CIT Magazine

Last night I attended MahiFX's launch event at St Mary's Axe.

 

The company has launched an online trading platform for the foreign exchange market and my job was to maintain some credibility among suited bankers whilst sporting an arty haircut and a fairisle knitted sweater.

 

Such an event could easily have been a dry affair, however, it turned out to be a great example of how to use business games to get everyone to stay until the end and provide incentives to network.

 

Money game

 

Each delegate was given 50 notes, which were split into five suits of 'business attributes' - including strength, precision and intelligence. The task was to swap (trade) your notes with others so that you had as many of one suit as possible.

 

The winner was whoever has the most notes from any given suit.

 

I chose to collect notes marked with intelligence (nothing to do with my out of whack ego), and set about frantically trading until I had nothing but intelligence-marked cards in my hand.

 

This may sound geeky - and make no mistake, it is - but after a few beers it's actually pretty entertaining.

 

Once you max out on one suit of cards, you can collect more random ones from MahiFX's glamorous assistants who were creating a qualitative easing effect within the game.

 

Yes, I patted myself on the back for thinking of that.

 

Eventually I realised that teaming up with others - and agreeing to split the mystery prize accordingly - offered the best odds of winning.

 

This tactic matched the principle of creating monopolies in business, I thought. *Pats own back again*

 

So - the end result was that I won a free meal (which I donated to my team mate).

 

The real winner was networking and business learning *cue enthusiastic thumbs up*.

 

– Conference Boy

 

Our weeks' pictures are here. 

 

People-move stories always rank highly in our reader polls and this week - during a wonderful Incent India meal at Cinnamon Kitchen - the talk of the town was around the industry's recent high profile job-hopping.

 

The movement at Grass Roots, and the resulting inception of - force-to-be-reckoned-with industry offering - Touch Associates was enough to sustain three courses' worth of speculation. With other news including Zibrant's Debra Nightingale joining MCM Creative Group and movement at agencies including Top Banana Group, this has to be one of the most eventful week's in recent memory.

 

Also hitting the headlines was Altitude 360's deal with New Balance to hire out the venue - ever a C&IT favourite - during the Olympic Games. I caught up with Altitude's marketing mastermind Peter Kerwood in the week and he seemed suitably smitten with the booking. Expect more from him in February's issue, as well as another high profile Olympic announcement.

 

Have a great weekend.

 

– Conference Boy

 

Our week's pictures are from the Tailor of Shoreditch's Wagamama staff party.

When you're holding an event for event planners to showcase the industry, you might argue it's important that the event planners actually make it to the event.

 

An ISES networking event, held at Forman's Fish Island earlier this week, proved that that getting delegates past the first hurdle is fairly crucial.

 

Buses put on for the delegates, to ship them from Stratford station to the venue, arrived 45 minutes late, leaving at least 15 delegates- Conference Boy included- quite literally out in the cold.

 

After some muttered cursing, we finally made it. The event was a success, although my hand does ache a bit from trying to take my frustration out on the judo-chopping challenge which was conveniently available as part of the entertainment.

 

– Conference Boy

 

Our week in pictures is here. 

My demons this week came in the form of mini-donuts, Lindt Santas, Chocolate Oranges and some non-descript white flakey things currently perched at Conference Boy eye level.

 

This is not the time of year to be timid about treats so I'm busy making Homer Simpson style inroads into our supplies of the above. And a chocolate flapjack i just nicked from PR Week.

 

Restraint should go out of the window at Christmas. So I was disappointed to hear that 77% of companies aren't putting on a Yule Tide bash this year.

 

Perhaps it's time to write that The Shining-esque 'all work and no play' letter to your boss, or just sit at your desk blowing a party hooter, tear in eye.

 

Kumo and North Road

 

And so it came to pass that, in the spirit of excess, I headed to the Michelin-starred North Road restaurant with Visit Denmark, before hitting Kumo, a new bar and event space in Knightsbridge, with food by ex-Nobu chef Yuka Aoyama.

 

The debonair Denmark diners discussed favourite destinations outside Denmark (New York and Venice) and the country's often overlooked cuisine over courses including venison in burnt hay.

 

Kumo, meanwhile, more than lived up to the prestige afforded by its address. The 150-capacity venue, lit in ambient red, serves the finest sushi this side of the capital at reasonable prices, but its cocktails are worth the visit alone.

 

– Conference Boy

 

The week's pictures are here.

 

 

 

 

Staff are organising their own parties because employers are cancelling Christmas office bashes, C&IT reported this week, and it seems festive celebrations are in full swing.

