Priorities, priorities… where does a couple start?
We have all heard the famous question about whether the chicken or the egg came first – the same though can be true of venues and dates when trying to book a wedding. As much as that might sound like a dreadful thought, it isn’t actually far from the truth. Planning a wedding is all about priorities. That might not sound particularly romantic and creative, but it is a cold hard fact that all newly engaged couples need to be aware of.
Arguably the first things to identify should be the venue and the date. Once those are in place there is a host of other things you can move onto. However, once you have seen a couple of venues, read a few wedding magazines and talked to a few suppliers you will realise that (unless you are exceptionally lucky) your first priority is a budget.
Look realistically at how much you have to spend and where you will be sourcing the funds, then start to break it down into the different areas. Venue and catering are likely to be the biggest costs but there are plenty of other areas you might want to splash out on that can take you by surprise. It’s also worth thinking about a contingency – or at the very least withholding a percentage of your budget for “sundries” and “creative touches”.
Once you have your budget, you can start looking at venues and their catering partners. Get that nailed down, along with your date and you can settle back a little, relaxed in the knowledge that the biggest choices have been made. Finding a photographer should probably be next on your list – they book up fast, particularly on weekends and if you have your heart set on someone in particular, you need to get yourself in their diary early.
The rest is then down to you and what you think matters the most. For some, a bespoke hand-made dress and a six-month waiting list will be vital – for others it is an off the rack trip to the local shops. The right entertainment and live music are an imperative in some cases, whereas others are happy with a Spotify list recommended by friends. Whatever choices you make though, do take your time, it’s a truly special day and needs to be right for you – not driven by whatever other people say your priorities should be.
If you are unsure where to start but have chosen BMA House as the venue then you can feel reassured by the fact you will have a dedicated wedding planner throughout the process, able to offer support and guidance across all elements of the day.
Find out some more about our all-inclusive wedding packages and book yourself a visit to our wonderful central London venue. Simply drop us an email today and we look forward to hearing all about your wedding day plans.
A quick throwback to the 90s there from Crowded House…
It might seem to be a little odd quoting an Australian band in a blog about a London venue. However, just walking around London one day last week I experienced hail, wind, rain and then got so warm I ended up wearing little more than a t-shirt. That is perhaps a drastic example, but it does very clearly highlight the importance of having an all-weather venue when planning outdoor events in the UK.
And of course, that is something we can do for you here at BMA House. Our Courtyard and Garden are both truly spectacular spaces – unique in London – but knowing you have the back-up of equally stunning indoor spaces with the same capacities is vital.
So now you are confident that we have contingency options here – what can you expect from our outdoor spaces?
The Courtyard really is BMA House’s centrepiece. Visible from the road through wrought iron gates, the whole venue is built around this space – which is capable of hosting 320 guests around its beautiful fountain.
The Garden is a more intimate space, away from the road yet made truly special by the wonderous medicinal herbs planted to reflect the fact we are home to the British Medical Association. Where better to enjoy an evening drink after a busy day than here, amongst the plants and by the pond?
To truly bring these spaces alive we work closely with CH&CO, our catering partner to create bespoke, ethical and exciting menus that reflect the two outdoor spaces and in the case of the Garden even make use of those wonderful herbs growing fresh on-site. We bring seasonal food to your event, supporting our wonderful British farmers & source local produce wherever possible. Sustainable spring and summer menus can be themed, such as street food style or a BBQ and of course can meet the needs of vegetarian and vegan diets.
We can even provide a pop-up bar specialising in cocktails that make the most of the theme, the setting and again the on-site produce. It’s incredible what the right herbs and spices can do to a cocktail or mocktail.
So come and have a look, and don’t worry about an umbrella as we quite literally have you covered.
According to George R. R. Martin, author of the word famous Game of Thrones series of books and tv shows, all you need to do is give him “a good sharp knife and a good sharp cheese and I’m a happy man.”
Now that maybe true for our fantasy writing friend George. However, in my opinion there is one thing missing – where, oh where, is the chutney? Now I have heard it rumoured that not everyone pairs chutney and cheese – I literally don’t understand! I am also aware that some individuals spread chutney on a pork pie or add it to a ham sandwich. However, here at BMA House we don’t judge, instead we provide remarkable, sustainable chutney to suit every occasion.
Why all the talk about cheese and chutney? Because amongst our other waste policies is the ongoing creation of chutney using food waste. Our chefs create beautiful chutneys using unused and untouched fruit and vegetables, plus their peels, that have been left-over after an event, to accompany a host of different dishes as part of our waste reduction initiatives. Not only is it sustainable, but it also provides a unique accompaniment that cannot be found elsewhere.
