News - Nov 07
A Dickens of a Christmas
As the countdown to Christmas and festive celebrations begins, it’s now time to turn your attention to planning the office Christmas party. If this fills you with dread and recalls memories of cheap plonk, limp cocktail sausages and photocopying your bottom, then its time to hand it over to the experts at “A Dickens of a Christmas” who will create a night you’ll always remember, rather than one you’d prefer to forget!
Book with “A Dickens of a Christmas” and you will be transported to the magically transformed Victorian vaults beneath London Bridge. £1.2 million is currently being spent to create a snow covered Dickensian London backdrop, where you will eat, drink and dance the night away, whilst the Christmas stories of Dickens will unfold in front of your very eyes thanks to the wonders of theatre.
Enjoy a moonlit stroll around the Victorian Gardens, have a glass or two of festive spirit in Ye Olde Tavern or catch a glimpse of what the future holds in Scrooge’s Counting House. The Old Curiosity Shop will tempt you with casino games and fabulous prizes, and once you’ve built up an appetite, a festive four-course meal with wine will be awaiting. After dinner take time to relax in the Pomegranate Club where you can recline in luxurious surroundings before hitting the ‘Frozen Lake’ dance floor. If you’re more Ricky Gervais than Justin Timberlake, then seek comfort in the beauty of the moon lit dancefloor, which we promise is so breathtaking that no one will notice your dance moves let alone any secret smooching with Brian from accounts!
For further info please visit www.kingsleyandwalker.com
The SaVVy Club® Launches the Ultimate Event Competition
London – 24th October 2007 - The SaVVy Club®, UK’s premier and exclusive club for the busy professional, is pleased to announce the launch of its annual event competition.
The SaVVy Club® members are individuals who truly appreciate the finer things in life. So with that in mind the search is on for the most creative and aspiring freelance event architects, who want the opportunity to conjure and stage the ultimate event.
Supported by both ACE (Association for Conferences and Events) and MPI UK (Meeting Professionals International, UK Chapter), this first competition is divided into four categories:
- Culture; Gourmet; Charity; Sporting.
The four category winners will have the opportunity of showcasing their creativity, grow their own network of contacts as they meet and work with top industry experts to stage their event, and realise a profit into the bargain.The SaVVy Club® will also be awarding each winner with free membership, and a place on its own panel of event organisers.
Full competition details can be found at http://www.savvyclub.co.uk/page/Competition, and the competition closing date is 16th November 2007.
Kim Rix, entrepreneur and managing director of The SaVVy Club®, is passionate about organising the type of high quality, entertaining and unusual events The SaVVy Club® members have come to expect. “The SaVVy Club® aims to be the most creative social events organiser in the world.I am truly excited about discovering and working with this country’s most inspired and talented event architects - turning their dream event into a reality.”
"MPI UK has an established reputation in empowering meeting professionals to increase their strategic value through education.” Paul Cook, President of Meeting Professionals International UK Chapter and one of the competition judges said. “We welcome this initiative as one which facilitates the professional development of event planners and organisers by connecting them with industry best practice."
Jean-François Dor, Director of the Association for Conference and Events added “With an annual spend of over £10bn in the UK alone, the economic impact of the conference and events industry is considerable. Professionals in this industry include the most creative talent in this country and ACE supports The SaVVy Club® competition as it seeks to celebrate these creative champions."
Due to the exciting nature of the competition and the prize SaVVy Club has been able to draw up a prestigious panel of judges who all bring a vast amount of experience to the competition.
The panel of judges for this are:
- Joy Montmorency –Chair (wo) man, Association for Conferences & Events.
- Paul Cook – President, Meetings Professional International (UK Chapter)
- Zanine Adams – Visit London
- Angela Rippon
- Emma Boardman –Winner of RSVP poll- Creative Agency of the Year 2006
- John Lunn – The SaVVy Club member representative.
Contact Information: Kim Rix, Managing Director The SaVVy Club®
Telephone: +44 870 005 6225; Email: info@savvyclub.co.uk
Venues & Events expands
Square Meal’s Venues & Events show returned to Old Billingsgate last month, expanding across all four floors of the venue. For the first time it used the venue’s underground vaults to house 20 exhibitors alongside an expanded dining area catered for by Office Diner.
