What's Floating Around Cloud 9? 24 September 2018

Welcome to another week and it's all about The Meetings Space this week as Paula is off to Rome on Thursday for this great industry event, so Cloud 9 Towers will be a little quiet!

The Meetings Space is dedicated to uniting the most influential buyers with the most inspirational suppliers in the European MICE industry. It's all about meeting and networking with the right people - the influential companies that you want to do more business with plus new companies and contacts that you will be ecstatic you discovered.

The Meetings Space buyers and suppliers will include the diamonds and hidden gems of the industry. Our team includes MICE country specialists who are based in the key European markets. These experts are daily immersed in serving buyers and suppliers across the European meetings industry. They get their thrills out of knowing who is who on the buyers’ side and also what is hottest on the suppliers’ side. They will ensure that the forum reflects some of the most important developments in people and places which occur throughout the year - and that the delegates you will meet with are influential and inspirational.

This event is mainly made up of UK buyers with German and other key Eu markets: European suppliers and a whole host of #eventprofs.

The programme will take place over 2.5 days and 2 nights and is formatted to offer delegates the maximum benefits within the optimum time frame. Delegates arrive Thursday for an early evening start. Departure is after lunch on Saturday afternoon.

It will be an extremely productive balance of meetings, networking, educational and exchange sessions, consolidation and fun - a true reflection of our industry. The emphasis will be on adding benefit throughout the programme – with surprises along the way.

The venues offer relaxing luxury in which to build relationships and do business - and the destinations are inspiring.

The event takes place at the stunning Rome Cavalieri Hotel, which is part of the Waldorf Astoria portfolio and looks a wonderful venue so it will be exciting to see.

Unfortunately we left it too late to book on the post event trip exploring Rome, but our friends at Liberty International have come to the rescue and are taking myself and Jo from Ace Bookings out and about on the Sunday.

Have a great week and ciao! 

What's Floating Around Cloud 9? 17 September 2018

Welcome to another week and two big client events are our focus this week - the first being the official launch of the new My Sight Notts offices in central Nottingham. 

To help kick start the proceedings, Paralympian Gold Medal Winner Tim Reddish is attending along with other key dignitaries from the City.   Tim is an inspiration as he won gold medals, transformed the British Disabled Swim team to the most successful of all time, and was chair of the British Paralympic Association in the greatly successful London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games.

He might have a disability, but he’s made up for it and more with everything he’s achieved and although he is blind, Tim believes in using his abilities to make the most of what he has.

The event is also the launch platform of the new My Sight Lottery, where we have just 175 places available to sign up for, pay £10 a month - and each month, one lucky winner will win £500, one will win £200 and one will win £50. Much better odds than the National Lottery and all profits go straight to the Charity so its a win win! 

The second event is the National Acute Pain Symposium which takes place in Harrogate. This two day conference has some amazing content and the keynote speaker is joining us from Australia, Prod Pam McIntyre.

The event attracts 300 delegates and is a mix of Doctors and Nurses and Pain Consultants, and although the majority of delegates are based in the UK, as the longest established pain meeting in the world, the event also sees a size able proportion of International attendees.

So busy week ahead, and not much time to report on much more, apart from to update the 50 Fam Mission for Paula here at Cloud 9 Towers

One week down and one fam down - huge thanks to Jurys Sheffield - you kick started my mission in style!

51/49

Have a great week everyone! 

What's Floating Around Cloud 9? 10 September 2018

Welcome to another week and it's the big 5-0 for Paula so a bit of a milestone birthday and a good excuse to take stock and see what sort of challenge here at Cloud 9 Towers we can set to mark the occasion. Not on usual tone we know #Eventprofs, but hey, we are forgiven yes?

Apparently, there are 50 key things you should try before you are 50 according to most of the articles and features on line, and whilst they are not all identical lists, they are all pretty similar and include the following......

1.Buy a house 2. Have kids 3. Get married 4. Fall in love 5. Eat fish and chips on the pier 6. Donate blood 7. Read 100 books 8. See your favourite band live 9. Learn a language 10. Attend a music festival 11. Own a dog 12. Learn to say no to your mother 13. Stay out all night partying 14. See the Northern Lights 15. Visit Stonehenge 16. Remember where the petrol cap is17. Travel somewhere alone 18. Sleep underneath the stars 19. Watch a meteor shower 20. Dance in the rain 21. Become an expert at something 22. Quit a job 23. See a volcano 24. Visit all seven continents 25. Throw a coin in the Trevi fountain26. Take a helicopter ride 27. Have sex on a beach 28. Swim with dolphins 29. Go skinny dipping  30. Ride a gondola in Venice 31. Make a snow angel 32. Take part in a protest 33. Own your own business 34. Go in a hot air balloon 35. Ride an elephant 36. Climb Snowdonia 37. Jump into a pool fully clothed 38. Backpack across Europe 39. Perfect a signature dish 40. Drink beer at Oktoberfest 41. Run a marathon 42. Get a tattoo 43. Ride a Vespa 44. Watch comedy at Edinburgh Fringe 45. Write a novel 46. Write a journal 47. Spend a month technology free 48. Try drugs 49. Have a threesome 50. Go to an airport and pick a random flight 

I like to consider myself pretty worldly but on checking against this list, sadly, I am only coming in at 29 out of 50....and I'm relieved that some of them can stay unchecked!

