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International Event Organisers Update (IEOU) is published monthly and is an information source circulated FREE to 12000 selected organisers and others interested in keeping abreast of development in the international event industry. It is edited to higher standards than the inadequate ones laid down by the self-regulatory Press Complaints Commission (PCC)
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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.
Mentions of the war continue to get Brits into trouble.
Latest foot in mouth casualty – after Mayor of London Ken Livingstone and his stupid remark about concentration camp guards to a Jewish journalist – is stylish rock singer Bryan Ferry whose contract to model stylish clothes for Jewish-owned Marks and Spencer was terminated after he expressed admiration for the style of the Nazis, as embodied in the monumental architecture of the Nazis Minister for Armaments Albert Speer and the propaganda films of Hitler’s favourite film maker and soul-mate Leni Riefenstahl.
Ferry might, before putting his mouth into gear, have remembered that it was the ruthless Speer who was in overall charge of the labour camps where prisoners were worked to death and whose only objection to cruelty was its inefficiency in terms of maximising production. And that Leni Riefenstahl was an idoliser of Hitler and an enthusiastic glorifier of Nazi style although she maintained, after the war (understandably), that the relationship was the totally detached and professional one a professional like herself would have with a major paying client, and that therefore she only really did it for the money.
Former art student Ferry stopped short of recommending the stirring Horst Wessel March (Nazi anthem) as a soundtrack for an M & S TV ad but the damage was done, for him anyway. Others have been given a good reason why the Nazi’s marketing had been so successful, pitched as it was at a populace only too willing to swallow the spin, so long as it was pitched stylishly enough.
Now where have we heard that before?
Average Eurostar journey times to Paris, Lille and Brussels are set to shrink by 20 minutes on 14 November when the service commences its operations from St Pancras and uses the new high speed UK line.
The line runs through Stratford, East London from which some services will eventually be launched, and provides an additional stop at Ebbsfleet, near Dartford, Kent, due to open “shortly after” St Pancras.
Meanwhile Eurostar prices have come under attack in the national press with the revelation that it is often cheaper to buy a return ticket for a single journey and to throw the return portion away. An example is the single fare of £150 + against return fares, returning a few days later, of less than £60. Also revealed is that the cheap £59 return fare from the UK is even cheaper in France, at £52.60.
A ban on Cuban nationals by US hotel group Hilton for any of its UK and European hotels has now been lifted. (Meetings and Incentive Travel).
The company had cancelled the booking of a group of Cuban nationals at a hotel in Norway in February this year, claiming they were simply following a US embargo on trade with Cuba and that this ban would also apply to Cubans wanting to stay at UK Hiltons.
The change of heart by Hilton, in April, is thought to follow warnings from the UK Commission for Racial Equality that their stance contravened the UK’s anti-discrimination laws, as well as the cancellation of an event at the Dundee Hilton as a protest by the Scottish affairs select committee and threats of boycotts from trade unions.
Meanwhile - and thought to be absolutely nothing to do with the above – the Daily Telegraph reports that the Cuban government, noting last years 100,000 drop in its tourist numbers is to spend up to £100 million over the next 3 years in improving its resorts, marinas, theme parks and golf courses and will be building “50 five-star hotels”.
Budget airline Zoom, in the spirit of 1970’s airline pioneer Freddie Laker, (RIP) is commencing low-cost flights from Gatwick to New York on 21 June (The Independent).
The single fare is from £129, inclusive all taxes and charges, with the return at £229.
London – New York is the busiest inter-continental air route in the world with more than 30 flights each way every day and is soon to get busier with the news that Ryanair are planning to offer a return fare from Stansted to Long Island Islip Macarthur airport for around £175, when all the usual taxes and charges are added.
Zoom were recently censured by the Advertising Standards Authority for trumpeting a price in large print of “Canada from £99 ONE WAY Toronto and Vancouver from Belfast” whereas the small print on their poster stated that the Vancouver fare was £139, an aspect that was definitely not in the Laker spirit, for those who remember him.
Seafood and fish products from Canada have been subject to a boycott call from Respect for Animals who point out that the products are produced by the same organisations that carry out the annual clubbing to death of more than 300,000 seal pups. (Ethical Consumer).
