Tag Archives: Newsletter

Event Organisers Update January 2017 ISSUE 148

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IT’S ALL ABOUT THE MONEY, SADIQ Those welcoming the reopening of the Fabric London nightclub will not include the relatives and friends of the two young men who …

TICKET SALE CLEAN- UP The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has announced a probe into the online ticket rip-offs common for popular live events…

PREDICTIONS Always tricky, these – look at the gloomy forecasts for Brexit – but nevertheless Buying Business Travel magazine has taken a punt on a few fairly safe …

FLAMING JUNE This sensual painting, by Victorian artist Frederic, Lord Leighton depicts a languorous long-limbed female beauty barely clothed in sheer see-through orange …

JOYS OF TRAVEL A curmudgeonly piece in the Telegraph Travel section amusingly listed a number of “inventions that ruined travel” that will chime with some … 

THE MAN FROM LARAMIE Critics say that, in partnership with director Anthony Mann James Stewart helped change the very nature of the western. For this film fan the late…

Event Organisers Update December 2016 ISSUE 14

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POWER OF KNOWLEDGE Look’s like the old Overpayment scam is working its way into the events industry. We are grateful to reader Cindy-Michelle Waterfield of …

DEATHS IN CALIFORNIA PARTY FIRE More than 35 bodies have been recovered from the ramshackle Ghost Ship warehouse venue in Oakland, California after a blaze …

DEATHS IN KARACHI HOTEL FIRE Eleven people died and more than 70 were injured when a major fire started in the ground floor kitchen of the luxury Regent Plaza Hotel …

ROUX THE DAY Diners looking to try the three Michelin starred food at Mayfair restaurant Le Gavroche in 2017 could well rue the day they go if it’s after the end of …

YORK STADIUM DELAYS The £44million 8,000 seat York Stadium is set to suffer more delays in completion after IGS, its main contractor pulled out citing delays due to an …

CAN’T PLEASE EM ALL Registration company Eventbrite have published a list of ten things that event managers can never get right for all their delegates. These are the …

NIGHT FRIGHT A shift manager in his 30s has been sacked from the 3-star Best Western Walworth Castle Hotel, Darlington, County Durham after a young woman …

CREEPY Creepy it is, and eerie, disturbing, macabre and surreal, just some of the descriptions of the latest psychological thriller from Japanese director and horror genre …

Charity Matters Dec 2016 Jan 2017 ISSUE 70

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LETTING THE SECTOR DOWN The warning of the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) that charities risked becoming a dirty word has gained substance after the ICO …

LONELY THIS CHRISTMAS Age UK have revealed that nearly a million elderly 60+ people will suffer chronic loneliness this festive season while most other folk are …

CARE HOMES PROBE The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) are now carrying out an investigation into care homes. This follows complaints of unfair treatment of …

AID COMPANY CONCOCTS TESTIMONIALS A major player in the charitable distribution of hundreds of millions of pounds worth of foreign aid supplied by the …

IT’S A MIXED UP WORLD The number of children calling NSPCC charity Childline about gender identity has tripled in the last three years, to 2796 in the year to March 2016 …

FRAUDSTER SPARED JAIL A woman who fraudulently claimed money from the Cumbria Community Foundation charity has been given a suspended sentence …

COPYING THE CORPORATES It is a pity someone at the otherwise excellent Art Fund has decided the charity will behave like a big, bad company and suggest donors pay for …

Charity Matters Oct/Nov 2016 ISSUE 69

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MILITARY CHARITIES PROBE Military charities are under investigation after it emerged that some of their fund-raisers lie to the donating public about how much actually goes …

PRIESTS, POLITICIANS, DOCTORS, DISC JOCKEYS, FOOTBALL COACHES…
The NSPCC has set up a dedicated helpline for sexual abuse victims in football since a number of footballers have revealed on national television that they had been abused …

RSPCA MAKE MISTAKES An internal investigation into the RSPCA’s putting down of a 16-year old cat in 2013 and attempt to prosecute its owners for cruelty has seen the …

TIME FOR GREED TO BE CURBED Debt charity StepChange has called for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to intervene on overdraft fines charged by the banks …

HEARTENING Patients with damage due to heart attacks are being offered a £10,000 procedure by a charity whereby their own stem cells from their bone marrow are …

DON’T CARE THEN? The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has published new guidelines aimed at preventing care homes from punishing residents whose relatives …

BITING THE DATA BULLET The Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI) will be the UK’s first major charity to adopt “opt-in” rules on how it communicates with its donors, though …

