MONDAY 16TH AUGUST

Virtual Event World announces dates

Virtual Event World, a fully immersive 3D event where event industry professionals can do business, host their own events, network and source new opportunities, will open its virtual doors on January 24.

Its organiser, Corporate Image Media, made the announcement today and has also revealed the interactive 3D environment’s branding.

Virtual Event World is set to enhance the event and exhibitions industry and is working in conjunction with global brands, associations and existing trade shows both in the UK and overseas to encourage interaction, open dialogue and engagement. In September, at Event UK, Virtual Event World will be demonstrated to visitors for the very first time.

“Virtual Events are a new way of doing business," explained Neil Fagg, publisher at Corporate Image Media. "Virtual Event World is not going to replace face-to-face. We realise the importance of personal contact and interaction and the vital role played by our own industry trade shows and events. Virtual Event World will simply give event professionals more opportunities to network outside of these perimeters and enhance the number of experiences, business and educational opportunities available across the global events sector.”

To receive Virtual Event World updates, please register your details by visiting www.virtualeventworld.co.uk Alternatively, if you would like to explore the options available and look to support this event, please call Neil Fagg on 01795 509101.

Amex event created for LDN Restaurant Festival

American Express, sponsors of the London Restaurant Festival, are to stage American Express 10-10-10, a new landmark event created for the 2010 festival.

This exclusive new event will see 20 of the UK’s most celebrated chefs cast aside their creative competitiveness and work side-by-side to create 10 never-eaten-before collaborative Sunday lunch menus. With 12 Michelin stars between them, chefs pairings include Alain Roux of The Waterside in with Hibiscus’ Claude Bosi and Raymand Blanc from Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons and Bruno Loubet of Bistro Bruno Loubet.

The pairings will work together in the host London chef’s kitchen to create ten bespoke Sunday lunch menu, showcasing both their individual styles as well as some interesting collaborative ideas.

Fay Maschler, chair of The London Restaurant Festival and restaurant critic for the London Evening Standard, commented: “Of course the festival was created to celebrate the matchless range of restaurants in London and the talent for which the city is the forcing ground, but this year we also want to bridge that divide between ‘us and them’ – chefs working in London and those in the rest of the UK. The American Express 10-10-10 event brings together natural peers, some of them friends, some just colleagues in an industry that fosters creativity and productive rivalry. The personalities that have come together to plan unique meals will produce a one-off occasion that is certain to divert and delight as well as fostering camaraderie and experimentation in customers and chefs alike.”

Organisers: last chance to register

Corporate buyers are being encouraged to snap up the last few remaining places for the upcoming Event Organisers Summit. Organised by Forum Events, the two-day summit, taking place at Whittlebury Hall from September 27-28, allows organisers the chance to have a personalised itinerary of face-to-face meetings with event suppliers. Numerous networking opportunities and a gala dinner, with entertainment, also comprise the event summit, which is free for delegates to attend.

Join other event organisers from Santander, Visa, Nestle, Clifford Chance, Adidas and many more for two days of focused seminars and panel discussions followed by a driving experience at Silverstone Racecourse. Best of all attendance is entirely free of charge including overnight accommodation and meals.

Forum Events has also recently launched Live Events Forum, a two-day event taking place on January 24 and 25 at Twickenham Stadium. It is aimed at festival directors, council event managers, concert and charity event organisers: anyone involved with live and outdoor events.

Britain will see 2,820 days of festivals in 2010

The South-West of England is Britain’s festival hot-spot, as new figures reveal that it will have played host to 147 major festivals in 2010. Greater London is the UK’s busiest festival county, followed by Devon, North Yorkshire and Somerset.

According to statistics from Rockwool, July is the busiest festival month, holding 200 festivals and accounting for 28 per cent of all festivals; August accounts for a further 21 per cent.

The research suggests that Britain sees 2,820 days worth of festival action, cementing the medium’s popularity.

South West England is the most active festival region, hosting 147 major festivals throughout 2010 lasting a staggering 591 days in total and attracting hundreds of thousands of revellers.

The South East has the second highest density of festivals, with 117 major events during 2010, with Greater London having 67 events and Yorkshire and Humberside 56 festivals.

RWC launches event production partnership

The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama has forged a new partnership between the college and event production company Production 78 to deliver a new MA in Event Production course at the College.

Starting in February next year, this course will combine the industry know-how of an events management company, with the academic pedigree of the college’s specialist staff.

Prospective production managers, technical managers, site managers and stage managers can apply now to the Royal Welsh College for this two-year course.

Poor ticket sales to blame for Faenol’s uncertain future

The future of Faenol Festival hangs in the balance after its organiser was forced to cancel the event for the second year in a row.

Making the announcement, disappointed opera singer, Bryn Terfel said: “May I take this opportunity to thank all our audiences who have supported us over the last 10 years, and to those who responded to our call last month to show commitment to this year’s festival by buying tickets sooner rather than later. Unfortunately, advance ticket sales in this challenging economic climate have not been sufficient for us to feel confident that we can move ahead with the full festival.”

Festival headliners Westlife, which were due to play on August 27, have agreed to play a concert for those who have already booked tickets: Westlife will now play the arena at Venue Cymru. All tickets for the concert at Faenol Estate will be autmotically valid for the arena show.

Sir David Henshaw, chairman of the Faenol Festival Trust said: “The team have worked tirelessly to explore each and every avenue and opportunity available to them. Ticket sales have been dreadfully disappointing and we could not waste the generous grant of public money by the Welsh Assembly Government and Gwynedd Council. It is too soon to say what will happen in future years, and whether or not the Festival will return.”

Goal for Ear to the Ground

Ear to the Ground has created a first in the international sports marketing arena by devising and implementing two cultural events in New York City designed to connect with new and existing American fans of Manchester City Football Club.

Ear to the Ground took over an iconic midtown Manhattan diner branding it as the official MCFC meeting point and offering MCFC fans a discount while the team was in town. The event served as a hub with which to meet and greet media and influencers introducing them to the football team's brand values in a laidback environment.

Ear to the Ground then created a seminal live event featuring icons of both Manchester and New York's music scenes hosted at the ultra-hip High Bar rooftop bar in Hell's Kitchen. The Hacienda's Mike Pickering and electro/hip hop legend Afrika Bambaataa performed DJ sets as part of a DJ battle on honour of their respective cities.

The event was attended by over 600 opinion formers, media influencers and VIPs achieving widespread global PR coverage in traditional media ranging from The New York Times and Time Out New York.

Ear to the Ground devised the event concept, sourced the venues in Manhattan and secured the talent at the request of Manchester City FC. It formed a key part of a much wider marketing campaign that worked off the back of a US tour by the team. Other activity included the sponsorship and launch of a community pitch in the Harlem, the shooting of the new campaign for the shirt, fans being treated to an open top trip to watch a game and a grass roots street campaign.

Christmas cheer for Hyde Park

Winter Wonderland will return to Hyde Park and feature a new Angels Market with over 100 wooden chalets and Ciruq D’Hiver, a brand new world-class circus set inside a sleeping mind.

Zippos Circus make a return to the Wonderland Big Top plus the observation wheel, ice rink and rollercoaster rides are all set to make a return.

In 2009, Winter Wonderland attracted two million visitors.

Faversham expands portfolio

Faversham House has acquired the Utility Week portfolio from Reed Business Information (RBI).

The acquisition includes the Utility Week website www.utilityweek.com, the Utility Week Achievement Awards (December 6, 2010) and the Utility Week Debt Conference (November 2, 2010).

Faversham House chief executive Amanda Barnes, said: “We were delighted when RBI responded positively to our approach to acquire the Utility Week portfolio. We are extremely pleased to welcome the Utility Week team into our already successful and extensive portfolio of water, environment and sustainability titles. This acquisition underlines our commitment to grow our position as the premier provider of information into this market. There is considerable synergy with our Sustainabilitylive! exhibitions and with our edie.net environmental information portal..”

Williams to switch on illuminations

VisitBlackpool, Real Radio and Smooth Radio have unveiled Robbie Williams as the celebrity who will turn on the 2010 Illuminations. Williams will drop into the resort on Friday, September 3 to flick the switch as part of a star-studded celebrity weekend to launch this year’s world-famous Blackpool Illuminations.

VisitBlackpool, Real Radio and Smooth Radio have organised a variety of special events for the weekend of September 3,4 and 5 – further details of which will be announced shortly.

Councillor Maxine Callow, Cabinet Member for Tourism and Regeneration at Blackpool Council, said: "The Illuminations Switch On is the biggest event of the year and we've got one of the biggest stars in the country. No doubt this will be welcome news to Blackpool businesses, which are set to benefit from the thousands of visitors who will be in the resort to enjoy this fantastic event. It's set to be a spectacular show with something for everyone.”

Ambitious visitor targets for food and drink festival

Nottingham Food and Drink Festival has set ambitious visitor targets. It’s hoping to attract 25,000 visitors from September 23-26.

We Are Nottingham, which is the city’s Business Improvement District (BID) representing all of the city centre’s licensed premises, put on the successful inaugural event last year that saw tens of thousands of visitors flock to the city centre to take advantage of the entertainment. This year the city is aiming to entice a third more people to the festival.

Again, this year the festival is being organised and funded by local bar and restaurant owners. Different venues across the city are preparing a wide variety of food-related activities, and a line-up of celebrity chefs from Italy, India and the Caribbean have been booked.

Sylvia Manser, chief executive of We Are Nottingham, comments: “We are a young festival, but I believe that as the event is entirely organised by the local restaurants and bars, then we stay close to our core purpose of putting on entertainment which everyone will enjoy – and showcasing some great food and drink. We are hoping to attract thousands more visitors this year as we become an established event on the nation’s culinary calendar.”

The festival will have live cook-offs, chef demonstrations, cookery masterclasses, and a host of tasting areas courtesy of local restaurants, bars and eateries, as well as a special food and drink market featuring local suppliers in Nottingham’s central hub, Old Market Square. Venues around the city will also be playing host to a number of events around the city centre.

MONDAY 9TH AUGUST

IPA to host “game show” at Edinburgh Marketing Festival

A game-show concept that will test advertising professionals’ knowledge has been devised by The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) to engage with delegates at the inaugural Edinburgh Marketing Festival.

Taking place from August 23-28, visitors to the festival will be able to take part in the “game show” that is to be sponsored by Drummond Park Games.

The festival is new this year and will provide a platform for industry practitioners, students and the general public, to witness the best of the marketing sector through a series of events, exhibitions, discussions and debates, and to network with peers. The line-up comprises many leading industry players, such as: ITV, Sony Music, LoveFilm, RGA, Google, BBH, VCCP, Octagon, Analog Fold, Bacardi, Fosters, Blue State Digital, and more.

In amongst the many other exhibitions and events that comprise the festival, IPA’s ‘Ads Game' will involve a panel of comedians, including triple Edinburgh Awards nominee Russell Kane, taking a wry look at the weird and wonderful world of advertising. In a series of games, the panel will be asked to deduce what products are being advertised in some peculiar foreign ads and will be asked to come up with winning campaigns of their own, to sell the unsellable.

UBM first half profits up

UBM’s first half results for 2010 show an increase of 1.5 per cent compared to this time last year with adjusted operating profits up 7.7 per cent.

According to the figures, forward bookings for exhibition stand space at its top 20 events running in the next 12 months are up 12 per cent.

As it announced it results and events revenue of more than £139 million, it also revealed its acquisition of the Hangzhou-based Children-Baby-Maternity Expo for £9.9 million.

David Levin, chief executive officer of UBM, commented: “UBM has delivered a solid performance in the first half of the year. The progressive reshaping of UBM over the last five years has built a resilient business which is on track to meet our expectations for 2010. While we see evidence of improved trading conditions in many of the markets and geographies in which we operate, we remain cautious regarding the pace, depth and sustainability of the wider macro-economic recovery.”

During the first half UBM invested £28.2 million in tradeshows and £27.2 million in emerging markets. China now contributes more than 16 per cent to its profit.

Levin continued: “Our events business is performing well, particularly our shows in Asia and our large tradeshows worldwide. Attendee revenues, notably at our US technology tradeshows, recovered well during the first half of the year and the outlook for tradeshows is improving. In H1 2010 our events business generated 32.1 per cent of UBM’s total revenue and 48.9 per cent of total adjusted operating profit.

“Tradeshows such as Interiors (UK furniture & interior design), IFSEC (UK fire and security) and our biennial KBB (UK kitchens and bathrooms) reflected the uncertain recovery in the UK economy and, in particular, the depressed levels of activity in the building and construction industries. However aggregate rebooking trends for our UK events in the remainder of 2010 and into 2011 are reassuring.

“We expect the robust performance of our events business to continue, particularly in Asia and in high growth emerging markets. We anticipate that events which serve markets and geographies that are expected to be slower to recover from the downturn, such as the UK furniture and construction industries and our events in Japan, will stabilise during the second half of 2010. Given our focus on emerging markets, we continue to anticipate that the Events business will generate aggregate annual growth of around GDP plus 3-5 per cent over the course of a full economic cycle,” Levin concluded.

Clarion's Top Drawer boasts increase in new exhibitors

Clarion Events’ Top Drawer 2010 has announced a 40 per cent increase in new exhibitors showcasing at the design-led show this autumn.

The exhibition, which begins on September 12, is boasting that 75 per cent of exhibitors will not be showing at any other UK Autumn trade show.

Launching at this year’s autumn show is Spotted, a handpicked showcase of 10 design–based businesses not seen at any other UK trade fair. .

Show director Neil Gaisford says: “This September’s Top Drawer is unique in its offering to visitors. It really is fantastic that so many new and long standing exhibitors are choosing this show as their gateway to retailers, allowing us to truly offer a bespoke buying experience at this important time of year.”

Snowdens says “Cheese”

GL events Snowdens has been supplied in excess of 10,000 square metres of marquees and temporary structures to the Nantwich Show, host to the Worlds Largest International Cheese Awards.

Last week at Dorfold Park, Nantwich; Snowdens supplied structures for the restaurant areas, show arenas and retail space plus corporate hospitality suites for sponsors The Co-operative, Asda and Tesco.

Snowdens also supplied the main exhibition hall for the International Cheese Awards, which had to be kept carefully temperature regulated.

MONDAY 26TH JULY

Virtual event for organisers launched

A fully immersive 3D event where event industry professionals can do business, host their own events, network and source new opportunities has been launched for the first time. Virtual Event World will officially open its virtual doors in January 2011, yet is already generating interest from organisers and suppliers across the globe that are seeking an interactive 3D environment.

Virtual Event World is set to enhance the event and exhibitions industry and is working in conjunction with global brands, associations and existing trade shows, both in the UK and overseas, to encourage interaction, open dialogue and engagement. In September, at Event UK, Virtual Event World will be demonstrated to visitors for the very first time.

“Virtual events are a new way of doing business," explained Neil Fagg, publisher at Corporate Image Media. "Virtual Event World is not going to replace face-to-face. We realise the importance of personal contact and interaction and the vital role played by our own industry trade shows and events. Virtual Event World will simply give event professionals more opportunities to network outside of these perimeters and enhance the number of experiences, business and educational opportunities available across the global events sector. 

"We all have a responsibility to reduce our carbon footprint and with the UK events and exhibitions industry contributing to one per cent of the UK’s total waste, we must as an industry continue to take action. Virtual Event World allows savvy organisers and industry professionals to continue flying the sustainable and green flag, as by their very nature virtual events have less of an effect on the environment.

"We are very excited about the future and look forward to announcing further developments and partnerships in due course."

ES Group and Arena form joint venture for Delhi

ES Group and Arena have created a joint venture with local partner d-artindia (Spaceworldz Group) to deliver the overlay for three competition venues and 18 training venues at the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Delhi on October 3.

The team is responsible for providing the temporary overlay for these facilities including more than 130 temporary structures, a temporary stadium to host the Rugby Sevens, power, grandstands, media facilities and lighting. The scope of the contract also includes maintenance during the Games and removal of the temporary overlay afterwards.

The local partnership has been set up specifically to deliver this £20 million project but the intention is to develop the partnership and to deliver future projects together in India. There are many opportunities in the region in the near future including the ICC Cricket World Cup, IPL and Formula 1.

LOCOG sourcing team confirms attendance at food exhibition

The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) sourcing team is attending this year’s Speciality & Fine Food to find local and regional products to cater for 2012.

Companies exhibiting at IFE11 and Speciality & Fine Food Fair 2010 are being given the opportunity to present their products to LOCOG.

LOCOG’s sourcing team will visit this year’s Speciality & Fine Food Fair and a larger group of buyers and development chefs to IFE11 for Meet the Buyer sessions. Exhibitors of all sizes at both events will be in with a chance of getting their products onto the 14 million plates of food served to visitors, media, VIPS and athletes during the 2012 Games.

Explained Jan Matthews, head of catering at LOCOG: “We’re entering a really exciting phase in planning of the 2012 Games and meeting businesses at IFE11 and Speciality & Fine Food Fair 2010 will be key to helping us develop the catering offering.”

The Meet the Buyer events with the LOCOG will take place at IFE11 (March 13-16 2011, ExCeL, London) and Speciality & Fine Food Fair 2010 (September 5-7 2010, Olympia, London).

Samsung begins experiential activity

One Agency launched its first experiential roadshow for Samsung at Bluewater this weekend. Mobile L!ve showcased two of the brands latest smartphones, the Samsung Galaxy S and Samsung Wave. The activity will tour seven key retail destinations across the UK until August 29.

Mobile L!ve demonstrates the multiple benefits of both handsets via engaging and interactive hands-on demonstrations. To achieve this One Agency has created an experiential rig with a 7m x 7m stand, comprising of 15 touchscreen demonstration pods and two LCD screens that displays Samsung’s latest advertising campaign and run the ‘Samsung Swype Challenge’.

QD Events acquires London Pet Show

QD Events Ltd has expanded its portfolio after acquiring London Pet Show 2011 from Nicole Cooper of Blue Inc Events.

The show, previously run as the Ultimate Pet Show at the NEC, is scheduled to run from May 7-8, 2011 at Olympia in London and marks the start of QD Events expanding its portfolio across the UK.

QD Events is looking to build it consumer show division across the UK. Cooper will continue to direct and manage the event.

