Penguins’ Drum Master and Energiser extraordinaire Mark Walker has been moonlighting recently with Rolf Harris at a number of UK festivals, including Rolf’s latest performance at Glastonbury. In fact, that’s the fifth time Mark’s done Glasto with Rolf as he’s played percussion with the antipodean legend even longer than he’s been energising our conferences. And it was Rolf who taught him the didgeridoo which he sometimes uses on our team building drum and music sessions.

The most popular conference energiser Mark runs are our boomwhacker sessions - boomwhackers are coloured plastic tubes that are struck on the hand (or any other part of the body!) and play musical notes. They are lightweight, extremely easy to use, and turn participants into a fantastic sounding orchestra in a very short space of time – great for refreshing and focusing delegates as well as being an excellent metaphor for working together as a team.

Talking of teams, Penguins’ new Haka energiser that Mark leads is guaranteed to bring a smile to the face and life to the body of all those who experience it. Using call and response techniques participants learn the words and actions to the famous New Zealand All Black’s warm up to create a powerful and emotive energiser that is great for getting delegates motivated and concentrating on the conference content, especially after lunch.

Of course, we still use drums and more traditional percussion instruments for sessions as well, and recently a number of clients have used a combination of energisers through the course of a day to keep their delegates quite literally on their toes, with boomwhackers as an ice breaker, the Haka after lunch and a full drum session at the end to send delegates home invigorated, motivated and with more than a little spring in their step after a conference they will remember for a long time...

Despite Penguins having worked with Taplow House Hotel for many years and me having worked at Penguins for many years, it’s been a long while since I last visited them.

What better excuse to rectify that than a buyers open evening? The promise of a BBQ on the terrace and some red hot Salsa lessons was just too much to resist! So Amber, Clare, Louise, Aimee and I took the short journey from our Windsor offices; it was only when we arrived that I was reminded just what a quiet location they have, only 10 minutes from the M4, yet it felt more like an hour.

What better way to be greeted than by being asked “Drink sir?” unfortunately on this occasion I was driving so stuck with orange juice, tempting though the Prosecco looked!

After having had the chance to soak up the fantastic grounds we joined a few others on a quick tour of the hotel’s function rooms, public spaces and bedrooms.

A quick breakdown for those stats fans!

Tulip Tree and the Grenfell Suite are light, airy rooms, with bags of natural daylight and stunning high ceilings. Tulip Tree also has direct access onto the terrace.

The other smaller rooms, with the exception of The Old Desborough, are located on the lower ground floor. Hamilton is the standout room here, with its curved brickwork roof giving away its history as a wine cellar; this room would make ideal surroundings for an intimate Wine Tasting or Murder Mystery evening.

All of the public spaces were warm and inviting, as you would expect for a 4 Star hotel, the bar in particular stood out, with an open fire, which I’m assured blazes in the winter.

(Ok so here I have to admit that of the 15 photos I took of the bar...none turned out well enough to use! So a big thank you to Olivia at Taplow House Hotel for permission to use the photo above.)

We were shown one of their three Junior suites, which is also the Honeymoon Suite. It is a very good size room, decorated in a modern, but classic style, complete with a HUGE bed.

I can’t comment on how comfy it is, but if anyone from the hotel is reading this, I’d be more than happy to try it out for a night!

After the show round we moved on to the Salsa classes, unfortunately I was on photo duty so couldn’t take part (!), but everyone who did join in had a fantastic time, led by Gabriella Warren. (gabriellawarren25@gmail.com)

So a great evening was had by all and it was really good to get the chance to have a proper nosey round the property!

I say a great evening for all…all except my colleague Amber, who we had to rescue after her car broke down on the way home…there’s always one!

Penguins adopt Ricky the Rockhopper Penguin, one of the smallest and most popular inhabitants of the penguin pool at ZSL London Zoo

Ricky shares the pool with a large group of black-footed penguins and is currently ZSL London Zoo's only rockhopper penguin which makes him very special. Ricky gets along with all of the other penguins but he's a pretty chilled out guy and prefers to relax alone, away from the action.