Rather than just being a blog about cheese and chutney there is a more serious point to be made here about food wastage. As a leading sustainable venue, BMA House is constantly looking for ways to “be better” and find new solutions to the challenges created when you run a busy venue complete with a substantial kitchen.
Food waste is a big issue in events – firstly there is the issue of catering numbers – how many people will actually show up and how much will they eat? Then there is the issue of portion size or in the case of a buffet quantities of each dish – if you have two main options plus a vegan dish, how many of each do you offer? This is particularly challenging where many meat eaters choose to be vegan for a month, or a few days, or just because that option looks tastier. The result can be extensive amounts of waste in the food produced. When you add in kitchen wastage the figures continue to grow.
Food waste doesn’t seem like the biggest sustainability issue when you first think about event organising, venue logistics and management. You would imagine it’s a long way down the list after travel or energy usage. However, the description above hopefully shows just how big an issue it can be and why it is so important to question your venue about such policies when booking. It is also vital that the venue themselves work closely with you to manage catering numbers and quantities as well as the many other elements that can help reduce waste – including chutney production!
Chutney making is just one of the many ways we are working to decrease our impact on the environment and improve sustainability – for me though – it is one of my favourites.
Now where is that stilton?
To find out more on our award-winning venue’s Sustainability practices, visit our Sustainability page here: https://bmahouse.org.uk/sustainability/ – we really are more than a few recycling bins in the corner of our meeting rooms!
Do you ever get that feeling that you want to go out for dinner, somewhere lovely, with great food and wonderful service… without actually leaving home?
The answer is of course a private dining experience at one of London’s most iconic venues. With four unique rooms, BMA House’s luxurious private dining options provide the perfect atmosphere to gather, relax and eat in style.
Amongst our Grade II listed spaces, our four intimate dining spaces provide everything from the perfect winter or autumn retreat for a cosy meal in charming, character-filled surroundings; to bright open spaces flooded with light and botanical influences that provide the freshness of spring and summer.
Our chefs lovingly create bespoke, sustainably sourced menus for all our private dining clients – which include a menu tasting opportunity in advance to ensure the flavours are perfect and fit each client’s need. Bursting with flavour these menus include seasonal ingredients from Fairtrade suppliers across the whole spectrum of dietary needs.
In terms of the actual spaces available –
You could choose the Prince’s room for a sense of occasion and luxury. The marble-floored foyer provides an impressive welcome for pre-event drinks and the room itself is adorned with gold-leaf detailing. Corinthian columns, large mirrors and windows create a bright, luxurious space and intricate details make this historic corporate dining venue one of London’s finest.
With original Spanish mahogany panels, two fireplaces, access to the Courtyard and ornate tiles the Paget room is an intriguing space. Natural daylight floods the room through Lutyens windows, making the room ideal for private dining.
Period features take centre stage in the Snow room, ensuring it remains a popular dining venue in London. 15-foot-high ceilings and direct access to the Courtyard make the Snow room feel bright and airy, alongside simple, stylish décor.
With botanic-themed artwork, a double-height ceiling and large windows, the Garden room benefits from natural light and direct access to the Garden, which gives the room a design that brings the outdoors, in. There is also a fixed bar, space for live music and capacity for up to 48.
Prices start from £50+ vat per person depending on numbers.
Following changes to working practices after the COVID-19 pandemic, leading London venue, BMA House is exploring why hybrid events are better for the environment?
The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has delivered the first major review of the science of climate change since 2013. The results according to UN Secretary General António Guterres are “a code red for humanity.” According to the BBC, “the authors say that since 1970, global surface temperatures have risen faster than in any other 50-year period over the past 2,000 years.”
COP26 is an opportunity for the world to gather and make tangible changes in terms of carbon emissions and environmental change. Some are describing it as a last stand for humanity. It will be a face-to-face event that has the power to change the word for the better. However, due to the impact of COVID-19, global travel restrictions, closed borders and more – it will undoubtedly be a hybrid event. Given the nature of COP26’s content, , what better time to question why hybrid events are better for the environment.
Firstly, it is worth noting that hybrid is not a new concept, it has however become a reality due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. COP26 will arguably be the world’s first major hybrid event bringing together both in-person and virtual audiences. Prior to COVID almost all delegates would have travelled to the event in person. Now, necessity is forcing change, it is forcing new concepts in the world of event management. It is making us think differently about attending events in person and how we calculate the value of travel.
