03/2018

Following the news that Clean the World has appointed Emma Cartmell as a UK ambassador, we caught up with their chief sustainability officer and executive director for Canada and Europe, Pierre Daigneaut:

What is Clean the World?

“Clean the World is an organisation that was set up with a two part mission: to reduce the waste created by discarded soap and shampoo products; and to prevent the millions of deaths caused by hygiene related illnesses every year. We achieve this by working with hotels across the globe to collect their waste soap and shampoo products. We recycle them through a third-party tested and approved sanitization process and then we distribute the repurposed soap worldwide through non-governmental partnerships and to domestic homeless shelters.”

Why have you joined forces with Emma Cartmell and CHS Group

“We currently work with over 5000 hotels across the globe, but only 20 in the UK and Ireland, so we are really keen to see more UK hotels join our programme.

“Emma and her team have a great presence in the UK that we can tap in to. They work with all the key industry associations, booking agents and venue finders. They also have a huge network of venues – especially the independent ones that would be harder for us to find and make contact with. CHS will be helping us spread the word to venues to encourage them to get on board, and also to their network of venue finders and event buyers who, once aware of the programme, can drive it from the other side and encourage their venues to become part of the programme.”

What can hotels do to help?

“Sign up! It’s an easy process, with a monthly fee that is based on the number of rooms in the property. A hotel simply completes the registration form, we send them some bins and they start to collect their discarded soaps and plastic shampoo bottles. When the bins are halfway full, we provide them with UPS shipping labels and new bins.

“It’s a great CSR benefit and one that venues should be really proud to promote. Being part of the programme gives venues the edge and a great point of difference to their competitors.

“More and more corporate companies are asking for green, sustainable events and this is one way in which a hotel can comply.”

What can event organisers do to help?

“Event organisers can help in so many ways – firstly they can ask their venues if they are part of the programme, and if not, why not! As event organisers start asking their venues about the programme, awareness grows and more and more venues will be encouraged to sign up.

“Event organisers can also pay a one off fee for their chosen hotel to be part of the programme for a month – whilst their event is being held. Finally, organisers could incorporate a ‘hygiene pack’ building session as a team building element of their event. We supply boxes of products and then the delegates create an assembly line and create the packs. It’s a brilliant activity and a great way for teams to work together. We see teams get very competitive and have loads of fun whilst creating something they know is really worthwhile and will have a lasting impact. How many other teambuilding activities could actually save someone’s life?”

The Meetings Show has strengthened its hosted buyer team ahead of the sixth edition of the show on 27 & 28 June 2018, with two new managers joining from fellow Centaur Media event The Business Travel Show.

Della Penfold joins as hosted buyer programme manager, with responsibility for recruitment of hosted buyers and group coordinators, after three years working on The Business Travel Show and with more than eight years’ experience in sales. Della also brings a team of four telemarketers to work on The Meetings Show, in the lead-up to this year’s event.

Graham Angus will be taking on the role of hosted buyer manager to lead on the logistics of the programme, having held the same role on The Business Travel Show for the past six years.

The strengthening of the hosted buyer team comes as the show is forecasting its highest number of hosted buyer applications to date. A new two-day format, with more streamlined attendance options has so far resulted in a 38% increase year-on-year in applications since registration opened in February.

The Meetings Show has also grown its commercial team, with the appointment of Brett Dempsey as international account manager and the promotions of Ross Barker to commercial director and Jack Marczewski to account director.

Brett brings six years of international sales experience in exhibitions, while the promotions of Ross and Jack follow the most commercially successful Meetings Show to date in 2017.

The leading event for the UK inbound and outbound meetings industry, The Meetings Show will welcome more than 2,000 visitors and over 700 exhibitors for the two-day event at Olympia London on 27 & 28 June.

For more information, visit www.themeetingsshow.co.uk. 

The importance of venues with a strong brand alignment is becoming increasingly popular among event organisers according to a report by Twickenham Experience Limited released today. The paper reports on the outcomes of a focus group consisting of both agency staff and corporate brands and business, run by Twickenham Experience Limited in partnership with The Live Group. 

The main findings underlined the importance of brand alignment in venue selection, both to attract delegates, create complementary social programmes, and show an additional level of care from the organiser to their guests. The consensus was that brand alignment could come on different levels, from the venue’s reputation outside of the industry, to the emotional connotations of the organisation.

“This isn’t just about connecting to the venue – in this case Twickenham – or even rugby or England Rugby; it’s about drawing on the emotional connotations, again in this case teamwork or leadership,” commented Marcus Naef, Commercial Director, The Live Group, during the session.

“Brand is everything to us. The main priority is to make sure the venue is physically capable of hosting the meeting, after that it’s all about the brand alignment we can connect to,” commented Nilu Karavadra, Marketing Director, EMEA, Aveva, who also sat within the focus group. “These specialist venues help us attract more delegates, not just because of the wow factor, but because they (delegates) know there are attractions both within the venue and in the surrounding area that they can see pre-and post the meeting. This is especially important for international guests.”

The report also touched on the importance of the wider destination infrastructure as a big part of venue selection, but also that there was still work to be done in terms of raising the profile of stadia as meetings and events options and not just corporate hospitality.

“The report is really interesting to us; it endorses some of the many strong points about our venue and the wider sporting venue sector, but it also shows us we still have a way to go in being the first port of call for event organisers that want more for their event and for their delegations,” commented Nils Braude, Catering & Conference Events Director, Twickenham Experience Limited.

To read the full report click here.

Conference, training and leisure venue Wyboston Lakes Resort has further reinforced its status as an industry leader by earning the Bronze at the coveted M&IT Awards in the Best UK Management Training Centre category.

The M&IT Awards are particularly highly coveted and competitive in the industry because they are decided by the votes of over 1200 Meetings & Incentive Travel magazine readers who include many clients of the venue. The criteria for their judgement include standards of excellence, quality of service and creative flair.

Managing Director Mark Jones says: “This is a tremendous achievement and wonderful recognition of the commitment of our whole team to delivering the highest standards at all times.

“We are dedicated to providing the ultimate training environment and service for our clients, with the latest in learning and development facilities helping to ensure that every event held at our venue is highly productive and a superb experience for everyone taking part.’’

Mark continues: “Following our recent achievement in being recognised as one of The Sunday Times ‘100 Best Companies to work for’ for the fifth consecutive year, this latest accolade has further boosted staff morale and added to an exciting start to 2018.”

The MIT Awards were held at the Battersea Evolution on 2 March.

While Wyboston Lakes Resort has been established for many years as the UK’s largest privately owned single site specialist venue, the quality of its facilities and overall services has been recently and consistently enhanced through a comprehensive multi million investment programme. Its two-residential conference and training venues, the Wyboston Lakes Executive Centre and the Wyboston Lakes Training Centre, have been extensively improved to enable the company to offer a uniquely wide choice of facilities, services and delegate packages for conferences, meetings and training events.

Users of both venues benefit from sector leading 1.3 GB broadband network, believed to be the most powerful available in any specialist conference venue in the UK. The improved broadband facility has brought a completely reliable Wi-Fi service in all working, residential and rest areas, which is free to all conference clients and delegates.

For more information, please visit www.wybostonlakes.co.uk/business