At your Service - by Richard Handscombe

Rumour has it that the recession is over and recovery has begun!  This may be so, but in the events market it’s still a fact that there is an over-abundance of suppliers and therefore a massive choice – a buyer’s market.

When retail shopping, we tend not to compare products with products – we compare experiences, and this in the end guides where we shop.  As venues, it’s hard to resist “bigging up” our décor and audio-visual facilities as “state-of-the-art”, but in reality, buyers now simply expect top quality facilities in any venue.

The two main deciders in the conference market have historically been location and price, and the former is often a combination of geographical, micro- and macro-location.  At first glance, if a potential customer states that the destination they want is for instance Liverpool, and we are in Leeds, the location seems hard to counter in a sales context.  And also, in this over-supplied market, price can be tough to beat.  This is where differentiation can play a major part, and there are two key differentiators – innovation and service. The experience.

To work to advantage, innovation needs to be creative and constant, because, given the speed of modern communications and mass connectivity, competitor copying can occur instantly.  Overnight change is a reality we have to live with.

Excellent service gives us the edge, and if we get it right, can overcome both location and price challenges.  I have even experienced examples myself, where good service has even overcome product quality issues!  I gave one particular Leeds restaurant - which shall be nameless - a second chance, due to fantastic service, even though the quality of the meal was dire.  Suffice it to say that they won’t be getting a third chance regardless of the service!

There’s an old adage that people buy people, indeed in some cases people are the ONLY experience, for example many products bought from visits by trusted sales reps. Customers will also buy trusted brands without even trying them first.  But service is also a major factor in many successful top brands, eg M&S, Prêt á Manger, John Lewis.  Once this close association of service, quality and brand becomes complete you’re flying.  The idea behind the marketing of these companies is to induce “loyalty beyond reason”. The creation of loyal customers who don’t quite realise why.

It’s very similar to LOVE. 

Brands that have this have actually been called “Lovemarks” (Saatchi & Saatchi).

At the heart of a strong brand, will be a great experience, and at the heart of that are people.

Success needs people who are committed, creative, engaging, professional, pleasant, caring, competitive, enthusiastic, conscientious, and saleable (phew!).  Commitment to providing good service needs to be strong Service delivery needs to be excellent, and the product great. Exactly our goals at MeetInLeeds.  No wonder our order books are filling!

Discovering Devonshire as a Wedding Venue - by Ryan Johnson

Over the past few months we've been working hard on a new project that has added an extra dimension to the event facilities we can offer: weddings!  Whilst the University has hosted these special days in the past this is the first time that MEETinLEEDS will have hosted a wedding fayre.

Devonshire Hall offers brides and grooms a beautiful and unique location to create their fairy-tale wedding and will be the scene for our first Wedding Fayre this Sunday September 1st.

The event is free to enter and takes place between 11am and 4pm and we think it’s the perfect opportunity to see the venue in all its splendour, as well as offering the opportunity for couples to find inspiration as they meet a number of our hand-picked wedding suppliers.

A champagne reception will be the start of the experience where brides and grooms-to-be can view wedding cars in the courtyard, listen to the live band playing throughout the day and speak to the exhibitors including cake designers, florists, a photographer and wedding venue dresser as well as stands with wedding gowns and a photo booth.

Should you choose to book an exhibitor for your wedding day, for your convenience all of the suppliers are located in Yorkshire.

During the wedding fayre people can picture themselves on their special day as they ascend the winding stone staircase, stand by the open fireplace and take a stroll through the picture-perfect courtyard and lawns.

Couples can also see Devonshire Hall dressed for an evening reception as well as meet our wedding team who will be on hand to help you plan your special day.

I've been working with Natalie Ruecroft, Sales Executive in our very own office, on this project and she’s really looking forward to showcasing the picturesque location. She said: “Devonshire Hall really is a hidden gem in Leeds and the fayre will showcase exactly what can be achieved here for that special day – in fact a one-stop wedding shop”.

The wedding fayre will be held at Devonshire Hall, Cumberland Road, Leeds, LS6 2EQ on Sunday September 1 between 11am and 4pm.


For more details visit the website at www.meetinleeds.co.uk/weddings, visit the Facebook page at www.facebook.com/meetinleeds or follow on Twitter @meetinleeds and use the hashtag #wedinleeds.