Travel to and from events is the most obvious consideration when it comes to the sustainability of in-person events versus hybrid events. Cutting down on planes, trains and automobiles does unarguably make hybrid events better for the environment (and it would have saved John Candy a lot of hassle way back in 1987!). It also allows wider audiences to attend – those who previously did not have either the funds or the time to attend an in-person event. It is clearly the single biggest benefit to the environment for hybrid events. So many miles of travel will be reduced, so many trips no longer need to be taken, so much fuel (not matter how responsibly sourced) will not be used. An extension of this is also the potential growth of international delegates, who can attend virtually, without associated travel miles and cost.
However, there are many other considerations beyond travel that need to be taken into account. Firstly though, we must assume that a hybrid event includes some element of face-to-face meeting for some of the delegates (otherwise it would be purely digital).
Energy usage is a big question to consider. The venue still needs power, but so do all the home offices and remote spaces for all the virtual delegates. Perhaps the venue needs less power though due to smaller in person attendees, and the remote attendees were going to be powering and heating their homes anyway? In terms of energy, on the surface it is perhaps a net balance. However, the energy cost of streaming requires servers around the world to be on, cooled and maintained. Plus each remote delegate needs to power their own devices. Maybe this consumption balances out with less venue AV requirements and the fact in person attendees would still be switching on laptops and tablets anyway. Time and research will prove this question.
Food consumption is also probably a net balance – people still need to eat whether at home or the event. They need to source and cook the food either at the venue or themselves. Food miles should perhaps be considered but so should the fact that the home based, live streaming, delegate is eating leftovers or sharing lunch with family.
The most difficult and most important question to ask though is whether to have the event in the first place and what value it will deliver. This has always been an important question to ask, but COVID-19 has highlighted the fact we really cannot hold events for the sake of holding them. This will have a huge impact on the environment as organisers question themselves, hone the content and ultimately create fewer but better events.
Hybrid events are the future, and they will be better for the environment than historic events. However, all angles must be considered if we are to ensure they are a success and better for the environment. The face-to-face element of events deliver serendipitous meetings and conversations that might not otherwise happen online, and we cannot ignore the importance of physical meetings. Many topics that are often dealt with in a round table format for example offer significant logistical challenges, where small group dynamics work well online or in person but can be tricky where some are “in the room” and others not.
We must recognise that hybrid offers the opportunity for wider interaction and attendance, the chance to dip in and out of session, which in turn adds diversity and inclusion, increasing value in other ways. However, some things simply aren’t quite as good as the in-person experience – particularly that post event glass of English sparkling wine – which never tastes as good behind a laptop.
For further information on holding your hybrid event at our impressive London venue, please email: [email protected] or call: 020 7874 7020 or visit: www.bmahouse.org.uk
The perfect London wedding venue will make the day about the couple, putting them front and centre, respecting their wishes and finding ways to meet their needs and their wedding dreams. If a wedding venue can provide that sense of ownership, with all the right personal touches then they truly are somewhere special.
Sustainability in wedding venues is not a new thing but it has become far more prevalent and more of a focus as couples seek to be more environmentally friendly. Where should couples start though, what are the key questions to ask and look out for?
Firstly, as mentioned it should be about the personal touch. We, for example, provide one point of contact, one wedding planner from start to finish included in our offering, whether this is one of our all-inclusive packages, or bespoke proposal built with you in mind. We’ve made things nice and simple for you, book your chat at a time that suits you with our wedding planner here.
We are also exclusive – despite having four very different spaces licensed for weddings, we only ever host one at a time – meaning there is no risk of that awkward moment when you bump into another bride in the toilet!
It’s this personal and individual approach that then allows you to create a wedding that is sustainable because it means the venue is driven by your needs rather than a standard template with “insert couples name here” at the top.
Some areas of sustainability are obvious – such as our caring policy on biodegradable confetti or the fact that there are no single use plastics in the venue. However, one of the biggest areas for environmental impact is the food and drink. Food miles are considered for all our menus, as is the seasonality of the food and sustainable value of our suppliers – in fact we now only stock English sparkling wines for that very reason. And you don’t have to be concerned, not only have the English wines consistently beaten continental competitors in blind taste tests, but we also always offer complimentary menu tastings so you can check them out yourself. It is, however, our water which travels the shortest distance as it is bottled on site.
