The Exams are over, it’s time to celebrate. But the school secretary already has more than enough on their plate.

To arrange a Prom for school leavers can be a lot of hard work. Firstly a venue needs to be sourced that will accept events with attendants of school leaver age- A lot of venues will accept a group of this age, however they will request that there is a certain number of responsible adults per a set number of children. They may insist that there be security on the door and tags or invites are shown for entry. Finding a venue to accept the group is the first hurdle, finding a venue that also suits the budget is the next- If the students will be paying for a ticket themselves the price point must be low to ensure a good turnout.

Picking the price range is key at the start so that plans can be made to ensure it is met. The main thing that is changeable is the catering- Thus ensuring that the event runs to the price point planned. From a full 5 course sit down meal, to a selection buffet, most venues will offer catering to suit the event itself. Once the catering is planned, this will allow for planning of the entertainment and any other special features. If the budget is more flexible, as with any event, the options for entertainment and decoration are endless. Themes can be great fun at a school leaver’s ball, as most attendants will be keen to be involved and get into the full swing of the theme. Themeing can be simple, from drapes and table linen, all the way down to the invites, glitter on tables, chair covers and entrance décor. (We have some trusted partners who could also be of use here!)

To take the time of making the most of the planning of the event itself, the best thing to do is make the most of the services of an event management company such as ourselves. At The Main Event, we can work on sourcing the venue itself, based on the requirements for the event allowing for the focus to remain on the smaller details. Using an event management company frees up a lot of time, ensuring all of the additional extras can be looked after. We are here to help. As with anything in life, you would not attempt to, or waste your time on a project where you are not experience in the field- so why would planning an event be any different? You would not try to fir a new bathroom, if you’re not a kitchen fitter. Our services are free of charge- so what is there to loose?

If you happen to know of a secretary, a school head teacher, a governor or students who needs assistance planning their school prom- why not send them our details?

We are proud be say we are great at what we do, we have fantastic feedback and clients come back to us again and again. We are experts in our field and feel we can add value with our knowledge and experience. So why would we let standards slip to try and offer additional services that are not our expertise? Well in a nutshell- we wouldn’t!

We work very hard to find valued, trusted partners to work alongside. So in times when clients are looking for something a little different, that we can not help with in the standards we would want to, we work with our trusted partners to recommend the highest range of options to suit.

Having trusted partners ensure we really can offer the one stop shop for event needs. It also allows us to develop an even greater understanding to some additional angles of event management- to look at more private bookings and social occasions.

We are constantly networking, getting out and about to meet professionals from within the events and hospitality industry- working hard on founding and building on valued relationships. There are a range of event agencies dotted around the country, each with their own individual style and way of working- however most are not networking on a regular basis- this is just one of many things that makes us different. We strive to ensure we offer an exceptional range of free services to our clients.

If you would like to know a little more about our trusted partners, have a look at the page on our website-

http://themaineventmanagement.co.uk/About%20Us/Trusted%20Partners/Trusted%20Partners.html

We deal with plenty of networking groups to know how important that first meal of the day is! Whether its a plated full cooked English breakfast or a nice continental buffet it’s a great way to get some quality business juices flowing at the start of any day.

We are able to assist networking groups, they often book regular meetings, which is a great base step for any rate negotiations. Plus, price brackets tend to be a little low, ands this can often be a sticking point with any venue- alot of decent hotels or conference centres would charge around £15.00 for a breakfast in their cafe area. So when you request a private room, additional servings of tea and coffee, flipcharts, screens, the rates can soon add up- that its where we help, we can add value to our clients buy finding them venues to suit based on their requirements.

So once you have found the perfect venue, how the breakfast is served can also impact how the meeting can run. Do you want the meeting to run uninterrupted? Would it be wise to think of a more relaxed catering option? Maybe bacon buttys on arrival for some open networking? Maybe a lighter option of fruits and juices in the summer? However, on some occasions, the break for food to be served could be very useful. If the session has a natural break, maybe time for a presentation or a guest speaker? The break can give time for the food to be served- a plated breakfast gives a much more structured and formal feel to the morning session, it just has to be served in an unintrusive and efficient manner to ensure it does not cause any disruption.

As with any plans for a meeting or seminar, the key is to think about the aims and objectives of the session. Once you know this that is where we can help! We can discuss smaller things which can have an impact to the event and see what will work best. At times the smaller things such as these may be overlooked, but we are here to ensure our clients make the very best of their time and by finding out their objects, we can sure they are fulfilled.

Well, the festivities are well and truly over and we are excited by what the New Year has in store.

The New Year is a great time to look back and reflect over our past year- and what a year it was for us. From a new and improved website to our accreditation with IATA and affiliation with Expedia for the 3^rd year running! It really was a fantastic year for us.

