Author: Amazing News Editor

Overcoming the elements – how to fully weather-proof your event

Friday 22 May 2015 by Amazing News Editor

Changeable weather is the event planner’s nemesis, especially if you’re planning an outdoor shindig. You can’t do anything to alter the weather, as much as you wish you could, and it can ruin your best laid plans.
The only thing you can and should do is to prepare for any and every eventuality. With a Plan B waiting in the wings for every imaginable worst-case scenario, even if you never need to use it, you’ll have the peace of mind that you’ve got everything covered.
Here’s what to plan in advance to beat that pesky weather forecast and have an amazing event come rain or shine.
If it rains…
Wet guests are undoubtedly unhappy guests, so you’ll need to get them undercover. If your event is completely outdoors, book a SaddleSpan event tent or a large marquee just in case it rains – it will provide vital shelter and can even form an indoor element of your event. It can also be handy for catering, bar and other facilities that may be at the mercy of the elements. You should also think about access to your site if it’s very rainy, because it could get quite muddy underfoot (and under tyre!) You’ll need to arrange to put down woodchip or matting to ensure that no one gets stuck!
If it’s scorching…
You might think that a sunny day is absolutely perfect for outdoor events, but you still need to take precautions. For the health and safety of your guests, you’ll need to provide some shade in the form of a marquee or event tent, and you’ll also need to cover catering and bar suppliers or you could end up with spoiled food and warm drinks! Other nice touches include providing free parasols for shade, free drinking water (vital in hot weather) and free sun cream for children.
If it’s blowing a gale…
Wind and many temporary structures simply don’t work, so make sure you choose a sturdy, reliable venue like a SaddleSpan event tent that can withstand the wind. Take all the advice you can about reinforcing anything that might blow away, and if it’s forecasted to be too windy – consider moving inside or postponing the event for the safety of your guests.
If it’s all three in one day!
British weather is characteristically changeable, so you should be prepared for wind, rain and sun all in one day. Come up with an arrangement that is suitable for all weather conditions from one minute to the next, no matter how unpredictable – for example, provide an event tent to shelter your guests whether it’s sunny or rainy, but make sure it has extra reinforcement in case the wind picks up. Have both umbrellas and sun cream at the ready, and always keep your catering and bar inside or under cover no matter what the forecast.

Remember – plan for everything and nothing will take you by surprise. Good luck!

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7 steps to a memorable, stand-out awards ceremony

Friday 15 May 2015 by Amazing News Editor

Everyone has their own expectations of what an awards ceremony should be. For some, this kind of event can be a tedious affair, following the same formula every time. However, for more imaginative, dynamic events planners – awards ceremonies are a chance to entertain, stand out and deliver a fun, memorable experience for everyone attending.

1. Set your budget. You might have all the creative ideas in the world, but that’s no use when you don’t have the budget to back it up. Set a realistic, achievable budget and don’t forget to set aside a generous contingency fund just in case of emergencies and unexpected costs.

2. Nail down your essentials. Get your event tent or other venue booked, along with catering, bar, sound systems and other absolute essentials, before you do anything else. Make a list of must-haves – without which your event simply wouldn’t happen – and get all of these ticked off as a top priority. Then you can see how much of a budget you have left to play with.

3. Nail down your guests. Not literally of course, but you do need to plan your guest list in advance and get solid RSVPs so you can ensure that your event tent is big enough or that you’ve budgeted enough for seating and catering.

4. Market early, and brand professionally. Marketing is key to your event’s success and its attendance figures. Start early, embrace online channels and be creative in your campaigns. You also need to brand your event properly, so as to make the perfect first impression when guests walk through the door.

5. Give your guests the complete experience. A memorable event is one where all guests receive a taste of the VIP experience, having a fantastic time and really enjoying themselves. Think about what you can do to deliver this, from personalisation to gifts and VIP areas within your event tent.

6. Embrace technology! If you really want your awards ceremony to have the ‘wow’ factor, consider making use of innovative technology. Motion graphics, augmented reality, glassless 3D screens, voting key pads and live streaming video are just a handful of the techniques and technologies you can implement (budget allowing, of course) to bring your event to life.

7. Call in the professionals for lighting, décor and entertainment. To stand out from other awards ceremonies, your event needs a distinct look, theme or ‘message’ – the best way to realise this is by calling in the professionals. For the perfect finish in everything from the lighting, décor and furnishing of a unique venue like a SaddleSpan event tent to the bar, food and entertainment, seek professional help. You might think you can put everything together yourself, but the last thing you want is to run out of money (getting a quote from a professional events entertainment planner can help you budget) and have to cobble something together last minute – not very professional.

