Confessions of a European Event Manager

 

Introduction

When a company or organisation wants to put on a conference or large event, it is unlikely they would consider doing it themselves. Most companies do not have all the necessary in-house expertise, and releasing personnel from their usual work could be less cost efficient than bringing in the experts. There is also a great deal more to organising a conference than most people would realise in that it is a very stressful and technical activity. The client therefore would usually call in another company that specialises entirely in conference and event management.

There are a great many companies offering Corporate Event Management Services so competition is keen. Even if you are the best you still have to compete with others who offer lower prices and might appear to be better value. One of the ways of countering the cut throat business in the UK is to look at offering Conference Production Services in Europe. European managers then have the option of using a UK or EU company to provide for their Conference or Event. UK conference services are more than able to offer competitive prices. In the current economic climate with the pound at its lowest value for many years, UK companies have a distinct advantage in the EU market. The following example will serve as a useful illustration of the many benefits of taking your event expertise outside of the domestic environment.

I plan to take you through a step by step account of the stages of managing an event in Europe using examples from a recent contract in Rome.

Step 1

As a company offering conference and event management services it is vital that the quality of service provided is professional and value for money. To this end attention to detail is paramount. The project manager will know his team and the quality and reliability of the technical staff, the quality of the electronic equipment and the soundness of the sets that are used. Once these items are in place and proven on previous jobs then the pitch to the client can be confident and knowledgeable so that the client can be reassured things will run smoothly.

Step 2

The Brief

The brief we were given was a three and a half day conference event in Rome in early February for approximately 150 international delegates attending, the majority of whom would be travelling from the USA.

Technical Specification

The technical requirement was to combine a rear projection set and a four speaker PA system with radio microphones. Also data and video switching, wireless table microphones for delegate interaction with presenters in question and answer sessions. They wanted two show laptop PC’s loaded with PowerPoint and various video software.

Step 3

A quotation was provided for all the physical hardware and the technical requirements and the services of the project manager and his team. No subcontracting was necessary. Details were agreed and the quote was accepted by the client and a contract issued. It is important to make sure you have a contract and in it, a clause for cancellation charges.

Use the finest specialist events company for the best festival and fireworks display ever.

Step 4

When organising any event abroad we find it more reliable and economical to use our own technical equipment and workforce who we know and trust. There are no problems with language and the team understand the technical issues that are likely to be encountered. They are used to working together, each having their strengths to contribute to the whole, and they can be trusted to do the best possible job with the minimum of fuss. However planning is a key activity particularly when organising meetings and conference events abroad. If you have forgotten something it’s too late to go back when you have driven 600 miles. So having decided to transport the full conference set, staging and equipment by van to Rome we then worked out the details of how best to achieve it.There will always be last minute and additional requirements from presenters and our team can be relied upon to deal with last minute glitches, that need immediate and effective technical support, as a matter of course.

Step 5

Transportation

The size of the event is critical to the choice of haulage. In our Rome example it was possible to convey all the required equipment in a hire van which could be driven using a standard UK driving licence. If the scale of a conference or exhibition event is much larger it would be recommended to use a dedicated freighting company to collect, deliver and return staging and technical elements to the destination. Using a dedicated freighting company also has the benefit of delivering the key personnel to the event without them being tired out after driving across Europe. In other words the team can be flown out to the event so that they are fresher on arrival. With cheap flights to Europe it can also work out more cost effective than overnight stays for eight or ten people driving en-route.

However, in this case it was decided that the event technicians would drive the van to Rome which would still be well within budget for all staging and technical elements. When hiring a vehicle it is essential to pay attention to maximum load capacity of the vehicle. The weight of the technical equipment and set must be less than the maximum load and once the main systems are onboard, care must be taken not to fill it to the brim with extra bits and pieces.

It is so easy, when being helpful, to add the client event material, such as delegate registration systems and materials, brochures, display and graphic panels. The result can easily mean that the maximum safe load allowance for the vehicle is compromised. As the load capacity is a legal necessity it is never a good idea to say yes to extra items on behalf of the client without being aware of the likely impact on overall weight.

Step 6

The Journey

As the distance was twelve hundred miles there and back it was decided that with an allotted journey time of two and a half days each way to Rome would be adequate. Although it would have been possible to travel to Rome in two days we have learned from experience to allow a margin for any delays en route. It also allows for the technicians themselves to be fresh enough after the road trip to be able to work effectively.

