New interactive installation at London Transport Museum will take families on a ‘Green Journey’ this summer

This summer London Transport Museum is welcoming families to explore a new interactive ‘Green Journey’ installation that will get visitors thinking about climate change, the role of transport in creating a sustainable city, and how we can all do our bit to ensure a greener future. A green themed trail around the Museum galleries and creative workshops will also run throughout the holidays, helping young visitors to learn about these big concepts in a fun and family-friendly way.

Visitors to The Green Journey installation will be able to explore four themed, hands-on areas to learn about topics such as global warming and its effects on London, the solutions from big businesses that are already underway to help tackle it – such as Transport for London’s hydrogen buses – as well as new green jobs and the people behind them. The space will also help families discover the small changes we can make at home to be more eco-friendly.

Family workshops inspired by the themes of the Green Journey space will also take place on selected dates throughout the holidays. Five workshops will run per day, suitable for children 8-14 years old:

  • Climate Calling: selected dates between 23 July – 4 August (23, 26, 28, 30 July and 2, 4 Aug). Learn about the ways climate change affects our city and the role of transport in providing the solution – from TfL’s new hydrogen buses that are helping make London’s air cleaner, to the active travel choices we can all make when getting from A to B. Create your own Climate Calling board game inspired by what you’ve learnt.
  • Future Innovators: selected dates between 6 – 18 August (6, 9, 11, 13, 16, 19 August). What will life in our city look like in the future? What jobs will exist and what skills will we need? Hear about real-life climate change innovators and explore the skills we are going to need to help tackle climate change in the future. Then create your very own climate change super-hero. Let your imagination lead the way.
  • Activate: selected dates between 20 August – 1 September (20, 23, 25, 27, 30 Aug and 1 September). We all have a role to play in tackling climate change. Discover the small ways you can do your bit to make London greener and create your own set of Family Action Cards to get inspired.

Sustainable installation

These summer activities are part of London Transport Museum’s 18-month Climate Crossroads programme supported by Mastercard, Mott MacDonald, Cubic Transportation Systems and Sopra Steria. The programme aims to create experiences that get people thinking about what the future of our city could look like and inspired by the great engineering ingenuity of London’s past and also explores what innovations, skills and jobs we need to build this sustainable future.

On Wednesday 3 and Thursday 4 August, London Transport Museum will also be hosting Mastercard’s Girls4Tech STEM workshops in the main Museum gallery. Children can drop-into sessions on Cryptology and Big Data, learning about these topics through fun, problem-solving games. The Girls4Tech workshops will be run by Mastercard staff, looking to inspire the next generation to pursue a STEM career.

While at the Museum, families can also see real buses, trams and Tube trains from 200 years of the capital’s transport history. They can learn how to drive a modern-day Elizabeth line train in the Future Engineers gallery and climb aboard a fleet of mini vehicles in the All Aboard play zone.

Between 11:00 and 15:00, visitors can head to Canteen, the Museum’s café by popular eatery Benugo, for a bite to eat, and choose from exclusive transport inspired toys, gifts, homeware, poster artwork and games in the Museum’s shop.

Timed tickets to visit London Transport Museum can be booked online in advance. Adult tickets are £21 and allow free return day-time entry for a whole year. Plus, kids go free!

BOOK YOUR TICKETS HERE

Last chance to register for the launch of The Westminster Collection’s new identity

There is just a few days left for event buyers to register for their place at leading venue consortium, The Westminster Collection’s glamourous launch event to unveil its re-brand including new name, website and identity.

In an innovative and exciting move for the collection, the new branding will be revealed at Central Hall Westminster on 12 December, and will create a more contemporary, engaging and intuitive event booking system that allows event professionals from around the world to access 34 unique Westminster venues at the click of a button.

The full new-look branding will be revealed exclusively to those in attendance at the launch event which will also give guests the chance to meet and network with the collection’s member venues as well as industry peers and key media.

Entertainment will be in abundance on the night with music provided by member venue St Martin-in-the-Field’s resident choir St Martin’s Voices and guests can get snap-happy with a photo booth provided by PhotoBooth Magic, a preferred supplier for the collection.