Ricky is often found chilling out by the side of the penguin pool or hopping over the rocks. Rockhopper penguins are used to cooler climates as they are from sub-Antarctic islands but Ricky's mates, the black footed penguins, are actually from South Africa.

Over the months of June and July you might find Ricky and his friends looking a little bit grumpy and ...bald! This is because for 2 weeks during the summer they moult all their feathers. During this time Ricky doesn't really like going for a swim since he is not waterproof, so he tends to stand at the side of his pool instead. However, as soon as he has a shiny new coat he is back to his happy self and back in the water!

The penguin pool is often visited by some grey herons. These birds live in the park but they flock over to the penguin pool at feeding time in the hope of some free fish! Ricky doesn’t mind these lunchtime guests, as long as they don’t try to get any of his lunchtime treats.

You can look forward to regular updates on Ricky's Penguin antics as we receive them.

Adobe is, in my opinion, king when it comes to software for creative tasks. I use most of their programmes on a day-to-day basis; from Photoshop and Illustrator to Premiere Pro and Encore they all integrate seamlessly.

In addition to Adobe’s pay for software they offer a number of free services via their website. One of my favourites is Kuler, it’s perfect for creative inspiration for colour schemes of conference identities or themed events.

You can search the vast online database for a colour and discover a wide variety of colour themes that others have created that feature your chosen colour.

Find a photo or picture that really grabs you and you can upload it, Kuler then examines the picture and creates a colour theme based on what it sees.

If you have one colour that you know you would like to use or include in a project, Kuler can take that colour and create a theme based on a number of different rules. Whether you are looking for a complimentary theme, shades of your chosen colour or contrasting colours Kuler provides the perfect starting place for your creative design process.

Other great resources for colour scheme inspiration can be found at:

http://www.colourlovers.com/blog

http://www.sensationalcolor.com/

The May Fair Hotel, as the name suggests, is located in Mayfair, often referred to as ‘London’s luxury quarter’. Appointed as the official hotel for London Fashion Week for a 5th season, this hotel really is the place to be seen; whether it’s for a drink in the bar or a corporate event in one of its many meeting rooms.  So, you can imagine our excitement when myself and a colleague were invited for a show round and overnight stay at this much talked about gem of a hotel.

The evening started with a show round of the dedicated events space, located on the first floor of the hotel, which includes 11 small private meeting rooms and the Danziger Suite. The Danziger Suite, with its spectacular art deco furnishings, can seat 130 for a dinner. Located on the basement level of the hotel, with its own private entrance, the largest of the meeting rooms is the Crystal Ballroom which can seat up to 180 for a dinner/dance. Featuring a specially commissioned Baccarat chandelier and a bronze lacquered feature wall studded with delicate leaves, this room really does scream elegance.

In addition, the May Fair has one of the capital’s largest private screening rooms. Audiences of up to 201 guests can sit in supreme comfort on purple Italian-leather trimmed seats complete with armrests and fold out tables. And if the above isn’t enough, the signature suites can also be hired out for exclusive events.

Where budget is no issue, you can treat your top clients to the ultimate private dining experience. Your guests will be served exquisite food prepared by Nobu, one of London’s most fashionable restaurants, in one of the hotel’s signature suites.

Unfortunately there wasn’t enough time in our schedule; however for those who like to play a hand or two in the casino, you can hire the exclusive Gold VIP room at the Palm Beach Casino, located in The May Fair's former Grand Art Deco.

What better place to end our evening than in the much talked about May Fair Bar. Recently judged the ‘Best Hotel Bar in London’ by readers of the Guardian and London Lite, this really is the place to be seen. And just when I thought the evening couldn’t get any better, whilst sipping my mojito, carefully selected from the extensive cocktail list, I spotted .…. Lee Ryan from Blue.