ROYALTY FOR SALE? The Centrepoint charity for young homeless people, a favourite of Prince William, has been accused of “crude hustling” following allegations that they …

GARY ON THE BALL The fostering charity TACT has apologised for falsely claiming that a man in his late thirties arriving in Calais as a “child refugee” was an interpreter…

Event Organisers Update November 2016 ISSUE 146

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LOOKING FOR… A thought-provoking piece about networking in Conference News by one of its columnists Richard John caught our eye. “Cut to the chase” proposed that …

MORE WHITE-KNUCKLE FUN Another malfunctioning themepark ride has made the headlines, following the Smiler crash last year at Alton Towers. This time it’s at …

EXETER HOTEL DESTROYED The four star 53-bedroom Royal Clarence Hotel in Exeter was completely destroyed by fire last month, which was thought to have started …

FIRM’S COLLAPSE AT CUMBERLAND A dispute over building works that ran three months behind schedule at the Cumberland Hotel, Marble Arch forced a Leeds …

THE RICHMOND, LIVERPOOL The Richmond Hotel Liverpool, in the city’s business district and a short stroll from Lime Street station, is independently owned and was …

TRINITY HOUSE Organisers looking for exclusive use of elegant conference rooms in the heart of historical London will want to know about Trinity House, on Tower Hill in …

GRANGE CITY HOTEL Also in the area is the Grange City Hotel, located opposite Trinity House in Coopers Row and with many of its 307 guest bedrooms offering views of the …

COME AND NETWORK Free networking sessions for anyone in the events industry are held by Citizen Event at the Grace Bar and Restaurant, 42, Great Windmill St, London …

TO GO Another good exhibition for those wanting to keep up with food trends is Lunch, held at the Business Design Centre, Islington in September and focussing on food to go …

CARAVAGGIO Those who admire the dramatic and cinematically lit art of the Italian painter Caravaggio can enjoy a current exhibition, Beyond Caravaggio running at …

TWILIGHT’S LAST GLEAMING One of the truly riveting and under-rated political thrillers of the 70’s, Twilight’s Last Gleaming, deals with the reasons why the truth about  …

Marketing Matters Nov/Dec 2016 ISSUE

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KAROSHI The offices of one of Japan’s biggest ad agencies have been raided after a young woman committed suicide due to karoshi (chronic overwork). Ad firm Dentsu …

TAKING AGGRESSIVE SALES AND MARKETING SERIOUSLY Directors who put their companies into liquidation to avoid fines for making nuisance calls from the Information …

BROADBAND SELLERS TO STOP MISLEADING A complaint from Virgin Media that ads selling BT’s Infinity broadband were misleading has been upheld by the ASA…

COPYRIGHTS TO BE REGAINED The copyright protection period has been increased from 25 to 70 years after a designer dies by the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) …

BREXIT BANDITRY? One company that was very keen on staying in the EU, and advised all its employees to vote to stay in the referendum, is Unilever. The firm makes …

BIG PHONE FIRMS IN BIG TROUBLE Phone giant Vodaphone has been fined a giant £4.6 million after it failed to credit 10,000 customers who had paid for top-ups, and then …

AND CAR FIRMS TOO German car makers Volkswagen are set to add to their £15.5 billion bill for emission rigging after it emerged that its Audi luxury brand cars could also …

BUT YOU DO GET A COMPANY CAR Company cars could be a perk of the past, if government plans to increase taxation for employees awarded them are implemented …

CASINOHOLICS Gambling firms are getting around restrictions on TV advertising to children by targeting them on social media, a study has found. Researchers at the …

STARTING EARLY Childhood obesity is being fuelled by TV advertising of sugary breakfast cereals, a study by researchers at Dartmouth University in the US has …

HAPPY AS YOU ARE? An ad that exploited some women’s insecurities about their figures has been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) …

Event Organisers Update October 2016 ISSUE 145

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SO GET GOING The current low value of sterling against the euro and the dollar has opened up some interesting business opportunities, for those who can take them…

TRAVEL GETTING BETTER Those whose train journeys are made worse by strike action, delays and cancellations can now claim back 25% of their single ticket price if…

I’LL HAVE THE SPICY MOUSEAKA You’d think the restaurant at the 30-bedroom boutique Sanctum Soho Hotel, near Carnaby Street was a great choice for some private…

SCOUSE MOUSE The Red Hot World Buffet restaurant in the Liverpool One shopping centre has closed after inspectors discovered live mice caught in sticky traps and…

