Eventprofslive

Leave a comment

Kate and I started Eventprosflive, a networking group run by us (Corporate Event Managers) for Corporate Event Managers and we grow bigger every day!

It is hard work working in a full time, busy Event Manager role then spending your evenings, lunch breaks and weekends working on our group but it is so worth it.

We love our members, we love our events and are so grateful to all those lovely venues who host us month after month.

If you are a Corporate Event Manger and feel daunted by the thought of attending a networking event don’t be. We promise the people you will meet will soon become friends, you’ll see some amazing venues and will come to love our Whatsapp chat to bounce ideas of other Event Managers.

We have an exciting rest of 2018 planned and you can read all about our upcoming events and membership options here!

Beating the Instagram Algorithm

Leave a comment

As an event manager, making sure your content is seen on Instagram to me, is so much more important than letting my friends see my #fitspo or #getinmybelly posts. Posts used to be seen chronologically however with the 2018 Instagram Algorithm change some reports suggest that only 10% of your audience is seeing your posts.  The new algorithm works on post engagement so how many likes, comments and general interaction your post is getting. By lots of interaction, Instagram determines that this post is engaging and thus more people will want to see it. Basically if those initial 10% engage, then the other 90% may see it. So, although my post is probably now two months old for those that stay on top of #eventtech changes for those that still need help, here are my top two tips to try and beat that algorithm.

Hashtags – I always thought loads of hashtags gave you more chance of being noticed by anyone searching for any of the 30 hashtags that Instagram allowed… This is wrong.  Apparently less is more and a couple of hashtags specific to the niche you are targeting will suffice. Instagram will see you less like a spammer and this may get more of your stuff seen.  Lots of hashtags also makes you look like you are just posting to get likes when instead, you should be sharing your posts with people who are genuinely  interested in your content.

In events we are lucky we have #eventprofs, #eventplanner and #eventtech which are of most interest to me. In theory, using these three with one of two in addition (#sitevisit #comeflywithme #production) depending on what I want people to engage on may be enough.

I have all my hashtags saved in my notepad and then copy and paste them into a post depending on the content. I keep them specific to travel posts and site visit posts, catering and food posts and general event planning posts.

Comments – try and comment and respond to your comments as quick as possible. I know this is not always ideal but to keep the momentum going it is suggested you shouldn’t really be leaving it more than an hour to respond to a comment.

Another way to boost engagement on your posts via comments is to use comments that provide a call to action. Ask a questions to start an engaging conversation but make sure they are relevant to the post. In events we could ask questions on catering, perhaps comparing two dishes, side by side at a tasting and asking for user preference to production/set design!

There is a great read here from Hootsuite that will give you more tips on how to write fabulous, engaging comments.

That’s my top two tips – let me know how you get on!

 

 

The Hospital Club – Eventprofslive Feb Event

Leave a comment

We at Eventprofslive are finally out of winter, we know this because this morning we had a breakfast event at The Hospital Club and we had 100 percent attendance! This would never happen in winter for an early start though it may also have something to do with the intrigue of our venue! Every one of our members had heard of it but never actually been.

The Hospital Club is based just by Covent Garden station and is a private members club for the creative industries offering the facilities it needs to connect, collaborate and create. Split over seven stories, the building has so many amazing spaces for hire from a fully equipped tv and music studio and screening room to different sized function and event spaces and to top it all off – 15 stunning hotel rooms. The spaces can be utilized for events from 2 to 300 and you can find out more about all of the spaces here.  The types of events that would suit the spaces perfectly range from general meetings to conferences, drinks receptions, lunches and dinners to private screenings. One of my favourite rooms is the Oak Room which has its own bar, lounge and adjoining balcony. The events you could hold in this room would be amazing with a capacity to take up to 125 standing, it even has its own DJ setup, ready to go!

Our event started at 8.00 am with a site visit of all the lovely event spaces followed by a tasty breakfast and catch-up with the group. I have hosted quite a few events at The Hospital Club and the food has always been outstanding. The restaurant has a three star rating from the Sustainable Restaurant Association which means their approach to locally produced food is always in season and will always (as I have witnessed) be fabulous. One of my favourite ever tastings I did was at The Hospital Club.

After a quick catch-up it was a tour of the bedrooms and then off to work which meant we all pretty much got to work on time! The bedrooms were launched in 2015 and where designed by Russell Sage Studios. They are stunning and range from standard rooms up to suites with state-of-the-art sound and vision AND rainforest showers. The best thing though is the evening turndown cocktail trolley.

We loved our breakfast and show round – big thanks to Simone and the team for hosting us. For more information on The Hospital Club or any of their meeting and events spaces contact them here.