The University of Leeds is taking bookings now for 2014 onwards for June to September and the Christmas period. University term-time dates are unavailable.

You say jump, we say: how high? - by Ryan Johnson

They say that in order to succeed, any endeavour must adhere to the "5 P’s": planning and preparation prevent poor performance. In my house, this included an additional, colloquial, "P", and was often accompanied by "fail to prepare, prepare to fail" (my family is fond of appropriating slogans).

These have stuck with me throughout the years, and have never served me better than during the last month.

As regular readers will be aware, I have parachuted into the Conference Sales Office to assist during the busy conference season. As part of my development period, I decided it would be beneficial to work a conference from the enquiry stage right through to the completion of the event.

Courtesy of Youth Sport Trust

The victim of my undivided attention was to be the Youth Sports Trusts’ “Lead Your Generation” event. The Youth Sports Trust is a charity devoted to changing young people’s lives through sport, and the event is their personal London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic legacy commitment. The University of Leeds is no stranger to the 2012 Olympics, having hosted the Chinese Olympians and the Canadian Wheelchair Rugby Team in their pre-games training camps.

This, however, was a different challenge: 200 young people participating in a range of activities, from Boccia (no, me neither until I read this) to an inspirational speech by Jonathan Edwards, Olympic Gold medallist, current World Record holder and former Sports Personality of the year.

Meet in Leeds was able to meet the challenge as we have a wide range of venues on campus. The facilities at the School of Music and the Exhibition Centre were absolutely perfect for the clients’ needs, yet also within walking distance from each other. This ensured the event ran smoothly, according to schedule and without any of our young delegates straying.

I also saw first-hand the fruition of the hard work that is done by our catering team, for whom no individual dietary requirement is a chore and no delegate unimportant, regardless of age or how many records they hold.

Courtesy of Youth Sport Trust

I now appreciate the vital role of the Event Manager, from ensuring Wi-Fi access is available (of paramount importance to any self-respecting 15 year old with tweeting to be done) to securing easy access parking for VIP’s (did I mention Jonathan Edwards was in attendance?). I think that, in familial tradition, I would coin the slogan "The best event managers are rarely seen, yet always available."

Our future sports themed challenge now is preparing for the July 2014 Yorkshire Grand Depart, hotels for which can be booked via our website now!

Find out more about events for under 18’s and what venues Meet in Leeds can offer you by contacting our super sales team .

What a difference a day makes - by Natasha Rahanu

The University of Leeds is a large and prestigious institution that attracts a variety of high profile visitors; quite recently we’ve hosted the Leader of the Labour Party, Ed Milliband and the High Sheriff of West Yorkshire, A E Grant Esq OBE.

Sometimes though, when your work and focus is on the operational side of events, the content can pass you by. 

You say Morris dancing, I say risk assessment?

You say swan ice sculpture, our survey says; will it fit in the lift?

That all changed when I met a man called Paul Garner.

Professor Garner holds the Cowdry Chair in the Department of Spanish & Portuguese and has recently written a book about his positions namesake, Lord Cowdry, who in the early 1900s became one of the wealthiest men in Britain, not least because the centre of his oil and engineering empire, was focused in Mexico.

Professor Garner celebrated his book launch with a week long exhibition of rare Mexican photographs in one of our venues, Parkinson Court, and a VIP reception which attracted the likes of the Vice-Chancellor of the University, the Lord Mayor and the Mexican Ambassador (on his first ever visit to Leeds).

The Court was transformed into a Mexican wonderland with palm trees, cacti, and tequila.  And the brightest star of the night: none other than our very own University catering.  In little more than 72 hours, we had created a Mexican oasis in the middle of Leeds and received high praise in two different languages!

On top of all this I have also managed to tick off three things I didn’t even know were on my ‘to do before I’m 30 list’:

• held a meeting about cacti with the British Cactus & Succulent Society (yes, they do exist – Google it!)
• ordered 70 shot glasses for non-personal use
• said ‘Hello;’ in Spanish to the Mexican Ambassador

So what did you do today?

Royal Wedding, Take Two!

Move over Wills & Kate, because this month our very own Natasha Lockwood, self titled ‘Royalty of Conferencing’ (see what we did there?) will be getting married to her fiancé Deepak Rahanu.

