However if you havent yet booked a venue its still not too late!

Here are a few tips in order to make sure your company celebration is a hit and remembered for all the right reasons,

1. Don’t just do the same thing as last year.
Try to be imaginative and go for something different. Doing the same thing year on year can get a bit monotonous and lose its appeal. Maximum impact doesn’t mean that you have to increase the budget to achieve the right results. Keep your employees on their toes and interested with something totally different examples include; Top Golf, Indoor Skiing, Grey Hound Racing or additionally think about themeing your event. How you market and advertise your celebration can have a large impact so why not keep elements of the event a surprise and offer just a few clues on their invite.

2. Use an Event Management agency.
An event management agency should be well worth the financial outlay. It reduces your time and effort in making enquiries and researching various venues. Plus you can take advantage of the agencies relationships with venues and get better rates and packages. Even if you have an agency that you have used in the past we recommend that you at least seek advise and proposals from one other. Its always good practice to compare rates, service and ideas. Be sure to enquire about open book financing to make sure you are getting the best deal. Be precise on your requirements and build a good working relationship with your agency/event manager, it’s worth its weight in gold. Be aware of hidden costs and extras not outlined in your original budget.

3. Offer accommodation.
If your venue is a distance from your local area, think about offering accommodation as part of the package. This puts less pressure on people to get a lift or a taxi home at the end of the evening. It will make more of a night of the celebrations and allow people to enjoy their evening without worrying how they are getting home. If you are booking a block of rooms you may be able to get a discounted rate or a rate to include dinner and entertainment. Upgraded rooms could be offered as an incentive to those staff who have achieved targets. If you’re not offering accommodation then try to organise transport home with a coach, minibus or taxis. Make sure your guests know when the last one is leaving! The last thing you want is a phone call at 2am from a stranded employee.

4. Book early to avoid disappointment.
No one wants to be thinking about Christmas in August, but believe us the best locations get booked up very quickly. If you have a large group or require a private party then start making enquiries now to get the best possible deals. Some places take bookings over a year in advance, so don’t hang about.

5. Take advantage of e-ticketing.
Nearly all companies are computer based so take advantage of the environmental and financial saving and send your invites out by email. Your event manager will be able to do this for you, all you need to do is provide them with a list of invitees and email addresses. They should be able to set you up a website and registration page where your employees can get details on the event and register their attendance. If required they can also request travel and accommodation to be booked and make requests for any special dietary requirements.

6. Research your employees and know your target market.
Try to find activities to suit your employee’s needs. Purely alcohol related activities can be off putting to certain religious groups as can gambling. Try to find the right balance of activities to suit most groups. Ask for opinions, if you get stuck, get feedback on what people might be interested in taking part in.

7. Be clear on what’s being provided.
The company Christmas party should ideally not involve your employees spending any of their own money. But if the budget won’t stretch to free drinks throughout the evening, make this clear on the invite. Better for people to have budgeted in advance rather than struggle to get cash from somewhere with no cash machine within a 5 mile radius.

8. Dress code.
Whether its fancy dress, smart, casual or black tie, it is very important to let your employees know what dress code is expected within plenty of time.

9. Check on what you can and can’t do in your designated venue.
Forewarned is forearmed. Be upfront with your venue should you wish to include entertainment, speeches or awards. You may think that a quiz in the middle of each course will break up the evening nicely, but holding up food service may not be easily accommodated by your venue. Some venues may be restricted by certain license restrictions regarding entertainment and music. Your venue may already have links with entertainment companies or DJ’s they can recommend. The venue may also be able to include entertainment costs into the price.

10. First impressions are lasting ones.
Spending a little time and effort on dressing your venue entrance will make a lasting impression. Wowing everyone early on can really help in getting the party off to a flying start. Themeing is a great idea, your venue and an event manager will be able to offer you ideas and assistance with putting these plans into action.

Managing director of In2Global Liesa Coates said the initial email came from someone claiming to be ‘Kennedy John’ , inquiring about conference planning services for “the first International Geological Conference” to be held in the UK over four days in November 2010, with a budget of £70,000.

Coates said: “We were so excited initially, so we asked a few more questions and he got back to us with the right answers.”

However, alarm bells rang when the response came back: “I will send to you £5,000 via Visa credit card  to secure the dates and all other services. Moreover, we also made an arrangement with a logistics agent who will take care of our logistics including international airport transfer, accommodation arrangements, transportation logistics during their stay

 “However, because of security reasons and confidentiality reposed on you, I have decided that only YOU will have to handle the credit card information. So, once you receive credit card informations, you will be authorised to charge the total amount of £13,000 + bank charges then deduct your deposit £5,000 and send the balance of £8,000 to the logistics agent whose information will be forwarded to you once this is confirmed.”

 Coates said: “I immediately contacted my bank and the police and both said, ‘it’s fraud, don’t touch it’. Looking at his details it was a UK address, with a UK phone number that didn’t work. There was no web site for the event. We understand he’s approached other agencies too.

 “We just wanted to warn everyone – there’s enough time wasters in this industry already, don’t waste it on this.”

