Tag: Venue investments

British Academy’s new Library launches for event bookings

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{10-11} Carlton House Terrace, home of the British Academy, is delighted with the addition of the Lee Library to its room collection. Situated on the ground floor, in the South West Corner of the venue overlooking The Mall, this impressive event space has high ceilings and large windows allowing an abundance of natural daylight to flood in. With book-lined walls filled with academic literature dating back to 1902, this inspiring space is designed to allow your creativity to flourish.

The new event space can accommodate up to 60 people theatre style, 100 people for a stand-up reception and up to 60 people for a sit-down dinner. The room has the added advantage of adjoining the Reading Room giving the spaces much more flexibility and capacity. Delegates can enjoy the use of complimentary wifi and audio visual services are available on request.

The new Library is licensed for civil marriage ceremonies and civil partnerships, with full wheelchair accessibility and guide dogs allowed.

Explore The Library here and for further information email [email protected] or call 020 7969 5224.

{10-11} Carlton House Terrace was built during the late 1820s and early 1830s on land previously occupied by Carlton House, the residence of the Prince Regent, who became George IV. The neoclassical terrace was conceived by architect John Nash with two aims in mind: to provide good views of St James’s Park for residents and to provide an impressive backdrop to both the Royal Park and the Mall.

As soon as it was finished, Carlton House Terrace became one of the most fashionable addresses in London. {10-11} was home to the Ridley and Guinness families, and also William Gladstone, Prime Minister, who occasionally held Cabinet meetings there. Although it was damaged during World War II, much of the interior of Number 10 has survived from the early years of the 20th century. Both 10 and 11 have benefited from recent refurbishment.

Cavendish Conference Centre to reveal new look at October showcase

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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

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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.

‘Get Christmas Licked!’ Venue Showcase

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Throw on your reindeer antlers and trot on down to 10-11 Carlton House Terrace this September, for festive frolics and good fun with more than 35 of Westminster’s finest venues. This year, Christmas cheer and creative, seasonal theming bring together a selection of unusual, historical, modern and exciting events destinations to inspire and entice.

Special offers, arts and crafts workshops, competitions and giveaways will all serve to introduce you to our wealth of individually unique central London properties, whether it’s late Christmas and New Year parties and drinks receptions you’re looking to organise, or forward planning for conferences, product launches, fashion shows, awards dinners, concerts and more into next year and beyond.

Meet friendly teams from luxury hotels, private members clubs, concert halls, museums and attractions, river boats, modern and traditional conference centres, historic institutes and societies. Enjoy one-on-one discussions in a dedicated and relaxed environment and fill your little black book with great new contacts, venue ideas, theming notes and confirmed diary dates for the personalised venue tours you’ve been able to organise with your new connections.

The Westminster Collection’s annual venue showcase is free to attend, subject to qualifying criteria. Register now! We look forward to seeing you in September.

{10-11} Carlton House Terrace to open new event space The Library

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{10-11} Carlton House Terrace is currently undergoing exciting summer refurbishments, with the creation of a new event space, The Library. This room will pair perfectly with the Reading Room adjacent and will feature book lined walls with bright windows overlooking the Mall, St James’s Park and Horse Guards Parade. Events held here will take on an air of royal and parliamentary London, ideal for meetings of up 30, dinners of up to 60 and receptions up to 100 guests, available to hire from mid September 2015.

The Wolfson Room, our largest event space, is undergoing a major refurbishment to remove the currently fixed stage, lectern and screen and replace with sleek, custom-made portable options, providing modern audio visual equipment for conferences and corporate events, accommodating up to 140 in theatre style seating. Upon removal of the equipment, the room will lend itself perfectly to dinners of up to 100 and evening receptions of up to 200. The floor to ceiling windows along the room offer spectacular views of the Royal Park, the Mall, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey and the London Eye.

To celebrate these new and improved facilities, the team are planning an evening party for early October where regular and prospective event organisers will be able to view their upgraded facilities and join them for some delicious food and drink.

If you’d like to register your interest in attending this event, please email [email protected] and further information will be sent soon.

Cavendish rolls out free superfast broadband

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Cavendish Conference Centre is now able to offer its delegates free superfast broadband throughout its Oxford Circus site. The centre can offer synchronised upload and download speeds of 50mgb, scalable beyond that on request, with industry leading SLAs. Internally the lines are backed up with two alternative business quality ADSL lines with separate providers for full resilience.

This is an investment into the centre’s facilities, designed to improve the on-site experience for all delegates using the facilities for meetings, training events, conferences and team building. With 8 rooms available in the centre for capacities up to 250, Cavendish has something to suit every professional conference & event organiser.

Central Hall Westminster appoints new Director of Sales and Events

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Former head of hospitality at English Heritage, Neil Parry, has joined Central Hall Westminster as its Director of Sales and Events. This newly created role comes as the venue celebrates significant success achieved in the last two years.

Parry’s previous roles include general manager at London Aquarium, trade marketing manager at London Zoo and trade marketing manager at The Tussaud’s Group. He held his most recent role at English Heritage since 2008.

“I have been very fortunate in my career to have worked at some great venues and buildings,” said Parry, “so to get the chance to work at Central Hall Westminster with all its associated history and iconic status is an amazing opportunity for me. I am really looking forward to joining the team and continuing to deliver the huge success they have already achieved.”

Commenting on the appointment, Paul Southern, managing director at Central Hall Westminster, said: “We’ve had some great results at Central Hall over the last couple of years and I’m delighted that we can reinvest this success by growing and developing our team. Neil will bring a wealth of experience to the venue and I’m looking forward to him taking the venue in new, bold directions.”