Fanhams Hall – our January FAM

Leave a comment

We are slowly making our way through all of the fabulous Excluisve Hotels and Venues and last Friday we headed off to Fanhams Hall, a Grade II Jacobean mansion house located in Ware for our first FAM of 2018. From Liverpool Street, the venue is just a 45 minute train ride away and only 60 minutes from Heathrow which is very handy.

Our group arrived at 3.00 pm for an amazing light lunch and a chat with Jonathan, MD of Fanham’s Hall before heading off on a site visit of all the meeting and event spaces and there are a lot of wonderful spaces. Fanhams Hall has 24 meeting and syndicate rooms. Of these 20, 12 are principal meeting rooms and a further 12 are breakout rooms, all flexible in their layouts and all of them having loads of lovely natural daylight. The biggest space, The Hertford and Ware is perfect for larger meetings and is very modern and sleek in design with the most amazing views and fits up to 70 cabaret. Amongst all the meeting and event spaces you will find the Long gallery which is my favourite.

The Long Gallery was originally a stunning picture gallery with ornate chandeliers and dual aspect views of the gorgeous gardens, there is also two small syndicate rooms that work with it to make it a wonderful, different option for that board level away day. You can find more on the capacities of all the meeting rooms here.

In the midst of our site visit of the event spaces, we headed outside to see the grounds and the Japanese Tea Gardens which are truly spectacular. They would make a stunning backdrop for your onsite activities. I really fell in love with them they were just so unexpected (check out the pictures).

After our site visit it was back to our rooms to freshen up ready for our welcome drinks and private dinner which was superb. Chef certainly served up an amazing menu and words (but I hope pictures can) cannot describe the desert. It was AMAZING and provided a good lining for the next part of our site visit… the Karaoke Klub. I can’t quite put into words how fun our night was but I will try. The Karaoke Klub is the venue’s Klub which is a completely self-contained stand alone venue where your guests can sing their hearts out. It also has its own bar and I think adding this on to any offsite/away day would be amazing. It is so good for team building. We certainly had the best time!

The next morning, with some very sore heads we all met up for breakfast and had a giggle about the nights signing stars. This was such a wonderful FAM trip, thank you so much to Fanhams for having us! We really think Fanhams would work beautifully for a away day or meeting. They have some very competitive 24 hour rates and combined with its proximity to London’s Liverpool Street and those magical gardens it’s definitely worth looking at!

Eventprofslive – September FAM Trip

Leave a comment

Last Friday, 8 of our members set off from London to Eastbourne for our September FAM trip to The Grand.  The Grand is the only 5 star luxury hotel to be found on the British coastline and it is a beautiful looking property that stands prominently on the coastline and makes you think of old world glamour. the-grand-1

Our trip started with a glass of champagne or two and some amazing canapes, served in the Great Hall (which is where the hotel serves its famous afternoon tea, usually with strings in the background) whilst we waited for all of our members to arrive. After getting to know each other and catching up a bit, we moved on to our site visit which is the important part (well that and the champagne).

The Grand has 17 fully equipped meeting rooms which work for all types of events from small meetings to large conferences to receptions for up to 350 people.  I particularly like the Compton room which is part of the Devonshire Suite which can take up to 120 cabaret.  This room has it’s own private bar and purposely build stage.  It would be perfect for a gala dinner!  You can read all about the hotel’s meeting spaces and capacities here.  The Grand 4.jpg

After our site visit, we met with Chillisauce whom had a little surprise for us. We were to be competing in two teams in “the Qube” (you can read more about it here) in a race to complete some nail biting activities. It was so fun and we had a go at two of the activities before we moved into the private dining room which can host up to 14 for a private dinner with a balcony overlooking The Great Hall.  The room is gorgeous and we had a wonderful dinner in there.  The food was amazing, we had Pancetta wrapped aged beef fillet with truffle leek risotto and for pudding, Belgian chocolate and orange assiette along with about 10 glasses of wine. We were very well looked after, the food was stunning, and had some hilarious conversations over dinner that are still making me laugh.  As I always say, our group isn’t just all events, we have all become quite good friends and it is so good to catch-up with everyone and get to know new people.

This is the second time I have now been to The Grand in the last few months and I really love it. You feel really relaxed when you are here and taking a walk along the beach the next day always seems to make me feel amazing.

We think this hotel would be perfect for small conferences, people wanting to get away from London and would be amazing for a corporate cycling trip. The hotel has a fab outdoor heated pool and bar area as well which would be the perfect place to host your pre-dinner drinks before moving into either the private dining room of one of the other beautiful rooms.

Thanks ever so much to the team at The Grand for looking after us and to Chillisauce for letting us experience such a fun team building activity.

Want to know more about Eventprofslive? get in touch.

