What's Floating Around Cloud 9? 22 October 2018

Welcome to another week and we’d like to talk food this week,  as some of the menus we have seen recently from Conference Hotels and Venues really show a dramatic difference from those we were faced with when we first started delivering client events back in 2003.

Stodgy seemed to be the order of the day back in the nineties and early naughties with a range of sandwiches with crisps and chips, and heavy baked goods with the odd token grape or slice of melon in a nod to healthy eating.

Ironically enough, if back then you were presented with anything green you thought you were being offered rabbit food which is the last thing most conference delegate wants to enjoy. However, all this stodgy food just made delegates sleepy and the first session after lunch at many an event became almost like a graveyard shift with no interaction and heavy eyes.

Luckily for us all these days, the majority of Conference venues and hotels have really stepped up their game with imaginative and tasty dishes that appeal to a wide range of diets and accommodate even the strictest diets, even factoring in allergies and the most fussy of delegates.

So what food trends can we look forward to in the future? Well exciting stuff lies ahead for conference delegates where their event planner has enough vision and dedication to embrace change. With food costs rising and the competition amongst chefs at an all time high, then standard conference food could well include bugs – and put there on purpose!

The notion of insects as food might make your skin crawl, but they have been eaten by people for thousands of years and are actively eaten in various parts of the world.
Insects are cheap, nutritious and according to some supporters, they are delicious and with over 2,100 edible insect species, they offer a vast array of options for preparing food items where insets are the main element.

Arguably, Mexico is the country where bug consumption is most popular, and you can find many Mexican delicacies such as candy-covered worms, chocolate-covered locusts, and ant eggs soaked in butter. Brazilians like to collect ants, remove wings and fry and eat them. They also like ants dipped in chocolate and to them, ants simply taste like mint.
Silkworm soup and grasshopper tacos are found in some San Francisco, New York, and Washington D.C. restaurants and whilst not widespread yet, eating bugs is becoming more popular in the U.S. And what is popular over in the States, invariably makes its way to the UK before long. 

The dislike, disgust or fear of much of the trend towards the eating of insects will require a major shift in public perception and we doubt at this stage that many clients will embrace a conference menu where bugs are the main star – but who knows!
Now, where did we leave that chocolate covered ant?

Have a great week and enjoy!

What's Floating Around Cloud 9 This Week. Week commencing 6 November 2017

Welcome to another week and our first November news. The nights are drawing in, ghosts, ghouls and fireworks are done and dusted with for another year and as usual we're busy at Cloud 9 HQ organising and pitching for several events. 

Despite how busy we are it is also vital in this industry to keep our venue and destination knowledge as fresh and relevant as possible. Our clients confirm events all over the UK but also worldwide and it is an important part of our job to experience destinations first hand. Recently our Brand Director Fiona spent a weekend in Bergen courtesy of destinations UNLIMITED, Eton Travel Group and First United Events and Incentives and she has shared her experience below.

As a UNESCO World Heritage City and a European City of Culture, the Bergen region has the ideal combination of nature, culture and exciting urban life. It's Norway's second largest city after Oslo and the most popular gateway to the fjords of West Norway.

Our group of 10 met at Gatwick at the respectable time of 9am to start our weekend, and before we new it we had arrived in Bergen after a short 2hr flight. First impressions were the breath taking views flying in to the city followed by experiencing the brand new passenger terminal which gives visitors a great start to their Norwegian adventure.

We stayed at the Radisson Blu Royal hotel in the heart of the old town area on the edge of Bryggen wharf. This great conference hotel comprises of 21 events spaces with a combination of contemporary meeting rooms and historically inspired dining rooms. Dinner transportation was a wonderful evening cruise to the Cornelius Seafood Restaurant where in addition to amazing cuisine all guests are treated to an entertaining history of the restaurant by the charismatic owner.

Saturday saw us boarding the historic train to Flaam and taking a 2 hour journey through the beautiful countryside to reach our destination. Lunch was courtesy of the stylish Fretheim Hotel, but before this we were given a great site inspection of this unique property. The hotel is a beautiful white timber building which dates back to 1850. The newest part of the hotel was built in 2000 but the historical part has preserved the traditional features of the property with 17 'character' bedrooms for an 18th century experience. And yes, this means no TV!

The afternoon saw us kitted out ready for a RIB boat safari from Flaam all the way to Gudvangen. This stunning journey has been rated as one of the most scenic in the world and it did not disappoint. The mountains are majestic and provide an jaw dropping back drop to the beautiful fjords. A quick visit to the brand new Viking Village in Gudvangen was an additional treat to our events programme. This innovative project gives visitors the chance to experience life in a Viking community and learn more about the Viking age.

Our bus trip back to Bergen was broken by a quick visit to the Magic White Caves of Gudvangen, an amazing network of caves brought to life by colour, music and 'magic ponds' which can be hired for events from May to September. Once back in the city we experienced a fantastic dinner in a 'locals' restaurant in the historic area followed by a drink or two in a traditional style bar before calling it a night. 

