Blog

This week we are starting a series about our member agencies. Our members are the recipe for our success and without them The AIEA would not exist. We are proud to say we have around 80 fantastic member agencies on our books. We start our series with Mabrouka Events....

This weeks blog is from Steve Pinnock of Performance and Event Management Limited. The live events effect Covid-19 has disrupted life across the world.  Its widest impact has been in isolating people from each other. The consequences include a severe economic slump...

This weeks blog is from our member Sarah Threlfall from Brightspace Events. As live events pick up again and restrictions are lifted, the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to linger in people’s minds for some time, resulting in many event attendees preferring to attend...

The AIEA NY Honours took place on Friday 28th Jan 2022. It was a huge success and the biggest one to date, with over 80 suppliers and 60 members attending this was a great start to our New Year. It goes without saying that the AIEA could not operate without all its...

This weeks blog has been written by Paula Kelsey from Cloud9. Selling from Suppliers As agents our inboxes are regularly overflowing with sales emails, newsletters and general catch-up emails from suppliers, and occasionally, with the right relevant client enquiry...

As event professionals we are extremely fortunate in that we get to see so many amazing places and meet so many amazing people. In December I hade the pleasure of attending a Fam to Ras Al Khaimah, a new destination for me as I have never been before. The Fam was...

Peter Clark from Performance and Event Management has contributed with this weeks blog. “Reflect, Recommit, Re-engage, Rethink and Reboot.” This mantra has been conceived by Deloitte. It is part of their contribution to the WEF’s Sustainable Development Impact Summit....

Pauline Caldaralo, Events Director of PAC Conferences has contributed with this weeks blog. After just returning from the Silver Moon Cruise, I thought it would be good to let you know what a wonderful experience it would be for incentive travel, meetings or...

Layla Warfield, Director of Mabrouka Events in Buckinhamshire and a longstanding member of the AIEA, took part in the Royal Parks ½ marathon on Sunday 10th October.This stunning central London Half Marathon, takes in some of the capital's world-famous landmarks on...

Lida de Souza from De Souza Associates has written this blog about a great selection of alternative venues. Choosing an alternative or unique venue for your corporate event can boost engagement, attendee numbers and also inspire your delegates. Here are just a few...

This weeks blog is from one of our board members, Paula Kelsey from Cloud9. Story Hotels is a Swedish hotel chain, founded by Nicolas Fredell in 2009 and earlier this year Hyatt entered into a franchise agreements with Story Hotels Holding AB to bring three hotels in...

Kerry Walsh the AIEA Chair and Managing Director of Hatch Events has written this weeks blog about her experiences while visiting Edinburgh and the Balmoral Hotel.   When I received an email from the Director of Regional Sales for Rocco Forte Hotels asking if I...

As the country goes a little Football Crazy ahead of tonight’s semi-final clash against Denmark, we thought it important to think more about the stadiums and clubs that are part of our industry – and not just in the good times! Throughout the COVID pandemic, Football...

Kerry Walsh, Chairman of the AIEA, Owner of Hatch Events Ltd has written this weeks blog on why now is a good time to join the AIEA. As a small business owner, you want to continually be growing yourself, your team and your business. And one of the best ways to do...

After a challenging time for us all, the aviation industry is preparing itself for the start of travel after over a year of the world being in lockdown. The following airlines are well worth a look: JetBlue Known for affordable economy and business class fares, they...

Donna Hodges started her events company in 2010 after having worked in a corporate background and lived in 5 different countries. Name: Donna Hodges Agency: Inception Events Ltd Your Favourite Song of All Time (&Band/Singer)? Ain’t nobody – Rufus and Chaka Khan or...

This week we are meeting Ed Tranter, the Director at the events company 73 Media. With over 25 years of experience in the industry he has travelled the world and visiting 44 countries and managed events on 5 continents. Name: Ed Tranter Agency: 73 Media Your Favourite...

This week we will meet one of our newer members, the lovely Anne Reidy from Black Tulip Events. Anne has been working in the Industry for more than 30 years and has an abundance of experience both on the agency side and the hotel side. Name: Anne Reidy Agency: Black...

