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! 

What's Floating Around Cloud 9? 26th November

Welcome to another week!

Newcastle beckons this week as we are off to scout round for venues for the CIPR Northern Conference 2013- even though we haven't finished evaluating the 2012 event yet!

'Power to the people' will be the theme for the 2013 Northern conference which will take place in NewcastleGateshead. In a post-Leveson world where the traditional media is on the back foot and social media is everywhere and all seeing, the opportunities and challenges for professional communicators have never been greater.

June 2013 will see a one-day conference focusing on how organisations and PR practitioners are getting to grips with the new media landscape and coming to terms with the ever-increasing range of skills you need to communicate effectively with your customers and stakeholders now that it is the people who are taking control.

We've already started to contact potential speakers and can promise you an exciting line up.

There are three venues currently under scrutiny including the Tyne & Wear Fire and Rescue Services Training Centre, which is housed in a self contained site, located just 6 miles from Sunderland, 10 miles from Newcastle and 17 miles from Newcastle International Airport.

The purpose built Training and Development Centre  consists of numerous state of the art facilities including a Breathing Apparatus Centre, Conference and Lecture rooms an ICT training suite and multi-media studio and edit suite.

Other venues also up for consideration include The Discovery Museum. Discover all about life in Newcastle and Tyneside, from the area's renowned maritime history and world-changing science and technology right through to fashion through the eras and military history. The museum is bursting with interactive displays, which makes it the perfect place to learn and have fun.

The displays are regularly updated and complemented by an array of free, fun learning activities. One of their favourite exhibits - Turbinia - dominates the entrance to the Museum. Invented on Tyneside, it is the first ship to be powered by a steam turbine. The 35 metre vessel was once the fastest ship in the world and her history is brought to life in the Turbinia Story display. She sets the standard for a day out that is guaranteed to be filled with breathtaking discoveries.

The Great North Museum is also under consideration. The Great North Museum incorporates collections from the Hancock Museum and Newcastle University’s Museum of Antiquities, the Shefton Museum and the Hatton Gallery.

Highlights of the £26million museum include a large-scale, interactive model of Hadrian's Wall, major new displays showing the wonder and diversity of the animal kingdom, spectacular objects from the Ancient Greeks and mummies from Ancient Egypt, a planetarium and a life-size T-Rex dinosaur replica skeleton.

The Living Planet display houses hundreds of creatures and by using a mixture of touch screen technology and hands-on investigations, visitors can investigate these animals and find out where they live and how they survive in such extreme places as the arctic and desert.

Live animal tanks and aquaria are integrated into this major display where visitors can see wolf fish, pythons and lizards to name a few. Star objects include a full size model of an elephant, a great white shark, a virtual aquarium, live animal displays, a polar bear, a giraffe and moa skeleton.

So, it should be an interesting day in Newcastle! 


As we run out of November this week and December beckons, the countdown to Christmas will begin and the frantic search for the perfect presents will no doubt add all sorts of stress to otherwise rational people!

Budgets are still tight for many so we have been looking at a few alternative ideas for Christmas 2012 and some of the current trends, and some cheap Christmas gift ideas that are sure to raise a smile.

Baked goods. Who doesn't enjoy a little "nummy in the tummy?"  Anything that is homemade is appreciated by recipients because, not only is it delicious (hopefully), but it shows effort on the giver's part.  Or, for anyone less than savvy in the kitchen, hit up your local deli and grab a cake, or even a nice bottle of wine.    

Picture frame. Here's a gift with a lot of heart for not a lot of cash.  Provide a loved one with a printed photo of a shared memory and pop it in a lovely picture frame.  You can get single photos printed quite cheaply and with a little effort, cheap but fab frames are easy to find.

  

Secondhand Treasures and Vintage items are still all the rage! Charity stores are filled with a plethora of items - some is trash and some is treasure. But hey, it's worth a gander for those valuable items marked down and always check out the jewelry and the artwork.  These are items that tend to still look great, even if they are used.  

Gift Baskets are also a great idea. The fun part about a homemade gift basket is that it can be made up with the recipient in mind at very little cost.  Baskets can be purchased at local craft stores or markets and you can fill it with items you know they will like, favourite candies, spa goods such as face creams, stuffed animals, and more. 

Plants and Flowers are always a great idea and whilst other items may be forgotten, anyone with a green finger can enjoy your gift long after the festive season!

And finally, in a world of computers and technology, books are all but forgotten.  However, the beauty of this gift idea is that there is a book out there for everybody...and chances are it can be acquired on the cheap.  Between online bookstores and local libraries, books can cost very little and be enjoyed for ages, and if you are a Kindle Owner, then a gift certificate to top up a Kindle is a great idea!

