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? 25 September 2017

Welcome to another week and after weeks of events and what seems like a million meetings, we are looking forward to some much needed office time here at Cloud 9 Towers,  for a well deserved catch up. Admin beckons and whilst it's not sexy, meetings produce lots of follow up admin sometimes lead to even more meetings.

Meetings in business are necessary but can take an extraordinary amount of time, so how is best to deal with them? There are a millions blogs out there about meetings, funny ways to entertain yourself when sat in boring ones, or ways to look smart even if you haven't a clue about the content!

We did a little trawling and we thought we would share some of the best ones we found including the best way to appear smart - and make sure you have your phone calculator ready just in case someone says “About 25% of all users click on this button,” quickly chip in with, “So about 1 in 4,” and make a note of it. Everyone will nod their head in agreement, impressed and envious of your quick math skills.Easy percentages of course should be pretty easy to calculate as fractions but if you've forgotten your math - then the phone, discreetly used of course - could be a godsend.

The Guardian delivered a great article on 28 ways to make meetings more interesting and whilst we don't approve of all of them, some of them are just brilliant and begging to be tried. 

We love like the idea of drawing enormous genitalia on your notepad and discreetly show it to the person next to you for their approval. Hopefully any snickering will be kept to a minimum and you can concentrate on your next meeting task which is to give each person at the meeting just one biscuit with their refreshments and then systematically smash them with either your first or a ruler.

The idea of wearing a hands free phone headset throughout, and once in a while drifting  off into an unrelated conversation, such as: "I don't care if there are no dwarfs, just get the show done!" is also brilliant, as is writing  the words 'he fancies you' on your pad and showing it to the person next to you while indicating with your pen. 

Reconstruct the meeting in front of you using action figures and when anyone moves, re-arranging the figures accordingly is also a great idea as is drawing a chalk circle around one of the chairs, then avoid sitting on it when the meeting starts. 

But we think our favourite one of all is not using pointless and meaningless management speak such as  "When is this turkey going to be basted?" or "Let's keep this brook babbling" and its not announcing that you've run off some copies of the meeting agenda, then handing out pieces of paper that read: My secret agenda 1 Trample the weak 2 Triumph alone 3 Invade Poland - our utmost favourite has to be attempting to hypnotise the entire room using a pocket watch.

Who could possibly refuse you anything?!

So have a great week and we do hope you don't have to endure too many meetings!

What's Floating Around Cloud 9? 27 October 2015

Welcome to another week and we’ve been so busy that we are a bit behind on our blogs – shocking! But never ones to miss out on news and events, we’re delighted to share some updates on the lovely new Mandarin Oriental, Marrakech which is now open for business! 'The world's best voted destination by TripAdvisor in 2015'

Some of the facilities & services include - 63 keys including 9 Suites and 54 Villas each with their own private pool, 1800sqm world-class spa with indoor pool, hammam, fitness facilities, yoga room. Unique and timeless interior design with a sense of place by celebrated French duo Gilles & Boissier.

Whilst we are on the subject of launches, the new Studio Venue is also open in Leeds.

Based in the heart of the city (just a short walk from the train station) is their 8^th floor studio with stunning panoramic views of the beautiful north.

In typical studio style, you will find all of our usual quirkiness entwined within the 7 functional meeting & event spaces. We have everything from a living moss wall as you exit the lift, magnetic walls in the meeting rooms through to a Lego wall in the refreshment area… who said conferences have to be traditional?

As always, the spaces on offer are flood with natural daylight, have all of the mod-cons needed to run a conference and will be serviced by the excellent studio operations team with the true ethos of customer first at the heart of everything they do!!

You can check out the the interactive floor plans on their website, or take a peek at their YouTube clips of how to find the venue and images of all the new spaces. http://www.studiovenues.co.uk/plans/Leeds/index.html

They also have a rather funky time lapse video of thestudio… Leeds being built https://youtu.be/nEI9Vr4wFjw If only all new venues were this quick to build!

Finally this week, we’d like to wish everyone a Happy Halloween!

What's Floating Around? 4 August 2014

Welcome to another week and as the deadline for one of our awards has approached, we're rather busy here at Cloud 9 Towers. Although, we're not sure why we stick to a deadline... you should hear some of the calls we receive!

After our blog last week, about the rather interesting Maiden Voyage concept, we thought that this week we would excite you with the recent industry news and a few of the new event spaces in the UK.

Starting with the East Midlands, The St James Hotel, formerly the Rutland Square hotel, has launched in Nottingham's historic castle quarter after a complete re branding and refurbishment. The boutique hotel officially opened on the 23 July, having been purchased a year before.