Name: Andi Swain Agency: Evolution International Your Favourite Song of All Time (& Band/Singer)?            Love will tear us apart / Joy Division Who Would Play You in a Film About Your Life? Tim Curry What Would Your Last Meal on Earth...

Name: David Tremmil Agency: InLoco Events Your Favourite Song of All Time (& Band/Singer)? Somewhere over the rainbow (Judy Garland) Who Would Play You in a Film About Your Life? Chris Pratt What Would Your Last Meal on Earth Be? Chinese (sweet and sour crispy...

This week we are introducing another of our members. Name: Sarah Threlfall Agency: Brightspace Events. Your Favourite Song of All Time (& Band/Singer)? Depends what mood I’m in (and if I’m trying to show off or not) but today I’m going with Night Swimming by REM....

Paula Kelsey, immediate past chair of the AIEA shares her view of her term - As we say good riddance to 2020 and start 2021 with some gloom, but also a distant pin prick of light, I wanted to reflect on the past couple of years as chair of the AIEA. Despite the...

This month one of our longstanding members Mabrouka Events are proudly celebrating 20 years in business, which is a fantastic achievement. Mabrouka Events was founded in 2001 by Managing Director Sharon O’Sullivan following a successful career in hotel sales and...

So as my reign begins, I personally would like to wish you all 12 months of success, 52 weeks of laughter, 365 days of fun, 8760 hours of joy, 525600 minutes of good luck, and 31536000 seconds of happiness! Happy New Year everyone and a very warm welcome to all of the...

This week we will introduce one of our board members to you. Name: Martin Ellis Agency: Team Umbrella Your Favourite Song of All Time (& Band/Singer) ? Tempted by Squeeze - surely the greatest song of all time! Who Would Play You in a Film About Your Life? Brad...

Sonia Sansom, AIEA Committee Member from E2E Events suggests five ways to build your team virtually, even in lockdown. Water cooler banter is a distant memory. No-one knows how their colleagues take their tea any more. Tempers are fraying. Months of virtual working...

Another week another lovely member........ Name:                 Vanessa Carter Agency:               Pandora Events Your Favourite Song of All Time (& Band / Singer)? Killers Mr Brightside Who Would Play You in a Film About Your Life? Scarlett Johansen What Would...

This weeks member is: Name:                 Lucy Drummond Agency:               SG Venues Your Favourite Song of All Time (& Band/Singer)? Stereophonics Handbag & Gladrags & Chris Martin Who Would Play You In a Film About Your Life? Jennifer Gray What...

This week we are introducing another member. Name: David Buxton Agency: Rockitfish Your Favourite Song of All Time (& Band/Singer)? So many choices, need one for each era – today’s choice - Valerie by Amy Winehouse Who Would Play You in a Film About Your Life? No...

We are taking a break from AIEA Recommends and instead continue to introduce our members. Welcome to Chris from Events2 Ltd. Name: Chris Walls Agency: Events2 Ltd Your Favourite Song of All Time (& Band/Singer)? Hotel California - Eagles Who Would Play You in a...

We are continuing our series of AIEA Recommends, Martin Ellis one of the founding Directors of the AIEA, will this week share his recommendations. Watch Even before lockdown, I was quite the fan of Netflix. Apart from the excellent documentaries they regularly add, I...

This weeks recommendations have kindly been given to us by our Vice Chair Kerry Walsh from Hatch Events. Watch The Netflix series ‘What If’, With Renee Zellweger and other less important actors/actresses 😊 Reasons Why: Renee Zellweger is the lead role, a woman who had...

To continue our series, AIEA Recommends, Anna Johnsson from Team Umbrella shares her top picks for entertainment. Watch As for many during lockdown, I have to admit that I watched a lot more films and series that I would normally do and Netflix, NowTV and Amazon Prime...

Following on from Sabine Edwards inaugural recommendations last week, AIEA Chair Paula Kelsey shares her top picks in our new series of AIEA recommends. Watch Whilst terrestrial TV has been pretty dire during the past few months, there have been some amazing shows...