Following an introduction from The Westminster Collection’s chair Clare Arouche, Rob Chambers, collection board member and events manager at London Film Museum, will deliver an opening speech highlighting the key features of the new website, the thought-process behind the branding and plans for the collection’s future.

Those in attendance on the night will also have the chance to win one of ‘12 treats of Christmas’ as well as the ultimate ‘Westminster Way’ grand prize with everything needed for the perfect Westminster day out including two tickets to the London Transport Museum, lunch for two at One Great George Street, afternoon tea at Conrad London St James and dinner at the Lansdowne Club.

Chair of The Westminster Collection, Clare Arouche said: “We, as a collection, are thrilled to be able to reveal our re-brand and new website that offers event buyers and planners an even more efficient way of accessing a host of premium and diverse Westminster venues all in one place. A lot of work, research and development has taken place to ensure that the new website offers today’s time-poor planners all of the functionality they need to easily access, enquire and book prestigious venues in the heart of London. The news marks a dynamic time of change and development for the well-established collection.”

To pre-register for your place at The Westminster Collection’s exciting re-brand showcase contact Verity Lethbridge on [email protected] before Big Ben strikes midnight on Sunday, 11 December.

Places are strictly limited and The Westminster Collection reserve the right to qualify your event planning credentials in order to confirm your place.

The Clubhouse opens new flagship site

The Clubhouse, London’s leading business club and meeting space has opened a new flagship site on St. James’s Square, one of London’s most prestigious garden squares and one of the Capital’s most prominent businesses addresses.

The brand new building at 8 St James’s Square was designed by renowned architect Eric Parry and sits on a site that was once home to Josiah Wedgwood, founder of Wedgwood Pottery. With an interior designed to a high specification the space redefines the concept of flexible working and boasts a stylish members’ club feel. The new Clubhouse has been designed around the needs of its members and offers a unique, sophisticated and flexible meeting and work space tailored to the needs of today’s entrepreneurs and growing businesses.

Home to businesses of all shapes and sizes and across all industry sectors, The Clubhouse offers a range of individually designed meeting rooms, hot desks, lounge areas, dedicated desks, flexible meeting areas, a Club deli, event spaces and conference facilities for up to 80 delegates. In addition, The Clubhouse has launched its first innovation hub with a fully interactive video wall in partnership with MultiTaction.

For more information or to enquire about your next event click here.

Central Hall Westminster launches new virtual reality experience in China

Central Hall Westminster announced the launch of its new virtual reality (VR) experience during a week-long visit to China.

It was showcased at the IT&CM Exhibition Shanghai, the Department of Commerce in Zhejiang Province and at a meeting with the team at Alibaba HQ Hangzhou.

Central Hall’s new virtual reality technology aims to showcase the venue’s versatility and range of event spaces to both international and UK buyers. The VR experience not only enables viewers to get a 360 degree view of the event spaces on offer throughout the central London venue in a virtual show-round, but also features a variety of live events scenarios as a fully immersive viewing experience. VR live events include the BBC’s New Year’s Bryan Adam’s concert 2015, amongst other high profile events.

Paul Southern, Managing Director at Central Hall Westminster, said: “This has been an exciting development for us at Central Hall. Our ability to harness this technology and connect the venue to the most remote places in China, and indeed anywhere else in the world we take it, is an extraordinary advance within our sales process. We anticipate that this will help to strengthen our position within the Chinese market as we continue to develop relationships in this sector.”

Maria Schuett, Head of Marketing at Central Hall Westminster, added: “The objective is to support our clients to conceptualise their ideas within our flexible event spaces, not replace the physical experience. The new virtual reality package, showcasing various layouts, productions and visual settings, adds a new dimension to those earlier discussions with clients.”

The VR experience has been created by Trek Wireless, creators of interactive digital assets for the retail and hospitality industries that work seamlessly across PC, tablet, mobile and VR devices. For further information about Central Hall’s virtual reality offering please visit https://www.c-h-w.com/vr.

Increase in UK-based filming for big productions at One Great George Street

Historic Westminster venue One Great George Street witnessed a marked increase in filming bookings in 2015 with location managers for the BBC TV series The Night Manager, the film War Machine starring Brad Pitt and Wonder Woman all choosing to use the venue.

