The ash cloud looms...

I don’t generally believe in good or bad luck but this bloomin ash cloud is back again just in time for another of my spring time trips abroad!  Currently sat in some depressing Comfort Inn hotel (no offence to the word hotel intended) near Heathrow I am starting to get some depressing and fear inducing flashbacks of last year!  Add Newcastle’s failure to see out a 3-0 lead with 30minutes to go yesterday to that and I am starting to feel bad luck is my friend!

Upon leaving the office a couple of minor airlines had cancelled flights, by the time I had arrived and eaten my starter KLM had announced the cancellation of some of their flights!  A cold sweat has definitely started to spread...!

Now I am sure Lufthansa flights will be fine in the morning and I am sure I will make it to IMEX in time for the first of my scheduled meetings.  Returning on the other hand I’m a tad less confident!  Financially getting stuck this time would be a lot easier, for two reasons – firstly it is a work trip and the joy of work expenses will save the day; secondly I’m travelling as a guest of Hilton hotels and therefore they’d cover the cost of extra room nights / alternative travel plans, etc.  However being stuck in Frankfurt when one of my clients – Revolution Events – are involved in 19 events over the next 6 weeks would not be ideal (perhaps that is an understatement).

The amount of work we – Connect Events – have on in the next few weeks is intense and being stuck abroad wouldn’t help; however on the positive side I suppose it would give us a good chance to test our ‘cloud’ facilities!  Not really sure what that sentence means but we have virtualised servers and access to a high capacity dropbox account (that is cloud in our books).  Perhaps it is a good thing then...?  To be honest the word ‘no’ doesn’t do that question justice! 

One thing is for certain and that is that it isn’t worth stressing or worrying about – I learnt that during the last cloud experience!  We can’t help it; if the airlines decide not to fly because ash settling in their engines may cause their planes to crash I am certainly not going to suggest they stop acting like idiots and get the planes in the sky!  If someone with a lot more knowledge than me decides to ground the entire European airspace (again) for 1, 3, 6 or 10 days me (and others getting angry) will make zero difference and just escalate the stress of the situation! 

With that in mind I think I’ll have another shandy (or 2)...and just hope I won’t be writing the next blog from Heathrow Terminal 1 waiting lounge or worse from a train seat somewhere between Frankfurt and London!

PS
Writing an blog which brings back animated memories isn’t advisable in a busy hotel bar judging by some of the looks my various grimaces and smiles have received J

www.connectevents.co.uk

Cold calling...good or bad?

Perhaps it’s not as black or white as the topic of this blog suggests but is it actually a successful way of winning new business, contracting sponsors, attracting delegates and so on? 

Being from an ops background I rarely got involved in cold calling potential clients / sponsors / delegates in my previous role but it is something that I had to get to grips with quickly upon setting up Connect Events and to be completely honest I’ve found it difficult.  I have a great deal of confidence in the services we offer to our clients and I am in no doubt that there are a lot of events being run that could be better if we were involved.  However if, when you call someone out of the blue to offer your services, you are told their events are already managed you can hardly turn round and say “well they could be better if we were involved” – or can you?! 

Very few of the cold calls (or indeed emails) I’ve sent out are successful – perhaps it’s my style rather than the nature of the communication that is the issue – and all of the clients / interest Connect has received has come through word of mouth, recommendation, personal introduction, etc.  I think the reason for that is mainly because they have a reason to want to use your services, rather than a feeling of almost being pressured into. 

Given that is cold calling an approach that could soon be dying out?!  Simple answer is no.  Despite its failings and often impolite responses cold calling provides the best way of contacting a large number of potential clients...something that is invaluable in the events industry.  Take this approach out of the sales environment and you lose a great number of opportunities to get that extra piece of vital business. 

The growth of email has a sales (and marketing) tool over the past few years has of course added an extra level to cold calling potential targets...at least that way there is a chance your call will not be a complete surprise to them.  Of course for all the rejections received all it needs is one yes and all that frustration becomes worth while.

Is cold calling good or bad?  Well to be honest (and sit on the fence) it is a bit of both.  It has its drawbacks and definite negatives but in the ultra competitive events market you can’t survive without it.  One thing we at Connect Events have learnt is if you’re no good at it employ a specialist – the cost is worthwhile when potentials are turned into contracts.

www.connectevents.co.uk

The Royal Wedding...an event to behold!

Let’s get the unpatriotic element out of the way first – I did not watch the Royal Wedding on Friday; in fact to be completely honest I arranged a round of golf* on the day purposely to avoid watching it.  The reason I did this is not because I am an anti-royalist but because the level, amount and type of coverage was slightly nauseating (although 24m in the UK and 2bn across the globe disagree with me). 

I did, however, watch the edited version on the news that evening – almost a Match of the Day style segment, with the best and worst bits shown.  Having seen this and chatted to numerous colleagues, friends and family it is clear that it was a fantastic day and probably the most ‘normal’ Royal Wedding in history.

Being a member of the Royal Family on days such as this must be a real challenge.  The amount of focus on all individuals involved leaves no room for error or mistake from any, which I guess is why they had the reception behind closed doors, i.e. no press or public eyes!  The press in the UK may disagree with me but the lack of privacy those in the public eye receive today is a disgrace; I appreciate we have a right to know when something major is happening but there is no need for us to know half of what the press (particular the tabloids / rag mags – Heat I am talking about you) tell us.  Despite it being the happiest day of their lives I am sure that if Kate Middleton had worn a dress that looked awful the press would have been blunt in the extreme when telling us.  Rant over

Anyway, onto the main point of this blog...the Royal Wedding as an event.  Watching the news and reading the papers the next day through the eyes of an event organiser I was greatly impressed and a tad inspired by the clockwork precision with which the day was organised.  A wedding is never an easy event to organise (hence most wedding planners are crazy – in a good way, usually) but on this sort of scale both in terms of guests and public interest the phrase ‘a hard event to organise’ doesn’t really do it justice. 

Just a quick glance at the numbers involved emphasises what a monumentally tough event it was to organise.  Those involved in the planning of this ‘event’ didn’t just need to consider all elements directly linked but also all those external elements, i.e. the 1million people lining the wedding parade route and media interest (more than 8,000 were in London covering the wedding).  According to the statistics there were 5,000 police and 130 street cleaners on duty in central London, 5,500 requests for road closures (for street parties) across the UK and 10,000 canapes served at the lunch reception.  Mind boggling numbers – can you imagine the catering bill?!  Clearly the lack of need for a budget greatly helped the Royal Wedding (emphasised by the estimated cost of policing, preparation and cleaning up being £10m)!

All involved at Connect Events would love to have a budget even 10% of that figure...as I am sure many other organisers would!  Regardless of the cost though the day appears to have been a great success both in terms of a wedding and an event, which at the end of the day is all that matters.  The UK does do this type of day better than any other country in the world.  Be it an occasion to celebrate or commiserate the British Public take the event in question to their hearts and turn out in their millions to show their support, which of course adds to the difficulty of organising such an event.  However seeing the public turn up in their droves to support events that are important to our country is a great site to see and it is for that reason that I do have a tinge of regret over playing golf rather than watching the spectacle that was the Royal Wedding.

* For those interested my brother and I won 3 & 2 in the golf so the day wasn’t completely wasted...

http://www.connectevents.co.uk/