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International Event Organisers Update (IEOU) is published monthly and is an information source circulated FREE to selected organisers and others interested in keeping abreast of development in the international event industry.
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Note: As a matter of policy International Event Organisers Update (IEOU) does not carry any 0870 telephone numbers in entries for the news or Announcements section of IEOU. This is because these numbers operate as covert premium rate lines – misleadingly called “national rate” by BT and others that sell them – and are charged at five or more times the current normal cost to dial a normal geographical UK number.
Readers are advised to visit www.saynoto0870.com for more information about this customer-unfriendly scam, and to ask all suppliers and potential suppliers to provide their normal, cheaper numbers.
Does the country you’re thinking of supporting with an event have an oppressive regime?
Specifically does their government violate basic human rights with imprisonment, disappearance, torture and execution? And should this aspect affect the decision of an organisation that simply wants to do some profitable business?
Many of our top business and political leaders think it shouldn’t, for strong monetary reasons but for those who want to believe that their support is going to a government that deserves it the Ethical Consumers Research Association (ECRA) has published a list of 18 countries which score high on human rights abuse. The listing is based on the number of “black marks” the government of the country pick up for specific abuses and is reproduced below.
8 marks - Sudan
7 marks - China
6 marks - Burma
5.5 marks - Burundi, Indonesia
5 marks - Cameroon, Cuba, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Laos, North Korea, Thailand
4.5 marks - Guatemala, Kuwait, Russia, Togo
4 marks - Belarus, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Côte d’Ivoire, Eritrea, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Philippines, Tajikistan, United Arab Emirates, United States of America, Vietnam, Zimbabwe.
According to Amnesty International the countries with the largest number of executions in 2004 were China with 3000+ Iran with 159, Vietnam with 64, USA with 59 and Saudi Arabia with 33.
Visit: www.ethicalconsumer.org
A £1.5 million grant from the British Treasury to the Holocaust Educational Trust will enable a lot more teachers and sixth-form students to visit Auschwitz. (Third Sector).
Currently 400 go every year from the trust’s Lessons from Auschwitz course but the grant will enable this number to rise to 6000.
Welcoming the money the trust’s chairman Lord Janner commented: “It’s crucial that the youth of today know all about the horrors of the past and do all in their power to join in the battle against racism”.
Meanwhile signs are that racism is rife in Sydney with the news that race riots there have left 20 injured and led to 16 arrested. Worryingly the occasion has been used by Australian Neo-Nazi groups, reportedly with links to the British National party to promote white supremacism.
The re-building of Dresden’s baroque Frauenkirche has now been completed, a job that has taken 15 years.
The church was virtually destroyed in February 1945, along with most of baroque Dresden and 35,000 men, women and children, in the Allied saturation bombing raid ordered by Sir Arthur Harris and backed by Sir Winston Churchill, who later regretted his support for what was arguably a British war crime of deliberately murdering civilians and thus sinking to the same level as the Nazis. For 45 years the church was a pile of rubble with a couple of bits of wall still standing.
In 1990, on the 45th anniversary of the destruction of Dresden it was decided to rebuild the Frauenkirche and it now takes its place alongside all the other Dresden buildings restored since the war.
The golden cross on top of the dome was made by the silversmith son of one of Sir Arthur Harris’s Bomber Command pilots and the orb underneath it is also a British donation.
A cull of more than 6,000 elephants by March 2006 has been requested by the management of the Kruger National Park, South Africa. (Daily Telegraph).
They claim that the animals number twice what they should and that this is causing unacceptable levels of damage to vegetation. Culls in the past have been carried out by rangers shooting the bull, cow and baby elephants from helicopters.
The increase in population, environmentalists claim could have been avoided if the Kruger management had carried out a sterilisation programme, using darts laced with contraceptive and fired into cows from helicopters, sterilising them for at least two years. There is a view however that this would deprive Kruger of the chance to make a profit from the sale of elephant foot umbrella stands and other tasteful dead elephant by-products of previous culls.