This generates serious money for the slaughterers in the sale of pelts to the fur trade and the testicles of male pups to the Chinese as an aphrodisiac. Over 400 MEP’s in the European Parliament have signed a written declaration calling for a ban of products made from seals in the European Union.
A website, www.boycott-canada.com has been set up to advise UK consumers, who spend £50 million a year on imported Canadian fish and seafood, how to register their protest with the Canadian High Commission at 1 Grosvenor Square, London W1K 4AB
Meanwhile the international fur trade is taking some knocks as more clothes designers refuse to use fur in their collections, on ethical grounds.
So far Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein have banned animal skins although others such as Christian Dior and Gucci still support the trade. Another supporter is Kurt Geiger who, according to the Campaign Against the Fur Trade (CAFT) is selling boots incorporating the skins of rabbits in its ten UK stores. Kurt Geiger claims that the rabbit skin is a by-product of the meat industry but CAFT point out that rabbits for eating are normally killed at 12 weeks whereas for the fur to be thick enough to be usable the animal needs to be at least 8 months old. (Ethical Consumer).
Last year CAFT held an International Day of Action against fashion store Joseph, which sells fur items in its 11 outlets in London as well as in Dublin, Paris, Cannes, Tokyo and New York. A rabbit fur coat owned by stylish Cherie Blair was bought by her from Joseph. (Daily Telegraph).
The only UK department store still selling fur is Harrods, owned by corrupt businessman Mohammed Fayed.
A recent trip to Tallinn, Estonia afforded us the chance to try out one of the medieval city’s modern low-cost hotels with conference facilities.
The Uniquestay Tallinn Hotel is located just outside the city walls and around a 10 minute walk to the centre of the Old Town. The 77 bedrooms are modern and compact (ones with baths are less compact) and there is a separate farm-house style conference centre with the ground floor room holding up to 150 delegates theatre-style and three smaller rooms for 35/24/20.
Prices are likely to fit most budgets with the 24 hour rate from 65 euros per person (£46.00) and the day delegate rate from 35 euros (£25).
Two atmospheric restaurants in the Old Town we can recommend are the Troika with an extensive menu of Russian dishes and the very traditional Olde Hansa for Estonian cuisine.
Given the popularity of Tallinn for certain sophisticated elements of the UK male population those who want to avoid the testosterone and lager fuelled should avoid it at weekends.
www.uniquestay.com
The 619 room four star Fairmont Hotel, Monte Carlo, formerly the Loews Hotel, offers a range of rooms with views.
o There are 276 with king sized beds or double doubles, 35 square metres of space and private terraces with views into Monaco or the hotel’s own gardens.
o There are 230 as above to De Luxe standard but with views out to the Mediterranean and/or the Riviera.
o There are 35 garden view rooms as above but with extra space (40 square metres).
o There are 10 two room garden view suites of 65 square metres also offering views of the opera house and casino.
o There are 14 two room Riviera suites of 70 square metres with panoramic views along the coast (as seen from the hotel’s Italian Le Pistou restaurant, also used for breakfast and with outside terrace seats).
o There are 4 two room Corner suites, each with three balconies and with one giving different views down onto some bends of the Grand Prix circuit. (85 square metres).
o There are 4 two-room Commodore suites of 90 square metres with views of the harbour and the Prince’s Palace.
For conferences and meetings the Fairmont has 17 spaces comprising three rooms for 20, three for 30, three for 40, one for 50, one each for 90/100/110/130 and one for 900, divisible into two.
www.fairmont.com
A new International Arrivals Lounge has been opened at the Sofitel London Gatwick Hotel, at the North Terminal.
Arriving first and business class passengers of BA and Delta have a three minute covered walk from the North Terminal arrivals hall to the new facility offering 19 cabins with power showers, washbasins and WC’s, free shirt pressing service, Wi-Fi internet access and printing, secure luggage storage area, a fitness suite and free local telephone calls.
The lounge is part of a £4 million refurbishment of the 518 room Sofitel which also offers 14 conference rooms for 6-300 delegates.
www.sofitel.com
Due to open in the middle of 2007 is the Hilton Vilamoura As Cascatas Golf Resort and Spa, located at Vilamoura, on the Algarve.
This comprises a 154 bedroom hotel, 69 apartments and a huge 2000 square metre spa, all in 5 hectares of landscaped grounds offering waterfalls, pools, hanging gardens, grottos and shaded walkways.