However, if you are feeling rather frivolous this festive season then you might want to splurge on Christmas  Crackers and we think we have found just the ones for you - a snip at £599.00....

Celebrate the festive season in true Harrods style with these 6 Romanov luxury Christmas crackers: individually handcrafted and hand decorated with the finest trims, each cracker contains handmade bespoke headgear, humour and trivia booklet and superb individually wrapped gift. Available exclusively at Harrods.

So there you go, and have a great week!

What's Floating Around Cloud 9? 19th November

Welcome to another week!

With the countdown to Christmas officially underway, if you haven't yet sorted your Christmas Party for 2012, we thought this was a great time to bring you some of the top trends for Festive events so you can really dazzle your guests this year!

There was a time – and not so long ago, too – when all it took to impress your guests was a particularly outré vol-au-vent filling. Today, things are a little trickier and if you really want to stand out from the crowd, then a molecular canapé menu and molecular themed drinks is certainly the way to go!

Creations such as nitrogen-poached matcha tea and grapefruit mousse, steamed brioche with pistachio and mozzarella spheres, mango discs with goats’ cheese, red onion and micro rocket and even deconstructed spherical olives.

Of course not everyone will have Heston Bloomingheck on hand to deliver, but with a little thought and some interesting serving ideas, you can really dish up a molecular marvel at this years bash!

 And if you are searching for something sweeter, then slap a jelly on the table and everyone will smile. The joy of it is universal. Spotted at London Fashion Week, on The Fat Duck’s menu and at a myriad of celebrity parties, jelly is no longer the stuff of children’s birthdays. Gelatinous works of art have been showing up at events all around town. But forget plastic bowls and dollops of soft scoop, Jelly in the catering world has reached the level of haute-cuisine. Earlier this year, Champagne and gold leaf jelly was served at the press launch of the London Restaurant Festival, and at The Ivy – a restaurant whose prosecco and blood peach jelly is as popular as any of the A-listers ordering it.

We don't all have easy access to the trends currently setting the event world alight and whilst the Cube Cakes from Harrods do look truly delicious, we are pretty sure that with some coloured lolly sticks, a pack of fondant fancies would look equally as stunning - especially for those of us who watched the Great British Bake Off this year with any sense of delight.

And, whilst we are on the subject of all things British, after the year we have had, celebrating the Jubilee and the London Olympics, why not end your 2012 with a Best of British Christmas celebration? Enter a venue filled with everything British (except the rain!). To ensure you get the full British experience this event could provide you with red, white and blue furniture, black cabs, red telephone boxes and a union jack backdrop, as well as a buffet of famous British foods. You can even fit in some posh tea drinking with cocktail teapots for a night of fun and laughter. Finish the night by putting yourself in the shoes of the Royal family with a customised party cut-out as a souvenir for the evening of entertainment.

Or alternatively you could think Mini Fish & Chips, a Panto theme and your stage is set. You can hire an adult Punch & Judy (if you wish!) but the alternative is to pick a panto and run with it!

Grab as many green vines as you can to decorate your venue, get a cardboard cow (easier than you think), lots of magic beans (jelly beans make good substitutes!) and you are away.

If you really want to go to town on this, you could hire a harp player, a pair of enormous boots from a prop store and a golden egg laying goose - but costumes are up to you!

For those with a more aspirational feel towards the Christmas Do, then a classy Fire & Ice Party is always easy to stage and will astound your guests. Enter a frosty room, from stalactites hanging from the ceiling to a room of ice sculptures, cool blue lighting and even an ice bar with a slush machine! Sound like it might be a bit chilly? Not to worry, the evening will also contain flame lights and fire entertainment, ending the night toasting marshmallows by the fire in an ice cave!

With the rise in Candy Buffets at events this year, and we know because we have delivered a few - then a Chocolate Theme is always a popular choice. Relive the glory days of childhood with your own Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory inspired party. Ditch the diet for the night with chocolate fountains, sweet feasts and candy floss machines with Oompa Loompas on hand to serve you and your guests. Treat your guests with a personalised chocolate bar but the question is, who will find the golden ticket?

Budget is still an issue for many, so forget the dress code, get down to your local supermarket for some cheap plonk and sausage rolls and then dig out that fashion faux pas or gift from your Granny that you just can't bear to wear!

Everyone owns that one ugly Christmas jumper they can’t help but love. With this ugly jumper themed Christmas party, now is your chance to show these off. Celebrate with a traditional Christmas party, including those favourite family games such as pass the parcel. Win a prize for the ugliest jumper of the party and make sure you take lots of pictures! The other advantage with this theme is that you don't need to spend any money on sprucing up your venue as the guests will provide all of the colour you need!

If you still haven't found a venue for your Christmas bash yet, then don't forget we can help with our free venue finding service!

So lots going on and lots to do - have a great week and see you soon!