GL events Owen Brown support the Bloodhound Project

Farnborough Air Show saw GL events Owen Brown support the Bloodhound Project by providing a temporary exhibition venue to display of a replica version of its 42ft long Bloodhound SuperSonic Car (SSC).

Owen Brown supplied a clear view Premier structure with a peak top clear view Atrium applied to one end to create a showroom to exhibit the supersonic model.

Jo Finch, commercial events manager for the Bloodhound Project, commented: “The clear view roofs have created quite a talking point at the show; it is great that visitors to our exhibit don’t need to step outside to watch the daily flying displays.”

In 2011, the Bloodhound Project hopes to claim the land speed record. In order to do this the SSC will have to improve on 763mph, the record previously set in 1997 by the Thrust SuperSonic Car.

MONDAY 19TH JULY

Line Up produces experiential events for Volvo

Volvo has completed a major pan-European experiential campaign to launch its new S60, featuring exclusive underground parties in five European cities.

London, Paris, Milan, Berlin and Madrid saw Line Up descend upon each city, transforming warehouse-style venues into a variety of event spaces bathed in red light.

The events targeted Europe’s most fashionable influencers and were hosted by fashion and music icons Facehunter and Lieke Li. To drive word of mouth through PR and social media, young active bloggers and celebrities were invited.

All evening, guests were served mystery drinks and canapés from a “No Label” bar by waiters in white lab coats and waitresses in McQueen-inspired white dresses.  They enjoyed sets from world-famous DJs, Queens of Noize and Bloc Party, a performance from Lieke Li and  in-car Karaoke in a customised S60 .

Line Up is also working with Volvo Cars, which is to take over a Portuguese racing circuit for three months this summer with a 12-week experiential event to launch the new S60 model to its global dealership – 5,600 dealers from 36 markets will be invited in tailored groups to a two-day interactive experience themed “Driving Performance” that will see them get to grips with the new Volvo S60.

WOMAD to trial RFID technology

WOMAD, which begins this Thursday, is to pilot a new scheme that will replace paper tickets used by crew for meals with electronic cards.

Organisers are working with Etherlive to utilise radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, each crew member at this year’s event will be provided with a smart card, which allows them to collect food from the canteen once their card has been placed on a special reader.

Chris Green, managing director at Etherlive, explained: “The WOMAD crew were previously given paper tickets to claim their meals. The problem with this was that they would get lost or ruined, were hard to track and were open to duplication.

“The implementation of RFID cards for crew members will help to combat these problems by enabling WOMAD organisers to know exactly how many staff have claimed meals and who they are. The system will also help WOMAD to better manage their costs.”

Chris Smith, WOMAD festival director, added: “A lack of reliable technology has stalled the success of RFID at festivals, but Etherlive’s commitment to providing permanent, reliable connectivity will supply the basis for success at this year’s WOMAD event.

“WOMAD is an exciting test case for the deployment of RFID at festivals, and I believe it could soon be rolled out in other ways. This is the first step in the journey towards cashless events where festival-goers use their wristbands to pay for their drinks, goods and food.”

Brand leverages film screenings to engage consumers

Jameson has been announced as the official drinks sponsor of Film4’s Summer Screen at Somerset House.

The summer film season incorporates 11 film showings on a giant open air screen from July 29 to August 8. The sponsorship of the Film4 Summer Screenings is the most recent development in the brand’s continuing collaboration with film, and the event will see Jameson running a sampling bar.

In addition to this sponsorship, earlier this year Jameson sponsored the prestigious Jameson Empire Awards for a second year running. The brand also organised Empire’s international competition ‘Done in Sixty Seconds’ where budding film makers are invited to re-create animated one-minute masterpieces of classic films.

Melville invests in Middle East

Melville is to invest more than £500,000 in its Middle Eastern operation to service several large exhibitions.

The investment is being been made in shell scheme, Melville Smartwire electrical standwiring equipment, furniture, and some additional fit-out requirements of Melville's facilities in Dubai.

Nick Marshall, CEO of Melville, explained that its Middle East business is growing beyond expectations, developing faster than anticipated. The new investment will aid Melville as it services DMG’s ADIPEC, INDEX, and Big 5.

The stock will be further used throughout 2011 where Melville is contracted to a number of other large shows in the UAE.

BPA to audit exhibitions in Turkey

Four major trade shows to be held later this year in Istanbul are to become the first exhibitions in Turkey to be audited after the organisers appointed BPA Worldwide to verify attendance at each.

The exhibitions, all of which are organised by Istanbul-based EUF- International Trade Fairs, will each take place at Istanbul’s 150,000 square metres CNR Expo Center in September and October.

In September, BPA auditors will be at work at Gida, the food products and processing technologies show; Promoturk, the region's premium promotional items exhibition, and IPACK Turkey, which showcases packaging and food processing systems.

MONDAY 12TH JULY

Time flies for Red Bull as organisers cancel final leg of Air Race

The final round of the Red Bull Air Race World Championship has been cancelled, following delays in reaching a revised host city agreement. The event, due to take place in Portugal on September 4 and 5, has been pulled because Tourism Portugal and the associated cities of Lisbon, Porto and Gaia ran out of time to execute a race of this size, complexity and of the quality expected of the strong fan base in Portugal.

The 2010 race was originally announced on December 21 to take place in Portugal's capital city, Lisbon. Earlier this year the City of Lisbon, in an effort to secure a longer term agreement for Portugal, approached the Cities of Porto and Gaia to develop a joint proposal, which would have seen the race alternate between the north and south of Portugal over the next four years.

Event and Exhibiting Show latest

Visitors to the upcoming Event and Exhibiting Show will be treated to not one but two Austen Hawkins. The show’s organiser has been digitally scanned and will be projected as a 3D hologram at the entrance to the hall. Austen II, created by exhibitor Musion, will provide directions and information for visitors.

With just three days to go before the Event and Exhibiting Show (July 15 and 16), details of products to be launched are being revealed. RefTech is demonstrating its new low cost online registration system, EventReference. Pro Systems International in conjunction with Hamilton Rentals are to launch Mobile i-Floor – an interactive floor display. SpotiD UK will launch an interactive service that will allow visitors to engage with exhibitors via their mobile phone. Visitors can request your product information, brochures, call backs, request meetings, enter competitions, give feedback, etc. instantly, whilst at the show providing warm lead contact details to follow up at the show or later, in the office. The system will be live and working throughout the event.

Sports tourism gets level playing field at WTM

World Travel Market is to unveil a new Sports Pavilion at WTM 2010 in response to a growing interest in sports tourism and the success of the first Sports Tourism conference programme at WTM 2009.

Lords, Wimbledon, Twickenham and Wembley will all exhibit within the new space, situated in the show’s UK and Ireland region. World Travel Market’s Christian Vicentre explained that the move recognised the growing importance of sport to the tourism industry, citing that sporting events and sports tourism are worth $51 billion a year. The Sports Tourism seminar programme will again feature at this year’s event.

Opex secures £2m funding

Opex Group has secured £2 million of funding from Octopus Ventures’ £30 million Capital for Enterprise fund. This new injection of funding will be used to finance growth in Opex's core business, as well as to fund new software development and to support new strategic partnerships.

Justin Phillips, group financial and commercial director for Opex Group, explained: “The timing of this investment is ideal. We are very excited about our long-term partnership with Octopus and the potential it represents. We are now in a position to invest further in our business having identified numerous opportunities both within our current marketplace and beyond. This availability of funds will enable us to maximise our potential and broaden our capacity and reach.”

MONDAY 5TH JULY

Cash-less festivals will happen, says Live Nation

Paper tickets are the weakest link in the festival chain, lining the pockets of touts and opening the gates to fraudulent transactions, John Probyn, chief operating officer at Live Nation told Stand Out. As a result, Probyn has revealed that it is conversations with Ticketmaster in a bid to improve security and the issue of touts at large-scale events.

Probyn revealed that Live Nation is “very interested” in wristband technology, which would see the end of paper tickets and even the need for festivalgoers to bring cash on-site.

Probyn strongly believes that a cash-less system is the future and will happen. Instead of a ticket, visitors would pre-load with money a wristband containing a chip. The wristband would also act as the event ticket. Money left on the wristband would be transferred back into a bank account, plans state.

“Live Nation has no desire to be the first company to deliver a cash-less event. We just want to be the first to get it right. Yet, the more interest shown the easier it becomes.”

Probyn suggests that the best application for a cash-less system would be events such as Download where the movement of cash and its security is itself costly.

Probyn was speaking in Hyde Park, as Live Nation completed a string of events – Hard Rock Calling, Wireless and Kings of Leon.

Last night, Jay-Z played to a 55-000 strong crowd where security was handled by Showsec: It deployed 550 personnel to oversee crowd safety, analysing previous data from arena tours and insisting on the installation of an extra barrier to reduce movement across the park.

Showsec’s Simon Battersby took on the role of head of security for all seven events, whilst Steve Reynolds, southern regional manager, acted as security manager.

Battersby commented also on the cash-less debate:
“Any initiative that will reduce the cash element helps security. There is certainly room to reduce the number of touts in operation and we have to stay one step ahead of them.”

Working with the National Mobile Phone Crime Unit, Showsec also collaborated with all emergency services to ensure a safe event.

Continued Battersby: “Hyde Park is a well established summer concert series, our challenge is to build on ever-increasing expectations, as the general site management and venue doesn’t change very much year on year. For us, it’s all about fine tuning, and delivering an improved operation.

“Customers are demanding and so we have more customer-facing staff at the front entrance to answer question with regards to orientation. Teams from Manchester Evening News and Trent FM arenas are also working on the disabled platform, which requires a different level of service.”

Students from Showsec’s training academy were on-site, taking a hands-on role and putting into practice what they have learned so far. And Showsec had to think about the safety of its own employees. Showsec staff stood in the pit were constantly rotated to ensure the heat was not a major issue.

The recent heatwave caused obvious problems, with 400 festivalgoers over the barrier for Pearl Jam on June 25.

Live Promotions adds to its portfolio

Live Promotions has acquired Vintage and Classic Events, adding the Restoration Show and MG and Triumph Shows to pre-existing assets Race Retro and Bromley Pageant of Motoring.

Live Promotions owns the winter motorsport event Race Retro, held at Stoneleigh Park, and classic outdoor event Bromley Pageant of Motoring. It also owns Truckfest.

Vintage and Classic Events’ Lyn Bateman is aiding Live Promotions with the transition.

Smiles all round for Smyle

Smyle has experienced a 75 per cent increase in confirmed business compared to the first six months in 2009. This is a 20 per cent growth in turnover.

This surge in project wins is more than matching an ambitious 25% growth target set at the beginning of 2010. It has so far secured £2.7 million of projects for delivery in 2010; its total sales for 2009 were £3.5 million, achieving profit for the first time since its Events and Technical companies merged in 2007.

Smyle’s managing director, Rick Stainton said that the growth is part of a five-year plan. The Eventia Platinum award winners historically deliver 20 per cent more projects in the second half of the year compared to the first six months, so Stainton is cautiously optimistic for the rest of the year, forecasting a total of £4.5 million plus by the end of 2010.

School “Olympics” set for 2012

A new Olympic and Paralympic-style sports competition for young people across England has been announced by Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt and Education Secretary Michael Gove.

Up to £10 million of lottery funding, distributed by Sport England, will create a new sports league structure for primary and secondary schools culminating in an inaugural national final to be held in the run up to the London Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012.

The competition is a key part of the Government's plans for a lasting sporting legacy from hosting the London 2012 Games and to maximise the sporting opportunities available to all. Schools will compete against each other in leagues at a local level from 2011 with winning athletes and teams qualifying for up to 60 county finals.

The most talented young athletes will then be selected for the national finals. Schools will also be encouraged to host in-house Olympic-style sports days so that children of all abilities have the opportunity to compete. There will be a Paralympic element at every level of the competition for young people with disabilities.

Scottish Event awards finalists

The finalists of the Scottish Event Awards have been announced. The winners will be announced on September 9. Finalists include:

Business to Business: Best Corporate Event – Maximillion for Harvey Norman Highland Bierfest and The Open Championship Official Hospitality from Sodexo Prestige.

Leisure/Consumer: Best Cultural – 2010 Edinburgh International Science Festival, Piping Live! 2009 and Glasgow International Piping Festival.

Leisure/Consumer: Best Sports – Active Nation Scottish Cup Final 2010, freshnlo Pedal for Scotland, Cycling Scotland and Skyride Glasgow.

Business to Business or Leisure/Consumer: Best Small Event – Maximillion for Harvey Norman, The 'BPIM Experience Day' Event by Barclays Wealth and The Scottish Youth Parliament 10th Anniversary Celebration.

Supplier Awards: Best Unusual Venue – The Caves, The Gateway Centre, the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and The World's Largest Scotch Whisky Collection.

FRIDAY 25TH JUNE

RASE launches consumer show

The Royal Agricultural Society of England is launching its first retail show since the end of the Royal Show. The Winter Fair will take place from October 29-31 and aims to attract 15,000 visitors and 250 exhibitors.

Brian Warren, CEO of Royal Agricultural Society of England, explains: “The Royal Show was known for its excellent retail village and we see the Winter Fair attracting the same high quality exhibitors. Our aim is to source quality exhibitors with the most authentic and diverse range of gift items. We all know that one of  the biggest headaches when Christmas shopping is coming up with new ideas for gifts. We hope to solve this problem in a lovely festive environment.”

As well as the gifts, the focus will also be on food, showcasing produce sourced from local and regional suppliers, decorations for the home and garden, and wrapping. Organisers plan a Christmas kitchen with some of the region’s finest chefs and food producers giving some handy hints for Christmas food preparations as well as a live stage with product showcases and expert advice.

Early bird rates for exhibiting at the Winter Fair start from £55 per square metre.

THURSDAY 24TH JUNE

Elephants get celeb-filled farewell

Mark Shand's 250 painted fibre glass elephants, which have graced London's streets for the last two months, are to be brought together for one final time before being auctioned on July 3.

A celeb-filled party is set to take place on June 30 to wish good luck to the painted sculptures that have highlighted the plight of the Asian elephant before they head for new homes.

The Arabian Tent Company is supplying its Bombay Boudoir tent and furniture for the event, which will see Goldie Hawn, Rula Lenska, Joanna Lumley, Stephen Fry and Michael Palin party the night away.

Hyundai leaves Manchester in a spin

Hyundai is the latest big brand to hire Spinningfields in Manchester city centre as a location for key promotional activity.   

Spinningfields was selected by Hyundai to host one of its three World Cup fan parks in the city. An additional 14 locations were handpicked by the car manufacturer across Europe, enabling fans to enjoy the spirit and atmosphere of the tournament in a safe environment.

The Hyundai promotion follows a month-long promotional campaign by Jaguar at the development as well as on-site promotions for Blackberry, Sony, KLM and Easyjet. 

Offering a series of urban spaces made up of contemporary squares, boulevards and streets, Spinningfields is one of Manchester's most sought after locations for consumer and business focused promotional activity, offering brands access to ABC1 consumers.

Space has been taken 46 out of 56 days between April 29 and June 25, 2010.

WEDNESDAY 23RD JUNE

AEO Awards winners announced

Over 1,000 event and exhibition professionals gathered at Wembley Stadium yesterday to discover the winners of the 2010 AEO Awards.

Picking up the gong for Outstanding Contribution was Kevin Murphy, chief executive of ExCeL, which officially takes on International Convention Centre status tomorrow.

Amongst the winners were:

Best Consumer Launch Show – BodyPower Expo by Pioneer Events

Best Trade Launch Show – London Vet Show by CloserStill Media

Supplier Team of the Year – CEVA Freight Build

Equipment Supplier of the Year – DB Systems

Organiser Team of the Year – EMAP Awards

Stand Design and Build Supplier – Qdos Exhibitions

Contractor of the Year – Expo Systems

Marketing Campaign of the Year – Labelexpo Europe by Tarsus Group

Sustainable Initiative of the Year – The NEC for Waste Not Want Not

Best Live Event – National Business Awards by UBM

UK Venue of the Year – Manchester Central

Best Exhibition under NET 2000m2 – lunch by Diversified Business Communications

Best Consumer Exhibition over NET 2000m2 – Ideal Home Show by Media 10

Best Tradeshow Exhibition over NET 2000m2 – Pure London by EMAP

TUESDAY 22ND JUNE

Crewsaders employee to run 40 marathons in August

Crewsaders employee Daniel Robinson is to run 1002, almost 40 marathons, in the month of August to raise money for Lance Armstrong's cancer charity Livestrong.

Robinson’s Crewsade for Cancer begins in Birmingham on August 1. He will be running marathons every day around England to cover 1002 miles. He will complete the challenge in London on August 31, 2010.

To make a donation, visit www.crewsaders.com

You can also donate your time by participating. Robinson would love to have some company on the road and if you would like to join him on one of the runs tune in to his Twitter: @The_Running_Dan for more details of where he is in the country and at what time he will be running.

Movetech turns up the heat in Dubai

Movetech UK's distributors in Dubai, Metel DXB, turned up the heat at the recent Dubai Motor Show by supplying four revolving stages to some of the world's best-known car manufacturers. In each case the sixmetre diameter stages were used to draw attention to the very latest models and concept cars.

General Motors chose the revolving stage to display the Stingray concept car. Influenced by the Stingray race car introduced in 1959, its futuristic, part race car, part spaceship styling was mirrored by the silvered deck. The movement, by catching the light as the stage revolved, reinforced the science fiction theme, creating an eye-catching show.

A second revolving stage was used by General Motors to display a new class of vehicle, the Volt, the world's first extended range electric vehicle (E-Rev).

MONDAY 21ST JUNE

Home Office looks to festival organisers for help

The Home Office is calling on festival organisers to warn people about the dangers of “legal highs”.

This weekend, minister for crime prevention James Brokenshire sent a letter to the organisers of the Glastonbury and Latitude festivals, as well as other popular music events, asking them to be aware of the dangers of drugs that are known as “legal” or “herbal” highs.

One such drug, mephedrone, was banned recently, but others are still sold. Last year during festival season, police reported a rise in the sale and consumption of such drugs.

Brokenshire emphasized in his letter that these are not harmless substances, and nor are they necessarily legal.