Adjacent are two of Vilamoura’s six golf courses and within a few miles are 100 shops, bars and restaurants, sandy beaches, a 200 hectare nature park and one of southern Europe’s largest marinas.
For events the Hilton has 9 rooms for up to 438 delegates and there is a conference centre in nearby Vilamoura for up to 1200.
www.hilton.com/worldwideresorts
Amusing it was, to read that innovative food chemist Heston Blumenthal, the ground breaker of the much-heralded Fat Duck restaurant at Bray, had served up an ipod with a seafood dish, so that diners could listen to the evocative sounds of the ocean while they ate it.
Fascinating stuff, but we know of a rather good fishy temple at Westerstraat 264 in the Jordaan district of Amsterdam, the Albatross Seafoodhouse where they have been playing a continuous loop tape of lapping waves and crying seagulls to their diners since, according to owner Pim Smits, 1994.
Those in Amsterdam, fond of fish and yearning for Heston’s complete seaside experience (for rather less money) can call and book on (020) 627 99 32.
Ryanair have now agreed with the Office of Fair Trading to stop treating their customers like morons.
The agreement is to stop offering “free” flights or flights for one pence, with “taxes and charges” as undisclosed extras. This approach, says the OFT, shows a lack of transparency and disadvantages those airlines that more honestly advertise inclusive rates.
The managing director of Ryanair is Michael O’Blarney.
News reaches us that the First Group, which operates the UK’s most unreliable train services has bought the iconic Greyhound bus company in the USA.
Suggestions that Greyhound will now be re-branded Dachshund, to reflect its new owner’s less than fleet image should, in our view be treated as highly likely.
With all the puff and hype for the London Olympics in 2012 we wonder if Transport for London will be letting the side down by supplying our valuable international visitors with similar experiences to the one inflicted on the editor of IEOU and detailed below.
Let’s hope not ….
8 May 2007
AN OPEN LETTER TO THE MAYOR OF LONDON
Dear Ken Livingstone
Is your Transport for London (TFL) organisation working for or against the community it is supposed to serve?
I ask this because of my recent bizarre and hopefully isolated experience with TFL, which I am publishing in the public interest.
On Thursday 3 May I was riding on a number 73 bus travelling west from Kings Cross when a representative of TFL boarded to check tickets, at around 11.10 am. I produced my Day Travelcard, purchased for £12.55 from Biggleswade railway station, which allows unlimited use of London’s buses and underground, as well as my Network Card, which allows me to buy these tickets at a discounted price and which he took from me. Copies of these are enclosed.
The TFL representative then asked to see a photocard and I produced the one originally issued by the rail company to back my Network Card. The TFL representative then told me the photocard was invalid and that I could only have my Network Card back if I paid him £2.
I refused and after a lot more argument, during which the bus travelled past my destination (Companies House in Gower Street) the TFL representative gave me a business card for TFL’s amusingly titled Transport Policing and Enforcement Directorate and with a Revenue Protection Official Number on it of 3103 (copy enclosed). He told me that he was acting in accordance with TFL policy towards passengers and said that I should pay him the £2 and then “appeal it”.
Again I refused, and he refused to return my Network Card so I decided to stay on the bus to retrieve it and see this one through, at my own cost in time and in the public interest.
When the bus reached the Bond Street area of Oxford Street the TFL representative 3103 spotted a Metropolitan Police van travelling in the opposite direction and ordered the bus driver to flash his lights to stop it, indicating an emergency. He also ordered the driver to stop the bus and then told all the other passengers that it was being taken out of service and ordered them off.
Two police constables then arrived and I got off the bus to talk to them, along with 3103, who produced my Network Card to show the police thus giving me an opportunity to, rightly, snatch it back from him.
The Metropolitan Police constables showed, I felt, tact and commendable patience in dealing with the situation, explaining to 3103 at length that it was a civil, not criminal matter. I explained, and this was accepted by the police, that if TFL really thought I was trying to defraud them out of £2 then I could simply supply them my name and
address for future action on their part, possibly in court. I did this for one of the police constables who took it down on a piece of their notepaper (copy enclosed) and
added their own names and numbers. They offered this to 3103, who refused it on behalf of TFL and in line with TFL policy, so they gave it to me.
