Campaigners opposing Germany’s legal brothels are concerned that some companies there view it as just another type of corporate hospitality they can buy for their male clients.

And another fear is that some of the girls working in Germany’s thousands of legal brothels there – set up with the good intentions keeping prostitution of the streets and keeping the girls safer – have been illegally trafficked from Eastern Europe and forced into prostitution, usually to repay a huge “debt” their captors say they owe for their passage. One recent thought-provoking Channel 4 TV documentary on the subject, The Mega Brothel, featured 800 German police officers raiding all five large brothels in the Paradise group and arresting a number of people, including the group’s marketing manager, on suspicion of involvement in trafficking. Continue reading →

Some in the events industry have been getting an email, styled as from MBL (Seminars) Ltd of Manchester advising them that they are overdue on payment for a “Season Ticket” for MBL events, and attaching an invoice demanding payment “by return”.

Receiving a number of the emails, and unwilling to open the attachment the author telephoned the telephone number given and was told that the email had not come from MBL, that they had received “hundreds of telephone calls about it and that the attachment contained a virus and should not be opened.

Mind how you go on the web.

o Local residents are vociferously opposing a plan by Genting Casinos to install a 30,000 square foot, 24-hour casino, restaurant and bar on the ground and first floor of the Holiday Inn on London’s Cromwell Road.

It is estimated the casino will attract 1,500 gamblers a day and residents are concerned about the quality of the people who will be using it and the impact on the neighbourhood. One told the London Evening Standard “We already have a problem with gangs, pimps and brothels, which will increase with a casino”. Another, a psychotherapist commented that Kensington and Chelsea council “should take a stand against gambling” the addiction to which was worse than that to drugs or alcohol. Continue reading →

These include, according to event caterers Tapenade :

• Middle Eastern grain freekeh (pronounced fari-kah) to replace quinoa as trendy alternative to rice or couscous.
• More imaginative fillings for sliders (mini-burgers) than minced beef or chicken, such as mushrooms, fish, shellfish or duck, and with range of complementary accompaniments.
• More delegate choice with food stations, and giant utensils used to cook and serve, food stall style.
• More unusual/exciting receptacles for food, following on from chips in mini deep fat fryers etc.
• Japanese influences to continue beyond sushi.
• Items delivering a bitter taste to proliferate, though hopefully balanced with sweetness.

Organisers wanting big spaces, or lots of little ones should view Whittlebury Hall Conference, Training Centre and Hotel, located near Towcester, and the Silverstone racetrack, Northants.

Offered for residential events are 213 modern en-suite bedrooms, mostly twins and doubles, and including 10 triples, 40 club rooms, 5 disabled rooms and 5 suites. Rooms can be upgraded with coffee machines, better toiletries and a Welcome Tray with a selection of soft cookies, popcorn, toffee bon-bons, mineral waters and a half bottle of Chilean Merlot delivering black cherry and plum flavours. (£10) Our spacious Club Double sampled had a big comfortable bed with good reading lighting, a large bathroom with twin sinks, bidet and bath with shower over. Also there was effective heating, a large fan for comfort in hot weather, tea/coffee facilities, extra-fast broadband and a TV zapper with 53 buttons to play with. Continue reading →

The Scandic Hotel Group have five properties in the Danish capital, giving organisers more than 1,000 bedrooms and 50 meetings rooms and combinations.

The largest is the centrally-located, modern, Hotel Scandic Copenhagen with 486 bedrooms and 18 conference areas for 8-250. Also central is the very traditional and historic Scandic Palace Hotel offering 169 bedrooms and three small rooms for 16/20/70. Both hotels were sampled by the author on a recent trip to Copenhagen. Continue reading →

One nifty encouragement to networking we recently experienced was the electronic delegate badge system used at the Clic+ organisers conference at Robinson College, Cambridge in November.

By touching badges together until they flashed and buzzed delegates could capture information about each other, as well as about exhibitors there by touching the badge on a spot on the exhibitor’s display, both for later downloading, thus saving going home with a pocketful of business cards and/or an armload of brochures. Continue reading →