Just a few additional personal touches here at BMA House are the charming London open spaces, balconies for bouquet tossing and a host of local boutique hotels offering special rates to our guests.
Your wedding should be about you and your venue must recognise and support that – we certainly do, and we would be delighted to chat more and learn what special touches we can add to your special day.
Simply click here to book your chat with our caring wedding planner, or email us on: [email protected], or call: 020 874 7020.
This year has been a year like no other. Who would have thought 10 months ago that we would still be affected by COVID19? Amongst all the sadness and suffering, one key message has shone through; to be kind and look out for one another. With the events industry being one of the hardest hit by the virus, supporting each other has been key to keeping the industry alive. So in the face of adversity, we have come together with two other fantastic Euston venues; Wellcome Collection and Royal College of Physicians to collaborate and refer business between one another.
The Euston area is often referred to as the medical mile, as it has strong links with local hospitals, universities, and general practitioners. With fantastic connections to the UK and Europe, Euston is an ideal area to host any event.This year the medical profession has been in the media more than ever before showing their strength, commitment, and utter professionalism.
Often we find that a lot of our clients are looking for medical-related venues in the Euston area. However, the ever-changing guidelines around opening and reopening can often make it tricky to offer our clients available dates. With additional time on our side, the three of us set up an initial small network to talk about our COVID experiences. At that point, we saw an opportunity. An opportunity to refer business to one another and to demonstrate unity through a common goal. We wanted to come together to support each other’s events and provide multi-site spaces for meetings as necessary. All of us can offer a vast range of delegate packages, hourly rates, digital and hybrid solutions, to ensure that all our client needs can be met.
Now of course we know you know of BMA House, just by making it to this page. Here is a little more about the other two spaces.
Wellcome Collection
Wellcome Collection is the free museum and library exploring health and human experience. Located in central London just steps away from Euston and King’s Cross/St Pancras station. Their venue hire offers thought-provoking event spaces in both the Conference centre and the unique exhibition galleries. Whatever the client’s needs, they can offer flexible and inspiring backdrops for all types of events, from seminars and training sessions, to film screenings and AGMs their capacities range from two people to 300 people.
The Royal College of Physicians was founded in 1518 by Royal Charter from King Henry VIII. It is the oldest medical college in England. The venue offers highly versatile facilities, with 12 meeting spaces, including tiered auditoriums, conference, meeting, exhibition and dining spaces, with contrasting old and new styles to suit all tastes, giving clients a range of possibilities to create an unforgettable event.
After an extremely challenging year with lots of industry changes, all 3 venues have successfully received the MIA AIM Secure Accreditation and Visit Britain Good to Go Accreditation making them COVID safe venues for the future.
We are delighted to be working together and we all look forward to a more successful and collaborative 2021.
This year, National Vegetarian Week ran from 11th to 17th May 2020 and aimed to highlight to the public the benefits and pleasures of a meat-free diet and that vegetarian food can be vibrant and exciting to eat.
The challenge is endorsed by the National Vegetarian Society who say, “It’s an unusual time at the moment, but it’s also a chance to have a go at something new and enjoy cooking at home”. They offered a free ‘recipe card’ which had a new and easy vegetarian meal to try each day, supported by the likes of Stephen Fry, Chris Peckham, the Hairy Bikers, Joanna Lumley and Matt Pritchard.
Meals included a sweet potato burger with vegan cheese and smoky relish (courtesy of BOSH!), a pita ‘kebab’ with plant-based kebab ‘meat’ fried with vegetables and served with crème fraiche (courtesy of Oumph!) and a classic country pie with roast potatoes and gravy (courtesy of Linda McCartney).
Some of our Venues Team decided to take part in the vegetarian week challenge and try their hand at some meat-free cuisine.
Alex says “I really wanted to get involved with National Vegetarian Week as I have been making much more of a conscious effort to reduce the amount of meat in my diet for environmental reasons and this was a great way to do that. I spent lots of time looking at what recipes I could try and found some new favourites I will definitely be making over and over. I think if you spend the time to make veggie dishes exciting, they can be more delicious and more interesting than meat dishes! After doing this it has also shown me that I can definitely work more vegetarian meals into my diet and still be excited about them.”
Some of Alex’s dishes included falafel and tzatziki pittas and cauliflower curry.
So why is eating less meat important?
It’s no secret that the planet is heating up and so by replacing meat and protein with vegetarian alternatives (such as nuts, seeds, beans and lentils) we can reduce carbon and greenhouse gas emissions.
