It’s on in the field
Firstly, we project managed the highly successful inaugural It’s on in the field event, on 30 May, in aid of the Stars Appeal. Amanda, working closely with the organising committee, headed up by Adrian Sainsbury from The Value Cars Group pulled the whole event together, which attracted 2000 visitors. Highlights were 30 sports clubs, all allowing people to try out sports from football to archery and from fencing to rugby. Local bands playing in the music tent all day, drama workshops and craft classes for kids in the arts tent and a business village showcasing some local businesses. In the evening the area transformed into a music gig with local singer Jamie Eldridge, the fantastic Brighton based band Imperfect English and local legends Tramps and Amps. It was a terrific day and we raised some money for charity. We are thinking about 2011’s event already! We had some great feedback, but one of the nicest comments we had was from a little boy who came to the event with his dad, he said that it was great fun and he had a go on everything but the best thing was having something he could do together with his dad.

Winning Awards!
Tony achieved the next success. He worked with the regional committee for the Federation of Small Businesses to create their stand at the Bath and West show at the beginning of June. The theme was ‘Celebrating local business success’ and was demonstrated through inviting three of the regional award winning companies from the Somerset area to exhibit free of charge on the stand. The highlight of this was the Ariel Atom, the fastest accelerating road car in the world, built in Crewkerne. Tony said, “The car proved to be an incredible draw and through that we managed to raise over £800 for CLIC Sergent. But the personal highlight for me was winning the Bronze Award for the Best Non-Agricultural Stand over 6m. We were up against the likes of Marks and Spencer, The AA and Sainsburys. A real feather in the cap for Banshee Events.” A photo of the beautiful stand is on the website.

Charity Quiz
The third success was the Hope and Homes for Children quiz, held at Salisbury Rugby Club on 8 June. Banshee Events has been hosting this charity quiz for the last three years and it has proved to be very popular. Tony said, “It is always great fun running these quizzes as the people attending really get into the spirit of the evening and some real competitiveness is shown! The great thing is we managed to raise over £200 for the charity in just one evening.”

Conference in Espana!
Amanda has just packed off 19 people to Spain for a 2 day conference in a 5 star hotel. The group have flown out from 7 different UK airports, a logistical challenge, to say the least! This was for a new client who was delighted with our assistance and we loved every minute of the challenge of sourcing the location, arranging flights and liasing with the groups coordinator – who herself, needs a medal! They all came home safely and had a fantastic time – the first of many times we help them, I’m sure!

FSB Trade Fair
It was a scorcher! The annual FSB Trade Fair, held in the Guildhall car park on Saturday 26 June, was blessed with amazing weather. Amanda and Tony, who organised the event for the Salisbury FSB committee said, “This is the second year of the Trade Fair and we couldn’t have hoped for better weather or a better bunch of exhibitors! We also owe a great debt of gratitude to those who got there early to help us erect 5 large gazebos at the crack of dawn!” A highlight of this years event was new Salisbury MP, John Glen, opening the event and then holding an open surgery for anyone who would like to ask him a question. Banshee’s winner of Best Designed Stand went to Fullerton and Hamblin, who had brought beautifully reupholstered furniture to demonstrate their business, with fantastic effect.

Team Building
It’s that time of year again when teams get together in the great outdoors to have some fun and learn more about their relationships with each other. Every year, there is a star activity and this year it’s water balloons! Not for the feint hearted – you need to like getting wet – but enormous fun with some definite learning points! Give us a call if you would like a bespoke proposal put together for your team that will improve team relations and encourage better team working as well as reward staff for their continued support. We’ll shout the coffee and the sticky bun!

That’s all for now, as ever we would be delighted to meet up for a chat and a coffee to discuss any of your event needs – don’t forget our mantra…
Be a guest at your own event!

2.      Decide on your objectives and stick to them. If your event is just to let off steam and have fun, that’s fine. However a really involved team building session can be much more than that. In today’s economic climate you will want to get excellent return on investment for any expenditure and so careful thought and planning is essential. Sometimes a properly facilitated discussion will achieve more than a very expensive off-site jolly!

3.      Get help from a professional organisation. Team building can be a bit like DIY. You could muddle through to the end result, but it is unlikely you will get a professional finish unless you get in experts. Often,when you take into account the opportunity cost of your own time it is actually cheaper too!

4.      Be realistic with your budget. Although times are tough, £20 per head will buy you a cinema ticket and popcorn. Team building doesn’t need to cost the earth – but at the same time you have to consider the considerable value it can add to your business. A modest investment today can prove dividends over tough times ahead.

5.      Select a suitable venue. Although by doing something on-site you can save money; it is often a great boost to morale and productivity to get into a fresh environment. It is a lot easier to achieve some “blue sky thinking” if you can actually see a bit of blue sky! Most team-building companies will source a venue for your group free of charge.

6.      Be realistic with your expectations, major problems cannot be overcome in a morning. Often you will need to consider a longer term strategy with a more gradual route to team harmony.