Finally, after getting over the excitement of seeing a member of my favourite boy band (ok, they were a few years ago!), and finishing off another delicious cocktail, I retired to my luxurious bedroom for a good night’s sleep.

Recently we have found that a high percentage of our private clients have opted for celebrating at home, using the space available and saving a heap of money at the same time!

More and more clients have decided that they would rather turn their homes into venues than actually spend money with a venue. We are not talking a complete home makeover, just simply using the space available and effectively changing the atmosphere of a room by carefully using creative lighting, draping and theming.

In the past week we’ve bought our events production services to a kitchen in Leicester, entertaining fifteen eleven years olds 

and taken over three rooms in Hambledon, Surrey creating a nightclub in a dining room, chillout room in a lounge and funky bar space in a hall way.

Of course there are more traditional options available as well. Marquees can be put up in the strangest size and shape of garden, so you don’t need to own acres to take advantage of your outside space. We’ve worked around trees, bushes, statues and flower beds in the past and including them within the marquee often adds a unique look and feel to the event.

• Try and clear as much furniture out of the party space as possible

• Confine the number of rooms used; There’s nothing worse than diluting the atmosphere by spreading everyone out over too many rooms

• Make sure your event/production company are using LED lighting where possible; it uses far less power than traditional lighting and doesn’t make smaller spaces even hotter

• Provide simple but effective food; canapés or bowl food, either DIY or use a caterer.

• Create a space for dancing and a space to get away from the dancing

• Make provision for the coats, especially if it’s winter

• Let the neighbours know; Set a curfew and try and stick to it.  Unless you’re lucky enough to live in the middle of nowhere

• Think about where your guests will park. Invite your neighbours and see if you can borrow there spaces or make sure you tell everyone to take taxis

• Consider a Video DJ, all your guests will have heard a DJ before, but not many will have seen a Video DJ, it adds a real wow factor

• Have a theme. Get guests to dress up; it’s more relaxed when it’s at home! You can continue the theme into the canapés & bowl food

• Make sure there’s a well-stocked bar. Dustbins, plenty of ice and plastic glasses will do. There are however other options, LED bars, themed bars and glassware. Whatever you choose, you can never have too much drink and glassware!

• Most people won’t want to drive home, have plenty of taxi numbers readily available, and warn the local firms!

• Toilets; Do you have enough? A bathroom and a downstairs cloakroom might be enough for a dinner party for twelve, but what about a party for 50, 60 or more? Small trailer toilet units can be money well spent.

• The morning after…not a nice thought but who is going to clear it all up?

So what now? After the recession will the events industry ever be the same? I hope not.

I hate to say that I have been around doing events since the recession of 1866. Well, that’s a slight exaggeration. I was certainly around during the recession of the early 90’s (20th Century!!). Back then events were very much seen as a jolly and most events revolved around very indulgent hospitality packages at the same old society sporting events. So when the bubble burst in 1992 the first thing to go was the “event budget”. These days, well, things could not be more different. Many clients, whilst they have reduced their “events spend” have maintained an events program that is a little more tuned and refined than it was 18 years ago. If you are one of those clients you will realise the benefits of having a diverse events program, whether as part of your internal communications strategy, marketing strategy or perhaps as part of your staff incentive scheme. You understand that events are a vital tool to enhance the business. Events provide the purchaser with a communications platform to convey a message to their chosen audience. What ever the message is, whomever the attendees are the event gives businesses a platform from which to communicate. In many cases the events that Penguins organises have physical platforms and very clear messages that form the core to the events identity. “One team, one vision”, “Going for Gold” and “The Futures Bright, the Futures…..” I think you get the picture!