The police constable then, at the request of 3103 called the specialist TFL transport police unit, who firstly said that they were “on their way” and 15 minutes later refused to send anyone down to Oxford Street to waste their time investigating. Accordingly 3103 got back on the bus, bravely made a well-known sexual gesture at me when the constables were not looking and ordered the driver to continue on to Victoria. This was at 12.15 and the Metropolitan police constables had been on the scene for 45 minutes.
For your records the bus was operated by Arriva Plc and its registration number was BX04 MVW.
I now have some questions for you, Mr Livingstone.
o Why are TFL demanding money from the public to which they are not entitled?
o Why are TFL demanding documentation from the public they do not need? Please note page 16 of the current TFL booklet “Your guide to fares and tickets”, which carries the legend “MAYOR OF LONDON” on the front cover, and states “A photocard is not needed to buy and use any adult rate Bus Pass” (copy enclosed).
o Why are TFL unjustifiably confiscating passengers ’ documents, and demanding money for their return?
o Why did TFL treat Arriva ’s passengers so badly, on this occasion, by ordering them all off a bus over an unjustified dispute with one of them?
o Why did TFL stop the Arriva bus in busy Oxford Street, (and not in a bus bay) for 45 minutes, irresponsibly obstructing the traffic in both directions?
o Why did TFL irresponsibly waste 1 ½ hours of Metropolitan Police time in a high crime city like London when that time could have been properly spent serving the community? Will you be apologising on TFL’s behalf to the Met?
As stated I am publishing the above and will also, in fairness, publish any response you wish to make, on behalf of the office of mayor, TFL, or both.
Yours sincerely
Peter Cotterell
cc Sir Ian Blair, Commissioner, Metropolitan Police
David Turner, group managing director, Arriva Plc
Note: No acknowledgement or response from Livingstone/TFL as at June 12.
Hall 2, a £5 million exhibition hall, the largest in Leeds, is now being built alongside the Royal Armouries Museum.
Hall 2 is due for completion April 2007 and increases available exhibition space at the Royal Armouries to over 27,000 square feet (2500 square metres) as well as complementing the existing range of five galleries and meetings space. There is a secure 1,650 space car park, an on-site 130 bed Express by Holiday Inn hotel, another 700 hotel bedrooms within a five minute walk and another 5,500+ in the rest of Leeds.
Show-rounds are being arranged for organisers of conferences, corporate hospitality, parties and exhibitions.
Tel: 0113 220 1990
Fax: 0113 220 1997
e-mail: enquiries@rai-events.co.uk
Visit: www.rai-events.co.uk
Mocha is an award-winning creative team working with clients in the corporate, association, charity and government sectors. We use film, video, dvd and cd-Rom to create cost-effective solutions for internal and external communications, marketing, sales, public relations, promotions, tenders and bids, and from conception through filming, editing and production.
Recent projects have included filming large conferences and events, promotion of venues, video installations and corporate documentaries and films.
Contact us for an initial no obligation discussion.
Tel: 0151 706 0761 Fax: 0151 706 0762
e-mail: info@mocha.tv
Visit: www.mocha.tv
A new 12 day Diploma in Conference Organisation (DCO) qualification has been launched by the Society of Event Organisers (SEO) for 2007.
This comprises the four current days of the SEO Certificate in Conference Organisation (CCO) and eight additional and mainly practical days held as a summer school at a variety of London venues in August 2007. Delegates already holding the CCO qualification can just take the eight day summer session to sit for the DCO exam. The CCO is being held in Manchester and Windsor on a residential and non-residential basis this August and in London (non-residential) starting September.
Fees for DCO run from £1,460 to £2,940 plus VAT.
Tel: 01767 316255 Fax: 01767 316430
e-mail: info@eou.org
Visit: www.seoevent.co.uk
o Event Organisers Update (EOU) for those running UK based conferences and seminars. www.eou.org.uk
o Corporate Hospitality and Party Update (CHPU) for those organising client hospitality and parties. www.eou.org.uk
o Association Update (AU) for association organisers. www.eou.org.uk
o Exhibition Update (EU) for organisations that exhibit themselves. www.eou.org.uko Association News (AN) for those who associate. www.associationnews.org.uk
o Charity Matters. www.ezinematters.com
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.
27-29 BARCELONA EIBTM exhibition
Tel: 0208 910 7929
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