In a double ceremony, which involves two dresses and (more importantly) two cakes, Natasha will have a traditional English ‘White Wedding’ on 19^th May followed by an Indian ceremony on May 21^st.

So was it difficult to organise an event and keep true to both cultures involved? 

In a way it was, there are some elements which are so different between the two cultures, the dress is a perfect example.

As a little girl growing up I had dreamed of having the ‘Princess Diana’ big white dress and, though puffed shoulders are less fashionable and my train is not quite 25 feet, I was still adamant about holding onto that!

In Indian culture however, the traditional bridal colour is red, and the outfits (known as lenghas) are very heavy with intricate decoration. To add to this the jewellery is just as big and ornate.  Wearing everything together is not only a test of my strength but it seems very over the top for me, as it’s not like anything I have worn previously.

I do feel really lucky though to have the opportunity to spread my wedding over three days and have two different bridal outfits as well!

Other issues are more easily solved however:  you can’t go far wrong mixing Indian meals with English cake for afters, and no one is going to complain about Banghra & Bacardi! 

Are you nervous or excited?

Because I’m an Event Organiser myself I’ve felt for quite a while that I’ve been planning this for somebody else!  It’s often the case, as with a lot of the larger conferences we hold, that when you've been working on an event for so long, it feels strange when it actually happens. 

I have had many well wishes from all my colleagues though, so I’m very grateful for that – I’m sure I’ll be excited very soon!

I will return to work on 6^th June as Natasha Rahanu (n.rahanu@adm.leeds.ac.uk) with more ideas on how we can bring the best out of your event!

...................................................................................................

We’ll be posting pictures of Natasha’s dresses on this blog so check back soon and let us know which one you prefer in the comments!

Socially Adept - by Matt Hamnett

For a conference sales office at a major UK university we like to think of ourselves as a sociable, friendly and interesting group of people who will go out of our way to help our customers. For those of you who have been keeping up with this blog I hope that this has come across well: perhaps we’ve helped you manage your event, understand your competition or even cater for your in-laws?!

In order to show everybody just how sociable and helpful we are we use a number of very different online tools; we have a YouTube channel, a news page, a Flickr account, a regular email newsletter and of course this blog. 

All of these have been fantastic ways to keep in contact with our growing number of customers but it is our twitter account that has seen the most online progress.

Just recently we’ve moved past the 500 followers mark. Ok, we’ll never be a Stephen Fry or Justin Bieber, but seeing as we rarely promote ourselves on twitter we’re very pleased to have made an impression on so many people.

To satisfy this demand for more information on our venues and services, and in order to reach out to a different audience, we’ve developed a Facebook page.

We’re interested to see where this latest social space will take us and we hope you will join us by liking our Facebook page.

Would you invite a Chef to a dinner party? - by Natasha Lockwood

No, of course you wouldn’t. Why? Because it’s not healthy for anyone concerned.

It’s not healthy for you because before you have even said "entrees" they’ll have produced a whisk and whipped up a delicious Fresh Fruit Pavlova (where did they get the eggs from!?) that puts your ‘Angel Delight served in Martini Glasses’ to shame.

It’s not healthy for them either: the minute they spy you emerging from the kitchen with your ‘Pate on Toast’ starter the evening is a write-off and the only logical course of action is for them to protect their taste buds by getting in the kitchen and doing the job themselves.

Which leaves me to wonder... as an event planner in training (a bit like a Jedi, but without the light sabre), is it really healthy for me to be organising my own wedding?

If I were to place an advert in the local newspaper for an Event Manager tomorrow, it would look something like this:
The candidate must be
• Organised
• Mildly telapathic
• Very, very paranoid. All the time. About everything.

One phrase you will never hear an Event Manager say is “I assume”, because we don’t. Ever.

Everyone in my office possesses the qualities required to be an Event Manager; they are experienced fountains of knowledge and wisdom, kind of like Yoda.

On the one hand it makes me proud to be part of this team, and to know we do a fantastic job.  On the other hand it makes me feel very sick; because if we are the 'Yoda' of event management, then the Event Manager of my wedding is definitely the opposite of this, or ‘Oppoyoda’, if you will.

