What's Floating Around Cloud 9? 13 August 2018

Welcome to another week and this coming Friday is the AIEA AGM and Summer Carnival at the Daventry Court Hotel and Spa and - we are super excited about the event as its hould be a great event with lots fun and education in equal balance for #eventprofs.

We're kicking off the day with a training session for members about response action plans and crisis communications, and this will be followed by the second AIEA AGM. A great chance for members to catch up and help shape the future of the organisation.

After the networking lunch, its time to get ready for the Carnival and we have some great suppliers attending and a range of activities to look forward to from Hook a Duck to Hoopla, Darts to a Dance Off and a fabulous selection of great stalls, games and attractions. 

There will also be an AIEA Bake Off Area where eight suppliers are bringing their show stoppers for agents to judge, and our headline partners Accor/Mercure have some special surprises in store with their dance competition.

Each agent will be given a passport, so they can register their scores throughout the day ready for the prize giving and they are encouraged to visit as many suppliers as possible throughout the afternoon. 

 

There are a range of fun and whacky races all sponsored by our fabulous suppliers, including egg and spoon, three legged and inflatable, and the sports day ends with a giant tug of war between agents and suppliers.

The evening will kick off with a drinks reception and a BBQ and there will also be a prize giving recognising the success stories on the day, and we will be inviting suppliers up to make the presentations. The evening will end with a disco and carnival party with lots of networking so show off your dance moves! 

You can follow the action on social media using #AIEACarnival18 so look our for lots a great pictures and we hope it will be sunshine and no soggy bottoms!

Have a great week everyone! 

 

What's Floating Around Cloud 9 Week Commencing 19 March 2018

Welcome to another week and we are pleased to unveil a new initiative here at Cloud 9 Towers with the launch of Famtastic. No, this is not a typo, it's the name of a new platform designed to connect agents with unprecedented opportunities to experience a whole host of invitations and fam trips - and to enable suppliers to connect with new agents and expand their guest lists with new and relevant buyers.

We are only a small agency, yet we receive around 50 invitations a month to attend events, relaunches, site visits and fam trips and whilst it's flattering to be on the guest list of so many suppliers, we do recognise that accepting invitations comes with both a responsibility to at least look at a reasonable opportunity to ensure the suppliers get an ROI on their investment - and - we also have to justify our time.

Recognising that suppliers go to a lot of time and trouble as well as making a significant financial investment in any invitations to agents is also a key factor behind the new initiative. It's often that we receive several invitations to attend events on the same date, many of them amazing opportunities and yet it must be frustrating for the suppliers to attempt to compete for similar audiences.

Having researched extensively, we couldn't find anywhere that offer a centralised point for both agents and suppliers to check the fam trips and invitations available, and to ensure that when planning a date, you are not going up against another event or indeed Industry Trade Show.

Whilst we love micebook and the industry titles that often list events, groups like the Delegate Wranglers and Elites often have last minute invitations listed, so Famastic will take the strain out of attracting last minute place with regular shout outs and an invitation hub.

Quality not quantity counts when it comes to fams and invitations, and most suppliers will be disappointed if its the same old audience for their events every time, so the site will be a great way to enable a new audience. Additionally, many agents will decline invitations if its the same old suppliers attending forums and one to one events, so Famtastic should encourage new conversations and more importantly new business relationships.

It is not designed to allow industry blaggers, and we all remember the news articles from last year which named and shamed some of the biggest interlopers, to attend more event in search of freebies, or to encourage agents to attend the opening of an envelope. Hopefully, it will instead provide opportunities for agents to make an informed choice to improve industry knowledge and education about venues - and - to provide suppliers with less empty guest lists - especially when investments have been made on expensive flights and travel.

Famtastic has a very thorough code of conduct when it come to etiquette related to agents attending events or fam trips and every suppliers will also be able to list some basic qualification criteria to make sure the right audiences are with them at events.

Will it work? Well that's down to the industry we guess, and whilst we are not charging a fortune for any listings we do need to cover some basic admin costs - however our main aim is to actually make the whole invitation process easier for everyone involved.

So meet Fred our Famtastic Flamingo and have a great week!

What's Floating Around Cloud 9? 12 March 2018

Welcome to another week and now that the Nottingham Media Festival is over for 2018 it's time for us to look at some of the other major projects and events we have on the go, including the CHS Awards.

We are pleased once again to be working with the team at the CHS Group on all aspects of the judging for the awards so that the results remain impartial and judged fairly.

Now in the fourth year, the Awards have been steadily growing and gaining momentum and if you are a venue who needs to connect with agents, then we encourage you to get your entries in now - as the deadline is 23 March 2018 - but why leave it to the last minute?!

Entries are free and with over 75 leading agents from around the UK, it's a great platform to get in front of a receptive and interested audience - and you could end up celebrating the success of your venue at the Awards Ceremony on 31 May at the McDonald Hotel in Manchester.

