We are hoping that the credit crunch won’t affect Moon Bears this Christmas!

For anyone racking their brains about presents, our designated charity this year, Animals Asia Foundation, are displaying their unusual and good value presents at Christmas fairs being held throughout the country, and all proceeds will go towards the Moon Bear rescue.

The fairs will take place at:

* London: Chelsea Animal Charity Fayre, 22 November, 10-4.30pm,
Chelsea Old Town Hall, Kings Road, London, SW3
* Musselburgh: Christmas Fayre, 29 November, 12.15-4pm, Musselburgh
Town Hall
* Barrington, Cambridgeshire: Barrington Christmas Fayre, Animals
Asia teddy tombola and cake stall, 29 November, 9am-4pm.
* Bolton: Mayor’s Christmas Fayre, 29 November, Bolton Town Hall,
BL1 1SA
* London: Christmas Without Cruelty Fayre, 30 November, 10-5pm,
Kensington Town Hall, Hornton Street, W8 7NX,
* Newton Abbot: Victorian Christmas Evening, 3 December, 6pm-9pm,
Queen Street, TQ12
* Dunster, Somerset: Dunster by Candlelight, Fri/Sat 5 and 6
December, 5pm-9.30pm
* Exeter: South West Christmas Without Cruelty Fayre, 6 December,
10-5pm, Exeter Corn Exchange, George St, Exeter, EX1 1BUl
* Ipswich: Christmas stall, 6 December, Buttermarket Shopping
Centre, IP1 1DT

If you can’t attend any of the fairs, you can check out the Animals Asia Christmas catalogue at www.animalsasia.org/xmas08/giftshop/php. As well as necklaces, soft toys, keychains, coasters etc, I can personally vouch for the t-shirts, woolly scarves and environmentally friendly bags, all of which have been widely admired. In particular, my fella looks so fabulous in the Animals Asia t-shirt that more are on order!

You can even bring your gifts over to our Christmas Wrapping Event at Cavendish Conference Centre on 11 December from 6 pm, when they can be beautifully wrapped by our wrapping expert while you enjoy a festive drink or two (RSVP:party@cavendishconferencevenues.com)

I am, it has to said a bit sad - I love adverts. There is nothing better at times than a good commercial break. I discuss them with friends from both home and abroad. My not so recent favourite the Jaffa Cake advert “Full moon, Half moon, Total eclipse�

At America Square we have Half Moon Tables, now before you get concerned we don’t have termites or woodworm. We bought them that way. The team at Cavendish Conference Venues feel that when you want Cabaret why should you have a third of a table taking up space when it is not required as nobody wants to have their back to the action. The general consensus from clients is that it is a fantastic idea. Mine is that if they had have come in whole and they were indeed Jaffa Cakes what fun we would have had eating them to get them to Half Moons.

It’s a funny old business how widespread we are in this the conference world!
Last week we had a speaker at the Cavendish Conference Centre who ran through a fantastic presentation on Climate change! Everythging went swimmingly well as it always does at the Cavendish thanks to our wonderful AV team.
That person went to the United Nations headquarters to present exactly the same presentation at a Conference for 2000 people but alas things were not good in the power house of the UN Headquarters! The speaker announced to the deleagtion that the Technology team should pay a visit to the Cavendish Conference Centre in London and learn a thing or two form the illustrious and hard working Richard Young, a man amongst men in the AV world, about how a Presentation should work!!
How good is Richaard then one asks?? The answer is you will have to book an event and find out!!!

Wouldn’t it be great to be able to just chill out and let the world just wander by? I don’t think so…..no matter what we say it just isn’t like that in this day and age, the husstle, the busstle and the sheer adrenalin of living and working in a masive City such as London is GREAT!! Indeed to have the pleasure of working with professional people such as those at Cavendish Conference Venues makes going to work such a pleasure so who would have the ‘Chill Out Factor’ when we can come to work at the best Conference Centres in London!!!

