Reacquainted with Oxley - by Lisa Wood

I recently took a trip down memory lane and visited Oxley Hall with my colleague Natalie Ruecroft (AKA Ginger).  I used to be the Assistant Hall Manager at Oxley Hall some 16 years ago and I must say I felt like a queen living, and working, in such a beautiful hall.  What a way to start my University career!

Working in the central sales office we have recently had a number of new enquiries for Oxley, hence our visit to introduce Natalie to the hall, and for myself to be reacquainted with the venue that kick-started my career.

I have fond memories of Oxley and the lovely surroundings. There are new flats in the grounds now as well as the main hall bedrooms, enhancing the selling opportunities – perfect for my current role!

Since visiting I have already secured a hockey camp booking for the Hall (ideal with it being next to Weetwood playing fields that are managed by the University’s sports department) and potentially a government booking at the venue also.

Post by MEETinLEEDS.

Knowing the Hall as I do I am confident that they will all have a fantastic stay and that they’ll all enjoy a real Oxley Hall welcome!

Oxley Hall is our #venueofthemonth for February.  You can find out more about Oxley Hall at www.meetinleeds.co.uk/oxleyresidences

Our Big Day! - by Natalie Ruecroft

As you've no doubt read already, September 1st 2013 saw the University of Leeds host its very first wedding fayre at Devonshire Hall.

This was a project that the sales and marketing team had begun working on only 3 weeks prior to the fayre taking place so needless to say, those 3 weeks were jammed packed with planning and also excitement! Who doesn't love a good wedding?!

The lead up to our very own big day saw new MEETinLEEDS web pages created, regular tweets and Facebook statuses and an advertising campaign taken out with the Yorkshire Post. One of the newspaper adverts even featured an interview from yours truly – a very proud moment for my mother I'm sure!

The day itself was a huge success. With over 40 brides in attendance, wedding cars displayed in the courtyard, the live band playing and the foyer filled with exhibitors the day had a fantastic atmosphere. It
really was a brilliant day that everyone enjoyed, including the MEETinLEEDS staff who dressed up for the occasion complete with button holes and corsages courtesy of our exhibiting florist.

As a result of the fayre so far we have 3 happily confirmed brides and more enquiries in the pipeline waiting to confirm The University of Leeds’ very own Devonshire Hall as their dream wedding venue.

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.

Top Conference Sales Team - by Richard Handscombe

Teamwork is defined as “the combined action of a group of people, especially when effective and efficient” (Oxford Dictionary).

In my earlier years in business I worked in several teams that would struggle hard to justify that definition.  In fact, I’d go so far as suggesting that effective and efficient are words that struggled to exist until at least the 1990's!  But today's world demands levels of effectiveness and efficiency far ahead of where we were in the last century.

Thankfully since then I have worked in, and led, some fantastic sales teams, none more so than my current sales and marketing team here at MEETinLEEDS, to whom I’d like to introduce you.

In the picture (l to r) are:

• Lisa (Woody) Wood, Conferences Sales Exec extraordinaire, dressed today in black but with an incredibly colourful personality that fills the office with fun.
• Matt (Dot Com) Hamnett, who speaks fluent cyberspeak and operates silently and black magically to bring us to prominence in the online world
• Natalie (Ginger) Ruecroft, Conference Sales Executive, whose natural flair for comedy keep us enthralled as she determinedly closes business.

Missing from the picture is our Sales Manager, Harriet (“H”) Boatwright, currently on maternity leave, and whose vast knowledge and skill we look forward to regaining toward the end of the year.

Finally, also missing from the picture is Ryan (Ry-Ry) Johnson, a practitioner of the Barnsley accent, and promoter of good coffee, who parachuted into our team to assist in Harriet’s absence.

The skills and personalities embodied in the above team come together in a really great way.  In sales, first impressions are everything and we're totally confident on this score.  So, when looking for your next venue, why not give us a call and experience the “Leeds Hug”?

