What's Floating Around Cloud 9? 25 June 2018

Welcome to another week and there is only one thing to talk about this week if you work in the MICE profession. 

 

The Meetings Show is the premier event for the inbound and outbound meetings and event industry in the UK, and takes place this week from 27-28 June 2018 at Olympia London. Since its launch in 2012, The Meetings Show has become a must-attend exhibition for event and meeting planners from the UK and Europe, and it's a great place for us to catch up with industry colleagues and meet suppliers - as well as discovering new ones. The event also features plenty of educational sessions, social events and of course the invaluable networking.

The Meetings Show 2017 was the biggest edition of the show to date, with over 4,800 meeting and events professionals, attending to do business with over 700 suppliers who exhibited at the show.

There is a new addition to the Show this year with the Pre-Show Conference exclusively for Hosted Buyers (which we are) and is taking place on Tuesday at the Millennium Gloucester Hotel in West London. 

 

Created in partnership with London Convention Bureau, it will have three main content streams for association, agency and corporate buyers.

 

As founding members of the AIEA, we are going along with our own hosted group this year and in addition to our individual appointments we have some group appointments with Visit Belfast and Moulden Marketing as well as a collective meeting or two.

 

Like most industries, event planning boasts a wide range of trade show opportunities for professionals to attend and there seems to be more and more events all clamouring for our attention. 

 

Whilst each trade show presents planners with the chance to further their education, network with other professionals, and practice leadership skills in an environment designed to foster motivation and creativity, there simply is not the time to attend them all even in the UK, and if you factor in the International ones you could become a trade show addict!

 

From Convene to IMEX, IBTM to M&IT, the possibilities are endless but do remember only to attend if you think you will have the chance to learn something new and provide a return on investment for the exhibitors. 

 

 But back to this week and we hope to catch up with some of you at The Meetings Show!

Have a great week.

 

What's Floating Around Cloud 9? 18 June 2018

Welcome to another week and unless you have been hiding under a rock, you may have noticed a little event taking place, The World Cup 2018, in Russia.

It's a while since we bought you a guide to some of the hotels and venues that fall under a theme, but with football fever (at least until we knocked out of the tournament - fingers crossed we go all the way) we thought it a reasonably good idea!

So the Cloud 9 guide to Football Hotels begins...

We start with Hotel Football in Manchester, which was founded by two of the major names from Manchester United. Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs first came up with the idea of starting a hospitality company,  after travelling the world during their footballing careers and as they have experienced more restaurants and hotels than most, it has given them an innate understanding of what makes an outstanding establishment.

They have a range of meeting spaces available for up to 350 delegates, including a roof top terrace called Heaven, which can cater for parties of up to 200 guests and offers spectacular views of Old Trafford.

Just over the M62 in Liverpool is The Shankly Hotel, a tribute to the life and career of one of football's finest managers. The rooms and suites are as unique as Bill Shankly himself, offering comfortable, stylish and spacious accommodation as well as a spacious conference and events centre  known as Eden, which can hold up to 350 delegates.

A little further afield and you can discover a relatively new hotel from Cristiano Ronaldo who has teamed up with Portuguese hotel group Pestana for the first of four hotel collaborations, with the  memorabilia-filled Pestana CR7 Funchal. 

It's more of a lifestyle hotel than a MICE Hotel but guests can discover a personalised training programme and yoga mats in the rooms, along with Smart TV's and all of the latest luxury amenities. 

Over in Prague however, if you want to be right on top of the action (assuming you are a fan!) then you could try the Iris Hotel Eden, which is set in an eastern part of the Eden Arena,  a football stadium of famous Prague club Slavie Prague. The hotel has 150 guest rooms, and event space for up to 400 guests. 

The trend for Football Hotels seems to have started in Argentina, with the Hotel Boca in Buenos Aires,back in 2012, when Argentina’s most revered football club, Boca Juniors, had a hotel dedicated to them. It's probably a trend that will continue and for the MICE industry, if we have sports mad clients it can only be a good thing!

Fear not if your client is not into football at all, not only are there a range of hotels attached to golf, rugby, cricket and golf and after all, the World Cup only lasts four weeks.

Here in the events industry we can create a legacy with our events that lasts a lot longer!

Have a great week.

What's Floating Around Cloud 9? 11 June 2018

Welcome to another week and we'd like to talk awards this week -and specifically The Awards Trust Mark Scheme, of which we are on the board.