I suppose in thanking people for their dedication we should also recognise the fact that
Rachel Applegate has been with the company 13 years now. Tom Mayers has also been with Cavendish Conference venues for 13 years, Gill Fitzgerald has been with us 11 years, unoficcially, Dermot Waldron 8 years, Lina Lai for 5 years and Olga Barro is in her 3rd year. Ros De Vekey and Sarah Everard are still in nappies and have been with us 3 months so they have a bit of catching up to do as does Denis Hickey who is coming up to his first year anniversary in January 2009!
One can’t forget the likes of Kathy Prest who has been part time now for 9 years and Denise Cheyne has worked at the Cavendish Conference Centre, on and off, for the past 20 years too! The wonderful Stoyan, has contributed to the success of our Operations for 8 years now!
All I want to say is THANK YOU to all the afore mentioned people and here’s to the next 20 years!

One always wonders after starting a new job as to how long you will survive in the job, how will you like working with the people and how will the commute be amongst other things!
Luckily enough here at the Cavendish we have the pleasure of one man, Richard Young, who has been the technician at the Cavendish Conference Centre, on and off, for the past 20 years! It goes to show that not only has Richard got the staying power but he is also extremely good at his job and a pleasure to work with.
Thank you Richard for all the years of hard work and dedication to the Centre.

In spite of never having been a big fan of Kenneth Brannagh I really can’t wait to watch Wallander, a new TV series starting this month, where he plays a Swedish police inspector.

No, I haven’t developed a sudden interest in Irish actors or a love for Scandinavian crime novels, no. The reason I’ll be watching this series with such interest is that scenes for one of the episodes were filmed at the ICO’s Boardroom. Last spring a BBC crew spend several days shooting in the Boardroom and I’m just curious to see what is the result of those long hours of work.

I know television is all ’smoke and mirrors’ and its magic makes the grimiest place look like a palace but it’s also true that they make nice places look literally astonishing, so I want to see what they have been able to do with such a beautiful and atmospheric room as the ICOs Boardroom, my favourite meeting room in the ICO building.

Well it goes without saying that we at Cavendish Conference Venues must be one of the most progressive small companies in London on the afore mentioned issues!
What with our contributions for this Christmas towards the Moon bears Foundation and our composting of all our waste food at the Cavendish we are doing our very best to save the planet! People in the Conference buyers sector of our business should PLEASE take note and book us so we can do more which is what we really really really want to do!

This year, Cavendish Conference Venues are supporting the terrific work of Animals Asia Foundation, which rescues endangered Moon Bears from inhumane bile farms in China and Vietnam. Full details of their work, including a riveting blog by Jill Robinson, the founder of Animals Asia, can be found on www.animalsasia.org.

At our venues, you will find flyers detailing “A Christmas Treat not to be missed�. This is an opportunity to join Jill Robinson MBE and Virginia McKenna OBE at the Birmingham Stage Company’s acclaimed adaptation of The Jungle Book, which will take place on 22nd December at the UCL Bloomsbury Theatre, 15 Gordon Street, London WC1. (Booking line 020 7388 8822). In these credit crunch times, we can feel good by treating friends and family to this special performance, as all profits from the show and after-show auction will go towards helping to rescue, rehabilitate and care for the Moon Bears.

Gill

Oh to be a goods inwards Reveiving Executive Manager at America Square where all and only the beautiful are delivered with the compliments of a Pink phone no less!!!
Talk about delivery in style, America Square has it all!!!

We all go to the shpos and see the usual rubbish trying to entice you in to buy buy buy because of massive discounts etc!!! 75% OFF and you still end up paying £150.00 for a pair of jeans, some rip off I reckon!!!!
We at Cavendish Conference Venues give massive discounts at appropriate times of the year and do not rip you off indeed we are probably ripping ourselves off by not charging enough!!!

Go on go for those Hot seasonal Conference discounts!!!!!

In the current climate doesn’t it reall miff you off when the likes of the press, the media, the politicians and all those crazy publicity seaking dunder heads go on and on and on and on and ….. yes ON about the fact we could be heading towards a recession, money is scarce and YES the financial situation is dire????
Lets just get on with life and keep our heads down and accept we are in a FINANCIAL CRISIS but to get over this turbulent time we must persevere with what we all specialise in and know best- work!