More agricultural land is used to raise cattle than all other domesticated animals and crops combined. A vegetarian diet requires two-and-a-half times less the amount of land needed to grow food, compared to a meat-based diet. Livestock in the UK eat more than half of the 20million tonnes of cereal grown – that’s over 50% of wheat and 60% of barley.
A vegetarian diet also uses less water than that of a carnivorous diet. It takes far less water to produce plant protein than meat protein, for example, an 8oz chicken breast takes over 542 litres of water to produce. Enough to fill your bathtub 6.5 times!
Kat also took part in vegetarian week and says, “I decided to take on veggie week and convinced by two housemates to take part too, as we share all the cooking and food in the house at the moment.”
“I loved the challenge of making new recipes and changing my chicken curry to a halloumi curry. I love a Sunday roast and found a delicious vegetarian wellington recipe which I made on Sunday and served with some yummy green veggies and mini roast potatoes cubes. For breakfast we had smoothies or eggs on toast, and I have new-found love of veggie sausages! I actually prefer them now to meat sausages. I think they only thing I missed was some kind of substance at lunch such as tuna in my salad or chicken in my soups.”
“I rarely order a take-away that doesn’t have meat in it. Last week we actually supported two local places. ‘Tapping the Admiral’ in Kentish Town do a fantastic veggie or vegan pie with all the trimmings for £9. We also found our local ‘Mildred’s’ was offering a take-away too, so I had a delicious ‘Duck’ burger on Saturday night! I have really learnt that a take-away can offer just as good alternative to meat.”
“Moving forward I am going to stop just adding chicken to my dishes and think about other sources of protein etc. and I want to make an effort to cut down meat even more then I was. I am Looking forward to continuing my reduced meat diet.”
Kat’s housemate also commented on the challenge saying, “It was all good really…! Found out it was easier than expected to do veggie meals, I always thought it was more effort/you had to spend longer doing them, but you don’t! I missed fish though.”
Some of Kat’s dishes included a vegetable ‘leftover’ quiche, pie with mash and greens, and a wellington roast!
If you aren’t ready to go cold (meatless) turkey just yet, then why not start slowly with ‘Meat Free Monday’ or cooking with chicken instead of more carbon producing meats such as beef and pork?
Victoria is has gone all the way when it comes to living a meat-free lifestyle and is now living life as a vegan. She shares some tips on how to introduce more plant-based foods into your diet!
“I have been vegan for a year and half now, and before that I was vegetarian for about six years, with the occasional fish dish (pescatarian) here and there. My personal reasons for choosing a plant-based diet was to help the environment and reduce my carbon footprint, and because I simply love animals too much to eat them or any of their bi-products. I think a lot of people struggle at the thought of suddenly becoming vegan or vegetarian, but it doesn’t need to be an instant ‘all or nothing’ approach. You can slowly start introducing things into your diet that replace animal products so it’s a gradual and enjoyable process. For example, try plant-based milk as a replacement for your coffee, porridge or cereal. ‘Oatly’ is my favourite as its very creamy and great in coffee, but soya is good in tea and almond is good for porridge. Play around with different milks and find which one(s) are your favourite.”
“There are also some great meat alternatives out there – ‘Quorn’ do plant-based mince and chicken pieces (not vegan but good for veggies!) which are so easy to cook as a replacement for making bolognaise, fajitas or pies! There are some great vegetarian sausages out there such as Linda McCartney and supermarkets are doing a great job of offering their own brand meat-alternatives. There’s also a fairly new substance called seitan which is made from wheat gluten. It mimics the texture and look of real meat so is a great alternative if you want to fool yourself into thinking you’re eating the real thing! I haven’t tried cooking with it yet but I will often order it when eating out. If you have a look in the meat-free section next time you’re at the supermarket I’m sure there will be something that grabs your attention, and that’s a great first step.”
“I also love lentils, chickpeas and beans as staples for making many dishes such as bolognaise, curries and stews.”
“Lastly, its important to remember that everyone is on their own journey when it comes to being pescatarian, vegetarian, vegan or flexitarian and if you are trying one of these, its ok to make mistakes. Every little helps, and any effort you make is a good effort.”
So why not make your next meal meat-free? Let us know how it goes and don’t forget to look out for these symbols:
Veganism is proving extremely popular in today’s modern millennial world, with several people moving away from a meat and dairy-based diet to an entirely plant-based one. On a daily basis, we are learning the importance of a vegan diet, recent studies show the health and environmental benefits of going plant-based. Meatless Mondays are now becoming a thing and with sustainability at the heart of everything we do, Vegan Month seemed an appropriate time for us all to change our lives and dabble in the plant-based world.