Finding ways to entertain ourselves is never hard is it – especially not with the fantastic Friday afternoon quizzes, bingo, calls for video contributions and a cupboard full of snacks (or alcohol!). We thought it might be fun to share some of what we’ve all been...

Martin Jack from Think Different Events has contributed with this weeks blog. How many of us had a Zoom Meeting or used Teams to communicate before the pandemic struck? While many may have tired of the constant use of this technology and await the return of face to...

This week we will continue to introduce our members, Welcome to Joanna from Mabrouka Events. Name: Joanna Cartwright Agency: Mabrouka Events Ltd Your Favourite Song of All Time (& Band/Singer)? Bittersweet Symphony by The Verve Who Would Play You in a Film About...

Happy Monday Everyone, we are taking a break from introducing our members with a new blog from Jacqui Doyle from The Conference People. It is amazing how life has change in a very short amount of time. We have very different priorities now. The most important ones are...

This week we have the pleasure of introducing another of our members to you. Name: Susan Brogan Agency: Venue Seekers Your Favourite Song of All Time (& Band/Singer)? One Love U2 Who Would Play You in a Film About Your Life? Rachel Weisz What Would Your Last Meal...

The strength of any organisation is it’s membership. This applies to the AIEA in particular, as we have always maintained that we are run “by the members, for the members”. Everyone involved in the AIEA brings something to the Alliance, making it the exceptional...

This weeks blog is from Martin Ellis at Team Umbrella, and he is also one of the Directors of the AIEA. Those of a certain age will remember the Monty Python film “The Life of Brian”. There’s an amusing scene – one of many – where the question is asked “What have the...

As event professionals we are all used to working with clients with dietary requirements as it is now becoming more and more common. Lida De Souza from De Souza Associates is sharing her experience of dealing with unusual dietary requirements. Why is it important to...

Jacqui Doyle, Director at the Conference People is this week sharing with us a great team-building activity to keep your team motivated. In the remote working times  we are all facing at the moment it is more important than ever to stay in touch and to find ways to...

During these challenging times, it can be tricky to stay positive especially as the lockdown is getting more and more difficult for some people. Sharon from Mabrouka Events is sending us some lovely pictures from "PositivTree" that she came across on one of her daily...

Chris Walls the Director at Events2 shares his thoughts with us. We are in unprecedented times. Already the Corona Virus Pandemic has identified a number of weak spots in the relationships that exist between Agencies and Suppliers (specifically Venues) Contracts have...

As the world around us is being locked away and fellow colleagues are having to work from home we thought we would share some top tips that Sarah Hood from Lime Blue Solutions has found on working from home and how to make it less daunting for those that are not used...

Another contribution from our blogger Steve Pinnock at Performance & Event Management Ltd. Although many of you may be too young to recall this, business events, especially conferences and product launches, used to be referred to by production companies and event...

This week Chris Walls, Director at Events2 has contributed with an interesting blog. The Events Industry is essentially about the successful combination of a series of activities, people, innovations, ideas and solutions. Aligning all those elements with the desired...

Steve Pinnock from Performance & Event Management Ltd has contributed with another interested blog. What matters most to you and your company in protecting and enhancing its reputation and value? Reputation is built on performance, which in turn relies on healthy...

Sonia Sansom, from E2E Events and a judge of the 2019 Canape Cup, considers whether January means no more canapés and considers what makes a canapé great. You know Christmas and New Year celebrations are over when the supermarkets replace the boxes of miniature...

Chris Walls the MD of Events2 has written this weeks great thought provoking blog on team-building. Teambuilding is fun, or is it? Well actually it should be fun, but nowadays the true function of teambuilding seems to have been lost and is now positioned under the...

Steve Pinnock the MD at Performance & Event Management Limited has written our first blog for 2020. As you look ahead and plan the next 12 to 18 months, do you visualise where the organisation will be and what you must do to get there? The answer is probably yes,...

On the 16th December The AIEA with it's members, suppliers and industry colleagues held it's first Christmas Charity Lunch and brought some festive cheer to around 150 guests from the wonderful charity Solace, who's helping women from sexual and domestic abuse to...