Cavendish Conference Venues would like to congratulate Allan Simmons who is Britain’s new National Scrabble Champion. This is following his win yesterday at the event held by Mattel at the Cavendish Conference Centre and is the first time that Allan has won the title.

You’ve experienced it before, probably on more occasions than you care to remember. The lips are moving but there’s little audible sound because the sound system is akin to something made from double sided sticky tape and squeezy bottles. Yes I know I’m showing my age, but seriously - is this what you expect from a professional conference venue company.

We didn’t think so.

It’s not as if you can stand up in the middle of a conference and ask the speaker to speak up, tempted as you may be and by the time it gets to the coffee-break you’ve missed a chunk of the conference.

At America Square in the main conference room – The Ludgate, seats up to 200 delegates theatre style and 120 Classroom and Cabaret Style. It boasts a superb sound system with speakers around the entire perimeter of the room so that wherever you are, you will be able to hear everything that you want to.

If you didn’t hear everything or can’t remember you probably fell asleep. All may not be lost though as we offer MP3 recording of conferences which the organisers may have requested.

Well, it would have had to have been a gigantic stork to deliver our newest venue. We are delighted to present America Square, which opens its doors today.

America Square comes from excellent stock with an exemplary pedigree and all of the traits that you would expect of a Cavendish Conference Venue.

If you would like to visit to coo or admire, please feel free to give us a call on 0207 706 7700 or drop us a line www.enquiries@cavendishconferencevenues.com or indeed even to congratulation the proud parents…who are exhausted!

The new baby pictures will be on our website soon.

Saffron, lime, peppercorn, cinnamon and melon, the list is endless. You would think that we are talking of the ingredients for our fayre at America Square our new conference venue, which opens on Monday the 29th September.

We’re not!

Why they name fabric after food is beyond me, normally putting these two together is not a good thing and then involves trying to separate the two – we can highly recommend from our 12 years of experience in hosting conferences www.ask.co.uk “how to remove ….. from …..�

We’ve discussed, we’ve debated, we’ve challenged, we’ve raised our voices till they were very loud indeed, we’ve thrown our toys out of the pram and stamped our feet until they hurt. Incidentally, if you happen upon our fluffy grey bunny (you’ll recognise it by it’s chewed ear and missing eye) we miss it terribly. Please can you send it back to us.

Finally we’ve come up with Raspberry, yes RASPBERRY!

Our aim was modern, contemporary, fresh and appealing. Our rebellion against the bland and the anonymous. At Cavendish Conference Venues we’ve always bucked the trend and ploughed our own course. We hope you agree with our choice, if not let us know.

They say with age, you need more careful lighting to appear at your very best. If you are part of the original London Wall, you need serious help!

America Square Conference Centre is built around this historic feature and if you are using the Ludgate, Cornhill or Walbrook rooms it stands proud for all to see. To make it even more appealing to the eye we’ve installed LED lighting to bathe it in light of many colours.

This isn’t just any wall, it’s part of the original London Wall. This isn’t just any wall light, it’s a multi-coloured, led wall light. The colour choice for the light, well, that’s up to you.

Dermot, one of our directors has just got back from New York, which he said was fantastic. They really know how to do service he said; however they are a bit behind on sincerity. After an hour he had got a little tired with being asked, “how he was� when the questioner really didn’t want to know.

Having spent 7 months in the past I had this experience but countered this minor irritation with listing my woes, those of elderly relatives and even some I made up to maximise the effect. Watching the shock on people’s faces was priceless and then to finish it off the killer retort… “ You were asking how I was, weren’t you?�

If this were Ireland you’d be asked the question if the reply was “fine�, “good� or “okay� the question would be repeated, this time though, it would have a “really� tagged on for greater effect, as in “How are you really?�

At Cavendish Conference Venues we are well versed in the three S’s, Slick Service with Sincerity. When we ask a question we really want to know the answer and want you to enjoy the experience from start to finish.
Just what you need to have a nice day…….Really!

