What's Floating Around Cloud 9? 26 March 2018

Welcome to another week and we'd like to wish everyone a very Happy Easter!

Whatever your plans for the long weekend ahead, we hope its filled with joy and chocolate and just in case you are suddenly feeling flush, win the lottery or just want to go mad with generosity, then this might be the egg for you...

New York based chocolatiere, Jacques “Mr. Chocolate” Torres, as apparently set the new world record for the Most Expensive Chocolate Egg…

His magnificent creation is a chocolate egg, which weights 50 kilogrammes, is entirely made from milk chocolate and is decorated with the New York City skyline. The yummy looking  egg is now exhibited in his DUMBO store in the City. This chocolate master took 10 days to create his delicious masterpiece, which is 80 cm tall and needs to be kept in a space with 20 degrees Celsius to stop it melting, so if you do get chance to see it, wrap up warm!

This giant egg is a part of Faberge Big Egg Hunt event, which takes place in the whole of New York City, where 200 different eggs are presented by a range artist and then they are all sold at a charity auction.

We do like chocolate here at Cloud 9...just saying!

In other news this week please don't forget that the deadline for the CHS Awards has been extended to this Thursday 29 March. Recognising venues in a variety of categories, the awards which are now in their fourth year have really taken off and entries have been flying in but there is still time to get your venue in front of a relevant and receptive audience. The judges are all leading agents so the decisions are not based on who has the biggest marketing budget, but instead based on personal experience and day to day business.

It takes little more than five minutes to enter and it's free so if you have yet to submit your venue online, then now is the time.

Lastly, just a note to let everyone know that the office will be closed this Friday, Good Friday and will re-open on Tuesday 3 April.

Have a great week everyone....and if you need a venue finding quickly, don't forget to shout us!

What's Floating Around Cloud 9? 10 April 2017

Welcome to another week and we're pleased to report that a good time was had by all at last weeks CHS Event in Leeds. It was great catching up with all of the suppliers we use on a regular basis as well as meeting new ones, and lots of new potential venues.

Increasing your event industry knowledge is an ongoing and important part of our business and with so many new venues and changes in ownership, keeping up to date is sometimes a difficult task!

However, we are keen on education here at Cloud 9 Towers, as we think the more knowledge we have, the better informed we can be for clients so the team here and our Ambassadors are always researching, meeting and looking for the best options available.

From venues in Birmingham, Berlin, Bolivia or Brazil, you name it, we're on the case!

In other news this week, we're pleased to announce that last week we started a new partnership with the East Midlands Chamber of Commerce, the largest Chamber outside of London. 

As part of this new initiative, we're offering Chamber members in the East Midlands a complimentary health check on any event activity.

What this entail is really a one to one personal session where we can look at what you are spending on events and whether we can do better for you in terms of venue and supplier negotiation.

We'll also review whether you are getting a good ROI on your events and seeing how you evaluate them from both your own and delegates perspective. 

Lastly, we'll be looking at your social media usage when it comes to events and providing some useful tools and tips to help improve delegate engagement and awareness. 

If you are not a Chamber member, but would still like to see just how your events are performing, do please get in touch and either one of the team here at Cloud 9 or one of our regional Ambassadors would be delighted to make an appointment with you.

It's all free and you never know we could save you lots of money, and lots of time, which let's be fair, in today's world amounts to the same thing!

It's a short week this week with Easter, so we wish you an abundance of Chocolate Easter Eggs and a great few days over the Easter Holidays.

If you are feeling particularly flush, you might want to splash out this weekend on a rather pricey egg for your nearest and dearest! We can’t imagine many people are prepared to spend £1000 on an Easter egg but if you decide to be decadent then an epic creation should be right up your street.

The giant Easter Atelier Egg from Godiva is a whopping 66cm tall and weighs 14 kg. Taking four hours to decorate with layers of white, milk and dark chocolate used to create a lace like effect, its pretty stunning but here at Cloud 9 we'd be afraid to crack it, which is half the fun of an Easter Egg!

Have a great week! 

