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

Well done to Charlie Sheil of the Clarion Hotel Cork on winning Manager of the Year – quite the achivement.

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.

I have held 2 events at the Guinness Storehouse and have got great feedback each time ” the staff are easy to work with and are professionals”. Last week I attended Bizcamp there – I worked with Keith on finding the venue.  Most of the stress of the day is taken away for the organiser if the venue are on top of things, provide excellent service and serve a decent cup of coffee!  This is the case with The Guinness Storehouse – Happy Arthur Guinness Day!

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

We are holding a focus group at The Rubicon Centre, Tuesday September 29th – 5pm.  If you are interested in participating, please do get in touch, or post a reply to this post.

Conditions -  you must be a meeting or event organiser and have arranged an event/conference in the last year.

Be available from 5-6 on Tuesday next.

Be able to travel to Cork!

Not work for the competition!

The reward is €75 cash for the hour.

Thanks so much. Ciara

Ireland can now compete even more with the world’s serious Conference Destinations by offering a tax relief to companies booking a conference in Ireland – yeah!  13.5% VAT can be claimed back on accommodation – this is both to individuals  attending a conference and to companies arranging a conference in Ireland.  This is great news as it really does help to make Ireland even more competitive as a destination for Conferences in Ireland. 

Interestingly – Concentives are becoming verrrrrrry popular – they are a mix of a conference and incentive – companies only have to  book a conference room (must be fore 50 people or more) for a morning and then have a jolly lined up (I mean a meaningful experience showcasing Ireland) for the rest of the trip. 

Tax Back Internationalare the company that are processing these claims – they are very  helpful and knowledgeble on the ins and outs of it.  There are offices world wide as well as Dublin and Cork!

Irish companies can claim VAT back through their normal VAT returns.

Every little helps!!    For more tips on how to save money when organising a conference read the following posts…

Organising a conference on a shoe string budget.

Conference Hotel Deals - get ‘em while they are hot!

Have you ever arranged a meeting or conference and it ended up costing a few hundred or even thousand more than what you had expected??

Kingsley Hotel Cork - great conference room

Wouldn’t it be great to arrange a conference or meeting and know exactly what it is going to cost?  When presented with the bill there are no hidden surprises such as extra tea/coffee, LCD projector, flip chart etc??  I quote most of my clients a day delegate package which will include 2 tea/coffee breaks, lunch, meeting room rental and lcd projector/screen.   Clients find it is much easier to calculate what the cost will be besides adding up all of the elements individually.  If you are quoted €35 per person and you know you have 100 people attending it makes life a lot easier.

That is what it is all about – making life easier for the client!! That is my aim in life and how I get repeat business.

Rob Hard of About.com/Event Planning has written an article on this- it is an interesting perspective as he writes about it from the US point of view and the European point of view.  I did not realise that most American Hotels still quote individually or a la carte so to speak on all the separate aspects of a conference.

For more tips and ideas on how to arrange a conference or event check out the following posts.  Or feel free to call me directly for my expert advice – 353 (0) 21 4928941.

How to plan a conference – advice from the experts

How to plan a conference - part two.

Negotiating Tips – how to save money when planning a conference

Radisson SAS have rebranded and are now Radisson Blu!  I have rates negotiated with all the hotels in Ireland.  There are some fantastic hotels in the brand, I consistently get great feedback from clients who use the Radisson Blu Royal in Dublin City Centre.  It is a great Dublin Conference Hotel and I find the team excellent to work with.

With the below delegate rates there are no hidden surprises.  I request most quotes now in day delegate format so that you know exactly how much an event is going to cost.  My clients prefer it for budget reasons and it is much easier to compare costs across the board too.  Of course, using a venue finder, I do all the leg work in comparing prices, and putting it all in the one easy to read format.    I also know where to negotiate with hotels and where the most room for negotiation is.  Check out the conference and meeting deals below – they all help in arranging a Conference or Event on a shoe string budget!

Day Delegate Rate from €29.00 per person

to include:

• Main meeting room hire
• Lunch – soup/sandwich/tea/coffee
• Tea/coffee break
• LCD Projector, screen and flipchart
• Free Wi-Fi Access
• Jugs of iced water, pens and pads

Minimum number apply in all hotels.

24 Hour Delegate Rate from €159.00 per person

to include:

• Day Delegate Rate (see above)
• Overnight accommodation incl. breakfast
• 2 course dinner with tea/coffee
• Free Wi-Fi Access

Minimum number of 10 delegates alpply in all hotels.

Radisson Blu St. Helen’s Hotel, Dublin

11 dedicated meetings and events suites that can accommodate up to 300 people!

 

Radisson Blu St. Helen's Hotel, Dublin

 

Radisson Blu Royal Hotel, Dublin

15 meeting rooms including boardrooms and a video conferencing suite, which can host a small meeting for 12, a large theatre-style event for 400 or a sit-down dinner for 300!

Radisson Blu Royal Hotel, Dublin

 

Radisson Blu Hotel & Spa, Cork

9 meeting rooms housed in the elegant Ditchley House and the impressive ballroom for up to 450 delegates!

Radisson Blu Hotel and Spa, Sligo

11 meeting rooms, Ballincar Boardroom with a capacity of 18 and Benbulben Ballroom with a capacity of 950, theatre style!

Radisson Blu Hotel and Spa, Sligo