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? 22 January 2018

Welcome to another week and we're gearing up for a trip to London for the judging of the Fresh Creative Awards and recovering from the excellent AIEA Event last Friday in Peterborough.

The AIEA is an Alliance of independent and privately owned event agencies working in the meetings, incentives, conference and events (MICE) sector. We are a group of unique and individual companies and as members of the AIEA we network and share our knowledge, experience and resource to enable us to provide the best quality service to our clients, and additionally the AIEA is a non profit organisation.

Hosted by the Holiday Inn in Peterborough (who were fantastic), we had our inaugural New Years Honour's which recognised the agency members in a rather irreverent way! 

The Crystal Clear Award for those agents whose briefs and RFP’s make working with them a pleasure for supplier was presented by Lafayette Travel and went to Lime Blue Solutions.

Here at Cloud 9 we won the Coffee Cup Award for making suppliers feel the most welcome so clearly we need to change our approach and only offer up a glass of tap water and no biscuits in future! Jupiter Hotels kindly presented us with our very expensive trophy!

The Buddy Award for those agencies who have partnered with a supplier for a specific project or pitch was presented by the Old Course Hotel Golf Resort & Spa, and went to Rede2 whilst the Welcome Award was also scooped by us here at Cloud 9 Towers.

Dawn from Accor presented the Bermuda Triangle Award to Ball Associates, who in form, were not there to collect their Award, and then we had the Willy Wonka Award for a reaction to Chocolate which went to our pals at Hatch Events.

Funky Office went to Chruis and the team at Purple Dog whilst we picked up our third gong - The Energizer Bunny Award for agents always on the go.

There were two Golden Cheque book Awards for both International and UK Business Growth which were scooped by Nexus venue and Lime Blue Solutions respectively, and then the Newcomer Award, which was for increased business presence rather than new agencies and was scooped by Matt and the Chew Events Team.

Then we had the Agency and Personality of the Year which went to Slyvain from Nexus Venue on both counts.

It was a great fun evening and also fancy dress to match the irreverent tone of the night !

So we might not be the biggest venue finding agency or the best, but we still win the odd award! Lets hope the photos arrive soon so we can share!

Have a great week everyone.

 

What's Floating Around Cloud 9? 9 October 2017

Welcome to another week and if you are a regular reader, you will recall that last week we mentioned the UK Awards Conference which is taking place on 7 November at the Cavendish Conference Centre in London.

Well this last week we attended the launch of the CHS Awards at the Independent Venue Showcase in Birmingham and once again, we are helping Emma and the team structure the awards with judging so the invitations to agents have been issued and to date we have a pretty good jury in place! If you are an agent and want to take part in the judging, then please let either Janet or Paula know and we'll get you on the list.

The AIEA is also launching some new awards which are basically designed to give suppliers an opportunity to vote for agents with some rather irreverent categories such as the Willy Wonka Award for the best reaction to chocolate or treats - so you get the picture!

Taking place on 19 January in Peterborough, I am not sure whether we will warrant any votes here at Cloud 9 Towers,but you never know!  I don't think there is a category for the best venue finders but we will live in hope.

Away from Awards we are delighted to welcome a new member of the team to Cloud 9.

Susan is from Milton Keynes and she makes broken look beautiful especially when it comes to events! With a background in all things marketing from working at U.S. based agencies to publishers across Europe and beyond - she has a tonne of experience.

It has been said: "Susan is a talented individual capable of bringing many good things to any project." Family is her passion, second only to creating the best possible life for them. Running a supper club in her spare time, as well as being a health and fitness fan – there’s never a dull moment. Travelling for events has played a big part in career, but it’s not all work when the meetings are over and the champagne starts popping.

Finally this week, we are super excited to be a part of the World Superdrone Racing Championships which are taking place in Nottingham next March. 32 International Teams are taking part and this week long event will culminate at the Motorpoint Arena on Sunday 11 March.

Have a great week and don't forget to let us know about judging!

What's Floating Around Cloud 9? Week commencing 29 May 2017

Welcome to another week, this post is bought to you by a newbie, my name is Emma, I am currently at Cloud 9 helping out, getting some invaluable experience and knowledge from Paula and the rest of the amazing team! I am just about to go into my 4^th year of study at university, and somehow managed to flip my whole degree over in my 3^rd year deciding I no longer wanted to do a specialist PR degree I wanted to do what I enjoyed and have a go events and exhibition management! 

First event I ever organised was a tea party for my hostess badge at brownies, I baked and prepared food, made tea and coffee, all of this was a pretty big deal for a 7-year-old. Since then I have helped to organise my school prom which was a complete nightmare as Venue finding was almost impossible on such short notice during prom season! But it turned out well and we got a lovely location, despite the Olympic torch touring through Nottingham that day and many the roads we needed to get to the venue being closed, but we all got there in the end!
In the 3 years, I have attended Birmingham City University, I have had the chance to have a go at everything the media communication degree offers, such as: Print design and copy writing, PR, TV, photography, radio, marketing, events, new media and coding and some film making. I have done some of these things reluctantly, however, I am so grateful I’ve had these opportunities to try everything and know what I enjoy and am good at. It’s through these exploratory years I have stumbled into the world of events, right before it all starts to matter, for my final year of study! 

As long as I can remember I have always liked to plan, it doesn’t matter what for I always generate a plan of action, so naturally now my diary is my life. So understandably I’ve got my eyes and heart set on a career path with deep roots in planning ahead and being as organised as possible. Originally events was not the pathway I was going to take I wanted to study fashion communication at Nottingham Trent. After I reviewed all my options alongside my A-level results I decided the broad discipline of PR was probably a better fit with more diversity and potentially more opportunities long term. I really enjoy PR but since having a multitude of options to specialise the route of my degree I have ended up taking the path of events/exhibition management and visual design. 

One reason I have changed my mind is that Venue finding is a practice I have always found so interesting, understanding needs of the client to find the perfect space to bring your vision to life is so exciting to me. I am forever looking at hotels in various locations globally, either planning a holiday or a trip or simply being nosy to see what style and facilities they can offer. So, venue finding never feels like work to me when I get to research venues!

Much like the rest of the creative sectors the events industry is forever developing, utilising trends and evolving to fit with and use new media developments too. The opportunity to work in such a diverse environment is a challenge I will welcome with open arms!

The events industry has always sounded very glamourous, lots of travel, lots of meetings, having clients, it really does sound exciting. I now understand after experiencing it somewhat It may not always be glamorous and fun day to day, but the events industry is one which pushes you to challenge yourself. The more you get out of your comfort zone the better your work I find. You have to put so much more into the job, more research, more time, more understanding and ultimately it all leads to a better sense of achievement afterwards too.

 As a community #EventsProfs are so supportive and interconnected, there is competition but mostly companionship, that is a dynamic I wanted to be a part of!