He pointed out that drugs like “NRG1”, or naphyrone, are often labeled as “plant food” or “bath salt” but have a chemical structure closely related to cathinone derivatives such as mephedrone, and may share the same risks.

“That is why we are asking festival organisers and police to work with us to send out the message that these substances may not be safe, and could contain illegal drugs,” Brokenshire said.

“We are going to change our drug laws so we can respond quickly to emerging substances by introducing a temporary ban while we seek full scientific advice.”

Glasto provides platform for social media

Glastonbury’s Igloo Dome is to play host to the Social Media Experiment that will utilise high definition visuals and surround sound technology on June 25 between 1pm and midnight.

Social Media Strategist, ipercast and Orbit Research are fusing live music, DJ sets, spoken word, comedy and art with various online and social media. It will incorporate a variety of different social media platforms, streaming technology and Bluetooth, making the one-off events an immersive experience.

The experiment has been devised and coordinated by Social Media Strategist, while ipercast has built the website, the content management system and provided the web streaming technology. Orbit Research will be providing satellite connectivity for the project.

New appointments

Harrogate International Centre has made two new appointments to strengthen its sales and marketing capability. Alison Griffin returns as head of sales and marketing on a short-term contract and Paul Ashton, formerly with G-Mex (now Manchester Central), is to take up duties as sales manager.

Showforce’s Dubai division has continued its expansion by appointing Kelly Marie Mackinnon, who joins the company as director of models and promotions for the Middle East. Cecie Goodwin has also been appointed as senior business Development manager in Dubai.

Stoke Park has appointed Carlo Zoccali as sales and events manager.

Manby contract wins

Ocean Media has appointed Joe Manby to provide shell scheme and electrical services for its British Bridal Exhibitions from September 2010 to March 2013.

The Harrogate-based company has also won the contract to provide the Chartered Institute of Housing’s Annual Conference and Exhibition, which takes place at the Harrogate International Centre.  

Safe delivery for safety campaign

Mobile Promotions has worked alongside the eSafetyAware team to take its message about road safety across Europe and Scandinavia through two simultaneous roadshows, one in Finland and the other in Portugal this June.

Mobile Promotions provided two event presentation trailers to house the roadshows and managed the logistics across the roads and seas to ensure on-time delivery to each location, as well as providing branding for exterior and interior messages and graphic panels.

eSafety Aware is a non-profit association, which promotes public awareness of eSafety systems and their benefits and it is part of the FIA Foundation for the Automobile and Society.

The biggest logistics challenge for Mobile Promotions was coordinating the sea crossings, ferry times and driving routes to guarantee delivery and set-up at the destinations and at the appropriate times before the live event days, and not too far in advance which would cost more for the client.

Colin Allder, logistics manager for Mobile Promotions, explained: “The R20 expandable touring trailer along with a Bosch ESC simulator, which shows people the difference that ESP and ESC systems make, left our central UK base on schedule for Helsinki in Finland to arrive the day before the event. We chose the more efficient rail route to Calais, and the ferry to Rostok in Germany before arriving in Helsinki.

“The R22 trailer travelled south by road and ferry from Poole to Santander in Spain then south by road to Faro in Portugal where it had a high profile presence for international and national TV and media at the World Rally Championship in the Algarve, and was visited by six times World Champion Sebastion Loeb.”

FRIDAY 18TH JUNE

Carbon impact of touring research revealed

Julie’s Bicycle has published a study on the greenhouse gas (GHG) emission impacts of international touring.

Moving Arts: managing the carbon impacts of our touring: Bands, Orchestras and Theatre is a three volume report, which measures the impacts of touring and presents practical solutions to help cut  touring emissions.

Alison Tickell, director Julie Bicycle, said: "The assumption that if we focus hard enough on celebrity, regulation or science we will effect behavioural revolution, has proved distinctly shaky. By understanding the science and deploying our creativity in the manner in which we consider best we are much more likely to shape our future in a manner befitting our business."

The research, which focuses on the core elements of touring, looked at 97 tour leg samples in 2009 across the UK and internationally. It estimates that approximately 85,000 tonnes of CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent) emissions were produced as a result of bands taking their show on the road. Touring theatre produced approximately 13,400 tonnes of CO2e emissions and orchestras produced approximately 8,600 tonnes CO2e emissions. Unsurprisingly the majority of touring emissions are from overseas tours, with personnel travel and freight accounting for the lion’s share of those figures.

The report recognises that there is concern about the environment within the industry, and whilst high profile names are speaking out, that concern is not yet being reflected in the practices of touring. A number of barriers have been identified  including the perceived financial cost; the availability of low carbon equipment and vehicles; and audience and artist expectation for spectacular shows.

Julie’s Bicycle have identified 11 priority recommendations aimed at those responsible for all aspects of a tour - artists, managers, suppliers, promoters and venues. These involve environmental planning to sit  alongside artistic and financial contributions, and sharing the data on emissions produced from a tour, as well as a range of other actions which reduce environmental impacts.

As a result, Julie’s Bicycle has launched a free online tool which will measure the carbon impacts of tours.

THURSDAY 17TH JUNE

Music is not main reason for visiting festival

The second  annual Association of Independent Festivals survey has revealed that the UK festival market remains strong with AIF festival-goers contributing more than £130 million to the UK economy.

Whilst 44.4 per cent of those surveyed said that the recession has affected how much they spend on festivals this compares favourably to the 59.4 per cent who say the recession has affected how much they spend on all other types of entertainment.

With 24 members ranging from boutique festivals such as Standon Calling through to world famous events such as Creamfields and Bestival, around 350,000 people will attend AIF member festivals this year (up from 340,000 in 2009).  In all they will inject more than £130 million into the UK economy with over £12 million directly funnelled to local businesses.

This year over two-thirds of those attending festivals will spend three or more days in the local area of the festival, up from 60 per cent last year. Those attending WOMAD will stay the longest with 48.8 per cent prepared to spend four or more days in the local area.

The total spend of a festival goer this year totals £346 including ticket, with those attending Camp Bestival the biggest spenders with an average of £532 average per person.

Once again the survey has demonstrated that festivals are much more than just a big outside gig, with over 50 per cent of respondents stating that it is the “general atmosphere and overall vibe, quality and character of the event” which is the main draw. “Music generally” was the second deciding factor in picking a festival with 28.3 per cent, whilst the choice of headliners only polled 11.9 per cent.

Once at the festival 43 per cent of respondents will spend 60 – 79 per cent of time watching music. Reflecting the wide range of entertainment on offer, those attending Secret Garden Party and Camp Bestival spend the least time watching bands with 73.8 per cent and 67.2 per cent of audience spending less than half their time doing so.

The survey also looked at the mode of transportation festival goers use to get to the festival of their choice and once again. Car  remains the most popular choice, with 44.5 per cent travelling by car with three or more people.

Importantly for those looking to reduce the festival market’s carbon footprint 50.1 per cent said that “a discount on public transport ticket” would encourage them to travel this way.

WEDNESDAY 16TH JUNE

"Mystery delegates" coming to an exhibition hall near you

Agency Spinning Clock has launched a Mystery Delegate service in order for exhibitors and organisers to obtain live unbiased feedback, in order to measure stand performance.

The service includes the on-site recruitment of delegates at key walk-through exhibition areas, who in turn are incentivised to visit the exhibitor's stand under cover, with set questions that are fed back by means of an online survey.

Delegates’ live web responses are then immediately collated and provided to the exhibitor via email, in order to constantly monitor and assess its messaging and stand performance both during and after the show, and thus make improvements accordingly - which can be particularly useful at multi-day events.

Successful pilot trials have already taken place at exhibitions, such as Primary Care Live in Manchester and the Vitality Show in London by companies including Clinical Solutions, the Red Cross and NHS Choices, which have been impressed with the reporting system and measurable results.

TUESDAY 15TH JUNE

New Eventia board appointed

Eventia held its AGM on June 10 at the Grand Connaught Rooms in London. The meeting saw the election of a new chair to lead the association for the next 12 months.

The new chair will be Mark Saxby, group sales and marketing director at events agency WorldEvents.

The AGM witnessed several further changes to the Eventia Board. Standing down from the Board were: Patrick Collins, Touch Associates, Cath Cousins, Perception Sales & Marketing, Peter Jackson, The Concerto Group, Leigh Jagger, Banks Sadler, Hamish Reid, Jersey Conference Bureau and Aileen Reuter, Grass Roots

Newly-elected to the board were: Nigel Cooper, Motivecom, Simon Hughes, COI, Mike Jackson, Stage Electrics, Alan Newton, Grass Roots, Rick Stainton, Smyle, Karen Rice, Banks Sadler and Ruth Robinson, Lancashire & Blackpool Conferences & Meetings.

MONDAY 14TH JUNE

Major growth plans for 360

David Walley, chairman of 360 Creative Event Services, has told Stand Out that aggressive growth is on the cards, with plans in the pipeline to join forces with another company in the next three to six months.

When quizzed as to who the company is, Walley responded, smiling: “Well, I am not buying an airport.”

Continuing: “The aim is to be considerably bigger. We are travelling head first into the market, which necessitates us acquiring or joint-venturing with a number of parties.

“360 is not about being product-led. That doesn’t fit with my ethos. People want service and I want to lead by example. I don’t want to be a commodity. I am not interested in working with those that see me as a bolt on. I want to know what someone is trying to achieve right at the beginning.”

360 Creative Event Services is the result of a merger between ARB and EFG and launched onto the events scene just two months ago with the expanded management team of Charlie Cox, Bob Boote, David Harding and Walley.

Walley is actively looking for new recruits and is hoping to be involved in the resurrection of a new events space at Donnington Park now that the lease has been sold to Adroit group.

Date change for London Expo

Unique Venues of London (UVL) has announced a change of date to its next annual Expo. Due to the RMT Tube strikes the Expo will now take place on July 13, with the Science Museum remaining as the venue.

Held in conjunction with Visit London for the second year running, guests will be invited for breakfast from 8am, followed by an opportunity to explore all 69 member venues, including Somerset House, Kew Gardens and HMS Belfast.

The Expo was originally due to take place on July 15.

P&MM launch off-the-shelf package

P&MM Events and Communication has launched an off-the-shelf event solution for smaller meetings and conferences.

Pocket Production is aimed at in house event management teams and association managers.

Geared towards helping clients that need to arrange AGMs, sales meetings, team building events, staff conferences and awards ceremonies, P&MM's Pocket Production allows clients to choose from a range of flexible packages which range from the minimalist stage and AV hire to a complete service including every aspect of event production from content development to set staging and design.

New centre set to open

Lancashire County Cricket Club has been handed the keys to their new £15 million conference and events venue, The Point. The venue’s team will now be able to move into the building in time for the grand opening on Sunday, June 27. The team will then begin preparations for the first event on July 1.

The Point can accommodate 1,000 for a formal dinner and is expected to be a popular venue with weddings, exhibitions and product launches.

National Floor Show moves

National Floor Show is to move to become part of interiors 2011. The show was due to take place from September 7-9, 2010 at The NEC, but will now take place at the NEC’s hall two from January 23-26, 2011.

Portfolio director Andrew Vaughan commented: “Due to tough economic and industry conditions, and in consultation with the marketplace, we have decided to re-position National Floor Show within our portfolio’s flagship event. As experienced exhibition organisers, our focus has always been to deliver return on investment for our exhibitors, so we have decided to offer flooring companies the opportunity to exhibit at the UK’s largest trade interiors show.”

The organisers believe that the National Floor Show will benefit from being part of the  interiors event, which this year welcomed over 600 exhibitors and in excess of 25,000 visitors – over 7,000 of which were specifically interested in rugs and floor coverings.

Owen Brown shelter England at the World Cup

As England began their World Cup campaign on Saturday, the world’s media descended on the team’s media centre in Rustenberg, South Africa – a collection of six temporary structures from GL events Owen Brown, featuring an Eclipse curved roof as well as structures from its Absolute and Ultimate range.

In addition to this, as part of GL Group’s main overlay contract, Owen Brown has supplied FIFA with 15,000 square metres of temporary structures; these have been split between the nine fan sites. The structures will be used for fan zones and refreshment areas as well as retail and merchandise outlets.

TUESDAY 8TH JUNE

2012 sustainability programme on track

The Commission for a Sustainable London 2012 has published its 2009 Annual Review of the sustainability of the London 2012 programme. The review, entitled Raising the bar, looks at the work done so far by the ODA and LOCOG, the two main bodies delivering the London 2012 Games, and suggests that the London 2012 Games and venues are on track to deliver the sustainability objectives set out.

Road to promotion

A road, freight and logistics accreditation body that awards LGV licences took the unusual step of sponsoring a local music festival this weekend to promote LGV courses to 18-year-olds.

Osfest, which took place at Oswestry showground, was sponsored by the RTITB Academy, as it aimed to encourage a younger audience to undertake LGV training. Since September 2009, the legal age of those permitted to drive Category C vehicles and above has been dropped from 21 to 18, yet despite the changes in legislation, the average age of an LGV driver is 51.

The RTITB Academy took the opportunity to promote the new rules at a time when there are high unemployment rates amongst 18-25 year olds.

Owen Brown blooms at Chelsea

GL events Owen Brown supplied temporary structures to the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. A new 20m x 40m Absolute double deck structure was used for the Ranleagh restaurant and food court – it featured a 4m x 25m patio area on the ground floor and a 2m x 30m balcony. The Ranleagh was sponsored by Laurent Perrier and featured a seafood restaurant on the first floor.

Sixteen 6m x 13m hospitality units from Owen Brown’s Smart System range were used for the Ranelagh Gardens hospitality village; tucked out of the way in the south side of the gardens these units were available for private hire.

Middle East Event Award winners

The third Middle East Event Awards saw 600 guests gather at the Madinat Jumeirah last week. The organisers received almost 200 nominations for the 20 award categories.

Amongst those celebrating were: Arena Lea International, Farnborough International Limited and Harlequin Arena for the Bahrain International Airshow 2010, which won the award for Outstanding Event using a Temporary Venue/Structure or Space. Vibe won the award for Best Incentive Event for its work on the Coca Cola Company Annual Conference, and Flash Entertainment picked up the gong for Best Music Event for Beats on the Beach/Yasalam.

TSG launches product for grandstand seating

The Structure Group (TSG) has developed a sub structure to support grandstand seating. The newly developed support structure uses all the components of TSG’s standard elevated deck system. TSG’s design, which uses HeavyDeck components to erect the seating on, opens up the area beneath the stand and provides the event organiser with additional space for restaurants, bars, shops, concessions or toilets if required.

John Davy of TSG comments: “Our systems can work on up to a five-metre grid that enables large roomy areas to be made available that would otherwise have been just steel and scaffold. It is quick and cost effective to erect and I believe will make a great addition to the TSG portfolio that HeavyDeck is developing. The HeavyDeck Grandstand support structure has already created a great deal of interest around the world; with event organisers from Germany, the USA and Australia visiting the UK specifically to see this new innovation.”

Baby Show has boom in visitors

Fisher-Price, Tommee Tippee, Mothercare and Katie Price launched products to over 25,000 visitors last month as parents and grandparents flocked to The Baby Show at Birmingham’s NEC. Taking place over three days, Katie Price drew huge crowds on day one when she took to the stage to launch her KP Baby range of female baby clothing, before taking part in an exclusive signing session to meet the fans of the new range.

MONDAY 7TH JUNE

Felton lands ops role on new exhibition

Lynn Felton, the former director of BECA, has landed herself a new rolle. She has been appointed to look after the operations and logistics of new exhibition The Good Digestion Show. The event, created by Caroline Bramwell of Dandelion Clock Exhibitions, will open in June 2011 at the East of England Showground and will utilise the Exec hall.

Felton explained that the event needed somewhere with good facilities, in an easy to reach location, so that visitors with existing ailments do not have to suffer the inconvenience of public transport.

The Good Digestion Show will incorporate IBD Expo, and is aimed at those having to live daily with food intolerances and conditions such as Crohn’s disease.

Awards head to Liverpool

Liverpool has been confirmed as the host city for this year’s MOBO Awards. MOBO ambassador Leona Lewis joined MOBO Awards founder, Kanya King MBE, to announce Liverpool as the host city for the 2010 event in association with Lebara Mobile. The annual awards will this year be celebrating their 15th birthday at the Echo Arena on October 20. Throughout June, the MOBO Organisation will run a ticket ballot for the 2010 Awards with nominations for this year's Awards to be announced early September.

Festival activity for Southern Comfort

Southern Comfort has revealed plans for a host of promotional activities to take place during the Isle of Wight Festival. From June 10-13, festival goers will be able to experience the spirit of New Orleans in the Isle of Wight with sampling and consumer giveaways in stores in key local towns en route to the event.

Southern Comfort will be sampling its Southern Comfort Lemonade & Lime pre-mix can to consumers, at various grocery stores on and around the island.  Consumers will also be able to get their hands on festival themed goodies when they purchase multi-packs of the pre-mixed drinks during the festival period including branded hats, beads and cooler bags.

Scotland plans Homecoming 2014

Scotland will build on the success of the Year of Homecoming by staging a second formal celebration in 2014. Homecoming 2014 will take place in the year that Scotland hosts the Commonwealth Games and the Ryder Cup and marks the 700th anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn.

Newly-published research by EKOS shows that Homecoming Scotland 2009 generated £53.7 million in additional tourism revenue for Scotland, exceeding the £44 million target by 22 per cent and attracted 95,000 additional visitors to the country.

A new public exhibition documenting a collection of Homecoming brochures, articles and video footage will begin a tour of Scotland in summer 2011, following the online publication of material in January 2011, in a bid to increase interest in the event.

ICC saves the day

The ICC, Birmingham, has come to the aid of Vauxhall, after Iceland’s volcanic ash cloud squashed its event plans to host an international conference in Hamburg.

A conference for Vauxhall – and the first major event for the company’s new managing director – brought together over 400 delegates from Vauxhall dealerships across the UK to see the new Meriva model, and was organised by the team at The ICC in just 15 days.

Vauxhall called upon Event management agency, BI to deliver the venue finding,  delegate registration and event logistics in the 15-day lead time after Vauxhall’s original plans to host the event in Germany were dashed when it became clear that delegates attending the event would be impacted by the ash cloud.

