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Great Conference Hotel Dublin

Tips compiled by Dave Kovalski & Sue Pelletier

• Talk to the chef – this is a great one…
  

Meet with the chef to see if you can use the same menu as another group that was meeting in the facility. Asking the chef to preparing more of the same food in advance can result in cost savings. Also, check with the chef for seasonal or regional specialties, which may be less expensive.

• Know that lines are OK

At cocktail receptions, don’t be afraid of having medium-sized lines at the bar. Long lines are a no-no, but lines that are five or six deep encourage networking and discourage overindulging on cocktails.

Networking space at Fitzpatricks Castle Hotel Kiliney

• Don’t pay more for drinks

Whether it’s a cash or a hosted bar, don’t pay more for drinks than you pay in the hotel outlets (bars and restaurants).

• Lock in the menu prices

If the hotel will not provide a specific menu in advance, at least agree that the menu prices will not increase more than a fixed percentage per year.

• Order as much as possible “on consumption.”

Uneaten food and drink can be returned and not charged. This works well with soda and packaged foods like potato chips, but can also be done with perishables.

There are 2 large conference/event rooms at this Dublin Hotel

If you liked this blog post, you will like  other tips in the category on ” How to arrange an event on a shoe string…”

Crowne Plaza Meetings

Phew, feeling the relief to posting the first post of the year!!   I am kicking off the new year with tips on savings on meetings, conferences and events.  Be a savvy meeting planner this year….

The following has been compiled by Dave Kovalski & Sue Pelletier along with my own 2 sence!

10 Ways to save on meetings and conferences….

• Know your history – confirm less numbers with the hotel than what you are expecting…

The odds are that not everyone is going to turn up – look at the patterns of attendance, there will be a percentage that does not turn up but you have confirmed numbers with the hotel and have to pay for them anyway.  A hotel will always be able to accommodate more on the day.  Also, history has proven that not everyone who goes to a meeting will eat every meal, to avoid paying for unconsumed meals and drinks, look at historical patterns of how many people actually attend food functions, and how much they consume at breaks and at cocktail parties.

• Control what’s served – keep an eye on the tea/coffee refills…

On breaks, food service workers will often refill empty coffee urns to the top, even if there are only five minutes left in the break period. At some $90 a gallon, that’s a lot of money going down the drain. Make sure they check with planning staff first before refilling, particularly in the last few minutes of the break. Same thing with wine. Tell food service personnel to open one bottle of red and white per table and fill glasses on request.

• Order bulk breakfasts – for a full breakfast go for buffet, not plated.

For continental breakfasts, order in bulk, not per-person packages. The packages often include more food than is necessary. By ordering in bulk, you can cut it in half. And if it’s a full breakfast, offer buffet meals, not plated.  Breakfast butties have also become very popular – breakfast in a roll effectively.  Again, this facilitates networking time.

Conference room Crowne Plaza Dundalk

• Negotiate corkage fees or use house wines

In Ireland corkage fees can vary from 0 to €12 and CuriousWines.ie will give you a great price on cases of wine with free delivery!  House wines can be negotiated with the venue, inevitably they will want to serve their wine over giving you corkage, so negotiate hard.

• Use stand-up/pod tables

For cocktail receptions, use stand-up tables instead of sit-down tables. People are more likely to network, and they are less likely to hang around and drink and eat all night — saving you money.  This style is also becoming very popular for lunch also, so delegates can maximise their networking time.

5 more tips will be posted tomorrow….

Conference Room Dublin at the Clarion IFSC

Have you ever got caught chatting to one of these at a Christmas Party??  Plenty of these nights ahead of us!

List of other winners can be viewed here…

Executive Guestroom at Cork City Centre Clarion Hotel

Royal Marine Hotel - Aidan Ryan – Young Manager of the Year

Clarion Hotel Cork City – Maeve Kelleher – HR Manager of the Year.

Well done to all concerned as winning awards in the hospitality sector at the moment is an excellent achievement and well deserved.

I am doing some research at the moment on Conference Technology… Event Elephant seems to tick a lot of boxes when it comes to streamlining the planning and organising of a conference – it offers registration, payment, tracking options – everything that can be a nightmare to do manually.   It all seems to be organised in one easy place and at very reasonable rates too.   Tying into my aim to organise a Conference on a shoe string budget.