The two-day show, which took place from 19-20 September, attracted 225 exhibitors – about 30 more than last year’s three-storey event.
Graham Hill, head of Venues & Events, said initial feedback and attendance figures were positive. “We’re creating a convivial environment for business to happen,” he said. “Our biggest challenge this year was to get visitors across all four levels.”
The team also built on a number of the initiatives introduced last year. Visitors were once again treated to a free meal at the Office Diner café, and the complimentary car service, courtesy of Addison Lee, utilised around 300 cars – more than three times the number used last year.
The 2008 show is set to return to Billingsgate and is expected to maintain a similar format. “Fundamentally we’ve got it where we want it to be. We just need to keep it fresh,” said Hill.
The mood among many of the exhibitors was positive. Ceri Davies, sales manager at the Oval Conference Centre said: “We returned this year with a bigger, re-designed stand. The number of visitors was steady and we’ve been speaking to people who regularly book events. For us it’s been about raising our profile for non-cricket events as well as match-day hospitality.” Source
UBM acquires Ithaca Holdings for £14.25m
United Business Media (UBM) has acquired Ithaca Holdings for £14.25m. UBM will now integrate the company, which operates a portfolio of six UK shows, into its CMP Information division.
Ithaca Business Media was formed in May 2005 following a management buy-out from US-based Penton Media and was headed up by former Penton Media Europe managing director Andy Center.
The buy-out team comprised chief operating officer Jonathan Wood, commercial director Phil Nelson, divisional director Michael Westcott, marketing director John Soane, group event director Mark Napier and head of human resources Celia Guy. They owned 65% of the business.
Speaking exclusively to Event, Center said: “This is a bittersweet moment as it’s a wrench to walk away from such brilliant people and such great products. In a way, I feel like I have sold a member of my family. But when I look at the macro-economic climate I can’t help feeling that the time is probably right. As nearly everyone here shared in the gain there were plenty of smiles around when we announced the deal.
“My hope is that CMP will give the products the care they deserve and the team the respect they have earned. If they do, this will be a doozy of an investment for them.
“I won’t comment on UBM’s negotiating and business ethos – each to its own, I guess – other than to say that CMPi’s operational management have, so far, been a pleasure to work with and have been brilliant with the team.”
Industry stalwart Phil Soar joined Ithaca last year as non-executive chairman and helped to facilitate the sale.
Center has confirmed that he will remain with CMPi for six months and help integrate shows including Internet World, Leisure Industry Week and Service Management Europe into the CMPi portfolio.
He said: “Frankly, we’ve had more fun than is decent and we look forward to trying again to prove that smaller businesses that give everyone a chance to feel like an owner, rather than just an employee, produce the kind of commitment and speed to market advantages that occasionally allow David to give Goliath something to think about.” Source
Event Management Tips on Calculating Your Potential Audience
There are 10,000 attendees at the show, but how many of them should you expect to reach with your exhibit? Here, from Exhibit Surveys Inc. is a quick formula for calculating this figure:
Step 1: Determine the percentage of high-interest attendees at the show. To do this, multiply the net attendance (excluding media, exhibit personnel, spouses and students) by the show’s Audience Interest Factor. (AIF is the percentage of the total audience that visits two out of every 10 exhibits.) AIF varies by show. However, if you can’t get an AIF figure from show management, use the all-industries average of 44 percent. For this example, we’ll say the show’s net attendance is 33,000 and the show’s AIF is 44 percent. Thus, the number of high-interest attendees is 14,520 (33,000 x .44 = 14,520).
Step 2: Next calculate the size of your potential audience. To do this, multiply the number of high-interest attendees by the percentage of attendees who indicate a high level of interest in seeing your particular type of product. If data on product interests is not available from show management, use the all-industries average of 16 percent. Based on the previous calculations, if the number of high-interest attendees at a show is 14,520 and the interest factor for your product is 16 percent, then your potential audience is 2,323 (14,520 x .16 = 2,323)
