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There’s something truly special about a journey filled with ‘firsts’. And my recent trip to Los Angeles and Las Vegas, hosted by IHG Hotels & Resorts , was exactly that - a string of firsts, each more memorable than the last. Welcome to LA: First Impressions Kicking off with a premium economy flight from London Heathrow to Los Angeles, my excitement for the days ahead was already sky-high (pun intended). Touching down in California for the very first time, I was spoiled from the get-go. Our stay began at the fabulous InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown , where we were treated to a brief show-around of the property, followed by a dinner that showcased the creativity of the head chef. It was a great way to meet some of my fellow hosted buyers and get into the spirit of things.
Last week, we welcomed over 300 delegates to Frankfurt for our client’s Technical Conference. The energy from the start set the tone for three exciting days of innovation, collaboration, and fresh ideas. Day 1: Kicking Off with Innovation The conference began with an interactive plenary session, where delegates actively participated in discussions and shared insights. A highlight was the "Innovation Box," designed to gather creative ideas for a future-focused strategy. Guest speakers from our clients suppliers shared valuable insights on industry trends, innovative solutions, and growth strategies. The day concluded with dinner and networking at Depot 1899, a repurposed tram depot, where delegates enjoyed an evening of conversation, food, and even dancing.
Corporate Social Responsibility is becoming an increasingly important aspect to business and events today. Incorporating CSR in events allows clients to turn their values into action and it can have a positive impact on attendees as it gives them a sense of purpose and fosters a culture of teamwork. We are constantly trying to encourage clients to integrate CSR in events. And what better way than to try these activities first-hand. Our colleagues Skye and Romy attended an event organised by GoTo Events and Sleep Pod UK at the Leonardo Hotel St Paul’s to make sleeping pods for the homeless. Here’s what they had to say:
Over ten days in October key #Activaters were in #HongKong, making the biggest impact within an ambitious pan-Asian event for a manufacturing client. The large majority of delegates were based in Asia, so Hong Kong was an obvious choice given its regional hub position and desire to maximise attendance. Indeed, our event was the largest training event delivered to date! No less than 700 attendees gathered at the Nina Hotel Tsuen Wan West for an internal staff training event, while the client was running in parallel a separate training event at the InterContinental Grand Stanford Hong Kong. We found the hotel to be fantastic! We were all really impressed with their exceptional attention to detail throughout our event, and we enjoyed the support of Destination China, represented in the UK by Mags Shaw at MagsWorldwide.
At the height of European Winter to get the call to head off to what we lovingly call “the world’s most fun sandpit,” well, we get excited! And we say ‘yes’! If you are looking to take your top performing teams for a Winter sunshine incentive, Dubai seems to have all temptations and the right answers. Between December 2nd and 5th, 2022, Liz Pim, Account Director, joined a familiarisation programme to Dubai. Organised by Nikki Rebuck of The Rep Company (a destination representation company well-established in the UK) and co-hosted by 2xceed and Jan Rienermann on the ground. The group took off from London Heathrow with support from Kathy Bradley at All About Flights and enjoyed the hospitality of Raj Aswal and Atlantis Resorts. We cannot be more grateful for the team going above and beyond to host, accommodate personal requests and ensure the smooth running of each step of the programme!
As a team, we would like you to know these two things: we will go to great length to learn what are the latest and most innovative solutions for events but we will never fall victims to the need to be ‘on trend’. After all, your company is unique, it has its culture, its values, its strategy and when we are teaming up with you, we are there to work with you and implement the solutions that create the absolute best outcome, best experience, best value, delivered in the most efficient way. And because we have been busy reading content ranging from Forbes to Campaign Live, and from Event Industry News and Travel Daily News to Amex Global Business, we share with confidence some headline trends that may benefit your event – processed by our team and relayed in this blog.
“Such a fantastic experience, Copenhagen is such a wonderful place!” This is how our colleague Emily Everall sums up her experience during an industry fam trip to Copenhagen in December 2022. Honouring the invitation from Idea Nordic, Copenhagen Convention Bureau and Destinations UNLIMITED, Activate Events & Communications assigned Emily Everall to be our eyes and ears on the ground and to soak up not just supplier knowledge but most importantly, the culture, the unique character of this extraordinary city and the distinctive opportunities that we can bring to our clients during future events.
October was a less than typical month for us, with a large 1000 guest event in Spain, a pharmaceutical client which required support Down Under, and a two-day event summit which Activate were both sponsoring and attending as participants. In addition to supporting a range of other key events running smoothly thanks to the Activaters in charge! The Event Organisers Summit 2022 we were keen to support as after covid where relationships jumped online we felt there was a layer of distance and remoteness that we are keen to remove by spending two days immersed in the world of our prospective clients.
Paul Bowie, Activate founder and Managing Director, issued the following statement to mark the company’s 10th anniversary. “The one word that repeats most often, from Year 1 to today is – Passion. As a business owner and as part of a strong leadership team, I know that the key to success is having a passion for your business, if you are part of a team, it’s having a passion for your industry and for your role. We can all learn to be better at what we do, we can even learn to do new things, however we are unable to learn passion for a business or a role. If we are very lucky people, we have it within us – I know I have always been passionate about Activate and I believe many of the Activaters past and present have also felt that way! Here we are ten years down the line, many highs and lows and global challenges, financial, environmental and health-related (Covid!) under our belt.
Activate Event Management Ltd | 10 Gleneagles Court | Brighton Road | Crawley | West Sussex | RH10 6AD | UK