The Inner Temple: Creating the Ultimate Office Christmas Party

The Christmas season is a time for merriment, joy and gathering. One of the highlights of the festive period is undoubtedly the office Christmas party.

At The Inner Temple, Christmas is one of our favourite times of year as festive parties work perfectly within the traditional and historic setting of the venue.

Planning a memorable Christmas Party may seem daunting but with careful organisation, you can create an unforgettable experience. Here are some ideas to create the ultimate Christmas party:

1. Find the perfect venue

To find the right venue, there are a host of great event agencies who can help you or go on event websites to look at different venue options. We recommend filtering down the venues by location and the capacity you need, and then seeing which of
those venues suits you in terms of atmosphere. Enquire for quotes and with the ones where the options and costings suit what your company is looking for, you can book in site visits. There is nothing like seeing the venue in person for a real sense of the space. Make sure you enquire well in advance as peak dates get booked up quickly!

2. Set the theme

A well-defined theme sets the stage for a great Christmas party. Consider whether you want a cosy gathering, for instance an Alpine ski lodge with soft lighting, bar stools, faux fur blankets on the chairs and ferns adorning the tables. Or if you want a traditional party, choose a venue with classic features and traditional theming such as Christmas trees, beautiful ornaments, twinkling lights, garlands, and poinsettia. Once you have decided on a theme, transform your space into a festive wonderland. Work with your venue to see what theming they provide, and then add to that.

Inner Temple Christmas Party Themes

3. Plan engaging activities and entertainment

To ensure your Christmas party is entertaining and engaging, incorporate activities throughout the evening. For a small party consider hosting a secret Santa gift exchange so everyone ends the evening with a present to take away. Or organise fun games such as a Christmas themed scavenger hunt: split everyone into teams and leave clues around the venue that ultimately ends in finding a Christmas themed trophy or prize. For a more interactive experience, set up a DIY craft station where guests can create personalised wreaths or Christmas decorations.

4. Curate a festive menu

Delight your guests with a mouthwatering menu that captures the essence of the holiday season. Incorporate traditional dishes like roasted turkey or glazed ham, accompanied by flavourful sides such as pigs in blankets, roast potatoes, roasted vegetables, and accompanying condiments such as cranberry sauce. Don’t forget to inform your venue of any dietary requirements and have vegetarian and vegan options available. Enhance the culinary experience by serving drinks like mulled wine, spiced cider, or a festive cocktail. You could also see if the venue can offer dessert stations for the evening rather than a plated dessert, to allow more time for dancing, along with a wider range of sweet choices for guests to choose from. A well-thought-out menu will not only satisfy your guests’ taste buds but also adds to the overall festive ambience.

Inner Temple Christmas Party Menu

Planning the ultimate office Christmas party requires attention to detail, creativity, and a dash of festive magic.

The Inner Temple is the perfect location if you are looking a traditional Christmas setting. The Inner Temple, we still have some remaining dates left for Christmas so enquire today for availability. Cheers to a holiday season filled with unforgettable celebrations!

Networking dos and don’ts by 8 Northumberland Avenue

Networking is an invaluable opportunity to meet professional contacts and create new business opportunities. The team at 8 Northumberland Avenue take us through the dos and don’ts that can help you make the most of your time at a networking event:

DO:

  • Introduce yourself to the event organiser. The organiser can supply additional details about the event, such as who is involved, and in general point you in the right direction
  • Be yourself – don’t play a role. You are seeking to build lasting business relationships so be genuine
  • Be respectful. Refrain from interrupting conversations to offer your business card and starting to talk
  • Have reasonable expectations. When you’re attending an event, know and understand your goals
  • Show interest in the other person. When you’re talking to someone, maintain eye contact. Nod your head to show that you’re listening. It’s a small gesture that counts

DON’T:

  • Scatter your cards at random. Nothing comes across as more insincere than handing out your business card to anyone and everyone without being asked
  • Don’t be afraid to join a conversation. In most cases, there’s nothing untoward about joining a conversation and waiting for an opportunity to introduce yourself

Contact the 8 Northumberland Avenue team today about your next event on, [email protected].