But what of those events that do not have such clear platforms and even less clear messages? Are they any less important? A good example of these events is the staff motivational event for which we have loads of team building activities to tempt you with. Unfortunately these are events that many businesses have seen as expendable in times of economic melt down. But they are also some of the most important. I know that I do not need to harp on about the benefits of these events on improving low staff moral, team strength and the merging of decimated departments, but these events do make a big difference and whilst they are easy to cut out, they are also very easy to bring back into the equation.

Why planning a slimline schedule and agenda is one of the most critical aspects of running a successful event.

In a way, running a company conference or event is the business equivalent of going to the gym. You have a fitness advisor stand there and set out a programme for you of how best to keep fit and advise you how best to achieve your goals. You then give yourself a good workout, covering staff motivation, finance, products, strategy etc and then you trot back to the day job, feeling a little less guilty about all those bad habits you had accumulated over the past 12 months.

How many times have you heard phrases like – “a little and often” – “don’t over exercise” – and “don’t try and do too much too soon.”

Yet for many businesses this seems to be the standard practice. They don’t do any events or even bother communicating or evaluating themselves for a whole year, then they try for one massive new year detox and fitness session.

Typically this is the classic 2 day conference, starting at 9.30 with a nice energiser, then a full day of every senior stakeholder giving your delegates a thorough workout – an update, how things are, were we are going etc and then perhaps a few breakout sessions followed by a big group exercise and then a final workout before the evening  party. The second day starts and 8.30am (it would have been 9am, except things overran the day before) , some teambuilding, a bit on marketing, some more workshops and a few rousing words of encouragement at the end from the chief fitness instructor.

Back in the day job everyone can feel a bit better about themselves – at least they did it. Guilt trip dealt with – lets go to the pub.

Ok, I think you get my point. The art of a good conference is to be ruthless about setting your objectives – don’t do too much. Stay focussed on what you are really trying to achieve and do not stray off that path. It is very tempting to say “well since we have got everybody here – it would be a wasted opportunity not to do X, Y and Z”. Well everything I have ever seen in the last 20 years of helping companies achieve better results from their eventsimakes me say rubbish to that.

Events only have value when they achieve their objective. That objective tends to be a change in behaviour. i.e how do you want your sales team to behave differently to reach higher targets? – what can operations do to drive up productivity. How do you want teams to work better together.

As soon as you try and do too much – your all too human employees will just shut down and do almost nothing.

Better value is achieved from some of the following:

More frequent , smaller events – even small internal sessions – a little and often

More restricted and focussed agendas

Keep the event interactive – just don’t do one way presentations

Give delegates time to recover, digest and contemplate. Some of the most valuable sessions can be the tea and coffee breaks – it gives delegates a chance to chat freely and exchange ideas or views.

If you have a gala dinner on the second night and lay on the food, booze and dancing – (this is great by the way, it gets people talking and helps builds relationships and trust), - don’t expect everybody to be on board at 9am the next morning. It doesn’t matter how much of a brave face they will put on (99% of the conference will make sure they are sitting in their seats ready to start) – Nobody will remember the sales figures on the PowerPoint screen (or even care!). There is nothing wrong with starting day 2 at 10am. Tell me somebody what is wrong with this!

Make sure everybody leaves with a check list of outcomes and actions. Then reinforce this again after the event.

In the end it dosent need to cost a fortune to run an effective event. It just needs a bit of understanding as to how people tick.  A bit of filtering in the planning stages and putting the event in the context of a long term programme will repay dividends many times over. Any fitness advisor would tell you not go to the gym just once or twice a year and do EVERYTHING.

In case you hadn't heard, last night (16/02/10) was The BRITs and as usual it was a very glamorous affair, with some fantastic live performances.

One of the most talked about aftershow parties, was hosted by Lindsay Lohan in association with The British Red Cross' Haiti Earthquake Appeal. Held in the stunning River Room at the fantastic London venue, Altitude 360, the glamorous bash attracted the usual papparrazzi and fan attention as well as a whole host of celebrities.