We all agreed that we would just try it for one week only and it was up to the team to decide how many of their meals a day they would follow a vegan diet. As our resident ‘Green Guru’ Victoria is already vegan, she, of course, opted for a life of saving the planet. Alex and Hannah opted to make every meal vegan and Kat, Sasha and Nicola opted for vegan lunches.
We swapped eggs and bacon for baked beans and mushrooms, milky coffees for oat milk lattes and we all slashed our daily chocolate intake. As a venue that understands the importance of a plant-based diet, we were very lucky to have an array of options for lunches. We all enjoyed tarragon and mushroom sausage wellington, sweet potato shepherd’s pie, butternut squash soup and black bean quesadillas with vegan cheese. Vegan week proved a little more challenging for Alex and Hannah who were forced to get more creative with their meals at home to have a tasty dinner.
As a cheese and chocolate-loving team, we thought the challenge would be quite a shock to the system, but it was actually enjoyable for everyone. Kat said: “We are extremely lucky to work in a venue that creates tasty, innovative and delicious vegan food and this has definitely helped us enjoy and be inspired to start eating more vegan dishes.” Not only was there something delicious to choose from every day but we also got a chance to have food cooked for us by CH&Co’s very own vegan chef, who prepared us tofu and seaweed cake with roasted aubergine, tahini and rice noodles.
After a week of changing our diets, we felt we had done our bit to start helping the planet but was the tasty food enough to turn everyone completely plant-based…
We all agreed it enabled us to eat healthier and think more about what we are putting into our bodies. Sasha agreed that we all will do our bit for the environment and look at how many times we are eating meat and dairy, but we won’t be fully vegan anytime soon. Every small step to help the planet is a step in the right direction. Meatless Monday’s is next on the cards for the team but thankfully in the meantime, we have our Well-Grounded package, our resident vegan and a number of sustainable initiatives :)!
As we work on the venue side of the events industry, we’re most familiar with bringing our clients events to life, rather than our own.
Pre lockdown, our Venue Manager Kat was looking forward to delivering an external event as part of her Fast Forward 15 programme. Fast forward a few months (pardon the pun) and lockdown changed everything. Here Kat discusses the process of turning a face to face event into a virtual one.
“I was really lucky to get a place on the Fast Forward 15 programme with 14 other mentees in 2019/20. As part of this, we put on an event to give back. It’s an event with zero budget that aims to make money for a charity, whilst also generating funding towards keeping the Fast Forward 15 programme going, a great free opportunity for the events industry.
We were all set and excited to be hosting the event at Two Temple Place on the 30th April with catering secured, donations for drinks, and some fantastic AV from Sparq. Then COVID hit the UK.
Communication for me is key, if I’ve learnt anything already through this whole scenario, it is the importance of keeping in touch with my fellow mentees on zoom calls. We had about 2-3 weeks to decide if we either postponed until after October 2020, or turned it into a virtual event – something none of us had really done before.
I’ll be honest, my original thought was to move it to later in 2020. Gradually I saw the benefits of an online event – we would be able to get some vital funds to our charity – Girls Rock London, whilst also learning what it’s like for our clients to have the only option of events to be virtual.
Some of my wonderful mentees were furloughed from work so they could throw 110% of their energy into researching great online tech. With the help of our original AV supplier Sparq, they worked hard on a platform that would allow us to host as many people as possible.
My role in the event was charity liaison. Working with Girls Rock London, they shared some performances on the night so everyone could see where their money will go. We also have a great recording from Lips Choir which, trust me, is worth seeing. Turning this part virtual meant having pre-recorded sessions from the performers who were going to be at our actual event as well – something that I am sure is also completely new to them.
With the charity agreement, we moved forward with an online event. It’s really exciting to see how we can adapt from a face to face event into this virtual event – especially for a person who is so used to helping clients achieve their dream event in-person.
I have to say I was nervous about how it would all run on the night but with an amazing group of women, I was confident we’d pull off the first-ever virtual Fast Forward 15 fundraiser!
What I was looking forward to taking away from it is both raising money for charity, but also learning some new skills, which in turn I can hopefully use to help our clients make events more virtual in the future.
Apart from my advice on communication, if you are nervous to make your event virtual do speak to key suppliers out there and engage with others. Your event could really make a difference to others which I am hoping ours will as well.
You can come and see what the event looks like for just £5