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Blow the budget: Standout features to make your event truly amazing!

Friday 15 May 2015 by Amazing News Editor

There are some events for which you really need to pull out all the stops to impress, events that simply won’t work without that all-important wow factor. You’ll need a generous budget and plenty of imagination, but you can pull it off.

If money is no object, here are 5 ideas for stand out features that could be the perfect centrepieces for truly amazing events:

1. A super-cool ice bar. You could book a spectacular ice sculpture for your event, or even something really cool like a vodka fountain – but why not go one step further and book a whole ice bar? This can be a real standout feature, perfect in an unusual venue like an event tent, and it’s definitely not something that your guests will forget in a hurry. It may take a bit of work to iron out the logistics, but it will definitely be worth it for the look on people’s faces as they walk in and go to order a drink!

2. A revolving dance floor. This can be expensive and a bit tricky to plan, but it really would make your party completely unique. If you’ve enough space in your event tent – a larger SaddleSpan tent would definitely accommodate this feature – why not go for it? Wait until its time to hit the dance floor and set your dance floor revolving (at a sensibly slow speed of course – lest you end up with ‘messy’ consequences) to elicit gasps from your partygoers.

3. Big name entertainment. Every event needs entertainment, but not just any band or artist will do if you really want to get people talking. To throw the party of the year, book a big name act like a chart-topping band or famous singer – it is virtually guaranteed to double if not triple the number of RSVPs that come flooding in. People love a celebrity and they also love fantastic quality live music, plus it’s fantastic publicity for your event, so it really is win-win.

4. A big, all guns blazing fireworks display. With great quality fireworks, a professional company planning and organising the display and a generous running time, a fireworks display can really top off the evening. Go big, loud and perhaps consider a display choreographed to music for extra impact – your guests will absolutely love it.

5. Surprise! The best way to squeeze an awed ‘wow!’ out of someone is to surprise them with something truly amazing, something that they would never expect to happen at your event. For example, invite a celebrity chef to cook for your VIP guests, appearing table side to flambé a delicacy in front of their eyes just as they sit down to eat. You can arrange a surprise transfer when getting guests to and from the event tent, whisking them off for a completely unexpected and awe-inspiring helicopter ride. There are lots of things you can do, but to get that “wow”, you’ll need to think big and outside of the box.

Good luck!

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5 things you need to know to plan an amazing student ball

Friday 10 April 2015 by Amazing News Editor

If you’ve been given the unenviable task of organising an end-of-year bash for your fellow students, you’ll need to get cracking right away.

Here are 5 crucial planning tips to remember:

1. Choose a versatile venue. Getting the venue booked and paid for should be your very first priority when planning a student ball, but how can you book it if you don’t know how many people are coming and what you want to do? The best option is to choose a versatile venue like a SaddleSpan event tent, which has all the space you need and that can be reconfigured, zoned and customised to fit whatever crazy plans you have in mind. These event tents are perfect for student balls, as there’s loads of space for bars and dance floors and you.

2. Watch out for date clashes. To get the maximum attendance for your ball, you should choose the date carefully. Ensure it doesn’t clash with any other major student events (look closely at end-of-year sports and society party calendars) and then look further afield for local events that students might want to go to. If your dates clash, you might lose a lot of your guests to the other event.

3. Ensure attendance with an irresistible offer. Students are notoriously unreliable at showing up for events (sorry students, but it’s true) so you need a way of ensuring that most will turn up on the night. You can make them register or buy tickets, so you can book the right sized event tent or other venue, but you can also offer a free drink, free entry or free food as an incentive to make your guests actually show up.

4. Pick a theme, but don’t go overboard. Having a theme of some sort can make planning easier, as you can make decisions about the smaller things based on your main theme. It also helps to give your event some purpose, to make it stand out from other student-focused events and to give your guests an idea of what to expect (i.e. what to wear). However, make sure you don’t go overboard – there’s nothing tackier than an ‘over-themed’ event.

5. Be smart with your budget. You might have all sorts of wild and crazy plans for decorations and entertainment, but you probably don’t have the budget to match. It’s a bit boring, but you really do need to nail down the essentials before spending money indulging your creative side. Ensure you have a venue, food and drink, as well as some entertainment – and then think about the rest. It’s a good idea to have a priority list for your budget, so you can work down it and see what you have left to play with once the basics are sorted. You could also look into ways to stretch your budget – for example, using lighting to decorate your event tent rather than getting lots of banners and decals printed; this can look amazing and it’s a fraction of the money and effort of traditional decorations.

