Vienna is the world’s best city in which to live, as well as where the most delegates attend meetings.

The number one ranking for living was awarded to Vienna for the 8th year running by the Mercer Quality of Living Index, and the Vienna delegate count ranking for 2016 by event industry body ICCA. The top ten cities for both organisations follow – the only other city in both of the top ten tables was Copenhagen. Continue reading →

A new book about the naturalist and collector, Sir Hans Sloane, whose extensive collections were the basis for the British and Natural History museums makes it clear that slavers in Liverpool and Bristol were not the only ones to make fortunes from the vile trade, and have streets named after them in their honour, according to “Collecting the World: The Life and Curiosity of Hans Sloane” by James Delbourgo. Continue reading →

A large collection of 130 paintings by Victorian artist Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1836 – 1912) are now on show at the Leighton House Museum, Kensington.

Alma-Tadema specialised in depictions of Ancient Rome, often incorporating beautiful women, usually beautifully dressed, lounging on marble seats with a backdrop of flowers and the bright blue sea. A rather darker theme was his famous “The Roses of Heliogabalus” which showed the debauched Syrian teenage emperor Heliogabalus (203 – 222) enjoying the sight of his guests at one of his orgies smothered under tons of flower petals dropped on them, one of a number of perversions that got him assassinated by the Praetorian Guard, with the blessing of an outraged Senate and people of Rome, when he was 18. Continue reading →

Those who like healthy German pork knuckles and sausages washed down with refreshing and slimming citrus white beer will want to know about the Oktoberfest event being sponsored by beer brewer Erdinger and running in Greenwich, October 5-22.

Reportedly 250,000 pints of beer are being shipped in for the 5,000 expected visitors (5 pints each) and admission prices start at £5 for entrance to the beer garden, £15 for standing room only in the beer tent, £20-£30 for a guaranteed table and seat and a corporate package of VIP tables of 8 for £1480, including some food and all drink.

Web: erdinger-oktoberfest.co.uk

Those organising events for the charity and association sectors, and those companies supplying them will know about the CHASE exhibition.

This was created and then run for nearly 20 years by organiser Michael Webb, who sadly lost a long battle with lung cancer last month and died peacefully in his sleep. He was 67. Continue reading →

Austrian film director George Wilhelm Pabst (1885-1967) had a talent for developing the acting talent of others, and for featuring the plight of women, and this was showcased in his early and most famous films, including the two silent ones he made in 1929 with the stylish and strikingly beautiful American actress Louise Brooks, Pandora’s Box and Diary of a Lost Girl. Continue reading →

The recent terrorist atrocities in Manchester and London have certainly put unwelcome pressure on those planning to attend live events.

Question is whether one fights terrorism by continuing to go and thus not letting the terrorists win, as thousands do. Or does one take the view that attendance at the event is supposed to be for enjoyment and that worrying about being shot, stabbed or blown up can only detract from that enjoyment to the extent that it is not worth going, which is what the terrorism is meant to achieve. Continue reading →

Planning permission is being sought for a luxury 102-bedroom hotel with conference facilities, named-chef restaurant, bar, a Wellness Spa and swimming pool, the In and Out, on London’s Piccadilly.

A group of developers led by Tower Properties Management plan their new hotel, along with four private residences on the site to comprise 90-95 Piccadilly, 42 Half Moon Street and 10-12 White Horse Street, all of which are currently in a dilapidated condition. Continue reading →

A five-star hotel in Crete is counter-claiming £170,000 from a couple who submitted a £10,000 claim for food poisoning, a claim the hotel says is false.

Mr and Mrs Bodarenko stayed at the Caldera Palace Hotel for a week in 2013 but did not make their claim until this year, one they are now trying to drop after the hotel management alleged they had Facebook posts proving that the couple had enjoyed their holiday and proof that they had consumed “large quantities of alcohol” when they were supposed to be ill. One Facebook post from Mrs Bondarenko described the hotel as “gorgeous” and that they had been there three times.

The hotel’s counterclaim is for damage to its reputation.