Some environmentalists are concerned about the risk to tourists posed by the survivors of the culls, animals that they say could be traumatised and dangerous.
South Africa currently offers wealthy “hunters” from the USA, Japan and Western Europe the chance, for a large fee, to corner elephants, lions, rhino and other wild animals in large fenced-in enclosures and then to shoot them, for sport.
Police recently raided an illegal game ranch in Spain which charged “hunters” up to £15,000 to shoot lions, tigers and wolves, and arrested seven people.
Victims of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) alleged to have been caused by air travel have been denied the legal right to sue airlines for compensation.
The House of Lords ruling is despite claims by DVT sufferers that they were not warned about the dangers of cramped conditions and long hours in an aircraft seat and that the formation of a blood clot could therefore be classed as an accident under the Warsaw Convention governing air travel.
Around 9,000 passengers develop DVT every year with the blood clots reaching the brain and lungs and killing up to 1,000. According to vascular surgeons the use of graduated compression stockings that promote the flow of blood through the legs can reduce the incidence of blood clots, and reduce swollen ankles.
Those organising events in Europe will know that their E111 forms giving free or reduced healthcare in EU countries and Switzerland become invalid on 31 December this year.
They are being replaced by the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) available free from any Post Office within 21 days or within 7 days online at www.dh.gov.uk
The EHIC may need to be supplemented with travel insurance.
The new, five star Hesperia Tower Hotel is due to open in Barcelona’s new financial district on January 16, 2006.
The £35 million 27 storey hotel offers 280 guest rooms and suites and 5,000 square metres of meetings space comprising more than 20 rooms for 22-1,600 delegates, many divisible. A new dome restaurant on the rooftop is due to open in April.
Rates start from £120 per room per night.
Tel: +34 93 413 5000 Fax: +34 93 413 5010
e-mail: hotel@hisperia-tower.com
Visit: www.hoteles-hesperia.es
The management of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) have banned smoking in the venue from 1 January 2006, for the “health and comfort” of visitors and exhibitors.
They have commented: “It’s simply the right thing to do. The majority of our venue guests are concerned with the negative impact of smoking and support this pro-active stance. Furthermore we will now be consistent with the global trend of making international convention and exhibition centres smoke free”.
The FBI have rated New York as one of the safest big cities in the USA, with one of the lowest crime rates.
According to information handed out to journalists visiting the recent EIBTM exhibition in Barcelona the city of New York is ranked 222 out of 240 cities with a population of 100,000 plus for its crime rate.
Many travellers will recall a time when the Big Apple would have easily made the top ten, which makes us wonder. Which are the top ten for crime now, or aren’t the FBI telling ….?
Sad to see that German event magazine CIM is so insulting about lovely Vanessa Cotton, director of our wondrous Excel centre in London’s Docklands.
Quoting our fragrant Ms Cotton recently they claimed that she “gushes” when she eulogises about London with such gems as “I love London, even if it is raining or the trains go wrong. It is the glamour of the metropolis”.
Now some cynics, or Londoners might put sound bites like this into the same category as the priceless one made a few years back by Earls Court and Olympia’s Andrew Morris that “London is the most exciting city in the world and we should be shouting it from the roof tops” (historical note: Mr Morris climbed down from the roof and moved to the most exciting NEC, Birmingham shortly afterwards).
However our trusty Oxford dictionary describes “gushing” as “to talk with extravagant enthusiasm or emotion, especially in an affected manner”. And the Daily Telegraph recently used the word to describe thrusting female politicians of a certain persuasion as “gushing and empty-headed Blair Babes”. So it’s a jolly rude description for the German publishers of CIM to apply to a measured opinion from one of our top British venue salespersons and they should apologise, schnell.
From: Felicity Bignell
Hi
I am writing to find out whether you may be able to help me in organising a “Relax and Wind down” party in Valencia – 9 March 2006.