The public areas have been totally transformed into grand, yet contemporary spaces, with dazzling chandeliers, restored pink marble floors, and sumptuous furnishings. The hotel's lounge and bar, 'No6', is a warm and inviting space with an exciting cocktail list, regular events and a library wall of over four hundred books. 

The hotel is unique in Nottingham for its art collection which is focused on work from local young artists. The hotel has its own gallery, which will have regular events showcasing the best of breakthrough talent. 

The hotel also has several refurbished event spaces. The largest of which can cater for two hundred guests. These rooms have stunning views over Nottingham Castle and are the ideal venue for weddings, product launches or conferences.

As the largest independent boutique hotel in Nottingham, The St James is sure to set the standards for style and service.

Moving to the West Midlands, we have The Vox, which the ICC Birmingham are set to open in Birmingham mid-2015. The Vox represents a new world of conferencing - a unique and attractive offering for the conference market, not only providing innovative conference facilities and event expertise, but its location within an integrated comples also offers clients access to a huge choice of restaurants, bars, shops, a hotel, spa, cinema and casino all under one roof. This new proposition, never seen before in the UK, offers a fresh approach for those wanting an end to end conference experience. 

The Vox Suites 1-5 will provide fully flexible conference and banqueting space that can be combined or divided to create several multi-functional areas to suit individual event requirements. The unique layout of the Vox can accommodate any type of event from a small seminar or meeting for just a few people, to a banquet for 850 or a conference for 900 delegates.

The new state-of-the-art conference facilities will include plug and play technology from the event industry's most respected brands, together with complimentary delegate Wi-Fi. An audio visual, sound, lighting and crew package will be included in the quoted cost for conferences, adding extra value for the client. A media wall and digital signage will also be available for use to support the delegate experience at the Vox. 

The Vox is the perfect choice for those looking for an impressive but affordable venue in contemporary surroundings, with premium catering, the latest technology and an experienced team, in a central location.

Heading further South, The Roundhouse has announced the opening of a brand new rooftop event space, ideal for summer parties.

Overlooking Camden beach, the new venue offers room for up to 120 guests. The roof garden comes complete with trees, sun loungers, sofas, a private bar, television and sound system, panoramic views and a swimming pool.

An all inclusive party package is available at the rooftop venue, incorporating exclusive access, a Prosecco and canape reception, fish and chip supper, event host, security, unlimited wine, beer, soft drinks and popcorn and towel hire. 

In addition to the roof garden, Camden's Roundhouse offers a range of spaces ideal for corporate and private events. The famous Main Space can accommodate up to 1,800 guests, whilst the venue's two bars, The Circle Bar and Torquil's Bar, offer room for up to 120 guests.

Again in London, the Royal Society have unveiled its newest event spaces for this

September. The Library Suite is a stunning set of rooms which bring grandeur and elegance to very special events.

Revealed behind the magnificent doors, the Library is a breath-taking room which exudes glamour and sophistication. With is intricate features and fabulous natural light, this show-stopping space is the perfect setting for an exquisite event, be it contemporary in design or classically stylish. 

Overlooking the Mall and St James's Park, the Royal Society is a prestigious venue which offers a unique insight into the world of scientific discovery and the opportunity to create an outstanding, inspirational event.

Knowledgeable, energetic and passionate, our conference services team dedicates every minute of the working day to creating flawless events. 

Another London venue, The Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre (QEIICC) have announced they are having extensive refurbishment programme to re-establish the Centre's 'wow factor'. 

The ambitious programme of capital works will provide aesthetic and visual improvements and enhanced facilities to the building and facility environment. The improvements are focused on enhancing the customer experience and will create more modern, quality and stylish environment and improve way finding. These works will have a significant impact on improving user and visitor perceptions whilst stimulating client interest and business generation. 

The programme will include;

• Sanctuary Foyer - Comprehensive refurbishment of the main entrance foyer, reception and registration areas to deliver a modern, high quality and welcoming environment that will "wow" delegates. Works will cover; ceilings, lighting, furniture, floor surfaces, layout and configuration, business centre and the establishment of an executive lounge/cafe.
• Connectivity - improved connectivity between the ground floor and 1st floor for Churchill Auditorium focused events which will involve replacing the staircase and improving the route to the Pickwick Suite (the principle break out area) as well as expanding its overall area and delegate capacity.
• Floor surfaces - Replacement of all carpeted floor surfaces across the Centre.
• Furniture - Replacement of the Centre's conference chairs and conference tables.

The Centre will close during late July and August - with all works being completed by early September 2014. 

Also, on top of all this exciting news, Marriott International have announced plans to add more than 200 luxury and lifestyles hotels to its global portfolio over the next 3 years! 

So... we think we have bombarded you with enough industry news for this week. 

Have a great week folks!