Ali Cook, Author at

There’s a Frenzy around Family Fun Days!

19/07/2021 Ali Cook England, Family Fun Days, Team Building, Team-building Venues

Corporate family fun days are getting us very excited! Enquiries have been coming into our venue finding team from companies and organisations across the UK. As the return to the office gathers momentum, the wish to bring employees and their families together to thank them is rising up the agenda and putting corporate family fun days at the top of the must-do event list for 2021! Companies want to recognise the support families have shown throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. From setting up offices in kitchens and bedrooms to multi-tasking homeschooling with the office Zoom meeting, organisations are keen to show

Outdoor space is the new in-space!

27/04/2021 Ali Cook Outdoor Venues, Team-building Venues

At the moment, government guidance allows for essential meetings and training for up to 30 delegates. The good news is event organisers are busy planning for the future and lots of hotels and venues are reporting that their calendars are getting busy with new bookings on top of rescheduled events. And, there’s a new popular place that’s on the lips of event organisers, meeting room bookers and party planners; outdoor space! Outdoor space Just as many of us have embraced outdoor space in our personal lives, the outdoor space a venue or hotel can now include in its corporate packages,

The UK’s COVID Vaccination Centres have much to offer the events industry

14/01/2021 Ali Cook COVID 19 Health & Safety, Outdoor Venues, Top Cities

With COVID-19 vaccinations rolling out on a huge scale across England, we’re taking a closer look at three of the mass vaccination centres that have been set up to help the NHS deliver vaccines. Centre for Life, Newcastle Life Meetings and Events is part of the International Centre for Life and would normally welcome over 300,000 visitors a year. It goes without saying this year is a whole new world for the iconic science village. With its doors open to the NHS and Covid-19 vaccination programme, it’s undoubtedly a venue that can accommodate large-scale events. Just as well as it

Hosting a Hybrid Meeting

30/11/2020 Ali Cook Airport Venues, Budget Delegate Rates, Countryside locations, COVID 19 Health & Safety, Hybrid Meetings

Hybrid meetings are certainly taking off as we come to the end of 2020 and there’s sure to be a permanent place in the meeting and events industry for this newer form of safe gatherings. A hybrid meeting is a fusion of socially distanced people located in one place, who are presenting to a larger number of individuals working from home. Or they could be based in another office anywhere in the world. Hybrid meetings are the meetings and events industry way of providing a Covid safe environment for up to 30 people to meet in one place. And add

#GetBritainMeeting again

26/10/2020 Ali Cook COVID 19 Health & Safety

Local lockdowns are continuing to add to the general confusion and lack of confidence around meetings. With rumours circulating over which regions will enter tier three, planning a meeting or event in England has never been so frustrating. Knowing where you can meet, and indeed, how many delegates can meet in the same meeting room are just two questions our Findmeaconference team are regularly asked. Over the last few months we’ve been asking all our Findmeaconference partners to keep their venue’s profiles on the Findmeaconference website up to date. Many of our partners have introduced new procedures and policies to

Venue of the Month: Chesford Grange

19/10/2020 Ali Cook Countryside locations, Garden Glamour, Interviews, Party Venues, Venue of the Month, Wedding Venues

A successful event planner needs to be engaging and personable, a multi-tasker with great organisational skills, and a problem solver with a passion for delivering successful events. Step forward Alexander Rigg from Chesford Grange in Warwickshire! Alexander has been in the role of event planner at the charming Chesford Grange for the last two and a half years. The former manor house is located in Kenilworth. It benefits from 17 acres of countryside while also being convenient for road and rail links. We recently caught up with Alex to find out more about his role and the changes Covid-19 has

Valor Hospitality: Meet with Confidence

05/10/2020 Ali Cook COVID 19 Health & Safety, Top Cities

From local lockdowns to the rule of six; the Coronavirus is doing its utmost to make planning business meetings and events a challenge for even the calmest of PAs and event organisers. Something Valor Hospitality has really taken to heart. Whether arranging an AGM, communications meeting, long-term sales strategy or rolling out new policies and procedures for business survival, knowing where you can meet, what safety measures are in place and what contingencies there are for cancellations have all become vital elements in planning a meeting. However, there is some news for meeting bookers and event organisers! Firstly, the rule of

Top 5 Private Dining Rooms for Business

04/03/2020 Ali Cook Birmingham, England, London, Manchester, Party Venues, Top Cities, Venues with Dining, Wedding Venues

We’ve selected some of our favourite private dining rooms that are perfect for combining a corporate function with delicious private dining. Making ideal dinner party venues as well as setting a professional backdrop for a discrete business meeting, these beautiful dining rooms have superb corporate facilities and first class service. And just as importantly, they are certain to impress you and your guests, clients or delegates. Private Dining Rooms in London Located in the heart of the capital city in the business district of Canary Wharf, the London Marriott Hotel Canary Wharf impresses with its choice of rooms that can

Musing over Museum Meeting Spaces!

28/01/2020 Ali Cook Birmingham, England, London, Manchester, Museums

British Science Week will be on the top of agenda in schools and universities at the beginning of March which means there will be many museum meeting rooms and spaces used to host events too. Furthermore, museum meeting room enquiries will increase as more people visit museums in London, Leeds, Manchester and other UK cities. With a trip to the museum it’s easy to appreciate the unique setting and superb technology available to the corporate world of events especially when held in museum meeting spaces. So let’s take a closer look at what some of the UK’s museums can offer

A Meeting Room with a View

29/11/2019 Ali Cook 2019, A Meeting Room with a View, Birmingham, Countryside locations, Garden Glamour, London

Everyone loves a room with a view and that includes delegates attending an event. The view that brides and grooms want from a hotel or wedding venue is important to an event organiser too. And the meeting room booker who appreciates the values of a room with a view will set the scene for a successful event! Even before the invites have been sent! Thanks to our amazing brains, we are wired to respond to views! Categorised as lush, the views of landscapes and greenery, beaches and sunsets fill us with positive sensations. And if we’re witnessing a building or

Author: Ali Cook