Each year my UK company, Pourshins Plc, organise a relax party after the International Transport and Catering Association conference. This is for 250-300 senior and high level Airline/Transport directors and associates to communicate in a relaxed atmosphere with humane socialising, fun and NO pressure!
Each year the event takes place in a different country and this year it is to take place in Spain. Unfortunately, in 2001 the same event took place in Barcelona and they appear to have exhausted most traditional entertainments and I have no intention of running over old ground.
For example: Groups cooking Paella with a competition at the end.
Salsa teachers (although I thought Flamenco was the traditional dance and Salsa was from South America/Brazil?)
Live Spanish Band
I am looking to create a fun environment with some sort of social activity involved with food and drink and ideally some sort of dancing. I would like to utilise some Spanish/Valencia tradition or themes and find a memorable venue.
Do you have somebody that could aid me in my quest?
Hoping to hear from you at the earliest.
Pourshins
Tel: +44(0) 208 917 5710
Fax: +44(0) 208 917 5991
IEOU response: And we always thought salsa was a tasty tomato based spicy dip and samba the saucy dance of Brazil. Can anyone help?
Porto Convention Bureau is a not-for-profit organisation specialising in promoting Porto and Northern Portugal as a destination for congresses, conferences, seminars, events and incentive travel.
The Porto Convention Bureau provides a wealth of information and advice, namely facilities, natural resources and professional partners.
We offer our services free of charge to any national and international organisers of meetings, conventions and incentives.
The Porto Convention Bureau gathers over 120 members such as hotels, congress and conference centres, DMC’s PCO’s transport companies and support services and plays a key role in giving an international reputation to Porto and Northern Portugal as a vintage destination.
Porto Convention & Visitors Bureau
Av. Inferior à Ponte D.Luis 1, 53-1° andar
4050-074 Porto – Portugal
ph: +351 223 326 751 – fx: +351 223 326 752
E-mail: rkoehler@portocvb.com – www.portocvb.com
The Society of Event Organisers (SEO) has launched a one-day in-house presentation, UNDERSTANDING EVENT ORGANISATION, aimed at giving venue sales, marketing and operations staff a full appreciation of the job their organiser clients do, to build rapport and improve working relationships.
Other training for venues offered by the SEO includes a public or in-house course on MARKETING YOUR VENUE FOR EVENTS.
Tel: 01767 316255 Fax: 01767 316430
This is a new three day residential adjunct to the Certificate in Conference Organisation (CCO), with an examination and qualification and being run in Porto, Northern Portugal for 2006 in co-operation with the Porto Convention and Visitors Bureau (PCVB). Covers destination evaluation, using a CVB and/or DMC, negotiating, pricing, transportation, security, insurance, legalities, currency, customs and excise, tax considerations, partner programmes, food and beverage, cultural differences. Fees from £950 plus VAT. Monday 31 July 2006 – Thursday 3August 2006.
Tel: 01767 316255 Fax: 01767 316430
Visit: www.seoevent.co.uk
A 100-word announcement costs from £95 in this section of International Event Organisers Update (IEOU) and reaches 12,000 organisers.
To download full details and a booking form visit www.eou.org.uk Alternatively call (44) 1767 316255 or fax to (44) 1767 316430.
For more information please contact the organisers directly. You are advised to check that events are appropriate to your needs and still running before finalising travel plans. IEOU only lists the main international exhibitions and events specific to the events market – there are however lots of smaller country-specific presentations and travel industry events that can deliver useful information to organisers.
21-23 LONDON CONFEX exhibition
Tel: 0207 921 8177
Visit: www.international-confex.com
30-1 June FRANKFURT IMEX exhibition
www.imex-frankfurt.com
6-7 MELBOURNE AIME – Pacific Incentives and Meetings Expo.
www.aime.com.au
28-30 BARCELONA EIBTM exhibition
www.eibtm.com
Edited and distributed by:
Society of Event Organisers
29a Market Square, Biggleswade, Beds. SG18 8AQ
Tel: +44(0)1767 316255 Fax: +44(0)1767 316430
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