From the very first email, on which I was instructed to go on to ‘Google Maps’ to find their venue, I knew that this was not going to be easy.  Bad quickly went to worse when, on the food tasting, I mentioned that in a room full of 350 people there was bound to be at least one vegetarian/dairy free/low fat/Atkins diet/don’t like tomato/chocoholic – who would probably only make their preferences known on the day. I received a blank, open mouthed, gaze in return.

I had also naively thought that we would receive a show round of the venue on our first meeting, as is common practise here. Wrong again. Not only did Oppoyoda neither offer or arrange a show round, they actually suggested that I do it myself, direct with the venue, as it wasn't their department.

Sometimes I forget how very lucky we are here to have a fantastic marketing, conference and catering department, all under one roof.  Who, funnily enough, we communicate with daily.

Several weeks later, tired of waiting around for Oppoyoda to reply to my messages regarding the venue contact, I took matters into my own hands and found the right person myself. Having arranged my own show round I re-contacted Oppoyoda to request his presence, to which he had the audacity to accuse me of going behind his back on the matter, further adding that he would have to check his diary for availability.

Is it any wonder I need something stronger than Angel Delight - where did I put those Martini Glasses?

Angel for a Day - by Natasha Lockwood

Have you ever found a £20 note on the pavement? At first it feels really good and exiting, but then after a while you start to feel guilty that you have received something you don’t deserve.

Richard (aka Charlie) and me, being an Angel

This, I've learnt, is similar to the feeling when you accept praise from friends and family, because they’ve seen a picture of you in a nice dress collecting an award for something that wasn’t really your work!  Here’s the picture, and the story to accompany it, of how I became an angel for a day.

Let me first set the scene. In our Conferencing department we have a Sales & Marketing office and an Operations office. The difference between the two is quite clear (I usually work on the operational side); you would be able to distinguish us as we have been known to have chipped nail varnish, often get covered in random substances such as paint or pollen, and have occasionally stepped in to become cloakroom attendants or even waiters. I like to think of us as the engine of a car, everything needs to work well and efficiently in order to run, but you wouldn’t necessarily want to see it!

If  we are the engine, then the Sales & Marketing office is the sleek bodywork of the Audi TT!  When I walk into the office I often think I can hear music, but that could just be me.  The brains of the operation is Richard (aka Charlie) also pictured, but as the saying goes, behind every good man is a good woman – or in his case three.

Harriet, Lisa & Natalie are definitely the Angels to his Charlie, each one more glamorous than the one before; these ladies have never been seen with lipstick on their teeth or ladders in their tights.  Even in the snow they still manage to glide into work in 4 inch heels. Apart from making men want them and women want to be them, they also happen to be very good at what they do. With honey toned voices they accept and deal with all range of enquiries in a polite and prompt manner, hence how I got into my little predicament.

 

These ladies are so capable they managed to bag themselves second prize in the Venuemasters Mystery Shopping Award – for those who don’t know, this is when someone rings up claiming to be a potential client with a fabricated enquiry in order to score us on how well we deal with this, from the initial call to the follow up.

One maternity leave and one holiday later, Charlie was down to just one angel on site, meaning he needed a stand in accomplice for the Venuemasters Annual Conference.  This is where I come in.  Knowing I had to look the part, I packed my most glamorous evening gown and glittery heels and spent the day networking, trying my best to do what I have seen the Angels do so many times before. Then we come to the evening, where winners were announced, and the prizes were doled out, and this, my friends, is how I ended up getting pictured in a nice dress,  receiving a prize which I had not really earned, and how I got to be an Angel for a day.

An Indiana Jones Boulder Rolling Towards You... by Paul Ellingham

I was speaking with a conference organiser, one of our Sociology academics, the other week whilst we were getting everything ready for their event and he told me something that a senior colleague had told him about organising an academic conference:

"So, I hear you're running your first conference; just think of it this way: there's a huge, Indiana-Jones-style boulder rolling down a hill directly towards you and one day it WILL crash home!"

He post-scripted these cheering words with:

"and when it hits, don't forget you set that boulder rolling!"

I like to think of the Conference & Events Office as the brakes to lessen the impact of the boulder, or maybe a better description is that we take a big chunk of boulder away and deal with it, so there's just a small pebble left to catch!

Find out more about our Event Management or email our team for more information.