8 Northumberland Avenue’s five top tips for a secure event

This month 8 Northumberland Avenue shares its top tips to ensure the safety of both private and public events and how to stay diligent:

  1. Work with dedicated security firms

Choosing a low budget firm could cost you later if they mishandle an incident and someone is hurt as a result

  1. Determine your event’s security needs

A security expert can advise you on how many security staff you need for the number of attendees

  1. Advise guests of event security policy

If your speakers or guests include high-profile personnel, you may want to implement a no-phone policy at the venue to prevent attendees from snapping unauthorised photos

  1. Screen guests and staff

Ensure that all attendees and staff have their IDs ready and that their names are on the guest list. Your security staff should be prepared to turn away anyone who has not been invited

  1. Have medical staff onsite

Proper event planning in London calls for onsite medical staff at higher-capacity events. They can immediately attend to unexpected medical emergencies and the higher-profile your event, the greater the risk of an incident. If you’re working with a budget, allocate generously towards event security

For more information about 8 Northumberland Avenue’s events, contact the team here or on 0203 263 1011

Broadway House explore the true value of gold

Following Broadway House’s recent Gold award in BDRC’s VenueVerdict Accreditation Scheme, Amanda Sutton, venue manager at EEF Venues’ BDRC and AIM Gold-rated Broadway House, shares insight into how achieving gold benefits events and return on investment.

A warm glow

Great customer service starts with tuning into needs and wants. It’s also about being warm, welcoming and anticipating clients’ requirements. A gold rating is based entirely on the voice of customers, so showing a venue’s absolute commitment to making the customer journey enjoyable and memorable. Delegates will remember how they have been treated. If you want a venue partner driven by customer service excellence, go for gold.

Shiny, happy delegates

The quality of the food at a venue can have a significant impact on overall satisfaction levels – and can even compensate for other weaker elements of the experience. If it is poor, there is every chance that it may bite you right back by word of mouth.  Share your vision with the venue team to give a clear specification of your expectations so that they understand your ethos and standards. By choosing a gold-rated venue you can expect well thought-out, balanced menus that reflect the seasons and contemporary eating trends. Find out if the venue uses farm assured meat and if the fish served comes from sustainable sources.   Traceability, due diligence and health & safety kite marks all tell a story of a venue with high food standards.

A glittering performance

You should be looking for proactive support, advice and attention to allow you to get on with delivering your event without having to be concerned with any administrative or technical issues. Industry benchmarking schemes like AIM and BDRC ensure consistently high standards and best practice, from the expertise and professionalism of the venue team to the quality of the facilities, technology and the overall venue experience.

Worth its weight

A little due diligence before making a booking could make a big difference to your budget and ROI. Ask about any hidden extras. For example, at Broadway House, flipcharts, projectors, laptops and microphones are all available on a complimentary basis. Again, it’s all about world class customer service. But the return of investment on your event goes far beyond net profit. It covers everything from client and delegate satisfaction to reputational awareness and enhancement. If you are looking for better control of the outcomes and less risk, choosing gold is invaluable because peace of mind is everything.

Make your budget go further with 8 Northumberland Avenue

Delivering a fantastic event on a budget can be a challenge but certainly not impossible. To help you make sure your budget goes that little bit further, 8 Northumberland Avenue has rounded-up their top tips for cutting down on cost, not quality:

Be flexible with your dates:
Choosing a Monday or Friday for your event can save you, on average, 25% on venue hire and sometimes even up to 50%. A Monday conference is a great way to initiate a productive week and a Friday reception will allow your guests to really let their hair down and with potential savings of up to half-price, you really have nothing to lose.

Think about the month
As with days of the week, some months are more popular than others. We have found that January and April are great months to book when your budget is limited, as they tend to be slightly less popular meaning prices are generally lower than more sought-after months like August or July.