The ICC’s hall one was used for main presentations, while hall three featured a 30-strong car exhibition during the day, and was converted in under two hours into a dining room for the evening’s gala dinner reception.

In mid-April, The ICC was also able to ensure that the British Society for Rheumatology Annual Conference was able to go ahead as planned by employing video conferencing after a number of its international delegates were unable to get to the UK because of the ash cloud.

TUESDAY 25TH MAY

London 2012 and Glasgow 2014 agree to work together

John Scott, chief executive of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games and Sebastian Coe, chairman of London 2012, have signed an agreement to work together to maximise the benefits of hosting major sporting events.

The agreement will set out how both Organising Committees will jointly benefit from the second time an Olympic Games and Commonwealth Games has been hosted within two years of each other in the same country, since Canada hosted the 1976 Summer Olympics and the 1978 Commonwealth Games.

They have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which details how the two parties can share information relating to and resources including volunteers, equipment and sponsorship.

For example, following the closure of London 2012, LOCOG will be in possession of a wide variety of hardware, software and equipment that will need to be disposed of in the most cost effective way possible. Glasgow 2014 will enter in discussions with LOCOG about the purchase of fit-for-Games equipment.

Seb Coe said of the agreement: “Scotland’s double opportunity to reap benefits from hosting two of the world’s largest sporting events is boosted with agreement and transfer of knowledge that lies at its heart."

MONDAY 24TH MAY

Touts winning the ticketing game

Ticket touts are raking in huge profits, according to G4S Events’ 2010 Ticket Tour Index. The research suggests that event tickets purchased via online auction sites cost on average 59 per cent more than the designated face value, and the company estimates that a committed tout can earn in excess of £28,000 each year, £2,200 more than the average UK salary.

In relation to the UK festival market, touts are making an average of a third (32 per cent) profit on tickets for this summer’s biggest live music events. However, beyond the festival circuit tickets for concerts are not securing as big a premium as previous years, trading on average for 22 per cent over the face value in 2010 compared to 53 per cent in 2009.

Mark Hamilton, managing director G4S Events, commented: “Fans are helping drive hugely inflated prices in the secondary market and continue to pour thousands of pounds into the wallets of the touts. But, fans should be aware that in buying tickets from unauthorised outlets they could find themselves barred from entering events if their tickets are found to be fraudulent, or their identification does not match up with the ticket purchaser.”

Games' marketing VP to give keynote

Claire Smith, vice president, sales and marketing, Vancouver Convention Centre will be presenting a keynote session at The Summer Eventia. The session entitled “The View from Vancouver: What London 2012 and Glasgow 2014 can learn from the Vancouver experience” will discuss experiences drawn from staging the recent Olympic games in Vancouver and how these insights could be applied to London's preparation for 2012, and Glasgow’s preparation for 2014.

Smith commented: “The insights and learnings that Vancouver acquired from hosting the Winter Olympics will be invaluable to the UK events industry and will help destinations, venues, agencies and suppliers capitalise on the forthcoming Olympic and Commonwealth Games. It will give the industry an understanding of what London, Glasgow and the rest of Britain can really expect when a major Games roadshow rolls into town.”

The Summer Eventia will take place from July 4-6, 2010 at the SECC Glasgow.

Best Parties Ever take new venture to Glasto

A new venture from Best Parties Ever will make its foray into festival bars next month. The new brand, “Arribar!” will be headed by Tim Stevens, managing director of Best Parties Ever, and will appear first at Glastonbury. Working with Avalon Bars and Events, two destination bars will be operated, and each will be located on the main walkway,  "Butts Lane".

Rock The Kasbah, located next to the Orange “charge and chill” site will open from 10am until 2am throughout the five days. Creating a real customer experience with theming and scenery, festival goers will enter through Moroccan gates into a Kasbah-like space with Moroccan music and seating for up to 250, including cushions and bean bags.  The bar will be accessible from two sides and sausage and bacon rolls will be served for breakfast, with lunch and dinner menus offering Moroccan burgers (lamb or vegetarian).

The second bar, Chameleon, will open from 11am until 3am each day.  Lined in black with lighting around the bars that change colour to create different moods, this bar will take party goers from day into night.  With seating for up to 120 people, it has been designed as a chill out zone for the day with comfortable seating and food served from 12pm-9pm. By night, the seating will be removed and the bar will take on a club atmosphere, complete with live DJ, playing mainstream music from 11pm to 3am.

Brands partner in style

Heineken UK’s Jacques Cider has partnered with River Island and Benefit Cosmetics to host a series of shopping events. The cider brand is hoping to appeal to its female audience and has kicked off the campaign today (May 24) with an in-store bar experience at River Island Manchester to celebrate Graduate Fashion Week. Four further River Island events will be held nationwide next week. Benefit Cosmetics stores will also be partnering Jacques by serving the drink at shopping events in 12 of its boutique stores across London.

The campaign will launch in press and online from June 14 with further sampling and partner activity running until September 2010.

EMS win Dell contract

Global IT brand Dell has commissioned Event Marketing Solutions (EMS) to operate a two-week tour of schools in the Netherlands to showcase its latest educational technology. The interactive tour will give staff and pupils a hands-on experience of Dell’s new ‘Connected Classroom’ product range and… Read more

will be hosted on board a seven-metre exhibition trailer and will accommodate up to 15 visitors at a time for a series of interactive presentations.

The tour launched last week in Amsterdam and will visit 10 schools across the Netherlands.

Paula Carroll, of Dell’s events team, EMEA Marketing, said: “This is the first time we have commissioned a marketing roadshow in this region and we are excited about the potential to connect with our customers in a new way."

Show attempts to bloom with new appointment

Channell Events Services has been appointed to take on a number of key roles for The Edible Garden Show. Channell Events’ management responsibilities will include stand sales, sponsorship and marketing for the show which had been scheduled to open at Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire, in March but was postponed until March 18-20, 2011 as a result of the recession. The company will also take responsibility for the event director’s role.

A show spokesman said: “Our project was seriously hampered by the effect of the recession and also because of the short lead-in time for our original show dates. We have every reason to feel – given a longer lead-in and a more confident economic climate – that The Edible Garden Show can become an established national event, attracting big numbers of exhibitors and visitors.”

FRIDAY 21ST MAY

Edible Garden Show plans to take root with new appointment

Specialist event management company Channell Events Services has been appointed to take on a number of key roles for The Edible Garden Show.

Channell Events’ management responsibilities will include stand sales, sponsorship and marketing for the show which had been scheduled to open at Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire, in March but was postponed until March 18-20, 2011 as a result of the recession. The company will also take responsibility for the event director’s role.

THURSDAY 20TH MAY

Seventeen Events support student event for charity

Seventeen Events underlined its commitment to sustainable events by sponsoring a competition designed to encourage event management students to raise money for Barnardo’s. A team of event management students from London Metropolitan University raised £1,150 for the children’s charity by organising a Brazilian Carnival night at the Rocket Complex. Not only did the event raise a record amount of money but also attracted the largest crowd of the year to the Rocket with over 400 people enjoying live samba music by Rhythms of the City and dance troupe Romero de Mangueria.

The students were taking part in a competition supported by Seventeen Events, the London Met Business School and Barnardo’s. Teams of students were challenged to submit event proposals which, if successful, received £250 seed money to be put towards the costs of putting on the event.

Seventeen Events MD, Andrew Williams commented: “If we’re serious about sustainable events we have to practice what we preach. So far this year we have supported several charitable initiatives such as the London Met competition, as well as providing pro bono support for the launch in Brighton of the campaign to elect Caroline Lucas as the first Green Party MP in the country. This was a great opportunity to see the creative approach the next generation of event managers took to a fundraising challenge.”

WEDNESDAY 19TH MAY

Crown Group employees to trek to Kilimanjaro

The Crown Foundation hopes to raise over £10,000 for its three chosen charities: Make A Wish Foundation, Children’s Forces Trust and Charms, with a charity trek to Mount Kilimanjaro.

Three Crown Group employees have been selected at random to join the CEO, Charles Beer on the gruelling trek, flying to Kilimanjaro airport on January 27, 2011.

Joining Charles are Heidi Nielsen, Kudos Hospitality manager at Church House Conference Centre, Jenna Smith, group buyer and Karl Wilkinson, Crown Group safety and assurance manager.

In order to participate in the climb each employee needs to raise a minimum of £3,600. The Crown Group will match the final figure raised pound for pound once all sponsorship has been collated, with the funds going to the selected charities.

TUESDAY 18TH MAY

Emap makes new appointment

Emap has appointed of Mark Ram as senior marketing manager for its Education portfolio. The new role sees Ram take responsibility for the marketing of BETT, the Education Show and the Scottish Learning Festival, along with any future launches in this division.

Prior to joining Emap, Ram was the senior marketing manager at United Business Media, overseeing both Internet World and Service Management Expo.

The Scottish Learning Festival takes place from September 22-23, 2010 at the SECC, Glasgow, BETT 2011 runs from January 12-15, 2011 at London’s Olympia and the Education Show takes place from March 17-19 at the NEC Birmingham.

MONDAY 17TH MAY

Live survives the recession

Live music is surviving the credit crunch, with revenues showing an increase of four per cent, according to new figures from PRS for Music. The numbers suggest that consumer spending on live music reached £1.45 billion, up from £1.39 billion in 2008. Breaking the numbers down, primary tickets were up 3.4 per cent, whereas Tixdaq data shows that the revenues from the secondary market rocketed 15 per cent.

Will Page, chief economist PRS for Music said: "The UK live music industry continues to exceed expectations, especially during an economic downturn. In a week when it was shown that recorded music revenues may be starting to turn a corner, it’s important to "follow the money" and appreciate the consumers insatiable appetite for live music, with more bands and more tickets than ever before. It’s fascinating to consider that events based industries such as live music have succeeded in growing their overall pie, whilst so much of the digital media debate is about cannibalisation."

First day parade for Manchester

Walk the Plank has been commissioned by Manchester City Council to produce the city’s first ever Manchester Day Parade on June 20.

The parade’s content is being created by the people of Manchester in response to the theme Out of This World. Walk the Plank is working with hundreds of participants from more than 60 local youth, environmental, special interest and charity groups, as well as hundreds of musicians, drummers and dancers, all of whom have come forward with ideas about what is Out of This World to them. Many of the groups are now working with professional artists to make their ideas come to life.

“There's been a huge enthusiasm from groups to participate in this first Manchester Day Parade, and we are creating costumes or floats with more than 1.000 participants," said Liz Pugh, producer for Walk the Plank.

The parade takes place at the start of National Bike Week, and will feature a number of pedaled and pushed images as well as a musical bike.

"Everyone is embracing the move away from truck-based floats to something cleaner, greener and more sustainable,” added Pugh.

NEC and ESSA reach powerful agreement

The NEC and ESSA have reached agreement to undertake a structured testing of the venue's new plug and play system to provide all parties with fair and accurate time and costs to make electrical mains available for a show.

The NEC will select a number of shows that cover all aspects encountered across the range of shows resident at the venue and ESSA will be responsible for setting the scope and framework of the measures.

The testing will take place over an agreed three-month period and will endeavour to take into account the maximum number of variables possible within a show. Some of which will include fully carpeted events, large and small shows, mixed plug and play and existing system installations, both build up and break down including replacing duct covers, and delivery and removal of the mains cables.

Chris Skeith, ESSA director commented: “The results of the programme of trials will provide ESSA and the NEC with the information needed to find a mutually agreeable solution and a platform from which we can drive new and effective working practices.”

Crowd management research issued

The Health and Safety Executive has released new research on the management of crowds at outdoor street and special events. The study will contribute to a body of information that will be considered for inclusion in the new Events Safety Guide HSG195, which is currently under revision.

RR790 - A review of the management of crowd safety at outdoor street/special events contains the results of a study of the management of crowd safety at four outdoor events in England and Scotland.

The examination of the events focussed on the identification of factors that contributed to crowd safety. These aspects included how the events were organised and roles and responsibilities of those involved. Specific hazards, such as fire, electricity and slips and trips were examined and how they were managed was scrutinised, and a basic crowd safety checklist has been devised from these findings.

This project was carried out by Buckinghamshire New University on behalf of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. For a copy of the research visit http://www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrhtm/rr790.htm

Eurostar appoints SML

Eurostar has appointed SML Marketing and Events to produce its Eurostar Sales Awards 2010.  The event, a sit-down gala dinner set to take place in November, will be held in an “unusual London venue” says SML’s Steven Moffat.

Emma Harris, director of sales and marketing, UK and International, commented: “The Eurostar Sales Awards is our opportunity to formally recognise the ongoing support we receive from the travel trade. More importantly it’s a chance to catch up with our many friends across the industry and to treat them to a most memorable evening.  We have been working with SML for the last seven years and as far as I am concerned they are the experts in using events to bring brands to life. We are delighted to be working with them on the 2010 Sales Awards."

Another fine mess

This year at Glastonbury, WaterAid's African-style pit latrines in Kings Meadow (aka the Stone Circle Field) will be replaced with composting loos provided by Natural Events. Used in some of WaterAid's projects these loos transform human waste into safe, effective fertiliser, which boost crop yield.

THURSDAY 13TH MAY

Glastonbudget for OneBigStar

OneBigStar has secured a three-year contract to supply light, sound and staging to the largest tribute festival in Europe.

Located between Leicester and Nottingham and in it’s sixth year, Glastonbudget attracts a crowd of over 5,000 across three days and four stages.

The production specialist has introduced entertainment technology manufacturers as sponsors, namely Shuttlesound [Electro-Voice UK] and Roland Systems Group.

The Roland Systems Group is equipping the VIP backstage marquee as a “silent stage”, providing its M-48 personal monitor mixers and RSS digital control equipment, along with V-Drums and Roland keyboards, for bands to rehearse and warm-up before their performances as well as supplying M400 and the new M38 digital mixers, with full digital snakes systems, for the performance stages.

Shuttlesound is working closely with OneBigStar to cater for the festival’s PA needs with Electro-Voice loudspeakers and amps. Shuttlesound is promoting the event to all UK customers of Electro-Voice as its Big Day Outside, a mega-demo for anyone interested in EV.

Premier win for airshow

Visitors to this summer’s Farnborough International Airshow are to get the UK’s first-ever glimpse of De Boer’s new ‘Premier’ structure.

The new double-decker can be combined with a large number of different structures at the event, ranging from compact Pyramids and Chalets to De Boer’s Alu Halls and Alu Vista. The versatility of the Premier means that no fewer than four of the structures have already been reserved for use during the Farnborough International Airshow.

The new structure’s appearance at Farnborough will further boost Brackley-based De Boer’s work at the biennial event. Construction work is already under way to create a huge temporary exhibition venue measuring 90,000 square metres.

The assignment – involving deliveries by more than 200 articulated lorries – will ultimately create four huge exhibition halls together with a vast array of corporate hospitality suites, business chalets, public dining areas and a media centre for the 2010 airshow, which takes place between July 19 and 25.

The Premier, which is erected in modules measuring five metres by five metres, will form part of De Boer’s ‘Vista’ range of structures, each of which features bold, horizontal panoramic panels.

WEDNESDAY 12TH MAY

Vodka brand invests in experiential campaign

Russian Standard Vodka has announced the launch of Russian Standard Vodka Originals, a major music and film brand experiential campaign for 2010. The first stage of the campaign will bring exclusive live performances from high profile band, the Noisettes, to consumers in London and Edinburgh in May.

The brand has invested £6 million in its first major marketing initiative of the year. As well as a series of nationwide music gigs, the brand also has major advertising, sampling and on and off-trade support planned for the rest of the year to further cement its status and popularity with consumers and the trade alike.

Loyal fans and new customers will have the opportunity to attend the free ticketed events by entering a prize draw and registering for a pair of tickets at www.rsvoriginals.co.uk, a specially created site containing all exclusive content for the campaign.  A Russian Standard Vodka privilege card will be given to all consumers who purchase Russian Standard at the events, which will give them priority access to other Russian Standard Vodka assets throughout the year.

Russian Standard Vodka Originals kicks off with two intimate live music experiences in iconic music venues on May 19 and 20 at the HMV Picture House in Edinburgh and the HMV Forum in London, respectively - featuring the British, Gold selling band the Noisettes. Each venue will be bespoke themed to bring to life the world of Russian Standard Vodka.

Further activity in 2010 will include a free ticketed, nationwide film festival across five major cities in the UK at independent cinema houses and a second wave of gigs in London and Edinburgh later in the year.

TUESDAY 11TH MAY

Jamie Oliver launches event catering business

Jamie Oliver is looking to raise the bar in the event catering world with the launch of Jamie Oliver's Fabulous Feasts.

Fabulous Feasts will draw on Glen Chadwick's 20 years' event catering experience with Sodexo and Chilli Pepper; Chadwick will head up the new venture as managing director and Fabulous Feasts will create flexible menus for corporate events, private dinners, product launches and sporting events.

Plus, for the festival market, the company will develop special concession menus, keeping things simple with fresh ingredients which can be produced economically and quickly for fast moving environments.

Launching Fabulous Feasts, Jamie Oliver comments: “I’ve been cooking for large events since I was a kid, and ever since then I’ve been really keen to take the event catering model to another level. Twenty-five years on, I’m now lucky enough to have the best team behind me, the most fantastic food suppliers, and loads of really exciting ideas.

“Our only focus is to make sure that our food lifts an occasion or an event, whether it’s a big family wedding or a work party or a corporate event – we want to help make it as memorable as it can be for all the right reasons. We’ll have flexible menus to cover all occasions and the people serving the food will be friendly, efficient and really know their stuff. We’ll also be really competitive on price while always delivering genuine quality.”

Fabulous Feasts will bring Oliver's approach to food and service into the world of events. Flexible client relationships are also at the heart of the business, building on Chadwick’s extensive experience working for prestigious clientele such as Formula 1 Grand Prix, VIP hospitality areas at Twickenham, Cartier Polo and Garsington Opera.

Glen Chadwick, managing director of Fabulous Feasts, adds: “Jamie Oliver’s Fabulous Feasts is all about taking event catering to a new level. We all share a passion for food and believe in the great experience we can offer guests at any event. Working with Jamie is an inspiration and I am very excited at the prospect of bringing this amazing new offer to the events world.”