The Independent Awards Standards Council (IASC) is a not-for profit organisation made up of stakeholders in the Awards Industry. It was established with the aim of raising standards and perceptions of trust in awards as a whole, for the benefit of all stakeholders and we are pleased that we have had the time to help shape this important programme.

Chris Robinson, Co-Founder of the Independent Awards Standards Council, and his fellow council members believe that some award schemes are falling wide of the mark.

“The need for the Trust Mark, and the elements within an agreed code of conduct, are based on research by Boost Marketing that gained input from both awards entrants and organisers. According to Boost’s research, the average score given by businesses when asked ‘how well does the awards industry meet your needs’ was just 5.7 out of 10. But around 80% of businesses entering awards would be influenced by an independent accreditation scheme when picking awards to enter. It found that transparency was essential, and that most awards organisers were willing to consider such a scheme. The research also showed that perceived trust in the judging process used in an awards scheme is one of the most influential factors for businesses in picking schemes to enter.

The big picture for the IASC is that the UK aspires to lead the world in business awards, setting the standard to which the rest of the world aspires. This will improve the credibility and thus popularity and impact of awards schemes, for the benefit of all stakeholders within the awards industry.”

So if  you run awards then please make sure you take a look at the website and register yours, it could really make a difference. 

Have a great week and don't forget our free venue finding service 24/7! Just email Janet and she'll be happy to help.

What's Floating Around Cloud 9? 4 June 2018

Welcome to another week and it seems like we're certainly in the midst of an explosion of industry events and invitations at present which for event professionals is both educational, enjoyable and sometimes just plain exhausting.

We've only just had the great showcase event from Hotel Republic where many of their International Destination Partners, hosted us at Landing 42 at the Leadenhall Building in London, followed by an overnight stay at the Sunborne Yacht, and then last week it was the CHS Awards at the Principle in Manchester, where we were kindly hosted by Jury's.

Jury's Manchester is certainly a bit of a hidden gem - fabulous bedrooms, great open spaces, stylish bar and kitchen area and whilst the meetings spaces are not huge, both rooms on the ground floor adjacent to reception have great light and are ideal for smaller meetings from 20-50. It's not expensive either so well worth a look.

In amongst our usual manic diaries, we also have the annual deluge of meeting requests for The Meetings Show which takes place at the end of the month. As hosted buyers, you do have to do so many appointments to meet our commitments, but sometimes securing the meetings in manageable way (and anyone who has been to IMEX or EIBTM will know what I mean) can be tricky. If you are not careful you find yourself in one zone, your meeting runs over and you have to impersonate Usain Bolt to make your next meeting on time.

Combine this with the flurry of invitations to other trade shows, launches, open days and events and its easy to see why suppliers have such a tough time competing for the attention of agents. 

This is one of the reasons we launched Famtastic a few weeks ago. Having a centralised place which lists all of the core industry events, detailed invitations and commission offers seems to be good idea, and certainly the industry is now embracing the initiative well.

If you haven't signed up (or opted in - we are GDPR compliant!) then please make sure you take a look at Famtastic.Rocks. It's a great resource for the industry and we are listing Christmas ideas, a suppliers directory and in time some of the best industry jobs.

So follow the Flamingo and keep up to date!

Have a great week and don't forget our free venue finding service is 24/7

What's Floating Around Cloud 9? 28 May 2018

Welcome to another week and its a Bank Holiday Week so a short one!

Lot's to look forward to this week with the CHS Awards on Thursday in Manchester celebrating venues and some of the great industry personalities in our business so it should be a great night.

We've been a bit behind with our communications just recently following our move, and it goes to show just how reliant we are on tech and especially wifi which we take for granted. Yes you can still access emails and stuff on your phones, but the really important stuff dos require a decent connection to allow you to really engage in work.

However, even if you are working off the grid so to speak, you can still be productive! It's a great excuse to get super organised and file all of those documents in appropriate folders and delete anything that you no longer need.  Save some important things on memory sticks and use the down time to delete some old or irrelevant emails that might be languishing in your in box. 

You can also use your time effectively by calling people. Yes in the days before electronic communication people did actually make calls and speak to each other and whilst calls these days are often just thought of, as being cold or sales calls, what a great opportunity to connect with people you haven't spoken with in while. Who knows where it might lead?!

The funny thing about speaking with people and we love to talk here at Cloud 9, is that even the most effective and literate author, cannot convey an accurate tone of voice or pick up mannerisms through an email or text message.