Limit your options, not your quality
Opting for a limited menu means saving up to 10% on costs but at 8 Northumberland Avenue we ensure this does not compromise on quality for our guests. Our event partners AlchemyLive will guarantee impeccable food and service no matter what your budget may be and will work with you to deliver your event vision at a realistic and achievable cost.

For more information on how to deliver a fantastic event regardless of your budget, contact the team, today at [email protected]

Cavendish Venues celebrate 21 years of business

Cavendish Venues is celebrating an impressive 21 years of business and to celebrate the milestone, they asked CEO Tom Mayers and MD Rachel Applegate for an insight into the key secrets of the company’s success and hopes for the future:

What has been the most memorable event of your career?

TM: Party for a group of Saudi Princesses at the Mayfair Conference Centre.

RA: Diabetics UK, London Bridge Walk.

Biggest challenges faced in the industry so far?

TM: Multiple terrorism attacks in London in 2005.

RA: Ensuring all venues are full to capacity.

Most satisfying achievement so far?

TM: Working with happy colleagues.

RA: When an event is a success to all parties concerned.

Biggest challenges you foresee for the industry?

TM: Everywhere is becoming a venue!

RA: Keeping up with trends.

What drives you individually?

TM: Happiness.

RA: Happiness.

If there’s one lesson you’ve learned?

RA: Do not panic or lose heart.

TM: Keep going and do one thing at a time!

 

During the 21 years, the privately-owned firm has been proud to achieve numerous accolades including securing titles at prestigious Conference Awards for four consecutive years.

Continuing to welcome clients with a high level of service, you can enquire for your next successful events at [email protected] or call 020 7706 7700.

The benefits of being part of a venue collection from One Great George Street

Being a stand-alone, independent venue is not always easy. While it definitely has its advantages, such as full control over day-to-day management and procurement which allows us to pass on the very best produce and services to our clients, we do everything ourselves without the helping hand of a sister organisation. Without drawing on a larger pool of manpower, Marion and I need to be selective in choosing which trade shows, forums and networking events will best showcase our fabulous venue, One Great George Street (OGGS).

We jumped on The Westminster Collection (TWC) bandwagon 5 years ago and are still current members due to the excellent ROI we receive year on year. For example, in the last 12 months we have received approximately 77 referrals and confirmed over £25,000 worth of business – a very healthy return on our membership fee of just £1,700! There’s also very real value in the affordable access the collection gives us to exhibition shows, FAM trips and networking events.

For example, The Meetings Show is a very popular industry trade show which we try to attend as part of TWC (offered on a first-come-first-serve basis). It takes place once a year, attracts over 3,000 industry professionals and provides us with pre-scheduled buyer appointments. This year we received 17 new enquiries and over 300 scanned leads which we are now in the process of prospecting for new OGGS business. This is a free event which has provided me with over 300 fresh contacts – sounds too good to be true right? But it’s true and it’s great! The next event will be TWC’s very own showcase which takes place on Monday 3rd October – sign up to our newsletters for more info.

When contemplating the advantages of joining a collection, I can say that One Great George Street has been able to utilize collections such as The Westminster Collection to support us with sales opportunities and also become part of a friendly and constructive environment with our competitors and industry peers.

Please find the original blog post from One Great George Street here.

Free webinar: The Event App Challenge

Central Hall Westminster is hosting a free webinar featuring a panel of industry experts who will debate ‘The Event App Challenge – costs, logistics & engagement’

Thursday, 5th February 2015
09.00am – 10.15am

The events industry is talking ‘apps’ but are your questions answered?

What is the service scope of event apps?

Which one is right for your events?

What is the actual cost of an event app?

What is the planning process?

… and most importantly…usage. How do you drive engagement successfully?

Central Hall Westminster’s expert panel will include 3 event app providers (servicing low, medium to high end market segments), an engagement specialist and representatives from the industry.

The session will give you a solid understanding of the opportunities/challenges involved to enhance the event experience through apps, covering practical questions, feasibility, shared best practice and more.