MONDAY 10TH MAY

Citroën appoints RPM

Citroën UK has appointed leading creative agency RPM as its experiential partner following a six way pitch. The RPM team is headed up by Ian Irving, director of corporate and the first campaign to be undertaken will be to raise awareness of the new DS3 and C3 model lines.

The campaign will be based on interaction in shopping centres across the country, and is focused on increasing footfall in dealerships and driving traffic to Citreon’s website.

The activity will launch in the summer and will encapsulate Citroën’s existing strap-line “Créative Technologie”. The activity is focused on attracting an entirely new market to engage with the new vehicles.

Companies merge to form 360°

ARB and EFG have merged to form 360° Creative Event Services. The new event services group sees four well-known industry faces join forces: Bob Boote, David Harding, Charlie Cox and David Walley are the principles involved in the new business which combines the sound and vision services of ARB with the floral, landscaping and event design work of EFG.

The new company has over 80 staff and is rapidly growing its offering to include a broader range of products and services.

“We’re really excited,” said CEO, David Harding, “We’ve got such a strong base and we believe the opportunities are almost limitless. Expect to hear more expansion plans soon.”

AEO Awards shortlist announced

The AEO Excellence Awards’ judging panel met at Wembley Stadium to finalise the shortlist for this year’s ceremony. The winners of the 2010 AEO Excellence Awards will be announced on June 22 at Wembley Stadium.

In total, 18 awards are up for grabs, including:

Official Contractor of the Year – CEVA Showfreight, Eforce, Expo-Systems, Melville Exhibition & Event Services, Penny Banks and Stanco Exhibitions.

UK Venue of the Year – Alexandra Palace, Business Design Centre, ExCeL London, Harrogate International Centre, Manchester Central, Olympia, SECC and The Magic Circle Headquarters.

Best Trade Launch Show – 5 Elements by Ocean Media, Bahrain International Airshow by Farnborough International, E-Health Insider Live by E-Health Media, Food & Drink Logistics Show by William Reed Business Media, London Vet Show by CloserStill Media and Polskie Zboza by Montgomery Exhibitions.

Forum Events launches Live Events Summit

Forum Events, organiser of the Event Organisers Summit, has announced the launch of the Live Events Summit, a two-day programme of facilitated one-to-one meetings, geared towards festival and public events organisers, council events teams and concert organisers and promoters.

Taking place at Twickenham Stadium, the summit commences with registration on the morning of January 24 and concludes on the afternoon of January 25, 2011, with a networking lunch.

The summit is free for delegates to attend and gives buyers the opportunity to network, hear case studies and take part in discussion groups.

MONDAY 3RD MAY

BVEP to present new Gov with event manifesto

The Business Visits & Events Partnership (BVEP) has reviewed all three of the main political party manifestos, and as a result is set to issue its own industry wide document to the new government and parliament following the forthcoming elections on May 6.

Chairman of the BVEP, Michael Hirst OBE, said the contents of the party manifestos were “encouraging” with “a recognition that the importance of events to the economy and the community is beginning to gain some political traction and the creative industries, of which Events are a part, should be further supported.”

Key highlights from the three manifestos that were considered relevant to UK Business Visits and Events included:

Labour

Use 2012 and sporting events to boost UK tourism;

A biennial Festival of Britain from 2013; and

Showcase major cultural achievements across creative industries.

Conservative

Glasgow, Brighton and Manchester highlighted as dynamic destinations;

Lottery allocation restored for sport, heritage and the arts; and

Commitment to seeing sport, the arts and creative industries flourish and promoting Britain as an attractive tourist destination.

The Conservative Party has also published a separate Tourism Report which calls for further support for the events sector.

Liberal Democrats

Arts are a central part of civic & community life;

Creative industries are the fastest growth sector and culture and  heritage play a vital role in boosting tourism; and

Proposal for a Creative Enterprise Fund to help the establishment of more businesses in the sector.

The BVEP’s own "Manifesto for Business Visits & Events", which is to be published at the end of May and distributed to all incoming Ministers and MP’s following the general election comes ahead of an event at the House of Commons on October 20, where all new MP’s are being invited to attend a reception and presentation on the sector.

WEDNESDAY 28TH APRIL

Yorkshire win for R&B

R&B Group has scooped another big contract. It has been appointed to provide production services and technical support at the Yorkshire International Business Convention, due to take place in Harrogate in June.

One million sign up for 2012 tickets

More than one million people have registered their interest in London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic tickets via www.tickets.london2012.com.

Ninety-six per cent of registrations have come from UK residents, with 32 per cent of registrations coming from Greater London, 27 per cent coming from the south-east and 41 per cent coming from the rest of the UK. There has been an even spread across all Olympic and Paralympic sports, too, with more than 400,000 people registering an interest in Paralympic sports and at least 100,000 expressions of interest for each of the 26 Olympic sports.

TUESDAY 27TH APRIL

ESSA combines industry events

ESSA has launched its G50 and Summer Event for 2010, combining the two events in a bid to cut costs for delegates.

The two day event will be held at Staverton Park, Daventry, from July 21-22, which this year will include the G50 on July 21 followed by the ESSA Activity Day on July 22 – delegates may choose to stay for the whole two-day ESSA Summer Event or book customised packages to suit.

Google for Summer Eventia

Andrew Barke, industry head – agency, Google UK, has been unveiled by Eventia as a keynote for this year's Summer Eventia, taking place in Glasgow from July 4-6.

His session, entitled Brands on Film, will address the issue of how companies can use video to amplify and increase the lifespan of live events.

This year’s theme is "Raising Your Game". Day one is focused on the financial, business and economic issues affecting the event industry and the wider economy, and day two is focused on brand and communications.

FRIDAY 23RD APRIL

Owen Brown ops director takes up management post in Delhi

Scott Hayward, operations director for GL events Owen Brown, is to be seconded to Delhi, as part of GL events group management team for the Commonwealth Games overlay contract.

This is the largest contract in the history of GL events; it will be supplying everything from ground works to signage, power, air conditioning, furniture and seating for several thousand spectators.

This contract will see GL events provide over 50,000 square metres from its new Absolute range of structures, of which 40,000 square metres has been manufactured especially for the Games.

Hayward and his team will face many challenges in the project, including temperatures of up to 46C and monsoon season.

THURSDAY 22ND APRIL

Flights resume but what will be the fall-out for events?

Eventia agency members have reported that roughly two-thirds of their events were cancelled or deferred with groups on the ground getting back to the UK via clear European airspace then by coach and ferry.

Banks Sadler operations director, Karen Rice commented: “We are working with hotel chains, travel and ground partners to successfully find alternative routes and solutions for our clients.”

Where events have gone ahead they have been run with contingency plans in place, some sending staff from other parts of the world if necessary to run them. There has also been an upsurge in clients turning to agencies to implement crisis and risk management processes, which has proved very successful with staffed 24 hour support in place for clients including the weekend period.

“We have been working with our clients and account teams 24/7 in order to put alternative arrangements in place, including overland travel - in one case for 600 delegates returning home from a pan-European event,” said Mark Saxby, sales and marketing director, WorldEvents. “All of these events have gone ahead as planned but with some modifications to programmes in response to changes in arrival and departure times in the destinations concerned.”

Eventia hotelier members estimate an average loss of £500,000 to £700,000 per day. They are working with clients to be as flexible as possible with cancellation terms and conditions, with many saying if a client rebooks the event within 12 months they will not apply the cancellation charges. Hotels are charging stranded customers the same amount as when they booked the accommodation as best practice and to avoid charges of profiting from stranded visitors.

Cancellations could continue to be a significant issue, not just for the coming few weeks but into the summer period as event organisers may not want to risk any ongoing volcanic activity affecting their events.

Now that airspace across most of Europe has re-opened it is anticipated that future events will go ahead with minimal disruption, although a small number due to take place over the next few days have already been deferred as a precautionary measure.

Izania Downie, Eventia CEO, adds: “The view seems to be events have by and large been postponed where possible rather than cancelled and already rebooked for later in the year both at minimal cost and disruption to the client. Feedback indicates that all suppliers are being extremely understanding and clients are grateful for the support.

“Overall it has been a difficult time, especially with the ongoing amendments to the no-fly zone and times, but everybody has reacted very well as there was no way of planning for an event of this kind.  Crisis management kicked in and delivered.”

WEDNESDAY 21ST APRIL

Showman's Show appoints new contractors

Lance Show and Publications, organiser of the Showman's Show, has appointed two new year contractors for the 2010 event. Ascot Structures will supply this year's exhibition hall and Excloosive will provide the main external visitor toilets.

Thirty-five exhibitors have already confirmed their attendance, including four new suppliers, at the 25th Showman's Show, which will take place from October 20-21.

Assured Events wins three-year contract

Cheadle-based event organiser, Assured Events, has won the right to work on the Association of University Engineers’ (AUE) annual conference, for the next three years. This year’s conference will be hosted by the University of Manchester and will be held from September 8-10, along with an exhibition of around 35 national suppliers. The 2010 conference will take on a +/-40 theme to celebrate the 40th year since the AUE was established.

“This is a fantastic, multi-aspect project to work on” says Karl Perry, MD of Assured Events. “In addition to the conference and exhibition, there are gala dinners, excursions, technical trips, social activities and the celebratory theme to organise. We are already taking bookings for the exhibition and this is the first year that bookings and registrations have been taken online. We’re aiming to slash the paper element to the whole process.”

TUESDAY 20TH APRIL

New show for Emap Connect

Emap Connect has capitalised on the success of its disability and rehabilitation exhibition, Naidex, and launched Naidex South.

The two-day show will take place at London's ExCeL from September 29-30, and will feature a Lifestyle Seminar Theatre.

London Councils estimate that there are 1.4 million disabled people in the Capital and research carried out on behalf of the organisers showed that there is a strong need for a London exhibition to support those who are unable to commit to such a long journey to the NEC where Naidex takes place in April.

Contract win for Green Ant

Green Ant Creative Events has won the contract to produce the Africa Oyé Festival 2010, in Sefton Park, Liverpool, for the fourth consecutive year.

Green Ant Events will be in-charge of the full production and safety management of the free African music event, including all emergency planning preparation, traders management and site production on the day.

Director of Green Ant Events, Joe Blackman, commented: “We are really excited to yet again be working on Africa Oyé festival for the fourth consecutive year. The festival has grown now to around 25,000, and continues to be a fantastic success. We continue to look at ways of creating a more sustainable event, with improved site cleansing and recycling facilities, and more festival site dressing.”

MONDAY 19TH APRIL

Big screens could save cheese rolling tradition

Large screens and a cheese and cider festival could save the future of Gloucestershire's renowned cheese rolling event after it was cancelled this year amid health and safety concerns.

The food festival could be held to coincide with the Cooper’s Hill tradition, yet the organising committee states that plans are in the early stages and may change and develop.

The Cheese Rolling Committee is now being supported by Gloucestershire County Council, Gloucestershire Police, Marketing Gloucester and Gloucestershire First.

While the committee will still organise and run the event, the partnership is helping to manage the issues faced this year and to plan future events.

Owen Brown to supply Women's Rugby

GL events Owen Brown has won the main overlay contract for the 2010 Women’s Rugby World Cup (WRWC). This August, Owen Brown will supply temporary structures at Surrey University’s Varsity Centre, the site for the 2010 WRWC, to house the VIP reception and hospitality areas, bar facilities and administration areas.

In addition to this, it will provide 1,000 metres of picket fencing, screening and trailer toilets as well as seating for 650 spectators from its new grandstand range.

Owen Brown has a history of providing structures for rugby events starting with the Men’s Rugby World Cup, England 1999 and Paris 2008.

Royal Courts appoint sole caterer

Seasoned Events has been awarded sole caterer status at the Royal Courts of Justice, a contract worth £1.5 million per annum.

Following a review of the business over the last two years, Her Majesty’s Courts Service wishes to revert back to the original intent of the venue management contract with Seasoned Events as sole caterer. Seasoned Events has been managing all corporate events at the Royal Courts and will continue to do so with an accredited list of production companies, florists and entertainment agencies.

FRIDAY 16TH APRIL

Experiential marketing agency Line Up has been appointed by Indesit to launch its 2010 product range in Andalucia, Spain, to independent UK retailers.

The three-day, two-night event, will run from April 26 until May 1 and will see 400 dealers and their partners invited to a secret location.

The dealers will be split into three groups and shown the new Hotpoint home-cooking appliances under the banner "Ignite". Each three-day event will feature a mix of multi-media presentations, interactive product demonstrations, product reveals and walk through experiences. One to one sessions with Indesit sales reps will also be possible.

Jayson Weston, events manager at Indesit Company, comments: “Independent retailers are a crucial audience for us so it’s essential that we make each launch even more engaging than the last. By taking our dealers abroad we’ll make their experience extra special and further strengthen our relationships.”

Line Up has been chosen to mastermind the event for the fourth year running. Line Up will handle all aspects of the launch from design and technical production to video and content creation and management of all logistics. Line Up will also be responsible for all delegate travel to and from the event and will be chartering flights from six UK regional airports.

It will be the first time the manufacturer has ever staged this event abroad.

THURSDAY 15TH APRIL

TweetUp North details announced

The second TweetUp North will be hosted at RSVP North in Manchester next week (April 21-22). The TweetUp at RSVP will provide another opportunity for North West events professionals to network and learn more about social networking tools such as Twitter and Facebook from people in the events industry who are using them.

The TweetUp is being hosted by Peter Kerwood from the Merlin Entertainments Group and sponsored by caterers Dish, which is launching its North West division at the Manchester Show. Guests will be treated to drinks and canapés at the after show event, which is being held in the RSVP North Show Bar and Café between 4.30pm and 7.30pm on April 21.

To attend this event you must RSVP to peter.kerwood@merlinvenues.com or tweet him on http://twitter.com/pkerwood

WEDNESDAY 14TH APRIL

Plans for 2010 London Restaurant Festival unveiled

Celebrity chefs, London’s restaurant critics and restaurant owners gathered last night at The Club at The Ivy where plans were revealed for the second annual London Restaurant Festival. The 2010 Festival’s announcement included news that this year’s festival will be run in partnership with American Express.

The main focus for the 2010 event, which runs from October 4-18, will be the Festival Menus, intended to run at over 800 different restaurants across the capital, double the number that took part last year, and enabling Londoners to dine out for as little as £10.

The 2009 events drew more than 12,000 food lovers into the capital. To capitalise on this achievement, five major Festival Events have also been revealed to take place across the two-week period.

London Restaurant Festival 10.10.10 will take place on October 10 and will see high-profile chefs from outside of London joining forces with their peers in London restaurants to offer a collaborative menu for Sunday lunch.

Covent Garden’s Piazza will be the backdrop for the London Restaurant Festival Supplier’s Market, which will see a range of famous London restaurants showcase produce and cooking techniques through live demonstrations. Plus, the London Restaurant Festival Awards 2010 will act a grand finale for the 2010 festival, taking place on October 18.

TUESDAY 13TH APRIL

New sponsor for TV awards

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts has announced Philips as the new title sponsor for the 2010 Television Awards Ceremony.

The ceremony on June 6, hosted by Graham Norton for the fourth consecutive year, will be held at The London Palladium and broadcast on the BBC.

Following the ceremony, an awards party will be hosted at the Natural History Museum.

Major events plans for Wales as Government states upcoming Ryder Cup a success

The 2010 Ryder Cup is already being hailed a success despite not yet having taken place. The Welsh Assembly Heritage Minister, Alun Ffred Jones has revealed that golf tourism has increased by 11 per cent over the last 12 months – a figure that is being attributed to the strength of the Ryder brand.

According to Jones, much work has been going on behind the scenes since Celtic Manor was awarded the event to ensure that Wales capitalises on the occasion.

The Heritage Minister's comments come days after the Welsh Government announced plans to ensure that the country continues to host home-grown events. A Major Events Strategy has been launched and a Major Events Unit has been created also.

The strategy outlines how major events can play their part in helping to deliver some of the Assembly Government’s One Wales objectives around improving public health, promoting sporting, artistic and other cultural activity, stimulating business growth, enhancing communities and the environment.

These principles will be applied in a framework for assessing which events are eligible to receive funding. This framework will also be used to research and identify events that Wales can develop, attract or bid for.

Working with partners across the events industry, the unit plans to co-ordinate the development of skills in event management, identify regional events with the potential to grow, establish a fund to grow events outside Cardiff, identify major international events for Wales to bid for, provide a free consultancy service on use of the Welsh language at events and establish an Annual National Major Events Conference to promote Wales as a major events destination.

The strategy was launched at Galeri in Caernarfon, currently hosting the second Wales International Harp Festival, which is an example of the type of home-grown event that the Assembly Government would like to see more of and this strategy will help to grow.

An eight-week consultation period has now begun. Feedback from industry is being sought.

MONDAY 12TH APRIL

Spaceworks pass the finishing post

AP McCoy, riding Don’t Push It, was not the only one making a Grand National first at Aintree this weekend. Furniture hire specialists, Spaceworks was also under starter’s orders, and successfully supplied the John Smith’s Grand National too, joining sister company Arena Structures as a contractor.

Providing bars, cocktail tables, stools, and soft furnishings in all hospitality areas, without rivalling the world renowned “Chair”, the biggest jump in the Grand National, for attention, Spaceworks showcased designs including chameleon chairs with purple velvet and zebra seat pads.

Arena has also confirmed the renewal of its contract to supply temporary overlay to the Grand National at Aintree until 2013.

THURSDAY 8TH APRIL

RPM Corporate bags £1m business in under six months

RPM Corporate has won just under £1 million of events business since its launch just five months ago.

The wins are split over several clients from a variety of sectors. The projects include a global four-day B2B event in sports retail, an internal staff engagement event for 1,500 in consumer electronics, an awards ceremony for 680 UK staff for a major alcohol brand and the creation of a B2B digital platform for a client from the retail sector.

Ian Irving, director of RPM Corporate said: “We are doing some incredible work with some fantastic brands - I’m proud of the division for achieving so much in less than six months. It’s an amazing feat added to the prospect of us converting the remaining £3 million in pitches that we have outstanding, this is all a very positive indicator that the events industry is on the up again.”

