What's Floating Around Cloud 9? 13 July 2015

Welcome to another week and get ready for another long haul look at some of the new hotels worldwide, as our series continues starting in China.

Park Hyatt Sanya Sunny Bay Resort  is located on the southernmost tip of Hainan Island, widely known as "the Hawaii of China". Sequestered on a stunning, 350,000-square-metre inlet—with an internal lake and a white-sand private beach—the resort combines exclusivity with accessibility, being a mere five-kilometre drive from popular Yalong Bay. So that's the personal location checked off, what about the rooms? 

Designed to resemble a private mansion by the sea, Park Hyatt Sanya Sunny Bay Resort offers relaxed, personalised luxury, housing 207 sophisticated rooms and suites, the majority blessed with unadulterated, breathtaking views of the South China Sea. Grainy wood, leather and tactile textiles with red accents combine to create a warm, modern-Chinese interior. One entire length is devoted to bathing, featuring a powder room; spacious twin vanities with a TV embedded into the mirror; a large rain-shower room; and right by the window, an oversized soaking tub cast from a single piece of black stone.  That's a double check if you ask us!

World-renowned for its iconic luxury, Asia’s largest JW Marriott, JW Marriott Hotel Macau  brings its guests an approachable luxury experience through the richness of authenticity - discovered in the beauty of craftsmanship and delivered with an intuitive response to personal expectations. Opening in August 2015, you can expect Style with elegant sophistication and enhanced  residential comforts of your own home.

Another new addition to the hotel portfolio in China is the Sheraton Shanghai Jiading.Ideally situated in the heart of Pudong New District, they provide an easy access to Shanghai's central business district and places of interest as well as the fabulous views of the Huangpu River. The spacious lobby warmly welcomes you into the hotel. The bellmen will handle your luggage as you check in at our 24-hour front desk-what a weight off your hands!  Warm and cozy, the 525 beautifully appointed guest rooms and 141 apartment suites each boast the ultra-comfortable Sheraton Sweet Sleeper® Bed, a 32-inch LCD flat screen TV, and a host of other features. Business travelers (like us!) will be taken care of with a comfortable working area and High Speed Internet Access in all rooms, as well as a dedicated Business Center. Ideal right? Now what about food? China Court is a true connoisseur’s choice, with fine regional Chinese cuisine prepared by our master chef. Cantonese, Chaozhou, Shanghainese, and other regional cuisines highlight the best of China. With ten opulent private dining rooms able to welcome anywhere from six to 30 people, we are sure to have the right room available for your private entertaining. Well that's us sold!

You can expect the Sofitel Sanya Leeman Resort to be cultural and tasty, when it opens in the late end of this year. Enter the hotel and step into a visually enthralling universe. The intimate 470 rooms, yes that’s right, 470 intimate rooms, filled with bathrobes and luxurious bedding, will provide you with a peaceful and tailored break. Thoroughly refreshed, enchant your taste buds at their restaurant. Local culinary tradition is imaginatively combined with French gastronomy. Allow the sommeliers to guide you to discover the nuances of grand cru wines.

It is the perfect destination for Buzz Lightyear and Woody fans as Disney has unveiled plans to build a Toy Story themed hotel  - but you'll have to travel to over 5,500 miles across the globe to stay there.The new Shanghai resort is due to open in December 2015, and Disney also released a birds-eye view over the two themed hotels, as well as what's planned for an area called Disneytown – a shopping, dining and entertainment district.

As the hotel is part of the new Disney Land Shanghai, you can expect only the funnest and magical of stays. Next to the Marketplace will be an area called Spice Alley, offering a variety of popular Asian cuisines in a casual, yet romantic environment. The al fresco dining spots are perfect for lunch with friends or a more formal date. And the intimate streets and festive lights encourage leisurely after dinner strolling

Adding 3 new hotels to China, The Ritz-Carlton is set to take over the hotel empire. Opening its first one in Macau,  you can expect nothing better than the best. After being whisked away to the 51st floor lobby, settle into your spacious suite, where a large picture window offers a breathtaking view of the glittering city. Refined Asian hospitality draws visitors to Cotai, and The Ritz-Carlton, Macau embodies that allure with fine dining, world-class entertainment and incredibly luxurious amenities, including a full-service spa.