This New Year brings for us some more changes, with new offices in the South West, plus a new strategy with our marketing plan as we continue to expand our working relationships within the training and development sectors. We will be looking to build new relationships with more targeted trusted partners to ensure when our clients require a service that we do not offer we are able to recommend someone with confidence. We want to ensure we are really exceeding our clients expectations with our free service and really pushing the boundary’s of event management support.

We have taken the New year as an opportunity to send out a small survey to our key clients to see what really does matter the most to them. We take clients feedback incredibly seriously and are proud to currently be ranked Number 1 Event agency in the UK on FreeIndex thanks to all of our client’s kind reviews and testimonials.   

http://www.freeindex.co.uk/profile(the-main-event-management-company)_266537.htm

We look forward to continuing to work with some fantastic clients, partners, suppliers and colleague and also new faces as we move into2012!

Well, the office has been cleaned, the phones have been diverted, the computers are shutting down, looks like Christmas 2011 is fast approaching!

It seems a fitting time to reflect on what has been a fantastic year here at The Main Event.

http://themaineventmanagement.co.uk/index.html

Things have gone from strength to strength for us, from a new and improved website to our accreditation with IATA and affiliation with Expedia for the 3^rd year running. We have had a wonderful 12 months, picking some superb new clients up along the way.

As we close down for the Christmas break, now seems as good a time as any to say a huge THANK YOU to our clients for their custom and to our trusted partners and suppliers for their support during 2011- we look forward to continuing to work with you in the New Year.

Wishing you all a Happy, Healthy, Magical Christmas- speak to you all in 2012!

We are proud to announce we have just been awarded our third IATA TIDs accreditation! We are really happy to share this news with you all as this shows our consistent hard work paying off.

TIDs stands for Travel Industry Designated Service. It is a side membership of IATA-The International Air Transport Association- TIDs is used by agency’s that do not sell air travel and that specialise in accommodation and conference bookings.  This accreditation means that we can continue to use our IATA registration number, this number allows us to negotiate and book venues with complete ease. The number allows venues to search for our details, showing all data corresponding to our agency- from the amount of bookings placed with a particular venue, or a complete chain.  This simplified services means an enquiry can be dealt with allot more efficiently- saving our clients allot of time. The IATA number is great evidence to any venue of the type of bookings we make (on behalf of our clients) as an agency, allowing us to negotiate further.

Ok, so that’s great for us and the venues that we work with, but what does it mean to our clients? From our clients point of view, being a fully accredited agency, is like being a gas-fitter with the Gas-Safe Mark- it shows firstly we have the knowledge and experience to help them, it also shows that the venues support our work and they may be able to benefit from the relationships we have established with our venues and suppliers. To be able to gain our accreditation we must produce the following- Registration as a travel related business, bank statement and letters to support it and at least two letters of recommendations from recognised TIDs Supporters. (Such as Hilton Worldwide, Eurostar, Worldspan, Princess Cruises, intercontinental Hotels, Europcar, Continental Airlines etc) We are proud to say our letters of recommendation came from Hilton Hotels, Intercontinental Hotels and The Belfry Hotel and Conference Centre- UK headquarters of the PGA- This is great support to our clients to see we are backed and recommended by some truly fantastic company’s.

We are proud of the free services that we offer, however events such as gaining this accreditation today are great for us, as it supports everything that we do!

Are we successful?

This week we were asked to explain the best success story of our work. But how do you measure success?

So, a quick flick through the dictionary found the following-

success

1. the favorable or prosperous termination of attempts or endeavors.

2. the attainment of wealth, position, honors, or the like.

3. a successful performance or achievement: The play was an instant success.

4. a person or thing that is successful: She was a great success on the talk show.

5. Obsolete . outcome.

So on reflection – yes!

Reviewing the most recent enquiries, lets start at the beginning- the favourable termination of attempts or endeavours- We work alongside our clients attempting to find them the perfect venue for their event. This could involve a quote of up to 6 or 7 venues- all depending on what the client needs. The key is, we narrow these options down to find the venue that works best. We enquiry with all venues, so anything from a sports stadium to a conference centre, a hotel to a tourist attraction, as long as they have a room for hire they are included- we then narrow the search down based on the very best options. The client then narrows this down again, now they may wish to visit a venue beforehand, we can support them with that, until they have made a decision as to which venue to book- therefore terminating our endeavours as we have a successful outcome.

Next, attainment of honours- this can be viewed on two parts. Firstly our accreditations- from our affiliation with Expedia to our accreditation to IATA. Next, our client feedback and reviews- now although our accreditations support our knowledge and experience, our clients reviews matter much more. To hear such fantastic feedback again and again really means volumes and helps to really cement our success!

http://www.freeindex.co.uk/profile(the-main-event-management-company)_266537.htm

A successful achievement? Maybe arranging a gala dinner for Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research (Bristol) for their gala dinner this year (www.llrbristol.org.uk/buy-tickets) - where volunteers hours are precious and budgets and fundraising are key, our free services can really make a difference- The event tickets are selling out fast and it looks like the evening is going to be a real success!