I don’t usually open links to e-mails that have been forwarded by people that I have never heard of, but there is an interesting animation that has been circulating on the internet between creative agencies. In the animation are two characters, a designer and client. The client is essentially questioning the expertise of the design professional.

Expletives aside, the scenario is one that anyone working in the creative or client services arena would instantly recognise: the client thinks that because they have a basic grasp of word processing, they don’t really need the services of a professional (or at least they don’t see why they need to pay very much).

In the events industry we are up against companies who think that simply having access to the internet means that they can sort out their own conferences and corporate events. The enlightened client understands that it does take a certain amount of experience and expertise to negotiate room rates, organise group bookings with airlines or simply put together a workable itinerary.

However, even when we have the opportunity to submit a proposal many expect to have it “yesterday”, When the brief doesn’t arrive until tomorrow, and they expect a dozen costed options that might include overseas locations that involve working out projected costs in several currencies they are disappointed. And we always deliver to such tight deadlines because we’re professional and this is what our jobs involve; and because we all deliver to ridiculous deadlines means that clients continue to expect that we can work to such short lead times.

As with all companies operating in the service sector, it is often the intangible that is delivered, for which the client has to pay but sees apparently little for their money. However, getting the best rates from suppliers (and stretching diminishing budgets) is almost an art form, which requires patience and skill of the event organiser.

As a quick aside, getting an event to go like clockwork requires planning, planning and more planning, which is why events should be confirmed by clients as far ahead as possible. The further ahead we can plan means that we have the time to put together appropriately designed and fully costed itineraries; with the current trend for transport operators and hotels to operate on the basis of offering cheaper process for early bookings means that we can get our clients’ money to go that much further simply by working three to four months ahead of the event.

When we do finally hear back from companies that wanted the proposal “yesterday” they have often left it so late the costs that we put forward are no longer valid.

We are then forced to quickly recalculate costs, which will have invariably increased because we will be booking last minute deals, a phrase which is in fact an oxymoron and not a guarantee of bargain basement prices.

Then there’s the issue of agency commission. Enlightened clients appreciate the fact that most event organisers will earn a commission from selecting a particular hotel or conference venue. While some clients might argue that it could be influence a purchasing decision, the reality is that the event organiser will only book a venue if it meets their client’s criteria. They are unlikely to propose a second-rate venue simply because palms will be crossed with silver.

For clients that see it as a problem that we earn commissions from suppliers, they might bear in mind that we frequently go beyond our brief; we aim to deliver satisfaction no matter what requests are made of us and we never go back to renegotiate fees once they’re agreed.

Earning a commission from appreciative suppliers is an acceptable transaction and a well deserved bonus to everyone in the events industry.

 July 2010

Terms are now often being driven by a budget without consideration of the quality of the supplier. Quality and cost need to be evaluated knowledgably, otherwise the best agencies will walk away and only the low value or desperate will remain.

If the price becomes the only important factor, the end product WILL suffer and so will your events. Profit on events will pay for the service you expect and allow investment in staff, the building of  innovative services – the product that the client experiences.

British Leyland launched the Morris Marina in 1971 which was built with inferior supplies in order to reduce cost and increse profit. This dismal product saw the decline and eventual demise of the British car manufacturing industry.

Surely we don’t want the quality of events to suffer the same fate?

Passengers using the airline face disruption as the first five-day industrial action gets underway.

Unite had offered a last-minute deal to call the strike off. They said the restoration of travel perks for BA staff, withdrawn after their involvement in March’s strikes, would be sufficient to see the strikes called off.

BA rejected the offer, meaning the strike is now taking place. Only a small number of flights from London Heathrow are expected to be affected, however.

“We have already offered to reinstate travel concessions to cabin crew once all elements of our offer have been implemented,” a BA spokesman said.

Relations between the airline and the Unite union plumbed new depths over the weekend. First talks were disrupted by a Socialist Workers’ party protest, then a row broke out over Twittering from within the private meetings.

Further five-day strikes are set to begin on May 30th and June 5th.

Last week BA posted losses of £531 million, its worst annual results since its privatisation. The long-running dispute has already cost BA some £43 million. Source.

Meanwhile passengers and agencies are again bearing the brunt of the disruption caused.

Who is going to knock their heads together before they all lose their jobs for good? More.

It’s  a dangerous route to take. “It can cause long-term damage to your organisation if you can’t travel, ” says Nigel Turner of Carlson Wagonlit Travel, “”You’ve got to go see customers. Even internal functions can’t operate as they should without some degree of travel.”

Source: May 2010 edition The Marketer.

81 per cent of BA crew who voted in the ballot rejected the latest offer tabled by the BA management . Unite officials are set to meet next week to decide on the next course of action.

The strikes – which may lead to up to 20 days of walkouts – raise the spectre of a summer of travel chaos for millions of BA customers. more here
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-1274499/BA-strike-Crew-reject-BA-proposals-lead-fresh-wave-travel-chaos.html?ito=feeds-newsxml#ixzz0nFSZ89fK