Ritz-Carlton Nanjing with feature 297 rooms and 32 suites, the grand property will also enjoy extensive meeting spaces including a ballroom and seven function rooms. Four restaurants and bars will include a Chinese restaurant serving renowned local Nanjing cuisine. A luxury Spa by ESPA will also form a central part of the well-being experience, alongside the indoor pool and fitness center. 

The district also enjoys a reputation as the region’s cosmopolitan powerhouse and is home to several department stores and luxury fashion houses so it's the ideal location too!

Last but not least for the Ritz-Carlton takeover is the Ritz-Carlton Mission Hills, Hainan Island. The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C. has unveiled plans for its first golf resort in China when The Ritz-Carlton, Mission Hills opens in late 2015 on the tropical island of Hainan. The property, designed by architects AECOM with interiors created by Hirsch Bedner Associates, includes five restaurants and bars, a Ritz-Carton Spa (our favourite!) and extensive leisure facilities including tennis courts, two swimming pools and a recreation pavilion. The Ritz-Carlton, Mission Hills also offers 1,480 sq m of convention and meeting spaces, creating expertly-executed meticulous events tailored to leave a lasting impression. 

 Known as the Forest City, Guiyang offers a perfect summer vacation to escape from the heat and experience vibrant nature.  Bringing Anantara’s essence of luxurious discovery to this natural haven, guests of Anantara Guiyang Resort & Spa will be able to enjoy stunning landscapes, hot springs, Huangguoshu waterfall and scenic golf courses, alongside the rich heritage of minority Xijiang Miao culture town and the ancient town of Zhengyuan. And you won't fall short of places to stay as the Anatara Guiyang offers a collection of 207 guestrooms and 11 pool villas that will be surrounded by a golf course and mountain scenery, for a beautiful view while relaxing in luxurious comfort. 

So lots of choices for those looking East for your next meeting or event and some new hotels on the horizon! Enjoy!

What's Floating Around Cloud 9? 5 January 2015

Welcome to our first blog of 2015 - we hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and a fantastic New Year.

Cloud 9 Towers are now open as usual and raring to go and get stuck into 2015. As we all know, after a couple of weeks out of the office, it can take a little while to get back in to the swing of things. So, as a motivation for you all this new year, below are the top 10 New Years resolutions for business success...

1. Learn how to delegate and do more of it - There are so many things to do when you're running a small business, it's easy to delude ourselves that we need to do all of them. Then we wonder why we're so tired and frazzled and have no time to do anything else! Determine Your Personal Return on Investment, and decide to let someone else do some of the tasks for a change. Delegation is the key to a healthy work-life balance.

2. Promote your business regularly and consistently - Too often the task of promoting a small business slips to the bottom of the to-do list in the press of urgent tasks. If you want to attract new customers, you have to make promotion a priority. Make a New Year's resolution to hire a marketing expert, or take the time to create a marketing plan on your own and follow through. 

3) Make business planning a weekly event - Planning is vital if you want a healthy, growing business. Business planning lets you take stock of what worked and what didn't work, and helps you set new directions or adjust old goals. So why do it just once a year or once a quarter? Set aside time each week to review, adjust, and look forward - or even better, make business planning a part of each day. Not only will this help you avoid costly mistakes and stay on track, but you'll feel more focused and relaxed.

4) Learn something new - What you choose to learn may be directly related to your business or completely unrelated. Learning something new will add to your skills and add a new dimension of interest to your life - another important part of achieving a healthy work-life balance. Depending on how you choose to learn, you may meet new and interesting people, who may become customers, colleagues, or friends. How will you find the time to learn something new? By delegating, remember?