Christmas Party Season - photo courtesy of Zazzle.ca

I am delighted to see that there are as many Christmas parties being booked this year, everyone is just being a little smarter with their money.  So with that in mind I am putting together some very special deals… I will publish those during the week.  In the mean time, here are some tips on how to save money and be a little smarter this year without appearing stingy…

The Office Party...... afters.....

These have been published by my good friend Rob Hard of About.com and composed by Greg Jenkins of Bravo Events a leading event management company in California…

Top 10 Tips for saving money on the Christmas Party this year...

The most obvious one is to negotiate hard – but avoid hard balling too much on the food or you will find you notice it in the taste… easy to prepare foods that don’t require a lot of people to serve will  be the most cost effective – a good old stew, chicken dishes etc are the most cost effective!

It is not too late to book your party – I will post about availability and bargains you can still avail of!!  For best rates, contact me as I have group discount rates negotiated with hotels and venues in Ireland.

I am putting together a list of the best Christmas Party Deals all around Ireland and what is still available to book.   Those will be posted during the week…

Meeting Facilities, Bush Hotel, Carrick on Shannon

Joe Dolan and his team at the Bush Hotel,Carrick on Shannon, Co Leitrim, Ireland is to be congratulated for their achievements in creating a green venue for conferences, meetings and events.    The below is an extract from a press release that will be in the papers tomorrow.  The hotel is a great place to drop in for a meal and has a variety of space for meetings and events…. will post more on that when I stay there and do a review.  But I would know the hotel and the great reputation it has locally as I grew up 10 miles away.

“Communication Award. The award recognises exceptional promotional activities to

increase public awareness of the EU Ecolabel – the EU’s label for environmentally friendly goods and services. The three winners, selected by a jury of environmental

and communication experts, were announced at a ceremony in Brussels last night.

The Bush Hotel in Carrick-on-Shannon, Co Leitrim, which became the first hotel in Ireland to be awarded the EU Ecolabel in Marchthis year, won the service provider category. The hotel was praised by judges for raising awareness of the EU Ecolabel through a variety of promotional tools, including an in-house awareness campaign, a suppliers’ charter and organised site visits. 

The European Commission has announced the winners of the first EU Ecolabel

Communication Award. The award recognises exceptional promotional activities to

increase public awareness of the EU Ecolabel – the EU’s label for environmentally friendly goods and services. The three winners, selected by a jury of environmental

and communication experts, were announced at a ceremony in Brussels last night.

The Bush Hotel in Carrick-on-Shannon, Co Leitrim, which became the first hotel in

Irelandto be awarded the EU Ecolabel in March this year, won the service provider

category. The hotel was praised by judges for raising awareness of the EU Ecolabel

through a variety of promotional tools, including an in-house awareness campaign, a suppliers’ charter and organised site visits.

The Review -

Location – Dublin City, at the site where Guinness is brewed – about a 15 minute walk down the keys from Dublin City Centre, 10 mins by Luas or a quick taxi ride.  It is also very close to Heuston Train Station and on the Luas line which makes it so accessible.

What is it perfect for?  If you are looking for a venue that is a little bit different, this is the one.  You enter via the Visitors Centre which has a very touristy feel to it, this I like as I can pretend that I am on holidays.  You can just skip through the line to pay to get in if you are attending a conference.  There is plenty of signage to direct delegates to the conference floors.

Main room at the Guinness Storehouse, great for an event or conference

The main Aural suite is on the 3rd floor.  This will accommodate about 300 people seated.  Lots of room outside for tea/coffee area.   You can feel and hear the buzz of the visitors centre, the building is a large atrium, built in the shape of a Pint of Guinness in the centre so you can feel the atmosphere from the whole venue.

Smaller meetings – Break out rooms – up on the next floor – in the business centre area.  There are 5 rooms here that will hold up to 70 people.

Food - prepared by Campbell Catering – tasty and flexible with a choice of menus for every budget.

For that Special Event -  there are 3 other venue spaces available for evening parties.   During the day they are open to the public but a great private party venue for evening entertainment – choices are -

Gravity Bar

Panoramic views of Dublin, a great Venue

Brewery Bar

Great Party Venue

Source Bar

Party Venue Option/Drinks Reception

To avail of the discounted negotiated rates that FindaConferenceVenue have, do get in touch.   ciara (at) findaconferencevenue.com.  353 ()) 21 4928941.

We are the experts on hotels and venues in Ireland and will do the legwork involved in finding a hotel or venue.  It is a free service to the Meeting Organiser.

Hotels near by – Radisson Blu Royal Hotel,  The Clarence