Well, the seasons are a changing - you can get that damp and slight chill in the air in the evening.

It’s no longer bright first thing in the morning when all of us at Cavendish Conference Venues are up and out, bright eyed (ish) and bushy tailed ready to greet the day and the organisers, speakers and delegates at the day’s event.

Though the hours of light may be dwindling as we approach…winter. We can at least offer you bright, light and cosy surroundings so at least when you are with us there’s no reason to miss the light!

We are exhibiting this week at Square Meal, at Old Billingsgate (Tower Hill) on Wednesday and Thursday. If you would like an update on our new properties, or to meet us, then please come and visit us on stand G35.

See the boardroom at the ICO featured in Samantha Mumba’s new video.
A great view of our circular boardroom, which has removable sections allowing a trainer to move around the centre of the circle. The room also has translation booths built in.
Have a look at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWyceU6db48

It is nearly the end of my 1st month with Cavendish Conference Venues, and I would like to thank the whole team for their incredible warm welcome.  It is nice to find myself in a company where everyone is happy to be at work and enjoys their jobs!

If you would like to try a conference with a geniune warm welcome, as well as excellent facilities and delicious food, then call us on 020 7706 7700 or email enquiries@cavendishconferencevenues.com

I have to say, a green builder is something I have never, ever thought would be seen on our beautiful planet not to mind Central London and not to mind at either of our 2 new, being constructed as we speak, Venues namely America Square and the Hallam Conference Centre’s!! It sounds like the next saga of the “Incredible Hulk” with our foreman Turning up half naked and painted all green!! Well I suppose he would not be out of place at the moment anyway!! Green Construction is currently ‘in progress’ at both venues with opening dates as 29th September in the City and early January 2009 in the West End!!

Come on the greens!!! (One could pretend we are all Paddy’s but really there are only the 2 of us!!Paddy’s that is!!!)

The up coming HBAA Forum at a renowned Heathrow Hotel is the occassion when partners- us the venues- and the members- the agents- come together and have discussions on the future of our industry!

It is a fantastic opportunity for all of us to air our opininons and make ‘promises’ on how we support each other now and the future!! The important thing as I see it is Conference Venues and Agents are integral to each others success and we should support each other to maintain a healthy and profitable future! The small agents and small Venues are the one’s that may be suffering most at the moment and now is the time to pay up commissions on time and for agents to support Venues when it comes to ‘visits’! To me we pay commission (in many cases prior to receving payment from the clients) swiftly as long as there are no queries and so it should be up to agents to try to ‘open’ their doors to us more! Most agents do welcome Venues but there are a few and they are Members!!!!

Visit us at the Square Meal Exhibition at Billingsgate on the 17^th & 18^th September, quite apart from the fact that we are there, obviously brilliant news, truly exceptional people, perhaps the most outstanding group of venues anyway. Leading the way and the day with Green Initiatives and sustainable policies. Leaving that aside what we really want to know what is Old Billingsgate like, is it true the basement is still full of ice, just left over from the old fish market days, as you walk around do you pick up the delicate aromas of first cod then place. Come and visit here about our fantastic 5 venues, and pick up a truly outstanding goody bag. www.venuesandevents.co.uk

Today’s the faithful day of our Green Tourism assessment www.green-business.co.uk
Not quite sure what to expect, to date we have had one previous visit from Green Tourism, they gave us a few pointers, unfortunately the chap who came then has now left so now we have a new assessor, hopefully he will pick up where they previously left off. The other problem is that looking through their check list quite a few of the questions are not really relevant to us i.e. we get scored for things like information on cultural heritage initiatives etc, we are a business to business venue so not really relevant, anyway it’s a start so that matters.

Our granny always extolled the virtues of Adam’s Ale. From the time we were knee high to a grasshopper upwards. She didn’t worry about how many units the Government recommended as your daily intake or weekly intake it was always drink until you’ve had your fill. Now before you start being concerned, with her being Irish and a pub landlady to boot, Adam’s Ale is water. I’m sure she’d be horrified with bottled water tainted by plastic, with a sell by date of 2 years, yet it’s been in the ground for centuries.