5) Join a new business organisation or networking group - There's nothing like talking to other business people for sparking new ideas, refining old ones, and making contacts. Whether it's a group specifically designed for networking or an organization dedicated to a particular type of business, in person or over the 'Net, making the effort to be a part of a group will revitalize you and your business.

6) Give something back to your community - There are all kinds of worthy organisations that make a difference in your community. Make a New Year's resolution to find a cause that matters to you, and give what you can. Make this the year that you serve on a committee, be a mentor, volunteer, or make regular donations to the groups in your community that try to make the place you live a better place. And those that give get. 

7) Put time for you on your calendar - In Schedule Time for You, recharge and refresh yourself; a healthy work-life balance demands time out. All work and no play is a recipe for mental and physical disaster. So if you have trouble freeing up time to do the things you enjoy, write time regularly into your schedule to "meet with yourself" and stick to that commitment. If you won't invest in yourself, who will?

8) Set realistic goals - Goal setting is a valuable habit - if the goals lead to success rather than distress. Make a New Year's resolution that the goals you set will be goals that are achievable, rather than unrealistic pipe dreams that are so far out of reach they only lead to frustration. If you have trouble setting realistic goals.

9) Don't make do; get a new one - Is there a piece of equipment in your office that's interfering with your success or something that you lack that's making your working life harder? Whether it's an old fax machine that's a pain to use, or the need for a new employee to lighten your work load, make a New Year's resolution to stop putting off getting what you need. The irritation of making do just isn't worth it.

10) Drop what's not working for you and move on - All products aren't going to be super sellers, all sales methods aren't going to work for everyone, and all suppliers or contractors aren't going to be ideally suited to your business. If a technique or a product or a business relationship isn't working for you, stop using it. Don't invest a lot of energy into trying to make the unworkable workable. Move on. Something better will turn up.

Achieving a healthy work-life balance is like maintaining a good relationship; you have to keep working on it. But if you apply these New Year's resolutions throughout the year, your success is guaranteed!

We're also interested in hearing what your New Year's resolutions are?!

That's all for this week folks, and we wish you all a fantastic 2015!

What's Floating Around Cloud 9? 15 December 2014

Welcome to another week and its our last full week of the year before the team here at Cloud 9 Towers take a well earned rest over the Christmas season.

Its been a busy old year and we've welcomed some lovely new clients to our company, run conferences and awards in various UK locations and abroad, booked all sorts of venues for all sorts of events, attended a variety of trade shows, exhibited at a couple of shows, been on some amazing fam trips and industry parties, expanded the team, and held a couple of open days in addition to welcoming a raft of visitors. 

We would like to thank everyone we've worked with this year, and whilst we are still around for the remainder of the week, the team will be calling time on 2014 this Friday.

You will still be able to contact us via email and mobiles for the duration of the Christmas holidays though, before we come back raring to go on Monday 5 January 2015.

2015, who would have thought it!?

So what of next year, and what as an industry can we expect? Well, these are certainly exciting times. The rate of technology change is accelerating with thousands of ideas, apps and innovations bubbling up to help meeting planners, exhibitors, venues and other meeting participants to do their jobs better.

Mobile apps for events have become mainstream and it seems the trend will continue to grow in 2015. 

Now, nearly everyone, including technology laggards, is carrying around a smart phone. Mobile use at events has exploded and mobile event app providers are expanding and refining the options. Much of the development has focused on replacing existing processes such as replacing paper event programs, agendas, attendee lists exhibition guides, and/or course notes, replacing the need for keypad polling and paper surveys and replacing directional signage and program maps.

Additionally, event apps have offered improved means of on site social media networking, group or targeted alerts and announcements, improved peer-peer messaging, appointment making and business contact exchange, networking and social media engagement.

