Ok, so I was hoping to provide a daily report, but the life of an event manager has got the better of me. Never under-estimate how hard the poor, dirided event manager works. From Sunday to Thursday (today) I’ve managed to work consecutive 19 hour days with 3-5 hours sleep a night. Fortunatly, I’m surrounded by an incredible logistics and technical crew from The Conference People, and its great to say that morale is even higher now than it was when we started. Testiment to a great team of people, not just on the road, but back in the office in Eastbourne as well who are supporting the travellers.

So far we’ve managed events at conference venues in Edinburgh, Bristol and Reading, and I’ve been impressed with the standard of conference facilities, but more importantly, the level of high levels of service provided by the venues.

Edinburgh

Firstly, I’d forgotten how beautiful Edinburgh is. As a resident of Brighton, on of the Uk’s most exciting but grungy cities, I couldnt believe how clean its is. No dog poop here on every corner. Driving from Glasgow after picking up some additional exhibition panels, my sat nav sent me down 5 roads that were closed due to readworks. Bit frustrating, but it did give me a cheeky tour of the city that I  wouldnt have had if “Jane” had directed me straight to the venue.

Dynamic Earth was the host for this first event, and what a terrific venue it is. As an interactive natural history museum its a great day out for kids, but come the evening you can take over the “Stratosphere” area if the venue, as well as meeting space to host and event with a real difference. The food was good and the service was outstanding. Our duty managers, Andy and Murray (brilliant!) were amongst the best I’ve worked with in my career. So attentive, professional and enthusiastic. I’d thoroughly recommend the venue for conferences and particularly evening functions.

Best of all though is our set. We’d had a vision to create a Top Gear theme, and thanks to the production team, my concept has become a reality. I’ll post some photos v soon. The Autoglass presenters are excellent, very relaxed, and really carry off the studio theme well.

Bristol

After a flight down from Edinburgh, including a pre-flight fry up to make up for the dinner-less evening the night before, we arrived in Bristol for the next show. @Bristol was the venue, another interactive museum, this time based around science and again, a fantastic place for the kids.

@Bristol only has small conference areas, really taking up to a maximum of 200 delegates in the Francis Crick room, allowing for back projection, but one of its key selling points is the terrace that overlooks Millennium Square, a regenerated quayside area of Bristol. Definately worth a visit for the museum and recommended as a conference venue too.

Our overnight accommodation was in the Premier Inn Bristol. The room was good, as honestly portrayed by Lenny Henry, as for the service…….no comment.

Reading

2 hours sleep after Bristol. Could have been more but I have become obsessed by the US elections for the past 18 months and, as a self confessed news junkie, I had to watch history unfold. The lack of sleep did little for my ever increasing bags under my eyes, but after a 90 minute journey of constant gags from Big Jeff the Soundman, I was ready to crack on with work.

Another day and another terrific venue, the Royal Berkshire Conference Centre at the Madjeski Stadium (Reading FC). This venue has dozens of conference rooms and catering areas. We were using Princess Room, and the open plan Windsor Lounge for our catering and exhibition.

The catering was a slightly lower standard than Dynamic Earth and @Bristol, but the fishcakes are highly recommended.

Our set was hit by a power surge which cut all of the power seconds before we were about to start. After some frantic wire twiddling from the production team we got underway 15 minutes late, but a seamless presentation from the Autoglass team kept everyone smiling and before they knew it, the bar was open and the beer was flowing.

The Millennium Hotel at the Madjeski was superb. Super bedrooms, excellent service from the front desk team and free copies of Men’s Health and National Geographic in the bedrooms. Simple things……

Finally, what a breakfast!! You’ll soon begin to notice my fascination with food, but the Smoked Haddock with a Poached Egg was simply magnificent. Shame about the coffee but hey, you cant have it all.

Moving on…………….to Mercedes Benz World in Weybridge. This is an incredible venue and a temple to all things car/ Mercedes related, even impressive to me, who’s idea of a decent car is based around the colour. We’re currently setting up in the Event Hall, which is an ideal space for our Studio theme as its just a blank space, all grey and black, ideal for us to create the warehouse look and feel we’re after.