 

There's a direct correlation between me going to Vinopolis and waking up with a sore head the next day. The venue's Fat Santa Christmas party (named, I assume, after my dad) this week proved to be no exception.

 

Fine wines, blackjack stands and checkered dance floors just happen to play to Conference Boy's vices. A well-oiled time was had by all.

 

A visit to the Ilec Conference Centre was next up. Opened in October this year, near Earls Court, the venue has taken a spate of corporate and association bookings and is anticipating a booming 2012.

 

The week ends on a high with a visit from the gift-bearing Smyle team, whose twinkling Santa hats and festive/Superman costumes brought a smile to the faces of C&IT.

It’s been an exhausting, exhilarating, educational, news-abundant, networking-tastic, cheesy dancing-filled week for C&IT editorial and sales staff, who attended EIBTM in Barcelona from Monday through to Thursday.

 

The highlights are too many to mention and the gossip too unmentionable to divulge, but suffice to say all manner of shenanigans were participated in by C&IT staff.

 

Aside from the plethora of news gathered by us hungry journalists from the EIBTM show floor and the surrounding conference and seminar rooms (check out our story output on the site), we attended evening events including a swish party at the swanky Hotel Arts (where we supped on the world’s largest gin and tonics and ate a delicious lobster risotto), a dinner hosted by GT Associates, and a London & Partners party.

 

Accommodation was provided by the prestigious Melia Barcelona, whose international sales director John Kelly joined C&IT for our hosted dinner at Sinatra off Las Ramblas on the Wednesday night and who also accompanied us for the revelry of the EIBTM gala party at beachfront club Opium.

 

The latter saw C&IT staff pulling some stylish and (frankly) ridiculous shapes on the dance-floor, with our bleary-eyed faces not hitting our respective pillows until the first rays of the sun began lighting up the streets of Barcelona for the final day of the show.

 

For a visual insight into some of the more sober moments, check out our week in pictures here and here.

Dim sum sampling

 

A swift "yes" was the response from event planners invited for a lunchtime of food tasting at the Royal Garden Hotel's Min Jiang with C&IT.

 

George P Johnson, Smyle and CWT were in attendance, eagerly sampling morsels of Chinese food, including dim sum and calamari. Only our photographer was left out of the action, resigned to shooting 98 mouth-watering foodie photos.

 

Meanwhile, Event Wales at Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, Cardiff was a resounding success, tackling the tough issues around putting Wales on the event map. Enthusiastic speakers included Do Festival's founder David Hieatt, who encourages the use of beer as a team-building tool and wood-chopping as a post-lecture activity.

 

We assume he keeps the beer drinking and axe wielding strictly separate though.

 

Venue of the week

 

Another highlight was a tour of Guoman Charing Cross property, nestled conveniently next door to the iconic station and lively Villiers Street.

 

The Terrace restaurant is a masterclass in getting traditional British food right, whilst its 239 rooms are furnished with a charming Victorian nod. Elsewhere, the Betjeman Suite, which can accommodate up to 350 guests, features marble pillars, opulent chandeliers and a reassuring whiff of the stiff upper-lip.

 

– Conference Boy

 

Our week's pictures are here.

There's a sketch in the oft-overlooked comedy series Big Train where a company boss is approached by a group of disgruntled staff members after underpaying them. The cunning, but cowardly CEO deftly distracts the rabble with various ruses including card tricks, juggling and opening a drawer full of puppies.

 

This method is used a lot by government. Cameron's vocal support of the events industry is no doubt genuine but, without backing it up with action, it is the verbal equivalent of opening a drawer full of puppies to appease the masses.

 

Eventia rightly criticised the government this week for its lack of clarity over public sector event procurement. The COI’s dismantlement in March 2012 means that its creative services framework – a roster of preferred suppliers from which event agencies are selected – will become obsolete. An all new team for agencies to deal with could well lack the expertise of the COI.

 

Also facing pressure this week was Forman's Fish Island, which received a public backlash- documented in a BBC video- over its plans for an Olympic experiential space besides its venue.

 

Local residents rightly deserve some peace and quiet, but with the Olympic Stadium on their doorstep you have to assume the activity at Forman's venue will be a teardrop in the Thames in comparison- not to mention the impact that the venue will have in boosting jobs and the area's creative industries. 

 

– Conference Boy

 

For our Week In Pictures gallery- featuring C&IT winning big at the CWT Business Travel Journalism Awards, click here.

 

Swiped, swindled, pilfered, half-inched. All words to describe what happened to C&IT's gold Grand Prix Award, presented to Line Up at our inaugural Awards.