LM Productions helps Samsung engage with fans

LM Productions worked alongside Cityneon to create a structure for the Samsung Fan Zone at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Doha.

Samsung, one of the official partners of the championships, split a cuboid structure, measuring 14m x 8m, into two areas – a Lounge and Promo area where nine plasma screens played promo videos and live feed of the Championships, and a Visual Multimedia Area where video projection played on three of the walls including two Wii gaming screens for visitors to play the new Summer Athletics 2009 Wii games. The other two walls showed Samsung sponsorship, sports advertising and archive footage.

WEDNESDAY 7TH APRIL

Former MD creates projection venture

Projection specialist Ross Ashton has acquired E/T/C UK and created his own venture The Projection Studio. Ashton’s move will allow him to concentrate on large format video and PIGI projection, and also work on any project with hardware supplied by any company.

“It was essential to be able work as an artist in my own right and on projects of my choosing,” states Ashton, who has just signed a three-year deal to create and produce projection content for the Edinburgh Tattoo.

He has also been appointed as the consultant for a large-scale permanent son et lumière production in New Delhi, India.

National Floor Show moves North

The National Floor Show (September 7-9) will relocate to the NEC, Birmingham, for the first time in 18 years.

Organisers UBM, which also host the KBB Birmingham and Interiors exhibitions at the NEC, praised the venue for its flexibility and sited this, along with its central location and range of facilities, as key factors in deciding to move the event from its previous home in Harrogate.

Kathryn James, managing director, NEC, said: “UBM are an important customer who bring a variety of exceedingly valuable events to The NEC.  Despite difficult trading conditions, we are continuing to develop our portfolio and I am exceedingly pleased that we are able to count National Floor Show among that number.

“The 2009 event attracted over 3,000 visitors, 11 per cent of who came from overseas, so The NEC’s central location within the UK and direct links to Birmingham International Railway station and Airport means that we can welcome these visitors direct to the venue.

“The Interiors and KBB Birmingham shows have enjoyed some very successful events at The NEC, and we are now looking forward to working with UBM to develop a truly national and international event that we hope will see substantial growth in the coming years.”

Portfolio director Andrew Vaughan, said: “This is a bold decision that we have had to take, but our exhibitors are a priority and by moving the show to the NEC, we can offer manufacturers a larger visitor audience ensuring a national and international show rather than a regional event, delivering more visitors from the previously difficult southern areas.

“We already have backing from the industry’s main buying groups and know we can deliver a bigger and better event in this new venue.  In these difficult times the opportunity to increase business and meet new clients is paramount.”

TUESDAY 6TH APRIL

Female events profs named as Women to Watch

A number of high profile, female event professionals have been recognised as “Women to Watch” by the Government-funded Cultural Leadership Programme.

Liz Pugh, producer and co-founder of Walk the Plank, Bridget Nicholls, director of Pestival, Carol Bull, head of culture and major events NewcastleGateshead Initiative, Geraldine Collinge, director of events and exhibitions at the Royal Shakespeare Company, Julie Tait, director of Kendal Arts International, Seonaid Daly, producer of the Glasgow Film Festival and Rachel Millward, CEO of Birds Eye View Film Festival have been singled out as women who make a significant contribution to cultural life in the UK.

The inaugural list was unveiled last month at RIBA. All 50 women will now become part of a “Women to Watch” network to aid their career development.

MONDAY 5TH APRIL

Sevens festival agrees sponsorship deal

Nintendo is to sponsor the Bournemouth Sevens festival for the next three years. The event, founded by Roger Woodall of Diamond Sports Events, will now be known as the Nintendo Wii Fit Plus Bournemouth Sevens Festival.

The headline sponsorship deal is the first of a number confirmed for the 2010 event – Woodall has agreed packages with both Red Bull and Coors for three and two years respectively.

The three-day rugby, netball and music event, which won the International Sports Event Management award for mass participation in 2009, is to introduce a festival stage inside the campsite to keep 3,000 campers entertained before the sporting elements of the event begin on Saturday, May 29. The stage will be supplied by Star Events, and Fonix LED will also supply LED screens.

Commented Woodall: “From year one, we’ve gone from an idea to the ridiculous. Now we are in year three and I’m really happy with where we are at. Three hundred teams have entered the competition and we sold out two months in advance. The campsite is sold out, the VIP area is sold out and we’ve nailed the site layout. BBC and Sky are filming the event this year. I couldn’t be happier.”

WEDNESDAY 31ST MARCH

Motivcom post profit despite recession

Motivcom has announced a 46 per cent increase in profit before tax for the year ending December 31, 2009.

According to the group, despite a very difficult year in most markets, Motivcom has, by professional management across the business, achieved record levels of operating and pre-tax profit.

The figures are: Profit before tax increased by 46 per cent to £3,064,000, profit before tax and amortisation increased by 22 per cent to £3,503,000 and operating profit before amortisation increased by 15 per cent to £3,830,000.

Nigel Cooper, divisional managing director of Motivcom commented: “Despite the recession we have been able to achieve record profits. Although our gross profit is reduced slightly, this is in line with what we expected, and despite this, the business has performed particularly well through tight management controls and a cost awareness programme that we introduced at the start of the year. This performance is a credit to the efforts of people at all levels in the business who have taken on board the changing economic climate and have pulled together to achieve an excellent result."

TUESDAY 30TH MARCH

Event buyers set to Marvel at Merlin

Marvel has chosen Merlin Entertainments Group's Madame Tussauds as home to a new super hero attraction. Set to open in June 2010, Marvel Super Heroes 4D will utilise a mix of 4D animation, themed areas and wax figures.

Taking up 900 sq metres over three floors the experience will include new eight-minute animated 4D presentation screened in Madame Tussauds’ famous domed auditorium.  This will be a full surround, totally immersive, 360º presentation complete with high impact special effects.

“The new experience at Madame Tussauds is an exciting addition to one of London’s favourite party venues” commented Michael Aldridge, general manager for events at the Merlin Entertainments Group. “The new STARDOME 4D venue is due to open in June and will provide an exciting additional event space that can be used together as part of the Madame Tussauds and separately as a stand-alone venue complete with the some of the most advanced audiovisual facilities in the Capital.”

Guests will be able to get up close to wax figures of six of Marvel’s most famous names – Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, Wolverine, Nick Fury and The Invisible Woman.  There will also be the chance to “turn hero” in a series of interactive experiences including walking on the ceiling with Spider-Man and stepping into Iron Man’s chest shield.

ESSA elects new board at AGM

The 2010 ESSA AGM, held at Gallery Rooms, ExCeL London, saw 55 delegates from 38 member companies elect six new members to the board in the first truly contested elections for some years.

A tranche of new and enthusiastic members stood for seats on the ESSA Board. Elected from the candidates were: - Pete Allen of 4D Design, Martin Cairns of Reeds Carpets, Mark Clayton of Towergate Coverex, Matt Sims of Revelation, Simon Ridout of Dimension 8 and re-elected was Peter Moule of Bill Moule & Sons. They will join current board members Steve Barratt of Early Action (chair), John Robson of Aztec (vice chair), Nick Marshall of Melville, Mark Lamont of DMN, Martin Cottrell of A1 Cleaning and David Freeman of Mayridge (treasurer).

MONDAY 29TH MARCH

Yorkshire pledges to move communities with regional programme

Yorkshire has launched its own 2012 culture programme; imove is the region's signature programme for the London 2012 cultural festival comprising arts, culture and sports events on the theme of movement.

The imove board, headed by Professor Adam Carey, hope that the events will reach 4.7 million people in the region over the next two years.

Tessa Gordziejko, creative programmer for London 2012 and creative director of imove said: “You might catch sight of our imove figure on a building or in a street, or on Ilkley Moor or the beach at Scarborough, and over the next two years it will come to represent something sure to intrigue and energise audiences, challenge our sedentary lifestyles, animate our public spaces and get people thinking and moving creatively across the whole region.

"Slung Low is to produce with imove a unique performance experience for audiences in the city of Hull, working with Hull University, Hull City Council, Hull Truck and a host of volunteers. Grown and based in Yorkshire, Slung Low had in 2009 a residency at London’s Barbican. It has a fast growing reputation for unexpected performance installations which move audiences through surprising environments using prose, movement, video, sound and voice. Its great to be working with one of Yorkshire’s rising stars of the arts world.”

MONDAY 22ND MARCH

Event and Exhibiting Show to co-locate with new tech event

F2F Events and tfconnect are to launch a new show that will co-locate with the Event and Exhibiting Show, formerly Excite.

Technology for Events will run alongside the event on July 15 and 16 at the Business Design Centre, London.

According to its organisers, the show's main attraction will be a comprehensive seminar programme, featuring the best digital and technology speakers on the circuit.

Trevor Foley, managing director, tfconnect commented: "Customer value has to be the mantra for all businesses. To achieve this, event organisers must constantly strive to engage cutting edge event technology to deliver and wow their audiences. The challenge is staying abreast of the ever developing event technology solutions. This is exactly why we have launched Technology For Events, it will provide delegates and visitors with an insight into the latest thinking, technologies and initiatives in this key area."

Austen Hawkins. managing director of F2F Events added that the co-location of such events makes perfect sense for both visitors and exhibitors.

WEDNESDAY 17TH MARCH

Toyota appoints P&MM for launch event

P&MM will create a launch event for the pan-European unveiling of Toyota’s new Auris Hybrid model, due to go on sale later this year.

The event, which will take place in Spain, is highly important as this is a strategic model in the Toyota range.

Chris Clarke, P&MM’s director of events, said: “I am delighted that P&MM has been entrusted to help Toyota launch such an important model.  Our history of delivering such prestigious events for Toyota goes back over a decade, so, I am particularly pleased that the relationship is still strong after all this time.”

Event managers using social media to promote events

Sixty-five per cent of event managers are now using social media as a tool to promote events and keep communication open with delegates and partners.

The research study from evocos has shown that event managers are using Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter as part of their event management more than ever.

Thirty-five per cent of respondents stated that they do not yet use social media as part of their event management, a figure which Kate Oxton, marketing manager for evocos says will fall over the next 12 months.

Oxton comments: “Many businesses are just coming round to the idea of Twitter and Facebook as a marketing tool. Some event managers may be daunted by these new mediums or may be unsure as to the relevancy of it to their organisation. However, with more people signing up to Facebook and Twitter every day, it is something that we feel should be considered as part of an event management plan. I feel this figure will fall quite dramatically within the next 12 months.”

TUESDAY 16TH MARCH

Vodka brand chooses apres-ski experiential campaign

Capitalize has been appointed by Eristoff, the Georgian vodka brand, to implement a new experiential après-ski festivals campaign for 2010.

The campaign draws on Eristoff’s association with alpine culture and will promote its layered drink, The Eristoff Icy Black, as the après-ski drink of choice for skiers.

Kicking off with the Eristoff Après Stage at The Brits festival from March 21-28 in Laxx, Switzerland, the campaign moves onto Snowbombing for The Eristoff Party in the Forest in Mayrhofen, Austria from April 5-10. The campaign follows Capitalize’s activity with Eristoff at both the Metro Ski & Snowboard Show and Freeze in London.

Outdoors Show co-locates with International Boat Show

VOS Media's Outdoors Show is to co-locate with the Tullett Prebon London International Boat Show to create the largest outdoors pursuits consumer exhibition, its organiser suggests.

The show's move from Birmingham to the South has been prompted says VOS Media by feedback from sponsors, exhibitors and consumers, who recognise the demand for such an event in the capital and the extensive commercial opportunities that it presents.

The event, which will take place at ExCeL, will see London International Boat Show open its doors on January 7, and The Outdoors Show, with the newly incorporated London Bike Show, opening on January 13. Both shows will close on January 16.

Andrew Williams, managing director of National Boat Shows, said: “We are delighted to welcome The Outdoors Show alongside the 2011 Tullett Prebon London International Boat Show.  This forms a significant part of our development for the London show, but it doesn’t end there with a whole host of other enhancements planned. The 2011 show will be an immersive, engaging, educational day out for our visitors, with the added benefit of visiting The Outdoors Show over the last four days of the show.”

David Pegler, managing director, ExCeL London, also commented: “We are delighted to be working with VOS Media and National Boat Shows to create the largest consumer show in the UK. This new show showcases our strategy on how we are working with organisers to occupy the entire venue and co-locate shows which add value to the organisers, visitors and exhibitors. This unique event also forms a key part of our preparations as a 2012 Olympic venue, inspiring visitors to become involved in a wide range of active and healthy pursuits."

MONDAY 15TH MARCH

Bassetts appoint agency to roll-out bigger campaign

Following the success of last October’s experiential campaign for Bassetts Soft & Chewy Daily Energiser, agency iblinkworld is to create another, bigger live marketing campaign as the brand’s well-received UK roll-out continues.

To address a consumer described as ‘Work hard, play hard Penny’, last year’s activity was targeted at office workers in London while the new campaign – appearing nationwide in major shopping centres – will reach the same target consumer during her down-time. Beginning on March 20, the brand experience is headlined by four-strong troupes of professional dancers performing to music on mini trampolines while wearing t-shirts emblazoned with a "Jump out of the slump" message. As the dancers gain the attention of shoppers, other "Team Energiser" brand ambassadors will distribute product samples and leaflets that include a £1 money off voucher and an invitation to win a Wii Fit Plus.

The campaign will appear at the Bullring in Birmingham, Meadowhall in Sheffield, Bluewater in Kent, Cabot Circus in Bristol and the Arndale Centre, Manchester.

TUESDAY 9TH MARCH

Doctor Who tour targets under-served communities

BBC's Doctor Who is embarking on a nationwide tour to introduce the new Doctor Who to fans of the series.

Each location – Belfast, Sunderland, Inverness, Salford, Northampton – will host a regional premiere of episode one, which will see the 11th Doctor Matt Smith and his companion Karen Gillan meet fans.

A branded Doctor Who tour bus featuring the new TARDIS logo and imagery will travel the country. The tour is part of a BBC Outreach initiative to enable local children to get up close and personal to the Doctor.

BBC Outreach proactively takes the BBC into specific communities and sections of society, and has been integral in organising and supporting the tour. The focus of the tour is to reach relatively under-served communities by the BBC.

The Doctor's maiden voyage will commence on March 29 in Belfast, and then travel to Inverness for a screening on March 30. The bus will then move on to Sunderland that afternoon and Salford on March 31 before finishing later that day in Northampton.

Following the tour, from April 1-3, the BBC will also hold events for three days at selected BBC Big Screens across the UK giving Doctor Who fans in London, Manchester, Edinburgh, Plymouth and Swansea the chance to interact directly with the show in their home towns.

The events will feature exclusive footage – including the chance to see the Doctor Who trailer in 3D – and giveaways, and fans can also get their photo taken tumbling through the giant vortex.

Alec McGivan, head of BBC Outreach, added: "Outreach is all about getting face to face with people so they can get involved and experience the BBC in a different and exciting way – we're delighted to be able to take one of the BBC's best loved brands out to its audience."

MONDAY 8TH MARCH

Delegate behaviour driving industry transformation

New findings suggest that changing delegate behaviours and technology are driving industry transformation with radical price incentives, deep personalisation and new business models set to shape the events landscape in 2010.

According to Fast Future Research’s online survey – Future Meetings Experience, conducted as part of phase one of the Convention 2020 study on the future of meetings, venues and destinations – current barriers to event effectiveness are seen to be the cost of attending, poor organisation and a lack of focus in the design whilst the quality of content, interaction, technology and networking are seen to be the main drivers of an effective and exciting event.

A total of 1125 respondents from 76 countries completed the global online survey, which ran from November 2009 to January 2010.

Looking to the future, 74 per cent felt their organisation would maintain their investment in live events in 2020, while 46 per cent felt time and cost pressure might deter organisations from sending delegates and 59 per cent felt their organisation would be investing far more in alternatives to live events.

Almost 50 per cent said there would be fewer but larger events, while 79 per cent expect a growth in smaller more specialised meetings – 48 per cent also thought there would be an explosion in the number of free or very low cost evening only meetings held in low cost venues.

More than three-quarters of respondents believe events will need to offer strong price based incentives to attract the desired delegates, 60 per cent expect to see a rise in pay as you go/pay per session type models and 70 per cent say ethical and environmental factors will continue to influence the decision to attend.

WEDNESDAY 17TH FEBRUARY

Associations want to be beside the sea

VisitBrighton’s concerted effort to engage the association market has been rewarded with the confirmation of four major conference wins.

The British Accounting Association (BAA), British Society for Rheumatology, British Association of Supported Employment and Royal College of Psychiatrists events have all been secured.

The conferences will bring in a combined economic benefit of over £4.6 million to the city with the arrival of just under 3,000 delegates. Hosting the conferences will be the Holiday Inn Brighton Seafront (British Association of Supported Employment, September 2010), De Vere Grand (British Society of Rheumatology, April 2011) and Hilton Brighton Metropole (BAA, April 2011; Royal College of Physicians, July 2011; British Society of Rheumatology, April 2011).

TUESDAY 16TH FEBRUARY

Guitar gods set to descend on London

MB Interactive Group, the organisers behind Drummer Live and the London International Music Show, has launched Guitar Nation Festival 2010, a two-day exhibition taking place at Olympia on May 8 and 9.

Clive Morton of MB has brought together some of the world's top guitarists – Steve Vai, Nicko McBrain and Guy Pratt – to offer budding musicians and those serious about entering the music industry master clases, tutorials, seminars and performances.

Sustainable Events Summit line-up announced

The 2010 Sustainable Events Summit will take place on April 19 at One Wimpole Street, London.

Speakers announced so far for this year’s summit include Jonathon Porritt CBE, the writer, broadcaster and founder of Forum for the Future, who will be delivering the morning keynote address, introduced by the summit's chair Ed Gillespie from Futerra.

The focus for the day is on extending knowledge from the basics (switching the lights off and printing double sided, for example) to the more in depth. Expert speakers and panels will deal with a broad range of issues such as transport, energy, waste, procurement, BS8901 and social responsibility.