Join this free webinar online at 9am on Thursday 5th February and get a head start to ‘tech-proof’ your future events.

REGISTER HERE: www.c-h-w.com/webinar

Season’s threads: S/S uniform trends

What colours, prints and cuts are influencing uniform fashions this season and next? Will McCann reveals his tips

The event and fashion industries have been and will always be synonymous with extravagance. Both push boundaries, whether it’s the new must-have colour or print, or the latest delicacy to grace the canapé tray.

When it comes to how we dress our staff in the industry, uniform fashion should always remain a focus of an evening, but perfecting that look can be quite an investment. The visual presentation of staff is regularly overlooked, with standard all-black uniforms, or the white shirt, black tie combo rolled out en masse. How very drab, you might say, but actually, 75% of the time the white shirt, black tie ensemble is perfectly appropriate for an awards dinner, for example, or for a drinks and canapé reception.

Why shouldn’t the industry try and adopt more of the trends falling off our catwalks in the booming British fashion industry, though? One of our clients adopted a new style for all of their staff combining a waistcoat (black or tweed) with a pink knitted tie and a tailored white shirt – it’s on-trend and looks fantastic!

While this has meant giving out new uniform at an event and then monitoring stock, it does look truly brilliant and unique and it distinguishes this client’s staff from other event caterers.

A big trend in the Autumn/Winter 2013/14 season has been the use of checks, squares and my personal favourite, tartan. In fact I’ve just recently purchased the most splendid navy tartan suit for myself. As with all winning trends, tartan’s popularity shows no signs of waning and we can expect to see this edgy fabric continue on into the spring/summer season. Its widespread availability makes it a smart and relevant look for special events.

Forget garish red tartan; think of a more toned down, sartorial version. Navy, burgundy and green tartan fabrics are very smart and they look particularly striking in the form of a waistcoat teamed with a tailored white shirt, or as a tie paired with a tailored shirt. That sort of look exudes class.

Floral is another trend with legs for the summer months – a look we’ll see bloom in hospitality uniform fashions this coming spring season. For a summer wedding or other summer event, use the floral uniform trend to bring an event theme to life. Imagine female waiting staff in fitted white shirts or blouses paired with flowing, floral skirts or more figure-hugging pencil skirts adorned with floral prints. It’s professional, yet has a whimsical air of informality, in contrast with the severe look of a black shirt and black trousers.

And for the die-hard monochrome crew, you’re in luck, because this uniform fashion trend is a keeper, but you should make an active effort to keep it updated. A little alteration here and there to the custom event wardrobe can transform the look and feel of a brigade of event staff and the effectiveness of an event theme.

For a trendier event, consider a cropped or turned up trouser with a sockless shoe in the summer. Tailoring is a must – a fitted shirt and trousers always look splendid and exude elegance. Team with simple accessories, such as a monochrome flower tied around the wrist, a plain cravat or a different coloured tie or trousers, and you have easy and affordable techniques for elevating the look and feel of your all-important staff. Never underestimate their ability to make an event experience memorable.

Will McCann is operations manager for leading events industry staffing agency and training academy Off to Work.

Unleash Your Creativity forum: The speakers

Don’t miss incredible nuggets of creative wisdom from true experts in their fields at a special panel debate taking place at Destination Westminster, The Westminster Collection’s annual venue showcase and networking event.

At 9:00am, a specially selected panel of marketing, food, social media and live event gurus will kick off the Unleash Your Creativity forum in the Old Billiard Room. They aim to open your mind to what can be achieved when you inject imagination and resourcefulness into event planning and focus on creating new and memorable experiences.

Katie McPhee, Senior Community Manager, Eventbrite UK

Katie McPhee, EventbriteKatie joined Eventbrite from the BBC in 2011 and was the company’s first employee in Europe. She runs the UK’s social media, co-ordinates all Eventbrite events, sources partnerships and manages a growing community of event organisers in the UK. Katie also works closely with event organisers advising on social media strategy.