Shedding some light on this trend, Charles Somers of Charles Somers Locations, the Location Manager for Wonder Woman, said: “The UK tax incentive, combined with easy access to top rate crews and facilities, in conjunction with favourable exchange rates, make it highly likely that the trend for major US features to film in the UK will continue throughout 2016 and beyond.”

Mr Somers noted that there were many unique aspects to the venue that set it apart from other filming locations. He said: “The quality of the architecture combined with the proportions of the rooms gives One Great George Street the unique position of being one of the best locations in London for the type of scene we were filming.”

He added: “The building works on so many levels, not just from a creative point of view but also from a logistical standpoint. We were able to accommodate all the other departments inside the location, such as background artists costume, make-up and wardrobe, as well as the crew and crowd dining areas, which helps make the day run very smoothly for the location department.”

Find out more at http://www.onegreatgeorgestreet.com/news-centre/press-release/2016/a-wonderful-venue-for-wonder-woman/

Lights, camera, action at One Great George Street

One Great George Street has added to its filming credentials as it was chosen as the location for upcoming film War Machine – a satire of America’s war with Afghanistan.

The American comedy war film, which is directed and written by David Michôd, is based on the non-fiction book ‘The Operators’ by Michael Hastings and features Brad Pitt.

War Machine’s Location Manager Tony Hood shares his experience of working with One Great George Street’s Special Events Team: “There are a number of stunning rooms within the building but what really sets the venue apart is the helpful nature of the event staff who have everything covered. It is unusual in Central London to find a single location that has such an extensive range of film-worthy spaces, and additionally the room to house the various elements of the production to allow us to shoot out the scenes quickly and efficiently.”

War Machine follows hot on the heels of the current BBC thriller series, The Night Manager, which was also filmed at One Great George Street.

To find out more please visit http://oggsvenue.com/

New light festival Lumiere London to illuminate capital’s landmarks

See some of the best landmarks and attractions in Westminster lit up in spectacular fashion next week, as the capital illuminates for Lumiere London, a new and free light festival. From 14-17 January 2016, Lumiere London brings together some of the world’s most exciting artists working with light. Expect large-scale video-mapped projections, interactive pieces and jaw-dropping installations, transforming many of the capital’s most iconic streets and buildings in the West End and King’s Cross.

Lumiere London Elephantastic

Amongst sights to see is Elephantastic by Catherine Garret and Top’là Design. Emerging stomping from a cloud of dust, an enormous elephant makes his slow, and heavy journey through the archways of Air Street. This extraordinary animated projection brings the sounds of the jungle to Central London as he trumpets his way through the Regent Street area.

Lumiere London BAFTA

At BAFTA 195 Piccadilly, experience an exploration of different genres of cinema and television using images from BAFTA’s archive. The visuals hark back to the origins of 195 Piccadilly as the home of the Royal Society of Watercolour Painters. The animation, by motion design experts NOVAK, is accompanied by a striking soundtrack, created by Ed Carter and inspired by the classic sounds that helped define these genres of film and television.

Lumiere London neon dogs

In the heart of ‘Theatreland’, Neon Dogs by Deepa Mann-Kler brings together 12 neon dogs inspired by balloon dogs at children’s parties. Grouped together near Trafalgar Square, these colourful canines, complete with bones, leads and dog mess, bring out the big kid inside all of us. Deepa Mann-Kler first produced this installation for Lumiere Derry~Londonderry in 2013, and has a growing interest in working with neon.

Lumiere London lightbenches

Nestled amongst Mayfair’s world famous Michelin-starred restaurants, including Le Gavroche, Kai, Hélène Darroze at The Connaught and Fera at Claridge’s, is Lightbenches by Bernd Spiecker for LBO LichtBankObjekte. Illuminating the park benches of Grosvenor Square, this is street furniture with a difference, a unique resting point that transforms the concept of public seating. Lit by hundreds of LEDs, the Lightbench allows you to take the weight off your feet and strike up a conversation with a stranger.

