News from Unique Venues UK-ideas-info for the meetings industry

Burleigh Court Benefits From £8 Million Refurbishment

michele@uniquevenues.com (Michele Nichols) — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 00:00:00 MST

imago at Burleigh Court's £8 million expansion has reinforced its position as one of the UK's most extensive conference centres.

imago at Burleigh Court now benefits from 225 luxury bedrooms ranging from standard ensuite rooms to luxury executive suites. Emma Boynton is Head of Sales at imago. "When we refurbished Burleigh Court, we also decided to upgrade Burleigh Springs, the onsite leisure and spa complex. Delegates can now enjoy our pool, fitness suite and treatment rooms."

The refurbishments also saw imago at Burleigh Court upgrading to top specification training rooms, and incorporates 26 air-conditioned meeting rooms, all with state of the art audio visual systems.

Emma added: "Whilst competition for events and delegates is so fierce, we decided to use the Burleigh Court refurbishment as an opportunity for us to look at what would give us an edge in the market. I feel that the refurbishment as a whole, taking in the new bedrooms, meeting rooms and Burleigh Springs has certainly given imago an advantage over its competitors."

Cambridge Opens Its Doors For International Events

michele@uniquevenues.com (Michele Nichols) — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 00:00:00 MST

As a unique, world-renowned city, Cambridge can provide the ideal intellectual backdrop to any international event - from corporate conferences to academic meetings.

On May 8, Conference Cambridge - the official free venue-finding service for the University of Cambridge - is organising its own event at St John's College to demonstrate that the city is open for business.

The programme includes a tour of St John's College, a 45 minute Question Time session, followed by drinks and dinner in the Wordsworth Room.

Kelly Walsh, Office Manager at Conference Cambridge said: "We already host events for international clients but want to literally open our doors to new organisations who perhaps don't know what unique facilities we can offer".

Conference Cambridge Cops a Bronze for Best Academic Venue

michele@vail.net (Michele Nichols) — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 00:00:00 MST

Conference Cambridge, The University of Cambridge's official (and free) venue-finding service, is celebrating the bronze award it received at the recent Meetings & Incentive Travel Industry Awards 2008 show held in London.

The M&IT Awards recognise venues, conference centres, training centres, airlines, food and beverage suppliers, and event management companies in the UK and abroad.

Conference Cambridge achieved recognition for the way it represents 35 venues, including 28 Cambridge colleges, university sites, faculty buildings, Cambridge University Press and the Miller Centre.

Meetings & Convention Magazine and Unique Venues Partner to Bring More Options to Planners

michele@uniquevenues.com (Michele Nichols) — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 00:00:00 MST

Seventy thousand professional meeting planners will receive comprehensive information about Unique Venues' members during 2008, thanks to a new marketing partnership with Meetings & Conventions magazine.

Announced today, the partnership between M&C and Unique Venues will dramatically increase the circulation of Unique Venues' 21st annual Planner's Guide by bundling it with M&C's August issue. Distribution will now focus on M&C's 70,000 subscribers - 100% of whom have direct meeting-planning responsibilities and plan an average of 20 offsite meetings each year. The agreement also provides Unique Venues with special sections in M&C's May and December issues.

"One of our major focuses over the last 12 months has been to extend our reach and get our Planner's Guide into the hands of more professional planners. This new partnership does just that," explained Chuck Salem, UV's president. "We are tripling our Planner's Guide distribution from 20,000 annually to more than 70,000 in 2008. That's outstanding exposure for our members."

The partnership is a natural one. For 20 years, Unique Venues has been promoting the use of nontraditional meeting and event sites - academic, dining, cruise, entertainment, cultural, retreat, sports, conference and business centers - to meeting planners. Since 1965 the award-winning M&C magazine has been providing in-depth features, informative columns, news analysis and destination insights on traditional venues like hotels and resorts to planners of corporations, associations, incentive houses and independent planning companies.

"This exciting new partnership with Unique Venues will complement the wide network of resources Meetings & Conventions Magazine currently offers to its readers," explained Kirk Lewis, Associate Publisher of M&C. "Our planners will be exposed to alternative venues offering unique sites and services of which they may not have been aware."

An initial collaboration between Unique Venues and M&C - a 23-page special section in the December 2007 issue titled "Meet Unique" - generated the partnership concept. In 2008 M&C will publish two Unique Venues' special sections: "Innovative and Creative Venues" in the May issue and "Educational and Sensational Venues" in the December issue.