So, no tattoos, no running a marathon or mountain climbing and as I won't go anywhere I can’t plug my hairdryer or straightening irons in, no backpacking or slumming it anywhere!

On hitting 50, the list changes to the following : 1. Karaoke. 2 Go on a road trip with friends.  3. Dramatically change your hairstyle or look. 4.Learn a new language. 5. Formally learn a style of dance.6.Get a tattoo 7. Travel to an exotic destination. 8.Go skinny dipping 9.Build something yourself (Ikea assembly, while impressive, doesn’t count). 10. Help fix an issue that has always bothered you through volunteering.11.Learn about your family history. 12.Scuba dive. 13.Buy the car you’ve always wanted — or at least test drive it. 14.Find an old school friend.15.Become something of an expert in something you’ve always found interesting.16.Climb a mountain 17.Single ladies: Ask someone out on a date.18.Fellas: Make a brand new friend without your wife or significant other. 19.Pull an all-nighter 20.Splurge on something extravagant 21.Go ziplining 22.Join a flash mob. 23.Take a job that feels a bit outside your comfort zone 24.Have a meal at one of the world’s top restaurants.25.Conquer one of your biggest fears 26. Participate in one of the world’s most well-known festivals: Mardi Gras, Oktoberfest, Running of the Bulls and the like 27. Tell someone what you REALLY think of them. 28.Fly first class 29.Become a mentor 30.Go skydiving 31.Master public speaking. 32.Repair something all by yourself 33.Have an honest-to-goodness adventure 34 Go on a trip by yourself 35 Live abroad — we’re not talking about a week-long vacation 36 Get really good at a bar game.37 Read that classic you’ve faked having read for years 38 Have sex or engage in a sex act in an unusual place.39 Throw a party that has people talking for weeks 40 Go camping.41 Teach someone how to do something you’re really good at doing.42 Get a custom dress or suit 43 Gamble (but like our friend Kenny Rogers would say, know when to fold them). 44 If single, go on a blind date.45 Own something that makes you feel like a millionaire 46 Travel for a concert 47 Forgive someone for hurting you.48 Make an elaborate and wildly impressive meal for guests 49 Cultivate a green thumb, 50 Participate in a movement you believe in.

The list of things to do at 50 gives me a better score already as I come in at 33 out of 50 but there are still no plans for a tattoo, and my thumb will only be green if I stick it in some green paint - plants come to me to die! 

So with the standard lists out of the window there is only one thing to do for this #eventprofs

Undertake 50 fams in one year....

Now, as we have not managed to bend the time/space continuum here at Cloud 9 Towers, most viewers will spot that with Christmas and Holidays, Client, Work, Friends and Family commitments, it's highly unlikely that I will manage to cram in 50 pure fams into a single year.

On this basis fellow industry colleagues, I hope you will allow a little latitude for the mission ahead as the plan is to include Trade Shows, site visits and where possible combinations of different venues

The official countdown starts tomorrow, Tuesday 11 September 2018.....so let's see how it goes...

365 Days 50 Fams

Have a great week......

What's Floating Around Cloud 9? 3 September 2018

Welcome to another week and it's back to normality and back to school for many, so a busy month ahead. 

What is always strange to us here at Cloud 9 Towers, is that no sooner do the kids break up from school then the TV and Media fills up with ads promoting School uniforms and stationery, and they have barely had time to unpack their school bags or stick their PE kit in the washing machine!

This means that by the time the new terms all start, the promotion starts for Bonfire Night, Halloween, and dare we say it, Christmas! 

To a certain extent, September feels like some to January, the chance to start over or embrace change, and it doesn't matter whether your school days are just or even well behind you, that September feeling never really fades.

We're always up for something new here at Cloud 9 and when we are not busy sourcing venues for clients with our free venue finding service, or delivering effective event management solutions, we like to look around the latest trends and ideas to make sure we are always up to date.

And this September? Well, one thing that is really interesting is the Zero Waste Week which is on now. As #eventprofs we often get the luxury of staying in hotels and venues around the globe and we've all abandoned toiletries in hotels, even on holidays.

But what really happens when you throw something away? Away isn't some magical place, it's actually landfill, an incinerator, the bottom of the ocean, litter or the stomach of an animal. It's always somewhere else...

Makes you think doesn't it? We're not massive campaigners here at Cloud 9 but our thinking is that every little helps so all this week we'll do what we can do to reduce our waste, even just a tiny bit.

So maybe we can use last nights meal to make something tasty for lunch and ensure that this week, whenever we print something, its on both sides rather than one to save paper.

We'll also check what we throw away and make sure the right thing is in the right bin - and you never know, we might get some hotels to donate left over toiletries to those in need on a monthly basis or something similar as part of their CSR policies if they are not already doing it. 

Have a great week and if you do get two mins, please take a look at the Zero Waste Week website...