Finally a person/thing that is successful- well as we head into our third year next year (yes there will be cake!) we see this as a great success. To start a business in a “Credit Crunch” can have its challenges- however the support and wonderful feedback makes every single day a success for us.

Last week we had a meeting with our regional sales manager from the Hilton Hotels group-and we are pleased to say there is a lot to report back!

Our regional manager covers the south west of the uk, from Cornwall over to Reading- however she reports to us all of the information and updates for the whole world wide group. We feel meetings such as this are what make us stand out from the competition. Even when things are busy in the office, we understand the importance of keeping up to date with our contacts, developing the relationships between venues, venue chains and our agency.

It looks like there will be another busy year ahead for the Hilton Chain. The first announcement to be made will be their recent purchase of the Mint Hotels Group (Formally City Inns) these hotels will either become Double Tree or Hampton Inns. This will add a range of well established city centre venues onto Hiltons ever increasing stock pile of venues. However this is just a drop in the ocean as we head into 2012. Hilton has a list of not only a range of currently properties to add to its portfolio; but also a structured list of new developments across the UK and into Europe.

Hilton have also been looking into ways to improve their offering to business professionals. From the hot cookies that awaiting your arrival at Doubletree by Hilton, to the improved Internet connections in all Hilton hotels that were previously on the I-Bahn system; they have upgraded up to BT which is bringing improved download and connections speeds, but also reduced charges for overnight guests and offer free internet access in all public areas. (This is currently being rolled out across the mentioned venues and should be completed by spring 2012.) They have also reviewed their current loyalty points offering for all guests. They now boast “Hilton Honours gets you to free nights faster than any other rewards program.” There are options to use points for overnight stays, you can share your points with friends and family on a gift card, even donate points to charitable causes through Hiltons Global Giving site (For every 10 points you donate, Hilton will exchange them to $1 donation.)Hilton are working hard to ensure they offer an ever improved package- after all, they have set a high bar for their venues, now it is about what else they are able to offer their guests.

We also had opportunities to feedback on their current Christmas packages- which include an All Inclusive Party Night in the Southwest. These we are a great hit last year; however seem to have had a little less pull this year with the increase of the rate charged per person. Hilton are already looking at the structure and planning for next year’s festive offers and we will update you on this as soon as we hear from them in the New Year.

As mentioned, we know it is key to up to date with all industry developments- we will keep you posted with the next set of end of year meetings we have- watch this space!

Have you heard about the latest products on the market? The Chocolate Tea Pot? The Motorbike ashtray? The thingamajig? No? Ah, well clearly their product launch nights did not meet their objectives.

Daily we are met with new enquiries and we feel if the increase of product launches are anything to go by things must be on the up! With a new product the key is to really create a buzz- a great example of a company who really does make the most of a product launch would be Apple. The buzz starts as soon as an announcement is made, and that’s the key. Its all about building up suspense, creating a talking point. Now that buzz has started and potential clients or partners are gaining interest, its key that the venue lives up to what is required. Now, venue may be the last point but it can really impact the event. With the range of venue available, why simply put up with a hotel or conference centre for a product launch? Why not look at the industry relevant venues? Whether it be a sports stadium, a media centre, a tourist attraction or an education centre. Most venues now hire out space, so surly to add to impact it would make sense to find a suitable venue that can add value to the event that can keep the theme consistent and support the objectives of the evening?

At The Main Event we work with our clients to ensure the venue fits with their values, their ideals and most of all it supports what they wish to achieve with their event.

We wanted to get in touch to make you aware of some important changes taking place here at The Main Event.

 We have had some wonderful reviews and feedback of late, and we have taken note as to what works well and of course we continue to strive to offer an excellent free service.

http://www.freeindex.co.uk/profile(the-main-event-management-company)_266537.htm

So, as we look at ways to try and improve our service even further we have implemented a couple of minor changes to make the process a little simpler.

 New System- We have a new internal system at the office which is a dedicated booking support tool- this will mean we can improve on our already speedy turnaround times, allowing you to make the most of your precious time.
New Contact details- We have put in place a new telephone service, offering around the clock telephone support. The new systems have a small menu when called, allowing for us to ensure we deal with your call in the most prompt and efficient way possible. The new system, also ensure that not only are all voice mails flagged up to us during out of office hours, we also have an email alerting us of the details to again ensure we deal with your request to the very highest of standard.
Updated Website- Our website is monitored and updated when and where ever possible, however we have made some major changes, including the new contacts details, updated review links and much more.

 So please do note this number down- 0844 310 3887 (Please note our current local number will also remain)
Our office is always manned, and we are here to help, do not hesitate to call!

As we continue to move forward we will of course keep you posted of any other changes and further developments. As a business currently ranked Number one in the UK (on FreeIndex) we will strive to maintain this achievement, working closely with our clients to offer the very best service and keep every improving to ensure we always impress!