Entries Tagged 'Events: useful & new stuff' ↓

1.Our first tip is - call us!  But if you are going it alone, here are a few other tips:

2. Use LEDs
Lighting is one of the most obvious ways an event consumes energy and a growing number of technologies offer more earth-friendly solutions.

LED lights win raves for their convenience and low energy usage. An LED fixture of comparable brightness uses up to 80 percent less energy than its conventional counterpart. Another perk of LED lights is that the lights themselves come in all colours, so there’s no need to set up huge labour-intensive rigs for colour films.

Hassle Factor: None. Using them for an event is a simple request for most lighting companies.

Cost: LEDs are more expensive to produce, so hiring costs more. On the other hand, setup is much quicker and easier, so you could recoup most or all of the hire cost.

2. Rethink Your Cars
While hybrid cars such as the Toyota Prius are the best-known, there are a variety of alternative-fuel vehicles on the road, and a few forward-thinking car services are offering these vehicles. Green Tomato has a fleet of Priuses for customers traveling around London and beyond. Other companies such as Chauffeur-First offer their fleet of executive Lexus hybrid vehicles. London’s 20,000 black taxi fleet will also be expected to meet strict emissions standards by mid 2008, under the Mayor’s Taxi Emissions Strategy.

Hassle Factor: Outside of major cities, finding a green/er car service is tough. For smaller events, you might be better off renting a hybrid and hiring a driver, or be creative with local and appropriate options where earth-friendly transportation is a priority. But for guests or execs who have their hearts set on a stretch Hummer or a similarly gas-guzzling ride, there might not be much you can do.

Cost: These services are generally within the same price range as other services that provide more typical town cars.
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If you’ve partied from Rio to Narnia, danced your way through the Moulin Rouge to Winter Wonderland and are looking for a change to the usual themed Christmas party packages on offer, then take a look at what Paragon has on offer.

This year, the Paragon team have put their creative heads together and channelled their live event production expertise into providing you with an alternative party solution.

A unique and exclusive event that guarantees enjoyment, provides a clear message of reward and recognition for your guests, supports your brand and will have everyone talking about the experience for months afterwards.

‘LIVE & UP CLOSE’ - is an exclusive, ‘Audience with’ opportunity for your guests to enjoy entertainment from one of a range of top headline acts in an intimate, up close, club atmosphere and environment. Plus enjoy a good meal, drinks and a great DJ for dancing afterwards.

Choosing from a range of live bands, singers, speakers, celebrities and acts, the format is simple, flexible and effective.

Whether you want a raw live music event or a cool Ronnie Scott style cabaret night, anywhere in the UK or Europe, Paragon design the event for you, which means you achieve your objectives and budget and, as you’d expect, they look after every detail, and your guests, from beginning to end.

Contact the Paragon team: 0870 224 2644 or info@paragoneurope.com

I wonder what the Victorian’s would think of our current day Christmas Bash?

In many Victorian firms, it was customary for employers to entertain employees and apprentices on Christmas Eve. Dickens describes one such “Domestic Ball” in a warehouse: “lamps were trimmed, fuel was heaped upon the fire; and the warehouse was as snug, and warm, and dry, and bright a ball-room as you would desire to see upon a winter’s night.” The employees are entertained by a fiddler, they dance, eat cake, cold roast and mince pies and drink beer and negus” (hot, spicy mulled wine).

The tradition of the Christmas ‘works’ party, started by the Victorians as an annual reward for staff who laboured hard for meagre pay, now loses the UK around £65m in absenteeism each year with 44% of party-goers saying the atmosphere is ‘forced’ and 1 in 5 attending out of a sense of duty. 

You might expect companies to exclaim “Bah Humbug” and scrape the pennies back into their purses…but they don’t! 

78% of Managers still believe the Christmas Party is essential in thanking staff annually for their efforts.

However, these days high workforce expectations and protective legislation can turn organising the annual Bash into a lack-lustre military operation, doomed to fall short of objectives and expectations.

Drink related accidents, upsets and embarrassments, sexual harrassment, unacceptable behaviour and the fact that employers are morally and legally liable makes detailed planning a pre-requisite in ensuring a Party’s outcome reflects well on the company.

Maybe in the future the ‘Works Party’ will move away from the usual format and an annual celebration that creates a truly unique and memorable experience will take it’s place?

Meet Dr Jonas Ridderstrale.  With an MBA and PhD in international business, he cuts through the madness and hyperbole surrounding the global economy and is at the forefront of the new generation of European-based busines gurus.

Jonas practices what he so persuasively preaches.  With his unorthodox combination of academic rigor, forceful logic and funky free-thinking, he hits home hard with a powerful message for business worldwide.

Email info@paragoneurope.com for more information.