Martin Gaisford from ADP Events had the pleasure of experiencing the lovely venue that is North Cadbury Court in Somerset. Set in the beautiful countryside of rural Somerset, one hour from Bath and Bristol, one hour forty mins by direct train from central London,...

Lauretthe McClellan from Pineapple Events has just returned from a very interesting weekend visit to Helsinki, the white capital of Finland hosted by Nordic Choice Hotels and their UK representation company Hosmark. The north of the country being famous for Lapland,...

Peter Jackson from Red e2 had the pleasure of visiting the New Gran Melia in Tanzania in September and shares his views on this exciting opening. Located in what is often viewed as the gateway to the Serengeti, the city of Arusha, this new Gran Melia is a delight....

Amanda Flanders from Butterflies Events will this week give us tips on how to make our event more sustainable and eco friendly. The way of the world is sustainability & the events industry must follow suit. When we look at the events industry, its instantly...

This weeks blog contribution is from Steve Pinnock from Performance & Event Management Ltd. At both micro and macro levels, organisations face hidden obstacles to co-operation and collaboration. The consequences include poor internal and external relationships and...

Martin Gaisford from ADP Events recently had the pleasure of working on an event with Belmond on-board the VSOE on its journey from Sirkeci Station, Istanbul to Paris. Arriving late afternoon at Sabiha Gokcen airport on the Asian side of Turkey, I was collected by my...

Wendy from Pineapple Events shares her experience from a trip to Bordeaux, France recently. With direct flights from Liverpool to Bordeaux, it was easy to get there. Although the airport in Bordeaux is under a big reconstruction but I’m sure it will be fine by the...

Rachel from Reservations 2000 had the pleasure of being invited by the lovely Lisa Lernoux-Dock to enjoy a day at their cookery school at Chewton Glen. Chewton Glen is a privately owned luxury quintessentially English country house hotel with an award winning spa in...

On the 16th August The Alliance of Independent Event Agencies held its third annual AGM at the Mercure Walton Hall, and announced confirmation that Leeds based Simply Better events became the official 75th member. And today we are delighted to announce that we have...

This week's blog is from Martin Jack from Think Different Events. You may have the best venue, the best event programme, the best client and the best team behind you. However, without possessing excellent communication skills, your role as an event organiser may...

FAM Trip to New York Donna Hodges from Inception Events was recently invited on a FAM trip to New York hosted by Hotel Republic and Mags Worldwide. Flights were also provided courtesy of BA in club world. The Vibe Agency, represented by Mags Worldwide provided a...

The long awaited renovation of the Monkey Island Estate was completed this spring and I had the pleasure of attending a site visit last week. Owned by the Malaysian YTL group and part of the Small Luxury Hotels, the estate although unrated at the moment has all the...

Look no further, Kieron O'Shea from Rocketfish shares with us the source of his inspiration. Jim Lawless has worked closely with our team for over 15 years, delivering inspirational presentations and co-creating engagement experiences. Jim has developed the Ten Rules...

This week Lida de Souza from De Souza Associates is telling us a bit about some of the European destinations that are very popular when booking events. We are very lucky as a country to be in such a position where it is easy to travel to any European City in a minimal...

As the Meeting Industry Association launches its #20PercentLess campaign, chief executive Jane Longhurst encourages AIEA members to spread the word so we can win the war against single-use plastics. Over the last year we have become more conscious of single-use...

  This weeks blog is from Lucy Drummond at SG Venues. She give us her thoughts on the MICE industry after having a complete career change. Having left my career in the food manufacturing industry to have my third child 8 years ago, I thought my career life was...

Lida deSouza from DeSouza Associates shares her views on making our events more eco friendly. You only need to have watched Blue Planet 2 to see the impact plastic is having on our planet and the pictures are shocking. With the prediction that by 2050 there will be...

Pauline Caldaralo from PAC Conference and Event Management shares some of her experiences from her recent site visit with clients to Mykonos in Greece. We used the DMC Event Makers, who is represented by Pearl and they were fabulous. Maria from Event Makers was very...