Speakers and topics confirmed so far include:

• Phil Cumming and Amanda Kiely from LOCOG who will address how sustainable procurement has affected planning for the Olympics;

• Stephen Greene, CEO of RockCorps, who will explain the model it developed with Orange to use events as a platform for social change;

• Gerry Hopkinson from Unity, who will tell delegates about the ground breaking premiere for “The Age of Stupid;”

• Andy Fryers, greenprint director from the Hay Festival, explaining how it worked with Sky to improve the sustainability of transport around the site; and

• 10:10, which will explain the theory behind its carbon reduction campaign, along with a case study from a well known company that is signed up to 10:10.

MONDAY 15TH FEBRUARY

Diamond appoints Hoare to assist with business development

Eddie Hoare of Events Management Consultants (E+M+C) has joined Donna Comfort's Diamond City Events as project director to oversee a number of key projects and to assist with business development.

Hoare will be working Comfort to help the company with its next stage of development. An events industry professional of over 25 years standing Hoare previously headed up the Elegant Days Group, Arena Events, Tutankhamun Hospitality and Grant Leisure Europe. He plans to develop a number of new hospitality properties for the company.

Sparks fly as NEC announce new electrical regime

A new plug and play electrical system that the NEC say will reduce costs and installation times has been met with criticism by exhibition contractors and suppliers.

Organisers of exhibitions and events at Birmingham’s NEC are being offered a reduced tariff if they opt to use the venue’s new electrical infrastructure.

From April 1 2010, a two-tier pricing structure will be put in place, offering a 2.5 per cent reduction on the “business as usual” tariff for organisers who opt to use the full plug and play system, providing their own cables and isolators.

The new system uses fixed sockets set into the under-floor ducts in the venue’s exhibition halls, and Kathryn James, managing director, NEC, explains that recent trials have seen 100 mains connected in less than two hours.

The traditional method of connecting to the mains supply, with isolators and cables provided by The NEC, will still be available at the standard mains supply rate but ESSA members, which undertake over 90 per cent of the installations at the venue, suggest that plug and play could ultimately compromise build up and break down times and increase the cost to operate at the venue.

Despite almost three years of consultation with the NEC, the group comprising of representatives from Early Action Group, Joe Manby, Melville Exhibition & Event Services, Showlite and Stanco Exhibitions (part of the Opex Group), has concluded that the discounted tariff will not work, arguing that it will cost users more to receive the same service they receive today; further exacerbate the existing issue of collapsed build up and break down times; necessitate the review of existing tenancy agreements; provide no visible benefits other than to the NEC; and provide no savings to organisers or exhibitors.

The companies in this group have said that they will continue to work at the NEC under the existing tariff. However, concerns have been aired with regard to when this option will be removed.

THURSDAY 11TH FEBRUARY

Lib Dems head North for 2011 conference

The Liberal Democrat Party is to hold its Spring Conference, in March 2011, at Sheffield City Hall. It will be the first time that Sheffield has played host to such a high calibre national conference of this size and nature.

Approximately 1,500 delegates are expected to attend the event, which will run from March 11-13, with Sheffield City Hall as the main conference venue and Mercure St Paul’s will be the HQ hotel.

Beauty show returns to Olympia

Professional Beauty is to return to Olympia in 2011 after running for six years at London's ExCeL. The show will take place between March 6-7 2011.

Professional Beauty first launched at Olympia in 1983 and remained at the venue until 2004. Olympia already hosts Emap's BETT and Pure at Olympia and Civils and Broadcast Video Forum at Earls Court 2.

WEDNESDAY 10TH FEBRUARY

Giveaway: Bloody Mary tickets up for grabs

Merlin Entertainments' London Dungeon is turning the temperature up with its latest experience - Bloody Mary: Killer Queen featuring one of England’s most feared rulers – Mary Tudor, the deadliest daughter of Henry VIII.

This killer queen, nicknamed Bloody Mary for ruthlessly burning 300 Protestants as heretics, is the attraction’s latest feature. A slow painful death awaits her victims, brought to life with a mix of state-of-the-art special effects that conjure up flaming sights, piercing screams and charred stench as another helpless victim steps into the pyre.

If the smell of burning flesh excites you then Stand Out has two pairs of tickets to give away to the new attraction, courtesy of Merlin Entertainments. Simply email caroline@cimltd.co.uk, entering Bloody Mary in the subject heading, and the first two names out of the hat on Friday, February 12, will win.

The addition of the Bloody Mary Killer Queen ensures the London Dungeon remains one of London’s most thrilling and chilling venue for corporate and private events. The London Dungeon is available for exclusive hire for networking events and parties and can accommodate up to 220 guests priced from £41 + VAT per person.

TUESDAY 9TH FEBRUARY

Neptunus goes Dutch

Neptunus is providing temporary structures to the Dutch Olympic Team, which is set to compete in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

From February 12-28, over 80 nations will complete in 86 events across 15 sports on either snow and ice, including figure skating, bobsleigh, curling and cross country skiing.

The Holland Heineken House hosted by the Netherlands Olympic Committee provides a “home away from home” entertainment centre for the Dutch athletes, their friends and family, supporters, sponsors and media representatives.

The “house” has been accommodated in the 5,000 square metres Minoru Arenas ice hockey stadium in Richmond with Neptunus extending the entrance of the house to create space for a reception and visitor registration area.

Neptunus linked an Alu Hall to the stadium, in which the ice-rinks were temporarily removed for the duration of the games. The Alu Hall was complete with glazed side panels and an opaque roof canvas to blend in with the Minoru Arenas, creating the impression of one venue.

Decorated in patriotic orange, the main attraction of the Holland Heineken House is the central hall which, over the next few weeks, will feature large screens showing live action of the team, host medal ceremonies for the successful Dutch athletes and nightly performances by renowned Dutch artists and DJs. With a capacity of 4,000, the house will provide a vibrant and unforgettable atmosphere during the games.

MONDAY 8TH FEBRUARY

New appointments for 2011 event

Sail Inverclyde, the charity established to deliver the Tall Ships Races 2011, has appointed of a new site manger and entertainment manger to ensure that the Greenock-based event is a success next year.

Mike Richmond, from Richmond Event Management (REM), has been appointed as site manager and Kim Wilson, from Fruit Salad Events, has been appointed as entertainment manager. Both will work closely with Helen Drummond, Sail Inverclyde’s project manager, and the management team.

Richmond will be responsible for the overall site layout to ensure the safety of those attending the event. As entertainment manager, Wilson will be responsible for managing and arranging the event programme for Tall Ships Races 2011; this will involve arranging activities for crew members and the public, as well as coordinating community entertainment for the public to enjoy.

Greenock previously hosted the Tall Ships races in 1999. The event attracted 800,000 visits across the four days and generated new expenditure of £8.3m in Inverclyde and £7.5m in Renfrewshire.

The Tall Ships bonanza will take place at the James Watt Dock in Greenock, which is currently being redeveloped by owners Clydeport in conjunction with Riverside Inverclyde.

THURSDAY 4TH FEBRUARY

Grow your own show squashed until 2011

The Edible Garden Show has been postponed until 2011 with the organisers blaming the recession for the cancellation of the inaugural event.

The exhibition dedicated to “Grow your own” fruit and vegetables failed to squash the concerns among potential sponsors and exhibitors over the uncertain economy. Although the show’s imaginative concept had been well received, the show will now debut on March 18-20, 2011, at Stoneleigh Park, giving the organisers more time to maximise the number of exhibitors attending and to secure sponsorship deals.

Brian Wiseman, a shareholder and a founder of the show, said: “We always knew we faced an immense challenge to launch a national show of this scale against the backdrop of recession. When we decided to go ahead with the project back in September 2009 there were signs of the green shoots of recovery. There was real hope that the UK would be coming out of recession early in 2010.

“Timing has simply been against us with a number of potential exhibitors expressing their keenness to be involved but at the same time being cautious to committing themselves financially when there is still such uncertainty about the economic future.

“Naturally we are disappointed. A great deal of time, effort and money has been invested so far in this project. We might be downhearted at the moment but we remain unwavering in our belief in the show and that we have a concept which will be a massive hit with exhibitors, sponsors and the public.”

WEDNESDAY 3RD FEBRUARY

Upper Street extends Gadget Show

An unprecedented demand for tickets has led Upper Street Events to add another day to Gadget Show Live.

The show will now open on April 7 and run until April 11.

The five day event, which has doubled in size since last year, has already sold out on Friday and the weekend, with more than 53,000 tickets purchased – leaving limited availability on April 7 and 8 at Birmingham’s NEC.

Matt Hodgins, event director for the show at Upper Street Events said: “We’ve never heard of a tenancy being extended in this fashion before, it’s a real indication of the nation’s enthusiasm for the latest technology.

“This will be the biggest ever consumer electronics show in the UK, with the world’s leading manufacturers, top tech brains and a huge range of exhilarating and intriguing experiences all under one roof. But we do encourage people to buy tickets soon as they’re selling out fast.”

TUESDAY 2ND FEBRUARY

DRP does the double

drpgroup has become the first communication and events agency in the world to achieve accredited certification against the combined ISO 14001 (International Standard in Environmental Management) and BS 8901 (the recently launched British Standard for a Sustainable Event Management System).

drpgroup worked closely with EcoEvents, which specialise in sustainable management solutions designed specifically for the events industry.

Dale Parmenter, drpgroup managing directort: “Without a doubt, sustainability is one of the most important challenges our industry faces.

"As the recession comes to an end and businesses begin to focus on the bigger picture again, sustainability will not only start to become as important as health and safety is, but it will get to the stage where businesses will need to account for their environmental impacts in much the same way as they are required to meet their fiscal responsibilities. Above all, we as an industry have a moral obligation to reduce any damaging effects to the environment our operations may cause."

MONDAY 1ST FEBRUARY

Grass Roots reveal green shoots

Grass Roots has launched its fourth Meetings Industry Report, which states that there are signs of growth in the meetings market with findings forecasting an upturn in events particularly in the last quarter of 2010.  However, this figure will be 25 per cent down on the industry peak of 2008.

Nick Bender, head of global events, Grass Roots comments: “The consensus amongst clients is that budgets, whilst unlikely to rise greatly in 2010, will not be cut any further and a number of the events that were cancelled in 2009 will now take place in 2010.”

The report sees evidence that the recession has driven an increase in teleconferencing as companies cancel meetings to save money, but that in 2010 corporates will start to look at the impact on sales of not holding meetings. The report findings firmly suggest face-to-face is still the proven means of building business and remains the preferred choice of communication.

Bender notes: “Agents and venues will have to target their clients carefully in 2010. In 2009 they turned to Government business but given the stark warnings about reigning in public spending this sector may not prove as reliable this year.”

Grass Roots reveals the North West offered meeting planners best value in 2009 with three-star venues in the region charging an average DDR of £26.09.

To receive a complimentary copy of the Grass Roots Meetings Industry Report visit www.grassrootseventcom.uk.com/web/guest/meetings-industry-report

THURSDAY 28TH JANUARY

Point receives medical attention

NB Medical Education has made the inaugural booking at The Point, the multi-million pound conference and events development currently under construction at Lancashire County Cricket Club (LCCC). NB Medical is the first of several confirmed bookings, and will be bringing its Hot Topics GP Update Course to the Old Trafford ground in September 2010.

The Point is a £12 million development, which is due for completion in June 2010. It will be an elevated suite with a stunning aspect, being glass-fronted and having a 2.5m wide balcony overlooking the Old Trafford pitch. Inside the facility there will be seven-metre headroom with no pillars to spoil the view.

It will have a sit-down dinner capacity of up to 1,000 or 850 with a dance floor; conference capacity is 1,000.

WEDNESDAY 27TH JANUARY

New Purple Guide on the way

Agreement has been reached between the event industry and the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) to revise and republish  the Purple Guide (“The Event Safety Guide - A Guide to Health, Safety & Welfare at Music and Similar Events”).

A steering group is being set up and work is expected to start shortly on redrafting the guide to take account of the changes in practices and legislation since the original was published in 1993.

The revised guide will have a greater focus on risk assessment and management of health and safety. It will clearly set out the health and safety duties of all those involved in putting on events to ensure the wellbeing  of employees, contractors and the public. The revision will also provide an opportunity to improve the existing format by the addition of case studies and practical information on risk management. The guide will be cross referenced to other sources of information and the Event Industry Forum (EIF), which has been negotiating on behalf of the industry, has made a commitment to provide guidance on non health and safety issues which are nonetheless important to consider. The intention is that these, together with the new guide, will be available from a central website as a complete ‘virtual’ guide.

The EIF has developed an online consultation system, which will allow everyone in the industry to contribute to the process of developing the Event Safety Guide.

Based around an Internet site, which will be available through the EIF site at www.eventsindustryforum.co.uk, the process will involve a series of working groups taking responsibility for writing and consulting on different areas of the guide. Each working group will be managed by a trade body from the industry and other relevant stakeholders. Each will have its own chair.

While the working groups will take responsibility for assessing the content, and drafting each section of the guide, the whole process is intended to be as transparent as possible with each update being posted to the website as it is written. This open approach will enable everyone in the industry to keep up with progress and comment on the contents of each section as it evolves.

People in the industry can register their interest in each section online and will then receive email alerts whenever updates are posted on the site.

While the HSE will be leading and publishing  the new Purple Guide, the EIF is aiming to develop guidelines for events organisers on non-health and safety issues. These will all be brought together on a website to create a virtual guide which everyone in the industry will be able to access and which the EIF, HSE and others can keep updated.

Anyone interested can register on the EIF website at www.eventsindustryforum.co.uk/purple_guide/form.shtml

Eventia needs you

Eventia is calling on venues to take part in its 2010 UK Event Market Trends Survey (UKEMTS) in a bid to produce estimates for the wider economic impact of business events on the national economy.

The survey aims to gather data from in-house teams within venues on on the number of events held during 2009, rates achieved, event duration and size, client type, lead times, and projections for business levels and product investments in 2010.
The survey questionnaire is available online and as a Word document and will remain open until April 2. The report will be available in June 2010.

The results provide an estimate of the market’s value in terms of direct revenue to event venues, and are widely used to inform investment, advocacy and marketing activities. The 2009 research estimated that the sector was worth some £7.2 billion, compared with £8 billion the year before.

To access the survey questionnaire, visit www.eventia.org.uk

TUESDAY 26TH JANUARY

Pelham launches sustainability support service

The team behind Organise this and Positive Impact have launched Sustainable Events Limited.Led by Fiona Pelham, Sustainable Events Limited will provide sustainability, support and consultative services to businesses across the events sector.

Fiona Pelham comments:  “Throughout the course of the last year both Positive Impact and Organise This have received feedback and requests for in-depth sustainability support and advice. Businesses across the events industry are seeking professional, expert knowledge as they attempt to improve their sustainability policies and practices – with our history and enthusiasm to support the event industry to increase it’s level of sustainability we decided to respond to these demands with the creation of Sustainable Events Ltd.”

Sustainable Events Limited has already won several substantial clients and projects including: The Global Reporting Initiative development of the Events Sector Supplement, Old Trafford Manchester United Football Club and Reed Exhibitions Ltd.

Both Positive Impact and Organise This will continue to run as an event management service and education provider and operate underneath the Sustainable Events Ltd umbrella.

Fiona is also co chair of the ISO 20121 standard (the international development using the BS8901 framework).

MONDAY 25TH JANUARY

EC&O issues statement over future

EC&O Venues has taken steps to end the speculation that Earls Court is to be sold or even bulldozed to make way for new homes. Earls Court’s owners – Capital & Counties – has recently purchased the remaining 50 per cent of the venue, giving rise to endless rumours about the venue’s future.

EC&O has issued a statement to “re-iterate that no plans have been finalised. The project remains at an early stage as Capital & Counties continue to work with the neighbouring landowners on various options. The current status for all of our venues is therefore very much business as usual.”

Capital & Counties state that it is currently exploring options for the future of the site, together with adjacent landowners TfL and LBHF. “The three landholdings together make up a 70-acre site, which makes it a place of outstanding opportunity. Our thinking is still at a very early stage and no plans nor planning applications have been finalised. In terms of future exhibition uses at Earls Court, no final decisions have been taken. But we are presently exploring a range of options including the enhancement of our world class exhibition centre at Olympia.”

THURSDAY 21ST JANUARY

Former Arena CEO acquires ARB Audio & Visual

David Walley, former CEO of Arena Group, and David Harding have acquired ARB Audio & Visual in a deal for an undisclosed sum.

The Buckinghamshire-based company supplies sound, light, vision and power services to the event industry with clients including major sporting events and venues such as Silverstone, The RFU, Twickenham, and the Lawn Tennis Association.

ARB employs over 30 staff and turnover is in excess of £4 million. All staff will remain with the business. ARB has recently demerged from its sister company Piccadilly.

Walley’s partner on the deal is David Harding who will become company CEO. Harding has had several senior roles in the event industry including heading up GL’s operations at the NEC. ARB’s previous owner Bob Boote will also remain with the company and continue to work with his existing client base whilst developing new ones.

The acquisition is the first deal in a strategy to build an event services group and the team are currently looking at a number of further acquisitions. This has been a cash deal and the company will now be fully funded and looking to build on the excellent reputation for service.

Walley, who will lead the group as chairman said: “I am delighted to be back in an industry I am so fond of. Having spent the last two years racing cars and collecting motorcycles I feel it is now time to get back into things, I have really missed the industry and the people. David Harding will manage the business on a day to day basis, Bob will head up client liaison and my role will be to work on the strategy and identify new opportunities and potential targets.”

WEDNESDAY 20TH JANUARY

Confex announces keynotes

International Confex has announced its keynote speakers for the 2010 event.

On day one, “How it went so wrong for the Government and the economy in 2009” presented by Martin Bell, one of the most highly regarded names in British television journalism. Having had a number of career landmarks from BBC Correspondent, independent MP and UNICEF ambassador, Martin Bell takes a closer look at the state of the economy over the last 12 months, the lessons learnt and how to apply these to businesses.

On day two editor of the legendary London magazine Time Out, regular contributor to radioand TV and former Heat Magazine and Smash Hits editor, Mark Frith will draw on his extensive media experience to offer advice on reinventing your product, getting by on meagre resources and using the power of celebrity to leverage your brand.