 

It was the latest in a line of high profile award embezzlements, possibly eclipsing the famous theft of the Jules Rimet (World Cup) trophy in 1966, later recovered by a nonplussed looking hound named Pickles.

 

The culprit is no doubt sweating onto the horded momento as we speak, knowing that a deerstalker clad Conference Boy is on the case. We could further burst the bandit's bubble by mentioning that the trophy contains no actual gold, meaning any attempt to take advantage of the rising prize of the commodity will be met with laughter and, perhaps, a sharp clip round the ear.

 

The trophy's disappearance was a minor blip in our week, however. Highlights included a trip to the recently refurbished Boyd's Bar for cocktails under the distinctive circular chandeliers. The regal space, which can be hired for events, features leather arm chairs, marble walls and diligent and knowledgeable bar staff. The blue-lit corridor, joining the bar to the hotel, adds a playful and mysterious touch. See pictures in our gallery.

 

The winner of the Australia's competition, in association with Emirates, was also revealed this week. Sue Maddams, event manager at RBS, will be jetting off to Oz, while we're stuck in drizzly Hammersmith.

 

Elsewhere, after complaining last week that I never win anything, some of Maddams's luck came my way at a Leading Hotels of the World event at Jalouse, near Oxford Street station. I was picked out of a hat to win two nights at The Grand Hotel Stockholm, where I'll hopefully be enjoying a massage in the spa, safe in the knowledge the Award has been returned.

 

– Conference Boy

 

For pictures from all the above events and goings-on, click here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Whilst perusing our week's top stories, I noticed that Altitude London's weather reporting ranked highly, as you might expect from a nation obsessed with climate and precipitation.

 

Altitude, which enjoys a lofty vantage point over Christopher Wren's finest work, took the decision to run regular weather reports for Londoners. Some industry Tweeters reacted with confusion, whilst others were in congratulatory mood at the venue's continued innovation.

 

I will now prepare my own forecast for the next four/five months: "chilly-to-very-chilly out, wear a coat".

 

My Jack Frost defying clobber, complete with umbrella, was donned on Wednesday for a lively Swiss Convention Centres event at the country's Embassy near Baker Street station. The event was bustling from the get-go, partly because of the great prizes- including tours of the country, and somewhat mockingly, a suitcase.

 

"You didn't win first prize sir, but here's the case you could have taken with you if you did win it".

 

My business card may or may not have been pulled out of the hat in the prize draw, I'll never know as I had to dash just shy of the end, leaving that 'what if' feeling and a cloud above my head on the way to the station. As reported by Altitude no doubt.

 

– Conference Boy

 

Our week's pictures are here.

 

There were welcome scenes of optimism yesterday when Britain for Events speakers ‘stuck it to the man'. The ‘man', in this case, being the coalition government, who are rightly being heckled for their lack of support for our increasingly vital industry.
 
The rhetoric was akin to Oxfam's 'lead a man to water' philosophy. The event industry does not want to live on handouts, it wants to grow on its own with top-level support. Just ten more events in London could attract £150m, it was claimed a the launch event.
 
Britain for Events' message is spot on. After all, other countries are winning big contracts as a direct result of offering the services of heads of state, dignitaries and celebrities. Britain is hardly lacking celebrity figureheads who could blow the competition out of the water.
 
Feelings are mixed in the industry. The knock-on effects of the financial problems in America and Greece, to name a few, were recently highlighted by Sledge's Nic Cooper.
 
But BVEP chairman Michael Hirst was upbeat. We had a quick chat at the event where he told me that, whilst events are not immune from the peaks and troughs of the economy, they represent a major area of growth for the economy and, if a double-dip comes knocking, it is one of the few industries that attracts and promotes other industries.
 
Earlier in the week, a great example of this was demonstrated by Ignite, which has benefited from the booming thirst in the UK for American football. Its tireless work with a co-operative organisation, the NFL, paid dividends and the mood at the event was palpable.
 
-       ­Conference Boy


The Week in Pictures featuring the afore mentioned events, is here.

 

Rumours did the rounds at an Ashdown Park open day last weekend with numerous sightings of Cheers' Kirstie Alley and enthusiastic couch jumper Tom Cruise alleged to be at large (or small?). Either way, celeb fans were panting like dogs on Heat.

 

Finding Mr Cruise turned out to be a mission with a large degree of difficulty (impossible some might say), I did however have a chance encounter with his fellow Scientologist buddy Mr John Travolta, who I plucked up the gin-fuelled courage to have a quick chin wag with as he confidently paced the halls of Elite Hotel's East Sussex mansion.

 

The conversation largely consisted of what film he was working on (one with Oliver Stone) and culminated with him complimenting my suit.