Name: Nicola Miller Agency: Lime Blue Solutions What is your favourite song of all time? Vienna by Ultravox Who would play you in a film about your life? Kristen Scott Thomas (because The English Patient is one of my favourite films!) What would your last meal on...

Name: Kerry Walsh Agency: Hatch Events Ltd What is your favourite song of all time? Never Forget by Take That Who would play you in a film about your life? Bette Midler What would your last meal on Earth be? Sushi Whats your tipple? Beer, wine, Champers? Champers by...

As we head towards our 15th birthday in June, I have been reflecting on how things have changed for Lime Blue Solutions over the years. We are continually adapting as a company to meet the ever-changing needs of not only our clients, but technology advancements and...

Name: Sylvain Bouteiller Agency: Nexusvenue What is your favourite song of all time? Enjoy the Silence by Depeche Mode and Save a Prayer by Duran Duran Who would play you in a film about your life? Alain Delon (but with brown eyes LOL) What would your last meal on...

      Name: Martin Ellis Agency: Team Umbrella Ltd What is your favourite song of all time?  Tempted - Squeeze Who would play you in a film about your life? A young Brad Pitt of course! Although some might say Hugh Jackman... What would your last meal...

Times are now changing within the world of meetings and hospitality. Gone are the days when meeting attendees were content inside a hotel meeting room for the day. Over a period of time, meeting requirements have evolved and delegates are looking for enhanced...

2019 represents another milestone in the journey of Ellis Salsby Ltd having been trading for 30 years. Ellis set the company up from home in 1989 with the first mobile phone not attached to a battery pack (NEC 9A for any techies reading this, was an amazing phone for...

Have you ever heard of James Charles? No, I hadn't either. But your children and the young folk have. A young lad of around 20 years who is not on TV, lives in America, and is Youtube star known for doing really good make up. Look him up if you haven’t; his makeup is...

With Christmas over, and the days starting to get longer, Chew are thinking ahead to the summer. So with Pimm's in the forefront of our minds, we wanted to share our top tips on how to make your summer party SIZZLING HOT. Why not shake things up this year, with a...

Congratulations to all of the winners at the 2019 AIEA New Years Honours which were held on Friday at the fabulous Hilton Doubletree in Chester. We don't take ourselves too seriously at the Alliance and it's good to allow suppliers to poke a little fun at us once in a...

Along with a packed schedule of Industry Events for 2019, the AIEA has a busy year planned with lots of engaging events for members. You can find additional details on SLACK but we thought this handy guide would come in useful and enable members to save the dates for...

Adam Roberts, Marketing & Business Development Manager at AGM Event and Travel Solutions, AIEA Members, shares his take on how it feels to change from the supplier side to the agency side of our industry.  As a recent newcomer to the agency side of the hospitality...

There are so many industry networking events it’s difficult to know which one to choose. They mostly follow the same format; welcome party, meetings, team build, dinner, more meetings, so it’s usually the destination that makes our decision for us. It’s was therefore...

JG Collection live and breathe Hotels and whilst many of you will have your go to’s John and Jo have built there business working a curated collection of luxury independently owned hotels that will inspire and surprise in more ways than one for your next meeting or...

AIEA member Performance and Event Management Limited (PAEM) reflects on the significance of ROI methodology in planning events.  This blog is a response to questions raised by an Association Meetings specialist about whether focus on Return On Investment was having a...

Many of the member agencies within the Alliance are often tasked with finding the unique or unusual venues for clients, and whilst each of us will often have our favourite or go to properties for these sort of requests, it is occasionally nice to go out of our comfort...

The next of our guest blogs comes from the team at Warwick Conferences who are looking ahead at ways to improve their offerings in 2018 With 2018 upon us, Warwick Conferences have reflected on the constantly changing landscape of the conference and meetings industry,...

Another guest blog from our pals at Pereception with thanks to Siân Peak- In today’s tough economic times, and thanks to the continued emergence of bigger, better and more cutting-edge business events, event planners need to stay ahead of the game. Strategically...

We've another guest blog from Siân Peak | Perception this week   Planning a business event, whether large or small, requires meticulous organisation, time management and research. All the makings of a great event planner. Though when it comes to hosting the event,...