When travelling long distance across Europe and at a time of year when the weather might be inclement, it is essential that the safety of personnel and other road users is paramount. By dividing the travel time between two drivers and rotating them every two hours, we have found that neither is unduly fatigued. This system allows large distances of up to 600 miles a day to be covered with safety. Regular breaks help to maintain concentration and awareness, with total travel times of no more than ten hours in any day and preferably no more than eight hours a day.

Some companies offer tailor made team building events that combine company events management with exhilarating activity.

Having decided on the route to be taken from the UK to Rome we left the UK via a ferry from Dover to Calais and then journeyed to an area just North of Dijon on day one. From Dijon on day two, the journey continued as far as Bologna via the Mont Blanc tunnel. We decided on day three, to make an early start for the half day drive from Bologna to Rome and deliver the equipment to the venue, then rest up for the remainder of the day so the crew would be fresh to start work the next morning.

Navigation across Europe is now much more straight forward with Satellite, but we would also suggest printed route plans and local maps of any places where a stop-over is planned. It has sometimes been the case that even with the latest updated information the Sat Nav cannot always find the precise location of the road you want, due to the ongoing construction of many new motorway networks. You may find yourself suddenly stuck on a road it doesn’t know and this is when the co-driver can be a great help to navigate you through the confusion.

Step 7

Accommodation for Overnight Stops

Choosing accommodation for suitable overnight stops is worth some research. There is a plentiful choice of motel stops near to all major roads in France and Italy all of which are reasonably priced. However, there are great guest houses away from the main cities and major roads which offer a much more relaxing experience for a tired traveller and are usually cheaper than the chain motels. Often these places have secure parking enhancing vehicle security from theft and damage. After all, when freighting audio-visual systems with a value stretching to tens of thousands of pounds, peace of mind is useful to say the least.It is advisable to spend time during pre-event production locating places to overnight. There is little benefit from having to find a room late in the day at an unknown cost which may impact on the profitability of the job.

Step 8

On Site Conference Production

On arrival in Rome we drove the van to the conference venue so that the audio-visual equipment and staging could be unloaded directly into the conference room. This was to secure the items and have everything ready for fitting the following day. Getting an early start to set up the equipment allowed for the client to begin presentation rehearsals on the afternoon of the rig day. Later on the same day there was to be an evening reception and brief welcome presentation to all attending delegates. The setting up procedures are tried and tested and the team worked like a well oiled machine so that all the audio-visual elements were complete and in place on schedule and all the technical systems were working correctly by the time the client presenters arrived from the USA.

Step 9

Audio Visual and Production Content

An example of the kind of last minute technical hitches that has to be resolved is when a conference presenter is unable to submit his presentation during the pre-production period and will arrive on site with it in his briefcase (Probably having worked on it during his flight over). The production team will not know until late in the process what presentation format is required. However the presenter will still expect his material to be incorporated seamlessly into a master slide deck. If a conference set uses a wide screen projection format the content will need to be generated in a sixteen by nine aspect ratio. Unknown to the presenter however, the offered material may have been built around a slide template that used a four by three aspect ratio instead. Depending on content, this may have minimal effect on the look of the presentation but if there are images of people, or pie chart graphs, these will then appear as stretched and elliptical shapes which would be unsatisfactory. Fonts and text boxes may move out of alignment and embedded applications such as XL may well be impossible to read. The added value for European clients of using a UK based corporate event supplier is that the British are famous for their ability to be innovative and come up with solutions to problems at the last minute and particularly under pressure.

It is worth shopping around for corporate audio visual hire because it is a very competitive market and there may be some bargains to be found.

During the rehearsals for the first day of the conference one of the American presenters had travelled to site with a power point presentation containing video footage. Unfortunately the video content had not been embedded into his presentation so it did not appear as he expected. The video content was hyper-linked to files that were inaccessible from the PowerPoint presentation – supplied to us on a memory stick. Fortunately with our technical proficiency we were able to download the video from source and convert the video footage into a high resolution format that would be compatible with our audio visual systems. This is when event support specialists, who speak English as a first language and are familiar with the requirements of such last-minute complications, are invaluable.

