaming in videos.

But the Jungle NI doesn’t only provide Fright Night experiences, they also have Forest Segway’s, Archery, Clay Pigeon Shooting, Paintball, Llama Trekking (yes that is a thing!) and even more, they also have Glamping Pods available through-out the park, so the “camping really isn’t my thing” excuse isn’t going to work this time!  

The following day we were set for a busy day of site visits of some of the lovely venues in Derry, and were also presented with some equally lovely foods.

First stop was the beautiful and historical Guildhall, a beautiful venue which can cater for a wide variety of events, and the space will add a magical touch for your delegates.

Next was the Millennium Forum, a very versatile space which can hold up to as many as 1000 or as little as 250, with easily accessible break out areas, the world is your oyster with this venue.

St Columbs Hall was our next stop and with natural daylight in all of their rooms, the facilities at this venue have everything you need to bring your event to life.

The next stop was lunch at the Bishop Hotel, the spaces and bedrooms were beautiful and

classical and steeped in history and we can personally say that the food was fabulous!

With full bellies we made our way to the lovely Everglades Hotel, with impressive meetings and events space and the promise of more renovations to come, this is definitely a venue to keep in mind, they also supplied us with some amazing afternoon tea... and we did try our very best to squeeze some in.

Last on the list of visits was the Walled City Brewery, this is a great place for small groups to go at the end of a long day to wind down and to also taste some of the amazing homemade ales and beers, we definitely liked them!

After a busy day it was back to the hotel to get ready for the nights festivities, make up professionally done, outfits and wigs on, we were ready to go.

With a great view of the parade from the first floor of the City Hotel and to follow the beautiful parade was a lovely two course meal and a beautiful fireworks display from the roof.

Feeling well truly fed and watered for the day it was time to make our way through to the ball, with some spooky music and a good boogie to tie up the end of a great trip, Londonderry is definitely a destination we would recommend for your delegates.

That’s all from us for another week, we hoped you enjoyed What’s Floating Around Us this week!