Good luck, party planners!

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5 tips for getting noticed at exhibitions

Tuesday 07 April 2015 by Amazing News Editor

If you’ve got a stall booked at an exhibition or trade show, either under the roof of a SaddleSpan tent or in another venue, you’ll need to do some crucial preparation to make your appearance a success. Not only does your stall and its staff need to look professional, and your marketing materials need to be printed and prepared, but you’re also going to think about ways to stand out from your competitors and get noticed.

Here are the 5 essential tips you need to know to get noticed at exhibitions this summer:

  1. Plan, plan and plan some more. You can never do too much planning when it comes to exhibiting. Organisation and preparation will help to ensure the day goes smoothly, so pay attention to every little detail and plan for a range of worst-case scenarios (i.e. your car breaks down on the way) just in case.

 

  1. Define your objectives. Before you exhibit, it’s a good idea to sit down and decide what you actually want to get out of the experience. Do you want to sell, to boost brand image, to reach a new market or to use the event as a networking exercise to make new contacts? Choose a goal, be specific about your targets and make sure you measure your progress/performance on the day.

 

  1. Use your company colours to get attention. Colour is a great way to stand out from all the other exhibitors in your event tent, but it’s important to use the right ones. To create a strong image and the right associations in attendees’ minds, brand everything with your company colours.

 

  1. Have something exciting to shout about. If you’ve got a new product or service to launch, a trade show is the ideal time to do it. Failing that, think of another ‘selling point’ – i.e. an exciting piece of news, a special offer or discount – to tell visitors about. If you can whip up a sense of excitement, a ‘buzz’, you are more likely to attract people to your stall and get them excited about your brand too.

 

  1. Make your stand interactive. It’s easy to walk past an exhibition stall without approaching it, but an interactive element is harder to ignore. Examples of the kinds of things you can do include live social media feeds, TV screens, interactive props, product tasting and testing, workshops and demonstrations. There’s so many options – so take your pick and be creative about it!

These are just a handful of the ways you can make your stall the centre of attention at trade shows and exhibitions, there are plenty more tips and tricks you can try. It all starts with getting a great spot in the right part of the venue, be it a conference centre or a SaddleSpan exhibition tent – be prepared to book early, pay a little more and pull some strings!

 

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Want to really engage customers? Hold an experiential marketing event

Thursday 26 March 2015 by Amazing News Editor

 

If you want customers to really engage with your brand, to understand its ethos and have a positive emotional response to it, you might need to go further than a tear-jerking Christmas TV ad. You need customers to see a human side to your brand, rather than a faceless entity that simply sells them stuff – and the way to do this could be experiential marketing.

What is experiential marketing? Well, it can take a few different forms, but essentially involves holding a fun and interactive event that helps customers to actually ‘experience’ your brand. The goal is to encourage interaction and engagement with the brand, its products and its staff in a face-to-face way. You also want to humanise the brand and tell its story, and hopefully to get customers to associate positive emotions with the brand.

A case study: how experiential marketing works in practice

If you can’t quite picture how an experiential marketing event would work for you, take a look at the Asda Price Guarantee marketing event that Amazing Tents helped out with in February 2014. This is a fantastic example of how events can help customers to engage with a new product, or in this case, a new idea. The supermarket was launching a new Price Guarantee, so invited customers and locals along to talk face-to-face with Asda staff and to find out how the new Guarantee worked.

As well as introducing the new concept and getting customers to engage with the brand and its real-life staff, the event also had two other functions. It was a family fun day in the green grounds of Tamworth Castle in Staffordshire, with a bouncy castle and face-painting held in the SaddleSpan event tent provided by Amazing Tents, and it was an opportunity for Asda to film a new TV advertising campaign to promote the scheme. The SaddleSpan tent proved itself the perfect venue for an experiential marketing event, especially on such a lovely sunny day where a more open structure could be used.

Why are events like this so successful?

Firstly, the ‘fun day’ element of experiential marketing events like this one gives customers a reason to attend and it also gives them a fun, positive experience – happy emotions they then associate with the brand. It also enables to engage with the human face of the brand – in this case, its staff – and to be the first ones to test out new ideas and schemes. Lastly, there is the added bonus of using events like this, where everyone is having fun and engaging positively with the brand, to film advertising and marketing material.

Everybody wins!

Experiential marketing events really are win-win, which is why they are so successful. The customers have a fun day and the brand gets exposure for its new products/services, as well as being able to directly engage its target market.

 

 

 

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Is it too early to start planning 2016 conferences? Never!