The appointment of Parry comes together with the promotion of Maria Schuett to the newly created role of head of marketing. Schuett joined Central Hall as marketing manager in 2011, a role in which her achievements included the venue’s rebranding, the launch of a dedicated mobile website and a win at the China Outbound Tourism Research Institute Awards for ‘Best Internet/Media Campaign of overseas business in China’.

Schuett also developed the award-winning ‘Meet The Future’ campaign, a multi-faceted campaign that culminated in a dedicated event technology conference, helping the venue achieve a 53% increase in turnover in the 2013/14 financial year.

Commenting on her promotion, Schuett said: “I am passionate about the Central Hall brand and my industry. I am grateful to be working with such a forward-thinking team and venue that can help to shape the industry’s journey into the future with a real educational drive to progress and facilitate change.”

Southern added: “Maria’s enthusiasm and passion for her role is infectious and has played a big part in helping our venue achieve some of its best results on record. I’m delighted that we can recognise her achievements with this newly created role.

Central Hall Westminster (CHW) is central London’s largest purpose built conference centre, combining historical elegance with cutting-edge technical capabilities. The unique Edwardian landmark building, situated adjacent to Westminster Abbey, has engaged high profile conferences, special events and local business meetings since 1912. It has 22 event spaces available for hire.

QEII transforms from international law conference to glittering awards lunch

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After a whirlwind week that saw the four-day Global Law Summit bring the likes of Boris Johnson, Ed Miliband, The Rt. Hon. Jeremy Wright QC MP, Attorney General of England & Wales, The Rt. Hon, Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury, President of the Supreme Court and film-star-cum-Global-Ambassador for War Child UK, Carey Mulligan, through the door for an international legal conference held to mark 800 years since the sealing of Magna Carta, the QEII Centre was privileged then to welcome the great and the good from the world of professional and trade associations on Friday 27 March, when the Association Excellence Awards came to life in its newly refurbished Churchill Auditorium.

It was an occasion to celebrate the success of individuals and teams in striving towards excellence in how associations operate and serve their members, organised by the Global Conference Network (GCN).

As the headline sponsor, QEII Centre was keen to pull out all the stops to serve a winning awards lunch menu in partnership with its talented catering team QEII Taste by Leith’s. Guests tucked into 24-hour smoked shin of Gloucestershire beef and rare grilled flat iron steak, served with carrot fondant, roasted artichoke, scored red onion and cherry tomato. Dessert was an indulgent Single Estate chocolate mogador, a dark chocolate and raspberry cylinder with raspberry cream and a salted caramel macaroon.

Speaking in a video interview before the awards presentation about the importance of these awards for the 300-strong audience, which included 40 C-level association leaders, host the Rt. Hon. Michael Portillo said, “As for the people represented here today, it’s just the most extraordinarily eclectic collection and I think people are going to be quite surprised because the range of activities almost defies the imagination.”

GCN awards are highly sought after because of the independent and rigorous judging process by industry practitioners and leaders, which means they showcase the very best, as judged by industry peers.

QEII Centre were proud to sponsor a selection of the awards categories, including Best Association Conference in London, won by Association for Project Management (APM) for their APM Project Management Conference, Best Advancement of a Cause, won by British Dental Association for DFT, Best Use of Social Media, won by Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) for #MAATchat, and Best Association Awards, won by Chartered Institute of Public Relations for their CIPR Excellence Awards and sponsored by QEII Taste by Leith’s.

World first holographic telepresence over 4G at 8 Northumberland Avenue

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By Sami Badrakhan, marketing executive, 8 Northumberland Avenue

On 26th January Charles Boyd, director and owner of 8 Northumberland Avenue and Ian O’Connell, director of Musion, brought 4G holographic telepresence to 8 Northumberland Avenue‘s ballroom using the ready-installed Musion technology. They were conducting a Q&A session but only Charles was present in the venue. Ian was on the other side of London being ‘transported’ as a 3D hologram via 4G wireless technology onto the stage at 8 Northumberland Avenue.

This ability to reproduce, between different locations, the best characteristics of direct human interaction that result from face-to-face meetings has been in existence for many years.  So how is this so unique and a significant improvement to the events industry?

Telepresence normally requires an expensive fibre optic cable and a dedicated network management system operating between two venues.  It’s been no coincidence that telecoms companies were the only ones able to afford this, because they could use their own lines. This new technology, using eight 4G SIM cards in a box all working together to stabilise the signal to deliver the 3D image seen, reduces the cost enormously.

Telepresence is a well-known technology to aid a reduction in event costs and indeed carbon footprint. There’s no need to go to the expense of flying a keynote speaker over from New York and paying for their accommodation. But as Ian highlighted, using 3D holographic telepresence over 4G goes further and creates a “truly live experience, more immersive than talking to someone via a 2-dimensional screen. It enables people physically located in one meeting room to see 3D holographic images of people in another location, as if they were sitting opposite them”.

8 Northumberland Avenue has already seen the benefits of using this technology.  Speaking at the event Charles Boyd said: “We are focused on being at the forefront of technology advancements to ensure our clients receive the highest return possible on their event investment by amplifying their messages. We’ve already seen this for ourselves at the event we hosted for corporate buyers last month.  We’ve reached a far wider audience than those who just attended the event.  We’ve had an increase in social media activity with new followers,  press coverage and some great feedback.”

To find out more about how this technology can benefit your next event contact the team at 8 Northumberland Avenue.

Free webinar: The Event App Challenge

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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