 

Yes, that's right, the star of Saturday Night Fever and Pulp Fiction (who once rocked this moustache) did indeed give Conference Boy a nod for his sartorial taste.

 

As if that wasn't enough celeb-mingling to tell the grandkids about, moments after, I bumped into Kirstie Alley outside the venue, who I engaged in a quick game of 'finger snap'. Which I won.

 

The above now seems like a surreal dream of sorts, but other highlights this week included a stay at the historical Old Swan & Minster Mill, a secluded, warm, friendly hotel and conference venue in the Cotswolds which does a fantastic spot of venison.

 

Next up was a cocktail or three in St Ermin's Hotel, which has totally pulled off its bold renovation, combining modern chic with Versace-esque opulence.

 

– Conference Boy

 

Our Week in Pictures, featuring all the above venues but- sorry- no Travolta, is here. 

 

 

 

Any self respecting music bod will have heard of Abbey Road Studios, but few know that it is also available for event hire.

 

Walking through Studio 2, a space with an intangible sense of pomp and nostalgia where The Beatles recorded masterpieces including the ‘White Album', I had a genuine moment of awe. The band's original recording equipment and instruments are still in use at the site- which can be used for team-building song production exercises.

 

A 5.1 surround sound experience of Imagine by John Lennon and Kanye West's orchestrated performance at the studio was an emotional end to the visit. The person cutting onions next door was most insensitive though.

 

St Ermin's Hotel was next up where I enjoyed a fish platter and a walk through the hotel, famed for its political connections.

 

The Versace-esque flamboyance of the ceilings and the modern chic refurbishment make this, relatively unknown, gem a grand choice for events. The Caxton bar is a prime celeb haunt.

 

– Conference Boy

 

Both of these amazing venues can be seen in our Week in Pictures gallery.

 

This week I was hanging out in Vienna with some ladies from Grass Roots, a biological researcher and a science fiction convention organiser. As you do.

 

Access 2011, a showcase for what Austria's business offerings, was the common interest for all the above, and together we explored the history-rich city, that seems to have more statues than actual people.

 

I learnt much about the incentive market and teleconferencing, and by reading the linked stories, hopefully so can you.

 

A Perception PR event was next up, with appearances from the agency's clients Abbey Road Studios and Le Mas Candille hotel. Eclectic conversation topics included the aggressiveness of Shetland ponies and the need for The Big Breakfast to return to morning television.

 

Later, an evening of intrigue, deduction, film trivia, wine and canapés was had at the offices of Blue Hat, for the trial of its newly-devised team-building spy-game, The Torn Identity - a play on the Matt Damon-starring 'Bourne Identity'.

 

Cheesy pun and defective office air-conditioning aside (the perspiration added an air of palm-sweating authenticity to the occasion), the stage-rehearsal event was entertaining and challenging. It saw numerous participants divided into groups and asked to help a Jason Bourne-style amnesiac, who'd been shot and left for dead in the Thames, to regain his lost memory. 

 

(Not unlike a typical Conference Boy Saturday morning then).

 

Incentive Girl, meanwhile, attended an NYC & Co event at Avenue restaurant London where she enjoyed cocktails with the big apple's finest and encountered a drunk delegate whose rambling repartee confused all who listened.

 

– Conference Boy

 

Our Week In Pictures gallery is here.

 

 

 

Sustainability has been back on the radars of event planners of late with London 2012 spurring a tightened focus. C&IT, meanwhile, did its humble bit, sparking debate with its ‘green'-themed issue in July/August.

The ‘green' issue seems to polarise the industry, with enthusiasm juxtaposed by a small but significant sceptical contingent, as demonstrated in the Reader Rant in the upcoming October issue of C&IT.

'Climategate' seemed to dent the credibility of the message from a global perspective and a host of websites are feeding conspiracy theorists with claims that the whole thing is a swindle to line Al Gore's pockets.

The fact remains though that there is a worldwide scientific consensus on the matter, but an interesting take was offered by a prominent meeting planner recently, referring to popular counter-intuitive book Superfreakonomics, the authors of which claim that the billions of pounds and dollars spent marketing the message could have been better spent on actually solving it by funding innovative technologies.

It's a point that appealed to this blogger's, admittedly limited, intellect.

 

Like pretty much any industry C&I is, by its very nature, impactful on the environment. In a timely manner, Seventeen Events' ever amicable Andrew Williams today offered practical advice for what is within your grasp and in line with your legal and ethical responsibilities- the two of which are fast merging.

 

On a related note, Smyle also today announced its BS8901 efforts.

 

– Conference Boy *taking the recycling out smugly*