CRUEL FRAUD Meanwhile management at the highly-regarded Shajan Indian restaurant in Clayton-le-Dale, Lancashire are suing a diner who ate at the restaurant with a group…

FREE ADVICE Those organisers who believe in learning from others might want to take a look at the Event Professionals Handbook. This is a collection of articles by practitioners…

FEDORA There have been mixed reviews about director Billy Wilder’s bitter-sweet film about fading glamour in Hollywood, but those who enjoyed his Sunset Boulevard, also…

Marketing Matters Sep/Oct 2016 ISSUE 52

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ALL SMILES ON STOCK MARKET FOR MERLIN Share prices in Merlin Entertainments rose by 1% in the 30 minutes after the judge had handed them a £5 million fine for the …

PAYDAY LENDER HIT A bill of £34 million has been handed down by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to payday lender CFO Lending for a string of customer …

WATCH THE ROAD A crop of deaths caused by drivers using mobile phones at the wheel has prompted calls for penalties to be substantially increased for the …

MORE EXHAUST FUMES DANGERS The nitrogen dioxide emitted by vehicle exhausts, particularly from diesel engines, can reduce attention and reaction times in drivers …

BEST HONEST RESEARCH BRIBERY CAN BUY Researchers have recovered more evidence that the sugar industry, through its trade association the Sugar Research …

TRUST THOSE COMPARISON SITES? A probe into comparison websites and how they make money is being launched by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) …

SCAMS ON AIRBMB WEBSITE A luxury villa on Ibiza advertised on the Airbmb website turned out to be non-existent when a customer booked it and paid £3,450 on request to …

BUY BEFORE YOU FLY, THEN The free snacks on board British Airways short-haul flights are being dropped from January next year in favour of the airline selling Marks …

WHAT PRICE CELEBRITIES? Celebrity endorsements and product placement in films, two favourite routes for marketeers, have recently been under fire in the press…

Event Organisers Update September 2016 ISSUE 144

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BREXISM Organisers booking speakers will know all about the dangers of content including racism, sexism, ageism or homophobia, and the capacity to offend and …

DEATHS SHUT NIGHTCLUB The deaths of two teenaged men from suspected overdoses of drugs at the Fabric nightclub in Farringdon have resulted in the closure …

WATCH YOURSELVES Running events is becoming increasingly challenging, it seems, going by three recent reported incidents this month at some UK venues…

POINTERS UNDER THREAT Carrying one of the laser pointers popular with conference presenters and trainers could be a criminal act in future. Because lasers shone into the …

FAIRY TAIL? The management of the new four-star Titanic-themed hotel at 30, James Street Liverpool, former offices of the White Star Line promises newlyweds “a fairy …

FANCY SEEING YOU HERE, BOSS A new Leeds venue where adult games can be played between consenting couples is planned to open in a former warehouse in …

GEORGIA O’KEEFFE Those with a liking for American modern art will want to know about the latest retrospective at the Tate Modern, London. This features more than 100 …

PATHS OF GLORY Sir Winston Churchill described Stanley Kubrick’s black and white 1967 anti-war film Paths of Glory as “A highly accurate depiction of trench warfare and …

Charity Matters Aug/Sep 2016 ISSUE 68

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FREEING THE SLAVES A rocketing number of UK slavery victims were helped out by the Salvation Army, more than 1,800, between April 2015 and March 2016… 

ASSISTED DYING LEGALISED The Canadian Senate has passed new laws allowing doctors to actively assist terminally ill patients to die, if it is their wish…

ABUSE OF TRUST A respected funeral director has been given a 15 month suspended sentence for stealing at least £14,000 donated to charities by grieving families…

DRUNK? The British Council, patron the Queen, has distanced itself from abusive and foul-mouthed remarks about Prince George made by the charity’s £80,000 a year Head …

MORE SICK HUNTERS Following the needless death of Cecil the lion in Zimbabwe last year by killing-for-fun American dentist Walter Palmer, another brave American hunter …

AND A SICK SLAUGHTERHOUSE OPERATIVE Covert filming by animal rights charity Hillside Animal Sanctuary at the Staffordshire slaughterhouse of “high class” family …

CORPORATE NEUTERING Large conservation and wildlife protection charities such as Friends of The Earth, World Wildlife Fund, World Animal Protection and Greenpeace…

NEW POWERS AFFECTING CHARITIES The Charity Commission is being given new powers by the Cabinet Office to discipline charities and their trustees, planned to be …

CHARITY RIDE A 13 year old boy has taken the ultimate London Tube challenge – visiting every one of the 270 stations in a day to raise money for charity Bloodwise, after…