Sunday morning we were up and ready to take a city walking tour with our informative guide who took us to the hidden gems of the old town area and through the beautiful residential streets winding up the hillside. The day was stunning and our ride up to Mt Ulriken on the cable car for lunch gave us a wonderful vista of the whole city. Those of us with conference business took an impromptu site inspection of the Bergen Convention Centre before re joining the group to make our way back to the airport.

The programme arranged for the group gave a great insight into what clients can experience if they choose to stay for a day or two after their conference, or wish to come purely for an incentive. We pride ourselves in gaining invaluable knowledge by partaking in familiarisation trips such as this to be able to share our experiences with our clients. If you have any event enquiries for Norway or any other destination please do not hesitate to contact us and we will help you plan an amazing event! 

Have a great week!

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! 

What's Floating Around Cloud 9? 12 May 2014

Welcome to another week and after yet another short week, normal service is resumed and we're all hands on deck here at Cloud 9.

The judging sessions have now taken place for the Midlands Media Awards, nominations have been announced and tickets are now are sale, which means we're in full preparation mode for the awards ceremony that will be taking place on Thursday 5 June at The Holte Suite, Aston Villa Football Club! 

Not only are we preparing and organising ourselves for that prolific event, but a week after, the CIPR Northern Conference will be taking place up in Manchester with a great line up of speakers and a fantastic networking opportunity!

So, in the run up to a rather hectic month, half of the team have been let loose and are attending a number of different conferences, exhibitions and familiarisation trips...

First of all, Paula has been kindly invited to an upscale & luxury MICE event by Accor from Tuesday to Thursday. It will begin with an overnight stay and networking at the Pullman's St Pancras Hotel, and a trip on the Orient Express the next day (which Paula was shocked when she found out Shannon had never heard of it!). 

After a luxurious train journey and a walking tour around Cantebury, the group will be travelling back on the British Pullman Train, with Afternoon Tea, to then finish the fam trip by checking out from the Pullman's St Pancras. Also during the trip, they will be introduced to a number of different other Accor Hotels, such as Sofitel Brussels, London St James, Luxemburg, Pullman Brussels Midi, Germany, Mercure Paris Hotels, MCGallery Italian Collection and many more!


Rubina on the other hand, will be attending the Academic Venue Show at Earls Court in London on Wednesday. During the show, you can meet representatives from such a great range of venues and be inspired by key industry speakers, all in one day.

Meeting, conference and accommodation teams from 50 locations across the UK are ready to show everything academic venues can offer. There is an incredible range of meeting and training facilities and quality accommodation, all supplemented by award winning catering and support services - all packed into one free-to-attend show.

With exhibitors Barcelona, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Colchester, Cornwall and many, many more you are sure to the perfect venue for your next event, at this show!

Also, at the end of the week, Shannon will be at the Office Management & PA Exhibition and Conference at ExCeL in London on Thursday. This show has been specifically designed to give Office Managers and PAs an educational, inspiring and fun day out of the office.

The Office Management & PA Exhibition and Conference will provide visitors with hundreds of ideas, expert advice, and real steps to career progression. At the show there will be an outstanding educational conference schedule to provide attendees with an expert knowledge and new skills to take back to the office, headline speakers from the world of business, hands-on training workshops, and there's a chance to relax and make contacts too in the Champagne bar or networking nail bar! 

We're all looking forward to attending these events and hopefully meet some lovely, interesting people along the way.

That's all from us this week folks, have a great week!

What's Floating Around Cloud 9? 16 December 2013

Welcome to another week and our final blog for 2013.

It's been a very busy year in which we have delivered over a dozen different award ceremonies, a couple of conferences, several promotional events and delivered venue finding solutions for a range of client activity.

We've booked trains, planes and chauffeur driven cars as well as a variety of great speakers and awards hosts.

We've proofed scripts, certificates and books of winners like you wouldn't believe.

We've been on several training courses (mainly on social media), attended a variety of trade shows and enjoyed some rather lovely fam trips.

We've been all over the UK with events in Birmingham, Bristol, Derby, Edinburgh, Leeds, London, Manchester, Newcastle,Nottingham, Sheffield and even Thetford to name a few.

We've learnt all sorts of new stuff including how to use IFTT, DigiTickets, Poken and Venue Directory.

We said hello to a new team member and goodbye to another as she returns to University to complete her Event Management Degree after two seasons with us.

We've won a couple of competitions from some of our lovely venues and suppliers including overnight stays in hotels, photo shoots and a weekly cupcake delivery.

We've worked with some great sponsors, partners, suppliers, awards entrants and clients and hope to work with lots of new ones too in 2014.

We've lost count of the number of cups of tea we've made, trophies we've handed out and numerous other day to day activities that make up Cloud 9 Event Management Ltd.

But perhaps the biggest news this year has been our move to new offices, which we only just managed last week after months of planning and delays (please note our new contact details*) and to kick start 2014 we'll also have a lovely new website.

We break up this Friday for a much needed rest over the Christmas and New Year period but we'll be back on Monday 6 January 2014. In the meantime, we'd like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Enjoy!

* Please note our new contact details: Cloud 9 Event Management Ltd | Rosewood House | 84a Main Road | Radcliffe on Trent | Nottingham | NG12 2BQ | T. +44 (0) 115 9333811