Needless to say, with the world's eyes on their venue, Altitude 360 needed to impress. That's where we stepped in! With less than 24hrs notice we had a team of technicians and a truck full of lighting equipment on it's way to London ready to add that extra touch to Altitude 360's plans.

Although our technicians didn't get any tabloid worthy pictures during the event, I am reliably informed their front of house position gave them the perfect spot to not only manage the lighting, but also to spot the odd celeb or two!

 So after providing event production services for Altitude 360 for a "celeb hosted, charity benefitting, after BRITs extravaganza"...what's next on the job board?

Well actually you couldn't get further away on the "event spectrum"; next up is team building activity, an interactive Falconry session at Cliveden House... variety is the spice of life, after all!

 Ok...to satisfy your curiosity here's what it looked like inside

And outside when Bianca Gascoigne arrived.

The small group, who only thirty minutes before had all been sitting snug and warm in a beach front restaurant enjoying tapas and red wine and the company of their colleagues, nervously check the piece of paper again, and then approach the person who’s description is on the page in front of them. The two bravest casually step up to contact;

“The swifts are flocking over the pier again!” one says nervously

In fact there are no swifts flocking and Brighton Pier is deserted apart from them, the contact and a handful of other hardy souls. It IS December AND snowing. The contact looks up from the book she is reading.

“Well it is a glorious day and quite normal at this time of year!” she replies. Contact has been established, “Do you have the information I require?”

He looks at his colleagues and holds out his hand for the case, on opening it a mysterious array of spy paraphernalia is visible, each piece cushioned in its own special place in the foam insert. He removes a red wallet and from it a list of questions with scribbled answers, then passes it to the contact.

“Excellent,” The contact says after a moment, then reaches into her own pack and hands a similar sheet to the man, “this trail will lead you to your next contact.” She says “and this is the clue you need.” She hands the man a slip of paper “Keep it safe.” She adds and goes back to reading her book. On the paper it says:

BROWN BROTHERS PART OF THE CODE IS Y9.

In another part of the town, a small group are huddled around a phone box, there are two other members of the team talking on the telephone inside.

“Erm..REDBOX” says the one holding the receiver.

“Look in the classified section of today’s Argus newspaper for your next clue.” the disembodied voice replies, and the line goes dead.

On looking there is a heavily outlined box in the classified section and in it in bold type is written.

THE VILLAIN HOLDING THE THIRD PIECE OF THE CODE IS IN HONG KONG.

They pull their coats and scarves tightly around them and hurry off through the Christmas crowds, to continue their search for their next contact hidden in plain sight.

What will happen next time?.......Which team will be the first back to HQ with the secret code that can save the company?......What other strange characters will they meet along the way?......Who is the strange man with the glass eye and the limp?

Will you be the next to crack the devious code in our Tempest team building challenge?

I’ve been watching with interest over the last 18 months or so, the development of Project Natal by Microsoft. If you’ve not heard of Natal, its Microsoft Xbox’s latest offering, being hyped as the Nintendo Wii beater, in terms of motion control.

We all remember how amazed we were the first time we played Wii bowling. Bowling in a game, by actually bowling in real life! In the three years since release the Wii has gone from fun in your front room to the must have addition to your team build or party, well Microsoft have firmly set out their stall with Natal.

What Natal promises is full body motion sensing, no need for a controller. If you’re playing a football game…just kick and your player in the game will kick the ball! Having checked out the videos on Microsoft’s website, if it plays as good as it looks this could be the next big thing, just take a look at people's reactions.

So how does this translate to events? The most obvious way is to replace the current crop of “Wii zones”, with “Natal Zones”, creating fully immersive, multi-player experience, perfect for a team building, party or product launch. Subject to trying it out for myself (Microsoft if you're reading I can be down to your offices within the hour!) I think this will really catch on and become the must have element for events.