7.      Consider the time of year and the climate. It is always best to plan fot the worst and in the UK that usually means rain! It might be character building to have the team orientiering in the middle of winter, but its not particularly productive if they all have the week off with flu. Although a great bonding experience a pig farming trip to Mexico might not add much value to your balance sheet either!

8.      Be innovative, but don’t try and re-invent the wheel. Trying to find something fresh is always difficult, however certain activities are worth repeating as they get results. Sometimes in a quest to be different you can forget the fundamentals of what you’re looking to achieve.

9.      Be calm and enjoy the process. You probably won’t be able to please everyone, but remember this is supposed to be fun.

Build on your success by publishing photos on your intranet and displaying reminders in the office. This will ensure everyone remembers the day for as long as possible!

1.  During company away days, a tried a tested way of revving up your teams, ask your staff about their ‘Perfect working day’.  Companies that have taken this approach ask for creativity and promise to consider all requests.  So far they have implemented free cakes on a Friday, fresh flowers in the meeting rooms and a green team being set up to increase the companies green credentials.

2.  A similar principle to number 1 above, holding a hack day; where staff and managers have the opportunity to generate informal ideas and hold discussion forums.  This way staff get a sense of fully understanding the direction of the company and as a result feel more engaged in their role.

3.  How about this for a great idea.  Rewarding staff is key to staff retention and keeping staff highly motivated to perform at their best.  Offer your staff ‘Me Days’ , for extra effort, reward staff with an extra leave day.

4. Taking this to the next level, you could link your performance reviews to an incentive scheme.  An excellent idea, is to have results rewarded by paying into a fund for employees to use for foreign holidays.  If the employee can get an annual trip to somewhere exotic, like Dubai for performing well, it figures that employees will work harder to achieve it and it will help with retention.

5.  A personal plea now… if you are going to have a reward event for your staff, please make sure you use the nicest venue your budget will allow.  The perception of being spoiled is 50% of the day for most employees.  If you take them to a tatty place, it doesn’t do wonders for the first impressions.  We can invariably get a reduced rate for hotels if you book through us.

6. Offering training to your employees is an important way of keeping staff interested in and motivated by their jobs.  It is important to maintain training even when times are tough.  Training needs to be fun – you absorb more if you are enjoying yourself.  Make all training interactive and entertaining.

What makes a chic party?  It’s the details; the extra thought you put in, without making  it look like to have tried too hard.  This is a knack, but it is a learnable knack!  Below are some tips that will help you hold a chic party on a budget.

1.  Think about your venue.  Will it be at home? In a local public building? A favourite pub or restaurant?  Consider the image that the venue portrays.  Does it fit in with your theme? Does it fit with your budget?  Simplicity is the key. 

2.  Food.  Will you be feeding your guest?  If so, is it a sit down meal, a buffet or canapes?  Either way, the food needs to be simple and tasty.  There is no need to have cordon bleu cookery if that isn’t in your comfort zone.  Many supermarkets do excellent canapes and party nibbles, alternatively you can buy them from a specific canape producer – there are hundreds all over the country.  For the brave, have a go yourself.  It is time consuming and fiddly but the results will be much tastier and you will honestly be able to tell people what the ingredients are.  For a buffet or sit down meal – stick to your tried and tested recipes. A party is not the time to trial that Jamie Oliver special you have been meaning to try out.  Again, there are professionals who can deliver the food ready cooked or cook it in your home – we use a fabulous woman who has years of catering experience and who works exclusively for us.

3. Drinks. KEEP IT SIMPLE! There is a pattern emerging here…  You know your guests and whether they would appreciate champagne or red wine.  If like me, you have a real mixture of friends with equally diverse tastes, there is no harm in asking them to bring a bottle of their favourite tipple with them.  Rose wine has become very chic in the past few years and may be the answer to your prayers.  In my experience, if you offer Cava or Prosecco plus some bottled lager, you will have most people covered. All beautifully chilled, of course.

4. Entertainment.  A minefield of taste.  Knowing your guests is key again. If they are action figures – go for something like laser clay pigeon shooting or archery in the garden.  If it is ladies only, handbag making lessons, chocolate making and cocktail making are all popular.  For gents, how about cigar rolling?  For a larger group, how about a caricaturist, silhouette cutter or magician to circulate among your guests?  Music is essential, but the random button on your I-Pod is a god send and will save the costs of a professional DJ or band. You want your party to be memorable, so the entertainment may be where you spend the bulk of your budget.

Invitations are another indicator of the style of event you are holding.  Professional printing is the easy option, but with a PC literate friend, good card and a decent printer you can recreate it at home. 

I hope that is some help.  If you would like a free consultation with us about an upcoming event, we would be delighted to chat things through with you.

NEXT MONTH: How to organise an event organisers wedding!

Our website is awash with case studies that will give you a good idea of what we do and who we do it for.

This first entry is just to introduce us to you and to invite you to read a bit about us and have a look at our super news page.  If you would like to receive our newsletter please use the contact form and we will happily add you to the family!

We look forward to chatting to you over the coming weeks and months!

Until then,

Amanda and Tony