My first conference as a delegate! - by Natalie Ruecroft

November 2nd-4th 2011 saw me attend my first Venuemasters conference (also my first ever conference!) in the beautiful, but freezing cold, city of Edinburgh. The cold didn't bother me that much as I spent most of my time indoors drinking tea or sparkling wine!

I’d just like to say:
Firstly: what a fantastic conference! Plenty of great speakers and a chance to mingle with fellow academic venue conference sales types.
Secondly: What a beautiful city Edinburgh is.  Not quite as good as Leeds (obviously!!) but full of very welcoming people who made our stay very comfortable.

The conference really was great, it provided really useful workshops throughout the day and a chance to relax and meet new friends in the evening. Also a chance to dress up as Bonnie and Clyde with my favourite Head of Sales and Marketing, Richard Handscombe.

I took away some great sales tips and advice, especially from Adrian Webster who delivered a humorous, highly energetic and, at times, emotional speech on delivering extraordinary customer service. In fact, his TNT (tiny noticeable things) idea has spurred me on to add a little personal touch to my ‘Getting Venue Finding Agencies to Book Leeds’ campaign!
 
I am currently in the process of handwriting very attractive and glittery Christmas cards to each of the agents who have used us and thanking them for choosing the University of Leeds. I did contemplate sending a photograph of myself with a beard saying "Ho, Ho, Ho" but decided against this!

Merry Christmas everyone!

First Agency Fam Trip Goes Down a Storm - by Natalie Ruecroft

November 26^th saw Richard and I host Leeds University’s first ever agency fam trip. The purpose of this trip was for us to show off everything that the University has to offer when it comes to conference and events.

Outside Leeds Town Hall

Five agents joined us on our weekend of wine tasting, sight seeing and fine dining. Needless to say, the guests were extremely impressed with our facilities and even more impressed with our prices!

As hard as I tried to make a good impression it was Storm Jameson Court that stole the show.  I think our guests found it hard to believe that such high standard of accommodation was:

a) Student accommodation and 

b) Available to conference delegates at such a competitive price. 

With its 24hr reception, stylish rooms and larger beds, I think we can safely say that Storm Jameson Court will be an important part of our future!

A big thank you to all that helped put the trip together, it was a huge success and we will now hopefully see the enquiries start rolling in! 

We Know How to Throw a Fam Trip (& cook corned beef hash!) - by Natalie Ruecroft

I’ve learnt a lot whilst I’ve been working for Richard Handscombe, our Head of Sales & Marketing.  Last week he taught me two things: firstly, how to make Corned Beef Hash and secondly, that the chef in the Teppanyaki restaurant doesn’t throw the Egg Fried Rice into your mouth, just pieces of sliced potato!  I’m hoping that over the next few months I’ll learn a lot more, specifically about Event Booking Agencies.

‘Let’s tackle agencies’ Mr Handscombe said to me shortly after I started my role here in the Conference Sales Office.

‘Venue finding agencies play a huge part in the Conference and Events industry and we need to make sure that the University of Leeds is a venue that agencies are aware of. Let’s invite them to the city and show them what we can offer!’

A great idea, I thought, from my Head of Sales and Marketing. This is going to be a fun project that I can really get my teeth into (much like the Corned Beef Hash) – I’m looking forward to this!

The plan is to host a ‘weekend break’ for agency staff where Richard and I will show the guests around the city of Leeds and also give them a tour of our impressive campus meeting space. A tour of our brand new accommodation development Storm Jameson Court will also be on the cards. With overnight accommodation being offered at Weetwood Hall, a deluxe 4star property owned by the University and lunch at one of Leeds’ fine restaurants, I’m sure we’ll get a fair few people interested!

We’ll be putting the final details together pretty soon so invites will be sent out in the next month or so. Exciting!

The main aim of this project is to put our University on the ‘agency map’ and make the University of Leeds the first place agents think of when looking for a conference or event venue in Leeds. I’ll be working pretty closely with Richard on this project as he has many years of experience working with agencies – I’m hoping that he’ll pass some of this knowledge on to me!