Soaring Worldwide - Powering Reputations

The Hotel Granvia has become the first meetings and events focused hotel in Kyoto to provide a high speed wireless internet service throughout the building for free.

In 2009, the hotel introduced a Wi-Fi service in its 13 function and conference rooms, lobby and restaurant areas. But to meet the demands from visitors, the Hotel Granvia has completed a Wi-Fi upgrade and free internet access is available throughout the hotel’s facilities, including guest rooms, to satisfy the needs of smartphone and tablet computer users.

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Three florists have been added to venue’s approved supplier list.

LSO St Luke’s has added three florists to its list of approved suppliers. Gray Hare, Jane Wadham and Jens Jakobson can now be used by organisers and clients to supply a variety of floral displays for their events.

LSO St Luke’s list of approved suppliers also includes award-winning caterers and event management agencies. The comprehensive list gives clients a wide choice and the ability to make their event stand out.

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Douglas Stafford achieves international quality management standard.

Douglas Stafford, a company whose services include mystery shopping, has attained ISO 9001:2008 in recognition of its quality management systems (QMS). The internationally recognised standard was achieved through Certification International.

Douglas Stafford has worked with large blue chip companies across a broad range of consumer markets for more than 20 years, delivering performance improvement programmes which help them measure, understand and improve their customers’ retail experiences. These are achieved through highly cost-effective mystery shopping and customer surveys, and are supported by industry-leading training programmes and processes that are proven to improve standards of customer service. In achieving ISO 9001:2008, it ensures first class quality management systems are in operation throughout Douglas Stafford’s operations and that these systems are monitored and maintained for future improvement.

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Former England Rugby captain Lewis Moody was the special guest at a recent charity lunch held at Church House Conference Centre. The event, organised by Under the Posts, was held to raise money for the Motor Neurone Disease Association, Parasol Charity – an organisation which provides aid and comfort to injured service personnel and their families – and the Alzheimer’s Society.

Under the Posts was created in 2004 following England’s success at the 2003 Rugby World Cup. It organises fundraising events for and on behalf of members of the team and their associated charities.

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Barbican records second best year for corporate business as the combined arts and meetings venue celebrates its 30th anniversary.

In March 1982, the Barbican opened its doors to the public for the first time. And as the iconic venue commemorates its 30th anniversary, the Barbican is also celebrating its second best year for corporate business.

Anthony Hyde, general manager of Barbican Business Events, comments: “Meetings, conferences and corporate hospitality are an important part of the Barbican’s overall offering. And despite the economy stuttering and budgets being squeezed, the financial year for 2011-2012 was our second best on record. It’s recognition of the unique setting and high quality service we provide to clients. As the Barbican marks its 30th anniversary we look forward to the introduction of exciting initiatives and the completion of new spaces which will make the Centre even more attractive for meetings and conferences in the years to come.”

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The UK and Ireland Chapter of MPI has confirmed that current president, Samme Allen from the Barbican will serve a second year as chapter president, supported by James Samuel of International Confex as president elect.

The chapter’s decision to appoint Samme Allen for a second year brings the UK and Ireland Chapter in line with many of its European counterparts, where presidents can serve for two years, allowing greater time for strategic planning to build a cohesive board and achieve goals that are of greater benefit to all members.

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Certification International, a leader in the field of assessment and certification of international, national and industry standards, has incorporated a new auditing software system – Exero Beyond – into its assessment processes.

Exero Beyond has been created to evaluate the compliance of an organisation’s management system against a range of standards, and it offers a pioneering approach to auditing. Certification International has introduced the system in order to advance the delivery of its third party certification services.

Exero Beyond collates input from all participants throughout an organisation without the disruption normally endured during traditional auditing. The multi-level system reports on all areas and processes within a company. In an organisation – where further investigation may be required – third party certification assessors can use this data to focus their onsite audit visit to target the areas and processes highlighted.

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Exhibitors to benefit from 13,500 scheduled appointments from 1,500 qualified hosted buyers, creating the UK’s most valuable face to face marketing opportunity for the meetings industry.

Centaur has announced that it is investing a sum in the region of £1million in The Meetings Show UK, creating the UK’s most engaging and rewarding hosted buyer programme.  The show is expecting to attract over 1,500 buyers to more than 13,500 appointments, delivering substantial business and networking opportunities for both exhibitors and visitors.

The cutting edge programme will be run by a full time, dedicated hosted buyer management team with extensive experience sourcing and attracting high quality buyers.  The team will be assisted by recruitment and marketing specialists in Germany, Italy, France, Belgium, Holland, Russia, Spain, Portugal, Eastern Europe and the UK – making it a truly international show.

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University wins prestigious Swiss Cow Trophy for second year running.

A team from Leeds Metropolitan University has been crowned the winner of the MPI UK and Ireland Chapter 2012 Young Achievers Award, supported by the Switzerland Convention and Incentive Bureau (SCIB).

Hosted at the Barbican and attended by around 100 meeting industry professionals, the event, which is now in its 3rd year, saw five teams each represent a Swiss destination and go head-to-head in a live bid presentation based on a real-life agency event brief.

As a qualification process for the Young Achievers Award, nine universities were asked to prepare a video that answered two questions; why you have chosen a career in the meetings industry and how can MPI help you achieve your career goals? From this the five best teams were chosen to go forward to the final – Dublin Institute of Technology, Sheffield Hallam University, University of Surrey, University of Westminster and Leeds Metropolitan University.

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Magenta Security has attained Approved Contractor Status (ACS) for door supervision from the Security Industry Authority (SIA).

Magenta Security is seeing an increase in demand for its door supervision services due to a rise in the number of public events being held this summer, particularly to celebrate the Olympics and Queen’s Jubilee. To ensure public safety and professional standards are maintained, many event organisers require security providers to hold ACS accreditation.

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