Milly’s trip to The Meetings Show
The Meetings Show is in its 7th year of running and is bigger than ever with 20% more venues and suppliers than last year and over 12,000 pre-booked appointments. Thousands of people attend the Meetings Show every year with the main reasons being to network and discover venues and to make their events more engaging and exciting.
Milly attended the show this year and was hosted by the HBAA (Hotel Booking Agents Association). The first day started with ‘The Pre-Show Conference’ where she attended several different sessions. During the first 2 sessions, she went through the enquiry-taking process in the HBAA code of conduct and learnt about the economic and financial issues both worldwide and in the UK. She then attended agency specific sessions; ‘Attract, Retain and Develop Talent’ and why apprenticeships should be considered more within the industry. The ‘Disruption Creates Innovation’ session covered how we as event managers can take the positives from negative elements that may occur during an event and turn the frown upside down!
After a full day of sessions and learning, Milly headed to the brand-new Hard Rock Hotel for dinner and an overnight stay. The hotel is the first one to open in the UK and it was rocking! The open lobby area is full of musical memorabilia with a circular bar of changing lights. There is also live music every single night of the week on their purpose-built stage! They are currently refurbishing their meeting rooms which are due to open in 2020.
The following day at the Meetings Show, Milly had a full day of appointments, learning about new venues and updates, as well as networking and seeing lots of familiar faces. Here are 5 fun facts from the industry:
1. The Saville Court Hotel is currently undergoing a multi-million pound refurbishment and extension, and will re-open as the Royal Windsor Hotel in June 2020. The visuals are looking beautiful and consist of over 200 bedrooms, 2 restaurants, Champagne bar, cocktail bar, tea lounge, spa and 16 flexible meeting rooms. The highlight of the hotel is the Presidential Suite, which will comprise of 3 en-suite bedrooms, study, kitchen area, living room and a lift down to its own private spa facilities. The venue is set within 200 acres of land, meaning that they are perfect for outdoor team building activities.
2. Blackpool is changing its perception and their conference centre – Wintergardens Blackpool – is having an expansion. The original building has stunning traditional meeting rooms with some new contemporary additions. The city is also getting a new transport system meaning that delegates can whizz around the town a lot easier.
3. Carden Park located near Chester is currently having a spa garden built; it will include a heated swimming pool, bar and a wide variety of thermal experiences, which can be used all year round.
4. The University of Bristol has 200 flexible meetings spaces across 84 buildings. The University can sell their event space all year round (with hall accommodation outside of term time only).
5. Vintry and Mercer is the latest boutique hotel to open within London in the JG Collection. The city-based hotel is spread across 7 floors and has a relaxed Asian-themed restaurant on the ground floor, with their more traditionally British restaurant located on the roof terrace, a space which can be hired out for 30 people for a breakfast meeting. We love their secret underground speakeasy cocktail bar (DND), which can be hired out privately for events in the day or evening.
Overall, Milly had a great 2 days at the Meetings Show, learning about new venues and networking. We look forward to attending the show as a company next year!
If you like what you hear about any of the venues listed in the blog, then please give the team a call!