I’m sure that she would highly approve of Cavendish Conference Venue’s policy of serving Filtered Sparkling and Still Water included in our DDR packages in unlimited quantities.

Hmm! now how to get you to eat your vegetables and stay away from those biscuits and desserts!

Well, they showed the recording of the Kylie Minogue concert that I attended at the O2. Wow! what a difference to what I saw when I was at the concert and saw it live. I take it back she doesn’t look like a pepperami and there was a lot going on that I missed due to my vantage point in the gods.

At the Cavendish Conference Centre you too can have an mp3 recording* or even have a dvd recording* of your event and in this case remember all of the bits that you did see and did enjoy.

With Cavendish Conference Venues, what you see is what you get and what get, is exactly what you saw!

* Additional charges apply for MP3 recording or DVD recording.

Very Simple!

 All administration etc must be done electronically - no paper!
 an awareness of reducing the carbon footprint - can delegates arrive by public transport, are cars really necessary?
Try to recycle anything used at the venue like paper and try to reduce waste.
Using recycled paper on flipcharts, conference pads and pencil   for delegates to take note.
Choose a venue that has environmental issues as a top priority!!
 So  click on   www.cavendishconferencevenues.com
 We are in an environmentally concerned society and every little helps so lets all do our bit.

Almost every day either an event organiser or delegate asks me why our building is called International Coffee Organization.

Well, I’m afraid there’s nothing mysterious behind that name, it’s actually a case of doing what it says on the can. Quite simply the building hosts the headquarters of an intergovernmental organisation that regulates coffee trade called -you’ve guessed it- International Coffee Organization (ICO).

As it happens, coffee is one of the most important traded commodities (if you ask me early in the morning, I would say it’s the most important…) so, even if not many people have heard of it, the ICO has an important role in world trade.

What all this means for us is that our venue has top quality facilities and, on a less practical but very inspiring note, quite often is perfumed with the wonderful aroma of coffee.

My own experience as an event delegate has taught me that good transport links are an important addition to the appeal of a venue. It’s always good to know that you won’t be stranded in a solitary bus stop after the event or that you can change your travel plans at the last minute.

With the ICO being right in the heart of Soho you assume that there’s no shortage of transport options. To give you the full picture I’ve done a bit of research and here’s what I found.

As our location map shows, there are three tube stations (Goodge Street, Tottenham Court Rd and Oxford Circus) within a 600 metres radius of the ICO. These stations serve four lines that can take you to Paddington, Victoria, King’s Cross, Euston and Waterloo in less than 15 minutes.

If you prefer travelling over ground, Oxford Street, and the 10 bus routes in it, are just a two minutes walk from the ICO.

Car users are also well catered for, with two of car parks less than a couple of minutes away, and three other car parks within 500 mts. There’s also a Blue Badge Bay on the corner of Berners St. and Mortimer St.

And finally, getting a cab is as easy as crossing the street, because there is a cab bay right on the opposite side of the street.

Quite a complete range of option as you can see. The only thing that seems to be missing is a cycling lane, but with our mayor being a bike enthusiast himself, it surely is just a matter of time before we get one of those as well.

You may be able to empathise with this if you are one of those left in the office while everyone else has gone on their summer hols with bucket ‘n’ spade or snorkel and mask in hand.

August is lovely in London everyone is gone, it’s supposed to be quiet!! Maybe there’s less of us but the phones and enquiries are coming in thick and fast. So to those of you left making these calls and giving us these enquiries we thank you!

You are making the time during which we miss our colleagues who incidentally will arrive back tanned and refreshed after having enjoyed their 2 week holiday go all the faster. So keep them coming….. 

On Wednesday night due to the generosity of my friends I got the chance to take in the O2 Experience. What I wasn’t expecting was sheer terror.

You know what it’s like all those last minute things to remember before you go on your holidays.

Passport – check