 

 

 

 

Jez Paxman, strategy & creative director, Live Union

Jez Paxman, Live UnionJez helped found Live Union in 2009, based on a belief that the role and potential of events within the business and internal communications landscape was rapidly shifting.

An approach anchored in understanding where the true delegate value lies for a particular audience has seen Live Union build a client base that includes EDF Energy, Oracle, AXA, TripAdvisor, Nokia and Amnesty International.

A particular passion for Jez is the merging of live and digital channels to redefine what an event can be and what it can achieve for audiences.

Jez regularly participates in industry forums, blogs on all things live and contributes to the Narrative Environments MA course at Central Saint Martins.

 

Katy Hadcroft, general manager, RSA House for Harbour & Jones

Katy Hadcroft, RSA House Katy started her career in London after four years of studying Hospitality Management at Manchester University. She quickly became the Event Manager for Searcy’s at the Royal Opera House which saw her organise many high profile and glamorous events including the BAFTA awards for over 1000 celebrities, Condé Nast flagship GQ Man of the Year Awards and Chelsea Football Club’s Centenary Dinner.

Wanting to develop her skills further, a move into outside event catering led to experiencing a career defining moment…Lewis Hamilton arriving by helicopter to Exxon Mobile’s Silverstone Grand Prix party for 650 with oysters and amazing cocktails.

Katy’s career path then entered the world of contract catering where she joined boutique and sustainable catering company Harbour and Jones as a General Manager in 2010 working at 76 Portland Place before taking a short career break to travel. She re-joined Harbour and jones in January this year firstly working on projects and then becoming the General Manager at the Royal Society of Arts.

Katy is happiest when she is putting together creative quotes for clients, organising events and sharing her knowledge and enthusiasm for food.

 

Sam Michel, founder, Chinwag

Sam Michel, ChinwagSam founded Chinwag in 1996 to support the nascent digital marketing industry. The organisation has grown alongside the industry, whilst Sam has held positions as arguably the UK’s first paid webmaster for Time Out magazine, part of the founding management team of the UK’s first web agency, Webmedia and the start-up team at digital off-shoot of TV firm Carlton (now part of ITV).

He’s launched numerous events including Chinwag Psych, international startup series Digital Mission and he’s the Executive Director of Social Media Week London, part of a global collaborative event series taking place in 26 cities wordlwide. Sam is a member of the global advisory board. Consultancy clients include UK Trade & Investment, Open Data Institute, the BBC, the Technology Strategy Board and he’s an active participant in a number of start-up accelerators.

http://chinwag.com/blogs/sam-michel

http://www.toodlepip.co.uk

@toodlepip

 

Stephen Moore, founder & chairman, IP-Config.com

Stephen MooreStephen has 25 years’ experience in business, founding, financing and operating a number of companies, including IP-Config.com, a business performance consultancy specialising in innovation and growth. Stephen is also chairman of 8 Northumberland Avenue, HarvestDigital and Visual Voice. He believes that innovation is an evolutionary process for survival, differentiation and sustained business growth. An essential component of every business, the skill is running innovation effectively and making it a core cultural component of the organisation.

 

Jonathan Byrne, chief operating officer, Royal Aeronautical Society at No.4 Hamilton Place

Jonathan ByrneJonathan Byrne has a wealth of experience in the Events and Hospitality industry, culminating in his current role as Chief Operating Officer of the Royal Aeronautical Society where he is responsible for the operational functions of the learned society, including marketing its Park Lane, Mayfair, headquarters No. 4 Hamilton Place as a meeting and events venue.

Jonathan joined the Society from Westminster’s Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre where, as Commercial Director, he oversaw the planning for the Chilcot Enquiry. He worked previously with Mint Hotels in the group-wide role of General Manager – Meetings & Events, developing the hotel group’s meetings and events product. For the seven years prior to this, Jonathan was Group Sales & Marketing Director, responsible for driving the brand and leading the sales and marketing functions at a strategic level across the nine businesses of the Crown Group.

 

To register for FREE, and for more information about the timings and full programme for the showcase and panel discussion, click here.