The more interesting idea for me is the technology itself, if this can be integrated, in a cost effective way, into say PowerPoint then the possibilities for making a presentation more interactive and engaging are endless. Think Tom Cruise in Minority Report and you’re getting close to the kind of possibilities that could open up.

When can we expect to see this in events in the UK? Well, Microsoft's current US release is for “Holiday 2010”, I think we could see this in British stores for Christmas 2010. Whether there will be a corporate offering this year is anyone’s guess, but I think it’s safe to say it will be massive in 2011.

As for the whole PowerPoint integration that’s anyone’s guess, but if the technology is available and the demand is there….someone will make it!

We get asked regurlary to support charitable organisations, and we are always happy to help where possible offering Charitable discounts. Penguins have decided once again to choose to support our local charity 100%. Penguins have supported The Alexander Devine Children's Charitable Trust for the last four years staging Black Tie Events, Madhatter Tea Parties, Pantomimes and Family Fun Days.

Alexander Devine Children’s Cancer Trust (ADCCT) has been set up in memory of John and Fiona Devine's son Alexander.

We were moved by the amazing story of the Devine family and their son Alexander. Alexander was diagnosed with a rare brain tumour in November 2001 at the tender age of just four years. He endured operations, treatments and chemotherapy in his four year fight against cancer, with exceptional courage and bravery, with great dignity and without complaint.

The long term aim for Alexander’s Trust is to build and fund a Children’s Hospice service in the Berkshire area. Alexander House will be a home from home environment providing respite and quality time for the whole family, palliative care, specialist respite care, 24 hour emergency care, advice and bereavement information and support for the family.

ADCCT has had amazing support from the local community and the business sector throughout Berkshire since it was set up just over 2 years ago, and the charity has raised over £600,000. ADCCT has also funded its first community paediatric palliative care nurse, who is now supporting local children with life limiting conditions, and their families, in their own homes.

However, there are over 260 families throughout the area who could be benefiting from a Berkshire children’s hospice NOW and they still need to raise another £1 million so that they can commence building.

Forthcoming events for 2010 include:

30/01/2010 Scrummy Mummy Night in Windsor

13/01/2010 The Mayor’s Charity Ball, Ascot Racecourse

21/03/2010 Reading Half Marathon

07/05/2010 Heaven Sent Ball, Oakley Court Hotel, Windsor

25/09/2010 Sir Michael Parkinson’s Charity Cabaret Evening, Wentworth Golf Club

In a beautiful private courtyard set back from the hustle and bustle of London we discovered Dukes Hotel, located in St James Place. A colleague and I were invited on a show round by Pineapple Marketing to discover this hidden gem.

Dukes Hotel has 90 luxurious bedrooms including 11 suites and a penthouse boasting views of Green Park. All rooms have a classic yet contemporary feel with all the latest mod cons. The drawing room which can be hired exclusively for events is attached to a stunning conservatory and courtyard, perfect for a spot of afternoon tea and summer receptions.

Dukes' main meeting room is called the Marlborough Suite which can hold 40 pax cabaret, and has its own entrance. The room is an L shape and so catering can easily be served inside the room.

Sheridan is another meeting room available for hire which holds up to10 boardroom. And finally The Montrose is located off the hotel bar and cocktail master classes can be offered in this space from Dukes experienced bartenders. Some say that the Dukes bar offers some of the world best Martinis and is Where Ian Fleming is said to have created the infamous line ‘shaken not stirred’.

Everything about this hotel exudes luxury, day meeting packages include fabulous breakfast canapés, working lunch and afternoon tea to complete the day.

We were thoroughly spoilt the following morning during our breakfast in the elegantly decorated dining room, I ordered smoked salmon & scrambled eggs and I and can say that it was one of the best breakfasts I have had in a long time! This space can comfortably hold 40 pax for breakfast or dinner and offers a range of seasonal British dishes.

If you are looking for a small 5* hotel where your guests will be the only group, they are guaranteed an exclusive experience at Dukes.

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