The awards will once again recognise individual elements of venues rather than the entire property in order to provide a level playing field for all entrants, irrespective of whether they are a national chain or a small independent venue. This proved really popular last year and we were really delighted by the support that the industry put behind the awards.

There are some great categories and some new ones for 2018 including recognition for both supplier and agency personalities and we are also looking to encourage more International entries this year.

We’re still looking for senior event agency professionals to join our panel of great judges and we promise it won’t be too onerous, as judging is done completely electronically, there are no site visits required. 

You can also do as much or as little as your time allows and many of our judges love getting involved and discovering new venues as part of the process, so if you'd like to get on board please let us know, or complete the form on the CHS Website.

If you feel that you can spare some time to be on the judging panel, we would be delighted to have you on-board and supporting the Awards.

The finalists will be announced just before the Conference & Hospitality Show in Leeds on the 24th April with a special drinks reception to mark the nominees with many of the judges in attendance, so a great networking opportunity as well as a reason to celebrate.

So good luck everyone, and have a great week!

What's Floating Around Cloud 9? 27 May 2014

Welcome to another short week and we are gearing up for the Midlands Media Awards next week in Birmingham which celebrates the achievements of journalists and broadcasters. Part of our role in managing this prestigious event, which attracts an audience of over 300 guests, is to source suitable entertainment and this got us thinking about this weeks blog.

Just what makes great event entertainment and how do you source suppliers that are going to add sufficient sparkle to your event?

Chocolate Fountains whilst still popular are a little old hat now but there are all sorts of new ideas popping up for events all the time and we thought we would share some of our favourites with you.

At a recent trade show we found a rather novel event supplier who with the aid of some black card and a pair of scissors, delivered a rather spectacular portrait silhouette of both Rubina and Shannon and we have to say that they are both pretty good likenesses.

The Roving Artists are pretty special and you might be interested to know that the silhouettes are part of a living tradition stretching back to Georgian times. The first silhouettists were portrait miniaturists seeking to broaden the appeal of their art by creating a quicker (and less expensive) kind of miniature. Calling their new portraits ‘shades’ they started a craze for cheap, on-the-spot profiles which went viral throughout eighteenth-century Europe and the New World. People rapidly discovered a passion for small, inexpensive likenesses of family and friends which could be passed around as personal mementos. The craze lasted for over 100 years, until the invention of the camera which did the same job far better.

Cutting a silhouette requires the same careful hand-eye coordination that an artist needs to draw from life, but without the luxury of time. A silhouette artist does not stop to plan his work, but cuts straight into the paper with barely a glance at his subject, producing an instant portrait with an ordinary pair of scissors and a extraordinary amount of skill. This traditional technique is known among artists as cut and hope!

Photo booths at events are always a popular addition especially when you can dress up or adopt a fake identity...

Smiley Booth was another event supplier we came across at one of the many trade shows we've been to. Photo booths enable companies and individuals to add a touch of fun to their events and ensure that everybody who attends them will have a memento of the day that they can treasure for years to come. With the ability for your guests to leave video messages and the opportunity to keep a copy of every photograph that is taken, you too will have many souvenirs to remind you of your special event.

Not only can they provide you with a photo booth, but Smiley Booth can also drive traffic to your website through thousands of user driven experiential impressions travelling via Facebook/Twitter or other social media to friends, family and colleagues. For more in-house or informal occasions these can be password protected for company security.

To have a Photo Booth at an event is the ideal way for your company or brand to make a lasting impression and create a memorable experience for your guests or customers. You may not be able to look at your colleagues the same again, but it's totally worth it!

Another fantastic entertainment source is the Ideas Box Company, they can provide a variety of unique and innovative ideas to add extra dimension to your events, from Rock Climbing to Ski Blizzards! They also provide a number of different tricycles where you can collect all kinds of different goodies, depending on the tricycles you'd like to hire, you could have Cheese, Pick & Mix, Pimms, Espresso, Waffles or many more! 

But to end with a bang, something that we think really brings the WOW factor is their new

Revival. The Revival is a 50's inspired, fun, interactive catering unit with bespoke lighting system, sound system and Wi-Fi. It can offer a huge variety of catering options including; Breakfast Baps and Cereals, Crepes & Waffles, Espresso, Teas & Hot Chocolates, Pick and Mix, Candy Floss & Popcorn, Ice Cream & Sorbets and Hot Dogs & Hamburgers! 

The outside is polish aluminium which looks stunning, and  has a large hatch to serve from, as well as a door for guests to come inside and choose their Ice Cream, Pick & Mix and Candy Floss. 

So there we have it, we've barely scratched the surface of just how many event entertainment and suppliers there are out there to help your event go that extra mile and to give your guests the memorable event they deserve!

That's all for this week folks, enjoy!