Friday 20 March 2015 by Amazing News Editor

 

For organisers of any kind of event, it’s imperative to plan early. This helps you secure the best venues, give your guest list plenty of notice and finalise all those details and finishing touches that will make your event a success. So, is it too early to start planning conferences for 2016? Definitely not – in fact, if you haven’t started yet, you might not have enough time!

It’s all about the venue – book it early

Conference venues with the largest capacities and in the most convenient locations get booked up very early, sometimes years in advance. You’ll need to move swiftly and have a lot of the big decisions finalised if you want to secure your ideal venue.

However, if you haven’t started planning a decade in advance and the venue you wanted has been booked up, there are plenty of other solutions available.

An idea that you may not have considered is to use a temporary structure for your conference, one that you can locate practically anywhere you want (provided there is enough floor space). SaddleSpan event tents are frequently used for conferences, having both a large capacity and the flexibility to accommodate the varying needs of different events. They’re modular systems, so can be reconfigured to suit your needs. So, if you need a few large ‘zones’ rather than one massive space, you can choose a modular tent, such as the SaddleSpan S5000 tent (max capacity 2,800 people) to help you organise your event.

This solution not only gets you a unique venue, one which helps set your conference apart from other events, but it also gets you the location you want. Simply find a site with a big enough footprint for your tent, and you’re all set. These tents can be customised, lit, furnished and decorated very easily, and you can even put down flooring to add extra comfort to the interiors.

What you should be planning now for 2016 events

Securing your conference venue now is the most crucial thing to do, but there are plenty of other items you need to be checking off your ‘to-do’ list, however early it may seem. You need to book your essential services and vendors, from security and transport to catering and bar teams, because availability can be tight for these, especially if your event is a big one.

With all of these essentials ticked off your list, you can now spend your time organising the content of your conference, setting the agenda and booking key note speeches. Don’t forget your guest list either – this should be done at least in draft form as soon as possible. Give delegates plenty of time to respond to your invite and complete the registration process (this is another thing you’ll need to set up in advance). You can then send them timely reminders as the event draws nearer.

Whatever you do, don’t leave important details to the last minute – start planning your 2016 conference right now!

 

 

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7 quirky touches to make a vintage outdoor wedding extra-special

Friday 13 March 2015 by Amazing News Editor

 

Outdoor weddings can be absolutely gorgeous if the weather is right, which is why of course most people hold them in summer. However, if you have the protective roof of an event tent or marquee over your head, you can hold a fabulous outdoor celebration in any weather.

The vintage theme and outdoor weddings go hand-in-hand, calling to mind afternoon garden parties and post-war street parties. There are lots of little touches you can use to really add charm, style and personality to your own vintage-style wedding – here are just a few ideas to get you started:

  1. Bunting! No British garden party is complete without some cute and classic bunting. You can even make or design it yourself to match your wedding colour scheme, and you can hang it everywhere from wedding arches to the roof of your event tent.

 

  1. Food and drink vans. Forget about greasy burger vans – we’re talking about one of the many speciality vintage-style mobile catering businesses which specialise in quirky weddings. You can hire ice cream vans, traditional sweet shops or donut and coffee carts – it’s up to you!

 

  1. Unusual transport. Think outside of the box when it comes to your transport – depending on the distance and the weather, you can arrive at your wedding on anything from a decorated bicycle (and leave together on a tandem?) to a classic car or a vintage-style bus.

 

  1. Colourful wedding cakes. If you don’t fancy a traditional-style wedding cake, mix things up a bit with one of 2015’s biggest wedding trends – colourful cakes! Great vintage looks include pastels, edible patterns such as lace, and oversized floral decorations on top.

 

  1. Cocktail bars. If your wedding is more Great Gatsby than classic afternoon tea, pop up a cocktail bar in your event tent to really get the party started! Venues like SaddleSpan tents have plenty of room for a bar of any size or configuration – you could even make it the centrepiece of the layout. All you need then are some expert mixologists and some yummy recipes to try out on your guests – make sure you have the right glassware too, to complete the effect.

 

  1. Beautiful blooms. As well as decorating your marquee with some gorgeous vintage bunting, don’t forget to choose some colourful vintage-style flowers too. A key look of the year for weddings is for bright, bold, cheerful colours, but paler pastels and more old-fashioned flowers (i.e. carnations, peonies, heritage roses, dahlias and sunflowers) are all lovely choices too.

 

  1. Personalised tables. The key to the charm of a vintage wedding is personalisation, adding your own touch to everything from invitations and favours to table decorations. If you have lots of space in your event tent, go for large tables with dramatic flower arrangements – the flowers matching the vintage-style bouquets you’ve decorated the rest of the space with.