 
However, mobile event apps are not just about improving existing processes. They can be about providing entirely new services including tracking trends and delivering vital analytics such as identifying the top speakers, the best attended stands, crowd flow and influences at conferences and events.

Free Wi-Fi is the most desired hotel in-room amenity. With hundreds of mobile event apps now available, Wi-Fi and cellular connectivity have become the lifeblood of event communications. This has not been without challenges, with hotels and other event venues scrambling to keep up with the exploding demand.

The good news is that the technology exists to provide very high-density, high-speed Wi-Fi connectivity to large groups – and many facilities are starting to catch up! Planners are increasingly examining venues’ abilities to provide good quality, easy-to-use, and reasonably priced Wi-Fi and cellular connectivity as key factors in making venue purchase decisions.

In the meantime, the larger the event (especially large tradeshows), the more likely that attendees will experience less than ideal Wi-Fi connectivity. In two to three years, as venues digest the “bulge in the snake” of Wi-Fi demand, this will be less of an issue.

The transition from “attendee” to “participant” will continue.The combination of social media and mobile technology has provided a wide range of attendee engagement options. The entire dynamic of meetings is changing; instead of “top-down” it is “bottom-up.”   Instead of attendees passively sitting at event watching a talking head, meeting participants are demanding a greater say and expect active engagement. This is playing out in several ways including social media apps, used to recruit and engage participants before the events, during and after events.

Additionally,highly mobilized social media tools (Twitter, Instagram, Vine, YouTube and others) are seeing strong use during many events, and certainly we have noticed that at any media related event, a speciality of our, a live Twitter feed is a must. 

Another trend for 2015 is that meeting designers are moving away from passive theatre-style seating to alternate room sets to facilitate discussion and participation and delegates at events are now expecting personalised communication and choices tailored to their desires.

A bit more worrying for the industry though is that attention spans will continue to decrease! Human knowledge is doubling every year and the rate is accelerating rapidly . We are awash in information. The world’s body of information is at our fingertips and available 24/7 wherever we go. We are barraged with hundreds of marketing messages daily and receive hundreds of email/text messages as well. 100 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute! As we desperately try to multi-task to keep up, many of us feel overwhelmed.

One of the results is decreasing attention spans that are changing how events are marketed, managed and experienced. Shorter presentation times are being scheduled (the15-minute TED talk style is becoming more prominent), more interactivity during sessions and more audience engagement tools are required. 

Images need to play a prominent role in articles, blogs, website postings, event promotional materials and computer presentations (a picture is worth a thousand words). 

Short video is the new language of the internet – more powerful than pictures and far more powerful than text. A good video can be worth a thousand pictures! 

Finally, despite the increased use of virtual meetings technology, face to face meetings and trade shows will remain an important part of the industry.  In today’s multi- tasking and often distracting work environment, attention spans are short. Thirty to forty-five minutes is usually the maximum you can expect someone to pay attention to a webinar while sitting in front of a monitor.

Meetings, on the other hand, take people to a more focused environment with fewer distractions. As long as attendees are informed, entertained and fed, event hosts can keep them engaged for days. At the minimum, we share a social contract to at least look like we are paying attention at an event. The opportunities for networking, brainstorming, and relationship building are usually far greater at face-to-face events than online. 

For an exhibitor, it is often the best way to meet so many qualified buyers in such a short time. For buyers, it is a great chance to meet vendors of interest – all together in one location, categorised and mapped for your choosing.

Meetings provide a vastly richer, more targeted, and more focused learning experience than nearly any virtual meeting. To put it succinctly, there is no such thing as a “virtual beer!” 

These are just a few of whirlwind of changes coming, and one thing is for sure, 2015 is going to be a whirlwind of a year for Cloud 9!

Have a great week and please remember the office will be closed from Friday until Monday 5 January.

During the festive period, please call 07774 741883 for any urgent or venue enquiries.

Enjoy!