And finally on day three Jo Fairley, co-founder of Green & Black’s, shares her knowledge and experience on entrepreneurialism, growing a small business and the importance of corporate responsibility. Fairley will also use her experiences to draw on more traditional messages of marketing and branding in a demanding environment.

TUESDAY 19TH JANUARY

easyFairs announce bullish three-year plan

easyFairs has appointed a new chief executive officer, who has been tasked with doubling the size of the organisation in three years.

Jean-François Quentin is to accelerate company growth and consolidate easyFairs position as a “reference brand” in low cost tradeshows.

Headquartered from Brussels, easyFairs has a portfolio of more than 90 shows in 16 countries. Over the next three years, it plans to increase the size of existing show, launch 30 new shows each year and make targeted acquisitions.

MONDAY 18th JANUARY

Burton targets the extreme with new project

Simon Burton has revealed plans to launch a three-day exhibition in the extreme sports arena. Talking to Stand Out, Burton unveiled his latest project, the first following the sale of Excite! to F2F Events. X in the City (XTC) is set to take place from October 22-24 at ExCeL, taking advantage of Phase 2’s tiered arena, which will host the Theatre of Extremes.

Tickets will be priced at roughly £30 per person, which will include a ticket to see one of three scheduled performances in the theatre each day. Burton is targeting extreme sport fanatics, “weekend warriors” and families.

Fourteen associations have pledged their support and Burton is currently in talks with a media partner to engage his target audience.

“The event came about from my travels overseas. I saw events in the extreme sports space, came back to the UK and discovered events in either fields or on beaches, but all either focus on hardcore sport or are a music festival at heart with extreme sports on the side,” Burton explained.

“All sports have a strong link to the urban lifestyle, and so I’m running the event in an urban environment that has access to water but also has a gritty, concrete urban feel to it.”

MONDAY 21st DECEMBER

Londonlaunch set to go live

Plans for londonlaunch:LIVE 2010 have been unveiled.

Over 80 top decision makers from some of London’s hottest venues and event service companies gathered at the Saatchi Gallery.

londonlaunch:LIVE 2010 will take place at the Saatchi Gallery, from October 20-21, and will feature over 150 exhibitors. Its' aim is to attract over 2,000 key buyers drawn from London’s event scene.

Exhibitors will be featured on specially created canvases.

londonlaunch:LIVE 2010 will run across 12 galleries. Within these, the five main areas of London - City, West End, Westminster, Southbank and Greater London – will be showcased. Each area will have its own look, feel and AV experience and will feature a selection of London venues from the well-established to the little hidden gems.

Service companies will be featured across three galleries.  These will include suppliers covering: catering, entertainment, AV, special effects, themes, services and equipment, staffing agencies, event management and hospitality.

There will also be two learning galleries carrying a programme of free to attend seminars delivered by industry experts. There will also be two networking zones, one for the ‘buzz’ and the second playing host to more formal meetings, and supported by an at show matchmaking service.

TUESDAY 15TH DECEMBER

Charity event aims to feed 5,000

An event highlighting the problem of food waste is to take place at Trafalgar Square tomorrow (December 16, 12-2pm).

Food waste campaigner Tristram Stuart and Fareshare, the largest food redistribution charity in the UK, are set to feed 5,000 people with food that would have otherwise been thrown away – because it is cosmetically imperfect.

Five-thousand tonnes of food will be distributed to passers-by, and the menu will include hot soups made from vegetables cast out and a range of sandwiches and freshly-made fruit smoothies, pressed on the day by customised bicycles.

Feeding the 5000 will highlight the work of the partner organisations, Save the Children; ActionAid; This is Rubbish; and FareShare. Supporters of the event include the Mayor of London; the Bishop of London; journalist and campaigner Rosie Boycott; and celebrity chef Thomasina Miers.

Stuart explains: “Feeding the 5000 is a wonderful partnership including food companies, farmers and charities. The aim of our lunchtime feast is to highlight how food waste can be avoided by putting food to good use i.e. feeding people.”

Chef and restaurateur Thomasina Miers will also be presenting a cookery masterclass on the day to demonstrate how to make the most of the food we buy.

WEDNESDAY 16TH DECEMBER

Opex launch OVS and secure three-year deal

Opex Group has been awarded a new three-year contract to continue to provide house services at Earls Court & Olympia on behalf of the venue. As such the group have brought all arms of their venue services under one banner – Opex Venue Services.

Headed up by Opex Group managing director Andy Gibb, OVS will service; the electrical mains and plumbing contract at Earls Court and Olympia, the floorcovering contract at Olympia and the cleaning service at Olympia.

MONDAY 21ST OCTOBER

Art in the fast lane

WEDNESDAY 30TH SEPTEMBER

ESC Events turns The Sun blue

iblinkworld to deliver energetic experiential campaign

TUESDAY 29TH SEPTEMBER

CHF Events launches green sampling vehicle

CHF Events has launched an eco-friendly marketing vehicle division in the UK. The new division is dedicated to the sole use of all-electric, zero emission vehicles to be used for field marketing activity, sampling, product demonstrations and special events.

The company's line of electric vehicles, which are 100 per cent green and 98 per cent recyclable can be driven on city streets, pedestrian areas, at shopping centres – even indoors, without the worry of harmful exhaust fumes. The unique styles will grab consumers' attention and all can be branded with 100 per cent green signage.

"Using electric vehicles for field markeing, not only allows a company to send its message in a unique and cost-effective way, but also communicates that the company cares about the environment," said CHF Events client service director Sarah Ward.

MONDAY 28TH SEPTEMBER

Wiseman grows his own new show

THURSDAY 24TH SEPTEMBER

Caffé Culture creates a stir for 2010 event

Caffè Culture has announced that it will more than double in size to fulfil exhibitor demand. Caffè Culture, taking place from June 23-25, 2010, will now also include a third day and will take over both the Grand and National Halls in Olympia, London, to accommodate the World Barista Championships and SCAE annual events.

Caffè Culture’s organiser, Upper Street Events, had initially planned to relocate the event from its home in the National Hall, moving it to the much larger Grand Hall. However, demand from both UK and overseas exhibitors has been so great an early decision has been taken to expand the event further still to create the largest café and coffee focussed event the UK has ever seen.

The event’s expansion will also cater for the full competition programme for both the World Barista Championships and SCAE World Championships for Cup Tasting, Latte Art and Coffee in Good Spirits, in addition to a full SCAE workshop schedule and a conference. A programme of social and networking events have also been planned. This is the first time the SCAE Wonderful World of Coffee and the World Barista Championships will be hosted in the UK and the event as a whole is set to attract in excess of 10,000 international visitors to Caffè Culture over the three days.

Elliot Gard, event director, comments: "We are delighted to be able to announce such a major expansion for Caffè Culture and extremely pleased to be working with the SCAE to host the 2010 events. Since its launch, Caffè Culture has quickly established itself, proving to be an invaluable resource for the UK’s café and coffee bar market. It therefore provides the natural home for the UK premiere of the WBC and SCAE Wonderful World of Coffee. The event is set to provide a superb opportunity for our exhibitors to reach an even wider audience, providing an excellent platform to target both a UK and international audience of buyers giving the entire community a tremendous boost at a time when many businesses have been hit hard by the economic downturn.”

Sign up for ESSA G50

The ESSA G50 is a one day event specifically designed to focus on the issues most affecting UK exhibition contractors and suppliers. This year, the G50 will be held on October 30, at the IEC at Ricoh Arena, Coventry, and will cover topics such as: Planning for the future; An organiser’s view of the future and the contracting market; Views from a virgin exhibitor; Social media and An insight into the venues’ world.

Now in its third year, and been described by previous attendees as informative, motivational, inspiring and unified. The programme has been developed by ESSA members for ESSA members, it is only open to a maximum of 50 ESSA members, so places are limited for the event. 


This year's speakers are;

• Andy Gibb, G50 Chair & Group Managing Director of Stanco Exhibitions
  (a member of the OPEX Group)
• Phil Soar, AEO Chair and Chairman of 5 Exhibition Companies
• Rashid Ghafoor, Managing Director Sintrexo
• Peder Berg from Event Advantage Solutions
• Kevin Murphy, CEO of ExCeL London
• John Sanders, Event Director of excite!
• Steve Barratt, Managing Director of Early Action Group
• Luke Facey, Managing Director of Alfa Display And Design Ltd

Places are £199 plus vat per attendee.

WEDNESDAY 23RD SEPTEMBER

Ex-RPM director launches new agency

TUESDAY 22ND SEPTEMBER

Arena Structures celebrates Ryder Cup contract win

Arena Structures has been awarded the contract to supply part of the tentage structures for The 2010 Ryder Cup at the Celtic Manor Resort, Wales.

The company’s triple-decker structure will overlook the 18th green and the facility will host the stakeholders, partners, sponsors and VIP guests. Arena will also be supplying the Past Captains Club, the International Media Centre and a variety of on course structures.

Following a rigorous tender process, the Ryder Cup match director Edward Kitson commented: “This is one of the most anticipated events in the sporting calendar, which deserves and demands the best. We have examined many criteria in making our selection of contractors for the forthcoming Ryder Cup, from setting new standards in environmental sustainability to creativity and I am delighted at the prospect of working with Arena Structures again.”

Sister companies Arena Scaffolding and Spaceworks will also bring their expertise with Spaceworks again complementing the interiors with its extensive and modern furniture product range, while Arena Scaffolding will install precisely engineered scaffolding sub-structures required for certain temporary structures.

MONDAY 21ST SEPTEMBER

Double win for NEC Group

Wernick acquire Rollalong Hire

WEDNESDAY 16TH SEPTEMBER

Media 10 buys Ideal Home Show

The Ideal Home Show has been sold to Media 10 – just over 100 years after the show was first launched. Previously owned by dmg world media, it is the first time in the show’s history that ownership has changed hands. Media 10 is best known for the Grand Designs Live events, will take over ownership and be responsible for staging the show next March at Earls Court.

Lee Newton, managing director of Media 10 stated: “The Ideal Home Show is a national institution and the plans we have for the forthcoming years will ensure it retains its status as the foremost location for property loving consumers. We see this acquisition as being perfectly timed; at a time when consumer confidence appears to be increasing and with interest rates at an all time low. In my opinion the clever money is being used to buy property at this moment – similarly I believe that clever money in exhibitions is also in this market.

“This brand has lived through six major recessions since its launch in 1908 and rather than just survive each time it has come out the other side stronger.”

The Ideal Home Show regularly attracts over 250,000 visitors and will take place from March 20 until April 5, 2010.

Cheesy grins all round for Watkins Hire

Watkins Hire, has won a five year contract to supply and install air conditioning for The International Cheese Awards – Nantwich – after impressing the show’s organisers with the installation at the 2009 event.

A high profile event attracting 28,000 visitors, The International Cheese Awards is the largest cheese show in the world. Part of the Nantwich Show which is also the largest one day agricultural show in the UK, it attracts over 2,700 entries of cheeses. The perishable nature of the exhibits has presented problems for the show organisers in previous years and for the past three years they have used three separate air conditioning hire providers in an attempt to find a robust solution that would meet any climactic conditions. After a proactive approach from Watkins Hire, the show organisers accepted the hire company’s quote and have been so impressed with the result that they have signed Watkins Hire up for the next five years.

“Keeping the marquee cool throughout the show is absolutely critical to the success of the event,” explains show director, Roger Mills. “The Watkins Hire team was not only able to specify and provide the equipment that we needed to do the job effectively throughout the event. They also provided us with excellent service levels and competitive pricing. The system was unobtrusive and operated at very low levels of noise. We have been so impressed that we have been happy to commit to using Watkins Hire as our air conditioning supplier for the next five years.”

Watkins Hire provided three 500kW chillers to keep the 110m x 40m marquee at the required temperature along with seven 150kW air handling units, all sited outside the marquee. The company installed 14 40-metre long ducting tubes across the width of the marquee, distributing the air conditioned air equally across the marquee. In addition, Watkins Hire installed 12 20kW indoor air handling units in the hospitality tent, specifying a low noise, unobtrusive unit to provide the required ambient temperature. The Hire specialist also provided an on-site engineer for three days to ensure that the system ran efficiently throughout the show and its build up.

“Our attention to detail and emphasis on customer service enabled us to provide a temporary air conditioning service that surpassed that offered by our competitors in previous years,” comments Alan Ferguson from Watkins Hire. “We are delighted to have secured a long-term relationship with the show and look forward to next year’s event.”

Shows continue to launch at EC&O

Later in the year, Olympia 2 will play host to M2 Events’ London Running Show. Between November 28-29 running enthusiasts – both those new to the sport and seasoned competitors – will be able to see the latest brands in running as well as learn about training, nutrition and avoiding injury.

Jeremy Rees, EC&O Venues exhibition sales director said: “We are delighted to be hosting debut events such as The Brand Protection Show and the London Running Show. It’s encouraging that organisers are continuing to launch events in these challenging times and we are pleased to be able to show our support.”

AEO appoint new board members

The Association of Event Organisers (AEO) has appointed Douglas Emslie as the new chair and Paul Byrom as deputy chair. The appointments, which were confirmed at the AEO Board meeting and AGM on September 9, take immediate effect.

Douglas Emslie is the group managing director of Tarsus Group and Paul Byrom is managing director of Upper Street Events.

In their new roles, Emslie and Byrom will take a place on the EIA Board, which next meets on September 29.

At the AGM, it was also announced that the AEO Board has appointed Austen Hawkin as the association’s CEO, having previously served in the role on an interim basis.

Eat To The beat win Rockcorps contract

Eat To The Beat (ETTB) has been awarded an ongoing contract to provide all catering including media, artist, crew and VIP guests at the Orange Rockcorps concerts for film production company CCLabs.

Orange Rockcorps is a new initiative from telecoms giant Orange, encouraging young people to voluntarily give four hours of their time to local community projects to be rewarded with a free gig ticket. Headline artists so far have included Lady Gaga, N-Dubz and The Enemy.

The concerts are held at renowned UK venues such as The Manchester Apollo and The Royal Albert Hall and due to the nature of the concerts they have generated a huge amount of media and VIP interest.

ETTB is on site during rehearsals, then from production build-up, for the show itself through to de-rig.

TUESDAY 8TH SEPTEMBER

White Air and MySpace team up to find new festival act

White Air has announced a partnership with MySpace that will see the festival teaming up with the social network to find a new unsigned band or artist to play the opening slot on the festival’s main stage on Saturday, September 19.

Interested bands and acts will be able to enter the competition by registering at the official White Air Myspace profile, between Tuesday September 8 and Sunday, September 13. The White Air music team will then review all entries, using songs uploaded to MySpace and other material across the entrants’ profiles to pick a winner, drawing on their wealth of festival-booking experience to identify the most talented act possible.

White Air founder, Nigel Howell said: “We are very excited to be working with Myspace for White Air 09. This collaboration enables us to take a look at the wealth of musical talent that is currently out there and offer them the chance to play alongside some musical greats. We are thrilled about the possibility of discovering some new talent! ”

The new and unsigned act will be given the chance to play alongside The Lemonheads and Biffy Clyro from September 18-20 at Brighton Beach.

MONDAY 7TH SEPTEMBER

Event Show rebrands

Ocean Media, owner of The Event Show, has announced significant changes to its annual trade exhibition. The show will now be re-titled the Event Production Show.

Michelle Tayton, event manager of the Event Production Show explained: "The change in the show's name more clearly defines the focus and scale of the events organised by our visitors and the array of products and services exhibited. It also sets us aside from other shows in the market by clearly defining what our show has to offer professional event organisers. The Event Production Show will enable suppliers of anything from lighting and sound and special effects, staging and rigging to themeing and entertainment to showcase their products and services to the nation's top event organisers. All in all, event organisers can pick up everything needed to produce all types of professional indoor and outdoor events at this exhibition."

The 2010 exhibition will move from what has been its traditional home in the National Hall, to the much larger Grand Hall at Olympia in London. The new venue enables the team to take advantage of a significant increase in floor space and ceiling height, so that suppliers with large scale goods can successfully showcase their products.

The show will now also take place from February 2-3, instead of its traditional January slot.

TUESDAY 1ST SEPTEMBER

DB official contractor at defence show

DB Systems has been appointed as one of the official audio visual supplier for this month's DSEi 2009 (Defence Systems & Equipment International).

The show, which will take place at ExCel London from September 8-11, is the biggest defence and security exhibition in the world, attended by more than 1,350 companies from around 40 countries.

DB was appointed by event organiser Clarion Events and will be responsible for providing exhibitors with AV systems and support. Among the equipment DB will take to DSEi will be new NEC MultiSync 46” LCD video wall modules and True HD LG 42” LCD panels. DB recently invested approximately £300,000 in these systems to ensure its customers are able to choose from the very latest in AV equipment available on the UK rental market.

Nickelodeon UK appoint Sledge for national roadshow

Nickelodeon UK appointed Sledge to produce a nationwide experiential roadshow to promote the channels to families throughout August 2009.

The Nickelodeon roadshow utilises two popular Nickelodeon characters to entertain and engage with families: Nickelodeon’s SpongeBob SquarePantsappeals to the older children aged six to 12, whilst Nick Jr’s Dora The Explorer appeals to pre-schoolers.

There has been huge demand by families to meet the characters, with the first weekend (August 1-2) at Lakeside, Essex, drawing crowds of 2,400. Both characters are making personal appearances at set times and have their own backdrop for photographs with children and a specific waiting area taking families through an interactive journey that is designed to entertain.

The roadshow has been created as a true family attraction with plasma screens showing Nickelodeon programming and interactive activities for families to join in with through the stand.

Due to the popularity of the roadshow, a ticketing system has been created to ensure families can see the show and have time with the characters. Each shopping centre allocates tickets each day to families on a first come, first served basis.

The roadshow toured Lakeside Thurrock Shopping Centre, Metro Centre in Gateshead, East Kilbride Shopping Centre in Glasgow, Meadow Hall Centre in Sheffield and Merry Hill Shopping Centre in Dudley.

Gill Woods, events manger at Nickelodeon UK, commented: “The activity has proved extremely popular, with thousands turning up to each event and feedback has been excellent. The children have loved meeting Dora and SpongeBob; it’s a fantastic way for us to showcase our much-loved characters as part of our summer holiday activity, plus make shopping trips much more fun for both kids and their parents!”