 

 

 

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Event tents and blustery breezes – how do they perform in windy conditions?

Friday 06 March 2015 by Amazing News Editor

If you’re planning an event, you need to plan for the weather. In the UK in particular, conditions can be very changeable even in the height of summer. You need to make sure that you have a roof over your guests’ heads and some shelter in case the heavens open or a strong wind picks up. If your event is outdoors without any shelter – make sure you have a back-up plan just in case.

Events in tents

If you’ve picked a SaddleSpan event tent for the occasion, be it a corporate, marketing or personal event like a wedding or birthday, you can comfortably check ‘shelter’ off your list. The great thing about these temporary structures is that they provide excellent shelter from the elements, but with the same feeling as being outdoors. They can adapt to both good and poor weather conditions – if it’s sunny and warm, you can even open up the doors to make the structure more open.

What about the wind?

One of the biggest concerns people have about hiring event tents and marquees for outdoor occasions is how they will perform on a particularly windy day. The last thing you want is draughts making your guests chilly, or an irritating ‘flapping’ noise of the tent struggling in the wind drowning out a best man’s speech or a key note speech.

The good news is that because SaddleSpan tents are used specifically for outdoor events, they have been specially designed to perform well in windy conditions. They are semi-tensile, which means that they hold their shape and produce minimum flap noise and movement. The ‘saddle’ shape of the tent is also important, as it gives the structure impressive stability even in high winds.

Many of the SaddleSpan configurations can be totally enclosed, which really does do what it says on the tin. An enclosed tent provides protection and shelter for all people and equipment inside, without the howling wind being able to get through. Once inside one of these tents, you can escape the horrible conditions and focus on having a successful and fun event.

What about open Saddlespan configurations?

As well as enclosed structures, these tents can be partially or completely open at the sides, just like a large marquee. This makes them fantastic for outdoor events in the summer sunshine, as well as for festivals where they are mainly used as bars and stage covers.

However, if the weather changes quickly, what happens to these open structures? The wind does not lift the tent as you may imagine, so there is no danger of them blowing away. In fact, they perform in just the same way as the enclosed configurations – the shape, semi-tensile structure and above all, the expert installation, all ensure that your event venue stays exactly where it’s supposed to be.

 

 

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Health and safety at corporate events – your essential checklist

Thursday 26 February 2015 by Amazing News Editor

Before you can give your corporate event the ‘wow’ factor, you need to get some essentials in place to ensure the smooth running of the event – this is something that all event organisers will know. Health and safety should be your top priority, before you start adding fancy lighting to your event tent or rolling out the red carpet.

Here are the five essential areas you need to investigate and check off your list, to make your corporate event safe:

  1. Capacity. Before you do anything else, make sure your chosen venue has enough capacity – as specified by fire safety authorities – for all of your guests, as well as staff members, entertainers, vendors and volunteers. If you’re holding your event in an event tent, you still need to check the capacity, even if your event is in summer and you plan to have parts of your large marquee structure ‘open’.

 

  1. Temporary structures (i.e. stages and platforms). According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), event organisers need to use contractors who specialise in temporary demountable structures (TDS) for everything from the design to the final installation of the stage or platform. You need to provide accurate details on what the structure will be used for, by how many people and the weight of equipment placed on it.

 

  1. Risk assessment.  If you feel you lack the knowledge or experience (or time), instruct a professional to carry out a full assessment of all potential hazards. These include obstacles and tripping hazards, fire safety issues, electrical safety, flammable materials and anything else that could potentially cause harm. You need to think through every possible worst case scenario, no matter how remote the chances of it happening, and have a plan in place.

 

  1. Emergency routes, lights and signage. Signs pointing to fire escapes and emergency exit routes, as well as emergency lighting (if the power goes out) and all relevant health and safety signage, are required by law at public events. Don’t forget to fit smoke detectors and fire alarms (or test them if already installed) and designate an assembly point in case of evacuation, placing more signage to tell people where it is. Signage and lighting are easy to fit in a versatile venue like an event tent, often used for corporate events.

 

  1. Training. Whatever safety plans you put in place, every member of your team needs to know about them. You should carry out basic training to ensure that every steward and staff member knows enough about your safety plans to instruct delegates at your event.

Responsible event organisers will have a list of safety precautions twice as long as this one, but these are the essentials to tick off in order to ensure a safe and productive event. Remember, if you need any advice about safety in event tents, one of the Amazing Tents team will be happy to help.

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