Behind the scenes blog
May 2008
Here at TC Towers our TIOs (Team of Intrepid Organisers) have been working their socks off. There are delegates to be registered, speakers to be booked, sponsors to be sweet talked, details to be arranged, I’s to be dotted, T’s to be crossed…
Antonella has joined the registration team and will be your contact for registration and accommodation related queries this year, but she hasn’t had a spare moment to find out where we keep the tea bags yet! Compared to last year, May registrations rose by 21%, so her learning curve isn’t just steep, it’s got a ‘use low gear’ warning. Remember the new Early Bird rates only apply until 16 July, so save yourself £60 and keep Antonella from the caffeine by signing up as soon as possible!
Sponsors have also been bombarding the office. Talk Zone tables have been going like hot cakes, though once again Holiday Taxis is forsaking our humble offer of a table and chairs in favour of a ‘Talk Zone Limo’ - for networking on the back seat I suppose. Creative ideas are always welcome, so don’t hold back.
eTid has clearly been listening to old wives tales about how important a good breakfast is, especially after a heavy night! Not only are they holding their traditional Agents Breakfast Briefing, they’ve also decided to skip their business lunch in favour of a Business Breakfast Meeting.
We’re also getting to grips with the business sessions. Douglas McWilliams’s session last year went down so well, we’ve invited him back for an encore on the opening day. As Chief Executive of the Centre for Economics and Business Research, he’s got a lot to say about the state of the economy and I think it’s fair to say we all need some good advice these days!
If you find the subject of the credit crunch somewhat depressing, don’t worry, we’ll also be getting Happy! Henry Stewart believes that people work best when they feel good about themselves. He’s an expert on how to empower your staff with passion, innovation and commitment, and there is a serious message to learn from him as happy staff cuts down staff turnover, reduces recruitment costs, improves customer service and improves the bottom line. As Happy has been voted one of the Top 20 great places to work in the UK, Henry clearly knows what he’s talking about!
In keeping with the main Convention theme, Innovation, we’ve introduced changes to the Master Classes. They’re now grouped into three genres - Reaching Your Audience; Managing Your Business; and Innovative Selling. These are designed to allow you to attend the classes most relevant to your business and will also enable us to cut down on change-over times, so you can be assured of more master class for your bucks!
As you may have gathered, our TIOs like innovation in general. Indeed, they’ve been impressed by one TC new feature in particular. The Production team went on a recent inspection visit to Gran Canaria to measure up for the Convention set. After tape measures were refurled and pencils secured behind ears, the guys went to the Go Karting track to make sure (solely for your benefit of course) that it was good enough for Travel Convention delegates. Boys will be boys and in the end they snook in an extra visit before flying home, which bears testimony to the fact that the track more than lives up to expectation. It’s going to be a very popular activity, so don’t forget to sign up before we fill up!