In an ideal scenario, all presentation content will have been presented during the pre-production phase to minimise such last minute glitches, but more often than not on-site changes are required to re-format a presentation. Whilst it is by no means out of the question that a local AV company might well have been able to do the same, feedback from client events in Europe suggests that when they have used a local supplier they have often failed to be sufficiently expert to support such needs.

Step 10

During the Conference

Over the period of the two and a half day event we were able to further increase our reputation with the client and delegates. Something that they had overlooked until the last minute was to provide appropriate themed music for role-play exercises. Although it had not been part of the original conference production brief, we were able to provide apt and timely presentation support at very short notice from our on-site database of over thirty thousand music tracks.

Whilst seeming relatively negligible points in themselves the above types of scenarios can be very stressful for conference and event organisers, who already have responsibilities that go beyond the presentation content. The corporate conference event being organised by the client is a huge task of delegate management and event logistics, so that any projects that can be left to an experienced dedicated event management team such as ourselves, frees them up to focus on their own tasks of delivering a successful delegate experience.

Step 11

Language Issues in European Conferencing.

When working in Europe either as an event manager, conference producer, or production company, it is always helpful if you are able to communicate directly with the people you meet at the venue and along the way. Whilst all major event management destinations and hotels across Europe have staff who will speak English, there are occasions when they will not be available. We are happy to have colleagues with rudimentary skills in French, Spanish and German who are all keen to improve their language skills. They are prepared to have a go whenever possible to try out what they have learned and this has sometimes proved to be invaluable. It may seem obvious to say, but we recommend that at least one on your production team should have a working knowledge of the local language and should be encouraged to use their language skills as often as possible. It is often surprising how a little effort can generate a much better response from those who you are working alongside.

Conclusion

If you haven’t given much attention to the idea of working in Europe then we really recommend it. Conference events in Europe can be undertaken by a UK event production company at comparable cost to our European colleagues in the audio-visual supply sector. Favourable exchange rates add a further competitive edge to the costs of bringing your audio-visual and staging from the UK. Researching and planning the route and method by which conferencing systems are freighted and delivered will provide surprisingly low cost delivery solutions.

Taking your preferred conference production team with you to Europe will give increased peace of mind with regard to the quality of your technical support. Our client in Rome was very happy with the service and level of attention to detail we brought to their conference and repeat European corporate events are now routinely part of our conferencing diary. Fortunately our team really enjoy the experience of travelling abroad and having the opportunity during ‘down time’ to experience life in another culture and country.

 

VoIP Teleconferencing Service Provider Makes Live Beautiful Website

Doncaster, UK, – March 2010: Meetupcall (http://www.meetupcall.com), the new South Yorkshire-based challenger on the low-cost provider teleconferencing block, today announced the launch of their new website. Packed with easy to use dynamic content and immediate access to an enhanced range of the most cost-effective audio conferencing services on the market.

User-friendly and concise, the modern site is well navigated and intuitive, bringing the markets leading lowest cost, world-class teleconferencing services another step closer to business-savvy organisations, both large and small.

Mindful that businesses everywhere are constantly challenged to get new approaches to maximise their resources whilst lower their costs, Meetupcalls new website features an enhanced pair of service offerings. Customers can now select from three new package types including: Pay When you Go, Select and Bundles.

MeetupcallPAYG gives users access immediately teleconferencing service. Suitable for business seeking to spread these prices of teleconferencing amongst all participants, calls are billed straight away to each callers regular phone or mobile bill. MeetupcallPAYG is feature rich, providing uncompromising teleconferencing clarity, reliability and cost effectiveness with every call.

For users who want centralised billing teleconference service, MeetupcallBUNDLES gives businesses a range of tariff and features options to best suit their needs. Whether for frequent or ad hoc use, an individual or even a team within an organisation, Bundles provide reliable and scalable solutions suited to needs now so when an organisation grows.

MeetupcallSELECT is flexible conferencing service for users who would like to tailor their teleconferencing package thus to their specific needs or replace an ongoing service offering like for like. Designed specifically to become flexible enough to satisfy any organisations conferencing needs, this service offers our universe class functionality and user experience while still maintaining the standard and reliability with the services offered with the major telecoms companies.