 

The Caledonian Club – Eventprofslive

Leave a comment

Early in the month, my networking group held their May event at The Caledonian Club.  Our networking group is run by Kate and I for event managers and each month we hold a breakfast and an evening networking event in and around London.  We have just recently started hosting FAM trips as well (we’re pretty busy).  If you would like to know more you can email us here.  I hope you enjoy the blog!

Earlier this month we held our May Eventprofslive networking event at the beautiful Caledonian Club.  Situated in Belgravia, The Caledonian Club is a little bit of Scotland in the city and on the 17th of May, we welcomed 15 members to see the stunning spaces.

The club has a private entrance for corporate and private events with the capacity to seat up to 200.  Whilst it is a private members club, membership is not necessary in order to hold your event there and with its eight function rooms spanning over the five floors of the club, add in an outdoor terrace and you have every type of event space covered.  The venue is even licenced to hold weddings and civil partnership ceremonies.  It really would be perfect for a wedding as it also has 39 bedrooms in its original clubhouse from single rooms to junior suites.

Our event commenced at 6.30 pm and as always tube delays meant a few of us were a little late however we got there in the end and arrived to a very welcome glass of prosecco and canapes.

The service at the Caledonian club is outstanding and all of our guests commented on how often their glasses were re-filled and how amazing the canapés were.  After a brief welcome speech by the GM,  we were shown in groups around the stunning spaces and there really are a lot!

After our show round we mingled and welcomed four new members to the group and got to know them a little better.

We had a great time at the Caledonian Club and already have two members whom use the spaces and am pretty sure they will have a few more clients after our event.

The Caledonian Club is located at 9 Halkin Street, SW1X 7DR and you can find out more information by contacting Lyndsey at Park Lane Events.

 

 

We’re famous

Leave a comment

Nearly a year ago Kate and I set up our networking group for event managers called Eventprofslive and it has just gone from strength to strength! Last week we were featured in the Chambers Travel “Travel Matters” magazine (you can read more here) and we couldn’t be prouder!12167117_10153594918916224_1185733987_n

Kate and I recognised the gap in the market for a group that was for event managers and run by event managers. A group run by event managers working in the role every day. We understand what event managers need and the support necessary for us to do a great job. We always wanted a group that was quite informal where we could come together once or twice a month to share ideas, see new spaces, have a bite to eat and a drink or two and so….Eventprofslive was born.aston marting 3

In the past year we have held events at The Ritz, The Mondrian, The Andaz and The Dorchester to name a few.  Whilst our events have been typically evening networking events, we have also noticed the need for breakfast events and are hosting our first one in a few weeks.

We’ve helped members find  new roles and supported each other numerous times to help find a venue quickly or to perhaps run a catering company by the group to see if anyone has any feedback.

11913105_10153490905041224_1676245023_n.jpgOur group is built on social media.  We use LinkedIn and our website for a members only forum, we use Twitter to interact and ask questions and pride ourselves on being one of the forerunners in recognising the benefit of Periscope.  We started using Periscope last year for doing virtual show rounds when members couldn’t make it to our events.

Our hosts have also seen amazing results from hosting our events too.  One sales manager reported back to us that our tweets on the night of the event had a reach of 80,000 Twitter users.

We think our group is amazing and so far we have over 70 members. If you want more information or would like to join you can find more information on our website here.

If you are a venue who would like to host one of our events you can email us here! 

The Royal Exchange

Leave a comment

On Tuesday, we held our first event of 2016 at The Royal Exchange, kindly hosted by D&D.
​To be fair it’s pretty cold right now and we were worried we may loose a few members whom would rather head home to don their pyjamas but alas, our members are loyal and we had 13 in total.

On arrival at the Royal Exchange, our gracious hosts offered a rum punch to keep us warm before a tour of the fabulous event spaces at. The main spaces consist of The Gallery (private dining rooms) which accommodate 26 seated/50 standing, The Mezzanine Lounge (50 to 200 standing), The Courtyard (450 standing) and then the whole venue on offer as exclusive use ( 350 seated or 1000 standing).IMG_0084

The main event space would suit a fab drinks reception. I held a 1920’s speak easy event there a few years ago and it worked really well. The venue recommended a jazz band that accommodated the space perfectly and we themed it to suit.

Being dry January and all, we only had 3 glasses of wine each (very well behaved) and dined on some very tasty canapés and bowl food. One of the bowls was saffron risotto and I’ve been raving about it ever since. IMG_0082

It was a pretty good start to the networking groups’ year. We love the Royal Exchange and our members do to.
If you need any further information on The Royal Exchange or any of the D&D venues you can contact them here.

If your reading this thinking “how do I join such an amazing networking group” fear not, you can, by contacting us here!