 

 

What's Floating Around Cloud 9? 8 February 2016

Welcome to another week and we're a bit late this week as its been so manic, we are a bit behind so whilst we play catch up here at Cloud 9 Towers, we thought we celebrate Pancake Day with you instead....

Pancake Day has been celebrated by Britons for centuries. Also known also as Shrove Tuesday, its exact date changes every year, because it is dictated by when Easter falls. But it is always the day preceding Ash Wednesday (the first day of Lent), and always falls in February or March. This year, you'll need to get your pans ready for tomorrow,  Tuesday 9 February.

So why Pancakes? Well traditionally, pancakes were eaten on this day to use up foods like eggs and milk before the 40-day fast of Lent began. But although its a Christian tradition, many also believe Pancake Day might originate in a pagan holiday, when eating round pancakes symbolising the sun were a way of celebrating the arrival of spring. 

It's not very Spring like here to be honest, it's not stopped raining for days but we'll still be giving our flipping skills a try here, but just why do we flip pancakes and enjoy it so much?

As well as making and eating pancakes, we Brits love to hold pancake races, where people run while flipping their pancakes in a pan. Legend has it that the tradition was born in the 15th century when a particularly disorganised woman in Buckinghamshire rushed to church to confess her sins while mid-way through making pancakes. We hope she gave one to the priest?!

So enjoy your pancakes and if you decide to try a creative spin on the usual flat round boring ones with a little lemon or sugar, you might decide to give these a try instead - with thanks to the very talented Jim at Jim's Pancakes for his amazing inspirational ideas and great photographs...

Have a great week and normal service will resume next week!

What's Floating Around Cloud 9? 14 April 2014

Welcome to another week and its a Happy Easter from all of us here at Cloud 9 Towers!

It's busy as usual here at Cloud 9 Event Management and we are all looking forward to an extended weekend, and just in case you fancied getting away from it all over the Easter Holidays, there are some great hotel offers still up for grabs.

Our friends at Q Hotels have some amazing deals available including happy, occupied kids having fun. Chilled out parents taking a breather. Isn't that what every family needs once in a while? At the The Park Royal, Warrington, Cheshire  over Easter, May half term, Summer or October, you can stay from just £45.65 per person, per night. Don't forget kids aged 4 and under stay & eat for free. Whilst over at Chesford Grange, another great Q Property you can enjoy a memorable two-night family break including breakfast each morning, dinner on your first night & a family ticket to the fantastic nearby Warwick Castle. Plus stay this Easter & enjoy an activities room (table tennis, pool table, board games & arcade games) & a mini cinema offering a range of children's films.

If you fancy a pamper session rather than an Easter Egg hunt then Q are also offering some great deals. Let the pamper you with their famously award-winning friendly service, expert beauty therapists and revitalising spa facilities. Indulge in luxurious pampering at one of 18 award-winning hotels & receive a free bottle of pink fizz & 60 minutes of spa treatments. Sounds good to us!

The rather fabulous Carden Park is also offering up some great deals over Easter with

Spring holidays from £79.00 per night. Spring into Carden Park for a holiday over Easter and your stay will include a full English breakfast each morning plus use of the leisure facilities with swimming pool, sauna, steam room, Jacuzzi and gym.Four night holidays from £79.00 per room per night,Three night holidays from £85.00 per room per night,Two night holidays from £89.00 per per room per night and just a night is £99.00.

It’s not all mini-eggs and daffodils though as Principal Hayley Hotels are inviting you to put some style into your Easter and have three tempting city breaks: exceptional 5 star luxury in Cardiff, an elegant oasis slap bang in the bustling heart of Edinburgh and iconic style in vibrant Glasgow.

A stay at Cardiff’s leading 5 star hotel – the St David’s Hotel & Spa,  includes Afternoon Tea, Chocolate & Fizz on arrival. Located in an unrivalled position on Cardiff Bay, this luxury hotel offers 5 star bedroom accommodation as standard along with a world-class Marine Spa and Tempus at Tides Bar & Restaurant. The George in Edinburgh, perfectly placed for all things Edinburgh, is a luxury hotel offering stylish accommodation as standard along with a stunning Tempus Restaurant and their Easter Break includes dinner  along with an Eater Surprise. Finally, the iconic Grand Central Hotel in Glasgow might be more to your taste and an Easter Break there includes, in addition to dinner, a voucher for a glass of the fizzy stuff in Champagne Central. How fabulous!