Emojis are still best used in texts or on social media, so look out for voice inflections when you do have a conversation with someone - it could make all the difference.

People still buy people so its tough to judge someone if you are only ever communicating electronically - their email style might be abrasive but in real life they might be a real softy - but unless you know this, how will you ever really discover it if you don't pick up the phone?

A lack of wifi is not the end of the world, and can actually help you look at things differently so make the most of it - you might be quite surprised and if you fancy a chat, call us - our free venue finding service works just as well without wifi!

Enjoy the week ahead and don't forget to check out Famtastic!

What's Floating Around Cloud 9? 21 May 2018

Welcome to another week and with the great weather it's been an amazing opportunity to take a look at some truly great properties in the last week - to help keep our knowledge up to date for our free venue fixing service.

The Nottingham Belfry kindly hosted Cloud 9 last Tuesday for a team meeting and lunch and its always a great reminder of how stunning and stylish this venue is.

Ideal for large events and the layout lend itself to several different styles - but we better get in quick as news has reached us that this hotel which is currently part of the Q portfolio is set to be a Marriott, so international business will soon be heading this way, making the venue difficult to secure.

We also discovered a bit of a hidden gem last week at The Mercure Daventry Court Hotel and Spa. 

It's huge and can take 700 theatre style plus it has great outdoor space an ad a dedicated training centre. Additionally, all of the bedrooms have recently been refurbished and it has one of the largest reception areas we’ve ever seen.

We’re hosting the AIEA summer carnival there in August which should be great fun so if you are an independent agency and not yet signed up, do please get in touch as we would love to welcome you along as our guests.

We also enjoyed a great fam with our friends at Trident Hospitality last week at the Lane End Conference Centre in High Wycombe, and it was great to be pleasantly surprised by the great space and facilities. Although it's a little out of our radar for some events, for specific ones it would make a truly ideal location.

Great bedrooms and wells equipped, and fresh-looking meeting rooms which lend themselves to all sorts of possibilities and what we can recommend, is that even with the smallest of groups, you would feel like the only delegates on site, such is the great adaptability of the layout.

Don’t forget that we can find your next venue for free no matter the event large or small, so do get one touch!

Have a great weekend and enjoy the sunshine.

What's Floating Around Cloud 9? 14 May 2018

Welcome to another week and the sun is shining and the country, although still reeling from our disappointing result at Eurovision over the weekend ( what was that awful song that won), the patriots amongst us will be looking forward to a weekend of Wedding Celebrations.

If you have not already booked your hotel or even a seat in a local cafe, then its probably too late to be in Windsor this next weekend, but its a great excuse for us to remind you of some of the fabulous hotels and venues this historic city has to offer for your next meeting or event.

And please do remember, that we can source your next venue - in Windsor or anywhere in the world - completely for free with our fast and friendly venue fining service.

So, back to wonderful Windsor, and we start with The Castle Hotel which is part of the Accor family and an M Gallery by Sofitel Property. The Castle Hotel is a characterful and harmonious building, with a unifying palette and sumptuous design features. The concept of how history and people have made their mark, permeates the entirety of the property's new creative interior design and its a great place for both business and leisure alike. With 12 different meeting spaces the hotel can accommodate up to 400 delegates so well worth a look for larger events.

Situated just two minutes walk from Windsor Castle, you'll find 120 luxury bedrooms at  the Macdonald Windsor Hotel, and the superb facilities on offer here, have everything you need for business meetings or conferences of up to 140 delegates.

The Sir Christoper Wren is a 4-star riverside hotel comprised of several characterful buildings clustered around a historic cobbled street by Eton Bridge. Here you will find a collection of individually styled bedrooms, a modern conference centre and the Wren’s Club with a gym, spa treatments, outdoor jacuzzi and sauna. With a range of different event spaces, the largest can take up to 120 delegates in its dedicated Conference Suite.

Finally, if you are looking for a little grandeur yourself, and want to be a bit out of town, the consider the rather stunning Oakley Court which has been the setting of many films, has 118 bedrooms, its own polo team and Her Majesty The Queen has been a  visitor . 

Their unique collection of rooms offers a suitable space for any event, from private dinners for 20 to receptions for 240, this stylish hotel is decorated with contemporary style, lavished with snug furnishings and  the hotel has gone all out to bring you the ultimate in luxury.

So our advice might be to avoid Windsor this weekend, but its definitely worth a shout for your next event!

Have a great week and don't forget to check out Famtastic!