Bernd Spiecker’s first bench was made in 1982 using acrylic material. He has since developed the idea of Lightbenches, seeing them as symbols of recreation. He plans to build 100 across the world in the hope that they will bring people together in conversation.

The four-day Lumiere London light festival runs from 14-17 January across Piccadilly, Regent Street and St James’s, Trafalgar Square and Westminster, Mayfair and King’s Cross. The easiest, most leisurely way to discover the spectacular installations at Lumiere London 2016 is by foot. Download the map or get the app for your iPhone or Android device.

Cavendish Conference Centre to reveal new look at October showcase

Cavendish Conference Centre is hosting a special evening on Thursday 1st October 2015 to let you experience the venue in a light you’ll never before have seen. Corporate event bookers are invited to register now to secure your place. Email [email protected] and join the conversation on twitter via hashtag #CavShowcase15.

The Oxford Circus venue, which scooped the title ‘Best Conference Venue Customer Service’ at the recent Conference Awards 2015, has invested in new technology and updated furnishings in both The Auditorium and the Whittington Suite, which is an ideal space for product launches and AGMs for up to 250 guests. The venue has already welcomed the likes of Blackberry and the Royal Television Society within the newly refurbished spaces.

Dermot Waldron, Operations Director and partner at Cavendish Venues, spoke of the aims of the renovation project: “Our clients are our future and we invest for the future. This major financial investment into what is already a state-of-the-art venue only goes to further enhance the status and service that we provide to our clients – that’s been a winning formula for the last 20 years, which we look to continue for the next 20. It’s a very exciting time ahead for the team at Cavendish Venues. With this development showing our clients to be at the forefront of our ambitions, we make achieving their objectives smooth with the latest amenities so that every event works seamlessly.”

Discover more about Cavendish Conference Centre here.

Broadway House invests in presentation tech with 95-inch Samsung LED

EEF Venues at Broadway House in Westminster has invested in a 95-inch Samsung ME95C LED display in its Council Chamber room to enhance visual communication for meetings, conferences and training sessions. The world’s first 95-inch large format display in brilliant FHD delivers rich, dynamic and impactful content.

The advantages to delegates are many, as Amanda Sutton, venue manager for Broadway House, explains: “Unlike projected images in a darkened room, this digital signage presentation tool retains picture quality with broad colour ratios, deep blacks and sharp images, even in bright light.

“Content shown on the display screen has virtually no distortion. Images aren’t blurred when the screen is touched. The presenter isn’t dazzled by light from a projector, nor does the presenter throw a shadow on the screen. The reduced light scatter and reduced reflection make the content easier to read, increasing audience concentration and productivity. Another bonus is that the presentation area is free from machinery and cables.”

Broadway House is a six-storey Edwardian building at the heart of Westminster, making it a very popular choice for ministerial meetings and press conferences. It is directly opposite St James’s Park tube station, and a 10-minute walk from Victoria, Waterloo and Charing Cross, so it couldn’t be any more convenient for city meetings.

To enquire about holding an event at Broadway House, click here.

Central Hall to crowd-source Meet The Future conference content

Central Hall Westminster‘s next ‘Meet The Future‘ event technology conference on 9th June will feature Corbin Ball, writer and specialist with 20 years’ event technology experience, Neuroscientist Dr Beau Lotto and BBC technology journalist Kate Russell, while the rest of the day’s content line-up will be entirely crowd-sourced by delegates.

As part of the registration process, delegates must choose the topics they would most like to see covered in breakout sessions, with the most popular choices forming the basis of the agenda. The leading topics are currently audience engagement, location-based technology (iBeacons, NFC and RFID) and big data.

Maria Schuett, head of marketing at Central Hall and Meet The Future conference producer, says: “Our 2014 event was such a huge success, many felt it would be hard to follow. This year, however, we’re not only giving busy event buyers the chance to experience flash new tech as delegates, but taking the concept a step further and looking at how tech helps us to create better programmes and levels of engagement for organisers. Having Corbin involved is hugely exciting and we’ve got more than a few surprises up our sleeves for the day, so watch this space!”

A limited number of tickets for Meet The Future are available to senior event professionals by visiting www.c-h-w.com/future