There are of course lots of other great offers around and far too many to list but hopefully this might have inspired you to take a break over Easter.

We are a pretty lucky bunch here at Cloud 9 and we get all sorts of invitations to some pretty fantastic venues both in this country and further afield, so before the Easter holidays, we are having an open day for a few of those we've worked with closely over the

last few years just to say thank you.

We are slightly concerned though as we know some of the guests we have coming are rather on the tall side and our meeting room, whilst lovely, was never really designed for those who slept in grow bags as children!

Also, we have somewhat over invited so we are hoping that everyone is feeling cosy and friendly on the day as it might be rather busy....but irrespective its bound to be a lot of fun.

Whoever you are out there, the entire team here at Cloud 9 would like to wish you a very Happy Easter and we'll be back with all systems raring to go next Tuesday morning.

Enjoy.

What's Floating Around Cloud 9? 18 March 2013

Welcome to another week!

This would normally be the week to remind you that the Midlands Media Awards deadline is this coming Friday, that the early bird booking discount option for the CIPR Northern Conference deadline is the end of this month and that if you want a window to be a part of the Freshtival 2013, then you'd better get a move on.

But instead, with Easter looming and a distinct lack of any sign of Spring, we thought we'd cheer you all up instead with a look at treats for Easter and more importantly for most, our eggstra special Easter Egg guide!

Yes, everyone is busy and here at Cloud 9 Towers we are incredibly busy, but somethings in life, like chocolate, are just too good to ignore....

It must be a sign of the times this year as we couldn't find any truly over the top Easter Eggs - some are certainly a little pricey but none of them quite so scandalously priced that you wonder who on earth would buy them.

The Ultimate Egg from Fortnum & Masons is entirely deserving of its name, as this exceptional egg is the ultimate gift for chocolate connoisseurs. The five chocolate eggs will lead you through a range of chocolate intensities, beginning with white and milk chocolate and ending with three dark blends made with 50%, 72% and 100% cocoa respectively. This is a chocolate tour de force and is £90.

Bargain we hear you cry! 

We are not terribly impressed with the offerings from Harvey Nics and the most expensive egg you can pick up there is a rather scary hand painted egg priced at £64.95 and features a skull from Rococo who were founded on the King's Road in London in 1983. It might just be us but it doesn't look terribly appealing if we are honest.

Selfridges offering looks a little nicer and is priced at just under £50 but we still don't think its that imaginative despite their description: Get set to impress this Easter with our Selfridges Selection large milk chocolate Easter egg. With enough chocolate to satisfy even the biggest chocolate lover, the egg is filled with four varieties of foiled, filled mini eggs.

Hotel Chocolat has some interesting offerings this year including a £70 Classic Ostrich Easter Egg which includes enormous egg shells – both shells are cast in classically creamy 40% milk chocolate, studded with cookie pieces, crispy puffed rice and chunks of white chocolate.

Served with – an absolutely irresistible collection of 21 of the most sought after, dreamy chocolate recipes. Including soft caramels, velvety smooth pralines, soft truffles and much, much more. With an extra 6 praline-filled Golden Eggs to find hidden inside too. However, our favourite from Hotel Chocolat this year has to be the You Crack Me Up Extra Thick Easter Egg which inside contains piped smiley faces filled with chocolate brownie, pralines with cookies, fried eggs with melt away hazelnut paste, solid bunnies and chicks cast in milk and caramel chocolate and more.

Thorntons has a good selection this year and some interesting offers on multiple buys and we are liking the look of the new Trifle Egg especially.

 However, not that we are swayed by packaging here at Cloud 9 Towers (yeah - right!) but the Continental Statement Egg looks pretty good to us....and as you can get two for £30, that's got to be a bargain.

Yummy....

If you like a bargain then all of the supermarkets are racking up the offers on a variety of branded eggs and from Caramel to Crunchies, and you'll be sure to bag a great deal, but we are also liking these offerings from some of the lesser known manufacturers...

Sybil the Splattered Easter Hen from Chococo in Dorset. Sybil is handmade with milk chocolate made with a blend of criollo & trinitario cocoa beans from Venezuela & is decorated with natural colours of either pink (beetroot extract) or yellow (paprika extract). Sybil's are all made by hand in small batches using natural colours, the yellow & pink colours may vary slightly and when opened Sybil is studded with naturally coloured milk chocolate mini speckled eggs.

We are also loving the Madame and Monsieur Eggs from Creighton's Chocolaterie in Leighton Buzzard. Mais oui! Monsieur egg is a truly dapper egg - made from milk belgian chocolate, he has an extra thick shell and a nice bushy dark chocolate moustache.

Madame egg is a terribly sophisticated egg - made from belgian white chocolate, she has an extra thick shell and a pair of bright red lips. Both eggs are presented on a sturdy base and wrapped to ensure less packaging and more chocolate!

These are not particularly cheap at £9.50 each but we are loving the look here at Cloud 9 and all we can say to these is a very loud ooh la la! 

Finally in a tribute to a shop best known for outlandish cakes, especially those of the celebrity kind, we couldn't ignore a mention for this incredibly cute and fluffy Choccywoccy Easter Sheep lollies which are available in either delicious milk or white chocolate, preferably on a stick, covered in squishy marshmallows. 

Now, if you are not feeling a little sick by now and looking for an Easter activity that is perhaps a little more energetic than lying on your sofa and stuffing chocolate then you might like to try some of the great activities that are taking place all over the UK and beyond. 

One of the best is from Cadbury who in conjunction with the National Trust and the National Trust for Scotland, are holding all sorts of Easter Egg Trails and activities at over 250 different locations throughout the UK, with games galore. And at each event there is the chance to design the face of the Cadburys Egg Head as children all over the UK get a chance to see their designs come to life.

 Imogen’s delightful design who was selected as Cadburys Egg Head winner of 2012 and is in circulation now, whilst this years winner will see their design in shops in 2014 and on all of the promotion for the brand. See the website for details.

 
Easter is of course a great time to get away so if you are planning to go stateside then you might find yourself rubbing shoulders with some pretty powerful people! 

The Easter Egg Roll at the White House is an annual springtime tradition that dates back to 1878.

What started as a simple egg hunt for local children during Rutherford B. Hayes’ presidency has since evolved into a giant festival held every Easter Monday on the White House grounds, featuring sporting events, celebrity appearances, cooking classes, live performances, crafts and storytelling in addition to the main event itself. Grab a spoon and join President Obama and his family for this year’s festivities, the White House’s largest public celebration of the year. Note to memorabilia collectors: participants in the egg roll receive a specially crafted wooden egg signed by the President and First Lady themselves.

  

On Monday April 1, 2013, the First Family will host the 135th annual White House Easter Egg Roll. This year, more than 35,000 people will be joining us on the South Lawn for games, stories, and, of course, the traditional egg roll.

In addition to all the fun and games, the day's activities — which will include sports courts and cooking demonstrations — will help educate families on smart ways to incorporate healthy eating and exercise choices into their daily routines, which are key pillars of First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! initiative.

This year’s souvenir eggs come in four bold colours — purple, blue, yellow, pink — and include the stamped signatures of the President and First Lady. A commemorative teal “Bo” egg featuring the First Dog’s paw print is included only in the 2013 5-pack Collector’s Egg Set. The eggs first became part of the tradition in 1981, when President and Mrs. Ronald Reagan hosted a hunt for wooden eggs that bore the signatures of actors, actresses, famous politicians, and athletes.

So there you have it. We might be a week early here at Cloud 9 Towers but as every good Event Management Company will tell you, its pays to plan ahead.

Enjoy the week and let us be the first to wish you a Happy Easter!