Simon Moxon, CEO of Meetupcall said: our new website breaks with the jargon and hype with new and obvious to see offerings, a clean, modern and professional appear and feel and service functionality to world-class standards. We’re confident our efforts to both boost the web experience and our customers needs for flexible, economical and world-class technology is going to be well-received by new audiences over the public and private sectors.

Having opened its virtual doors in July 2009 with an audio conferencing market crowded with pricey, complex me too solutions, Meetupcalls mantra, teleconferencing… thats all when using the most user-friendly and intuitive service available, has resonated well using the business community across the UK, growing 3-fold month on month since its inception.

Founded last year, Meetupcall can be a new technology begin with an abundance of background and history in the market. Our goal would be to bring the best of good quality, low-cost teleconferencing services to any or all businesses, from SMEs to multi-national organisations. At Meetupcall, we pride ourselves on our laser-like focus delivering flexible, innovative, reliable, user friendly and low-cost teleconferencing solutions… and thats all. Doncaster, UK-based, Meetupcall supports and promotes responsible and green business and it is heavily involved with promoting Green business through the Doncaster and Yorkshire area.

East Midlands airport bucks the national trend

East Midlands airport primarily serves the conurbation formed by Nottingham, Derby and Leicester.

The airport is close to an excellent network of motorways making the journey to the airport relatively simple. Due to its superb location East Midlands has been able to attract the low cost flyers Ryanair, easyjet and bmibaby which is self serving

Despite the recession East Midlands airport saw passenger numbers increase in 2008 which was against falls seen at all other major airports such as Gatwick, Heathrow, Manchester and Stansted airports who all suffered decreases in passenger levels, whilst East Midlands increased passenger numbers by 3.8% in 2008 reaching 5.6 million and is now the 10th busiest airport in the UK.

Amid much controversy the airport was rebranded Nottingham East Midlands which didn’t go down well with the cities of Leicester and Derby, because it was considered that outside of the UK East Midlands meant very little to the international traveller “Nottingham” was added to give the airport a sense of geographical position. Due to ongoing controversy the name reverted back to East Midlands airport in 2006 following constant challenges from the cities of Derby and Leicester the airport.

Airport parking at East Midlands could not be easier with off and on car parks with transfers to the terminal. Flypark is able to offer a choice of Parking at East Milands airport and East Midland airport hotels

thisinformationisgreat.info

Know What Payday Lenders Can Do And Cannot Do, If You Do Not Pay Back Payday Loans

It would be funny if it wasn’t so sad. If you go throughout the thousands of blogs regarding cash advance places, you actually start to wonder regarding the cleverness of those who frequent them. cash advance places, that is. The only thing apparently sadder than the people who seem to be getting these exorbitant loans are those who seem to be defaulting on them. State and federal regulations have long demanded payday loan shops publish and allocate borrowers’ rights data with the loans they issue, yet the internet is full of queries, posted by the anxious who appear oblivious as to what payday lenders may and cannot legally do. This editorial will help you separate the payday loan fact from fiction.

Am I going to be imprisoned for not paying my cash advance?

Did you get arrested for not paying your utilities bill? In the USA, there aren’t any debtors’ prisons. You may thank your founding fathers for that. These used to exist in England, but they do not exist here. It actually does not make much sense, our founders decided. Nevertheless, if you’re in prison, how can you make an effort to pay for your bills? What could happen, however, would be that the payday lender could move forward with a civil charge against you and sue to recover the cash you owe them.

I can’t pay. Is there anything I can do?

Well, no matter what you do, don’t ignore them. Numerous loan places will work something out for you. Some require, however, for you to contact them before the loan is due to make arrangements for repayment. There is something called “hardship repayment” that a lot of do not publicize. Given our present financial system, if you have had something happen like loss of a job, you could be eligible for a pay back plan. It is necessary to ask for this though and numerous won’t be much easy about providing.

What’s a repayment plan?

Instead of rolling over the loan and continuing to be charged interest, a pay back plan, also termed as hardship repayment system, converts the loan, if you will, into a longer term loan. In this manner, your complete loan is broke up into many payments, normally no more than four, and the interest or finance charges end. So, if you borrowed $500, which, with the finance charge would be $588, that repayment system might look something like four payments of $147 to be made every two weeks (every pay day).

Are they actually allowed to call me non-stop?

Unhappily, yes. You could ask them not to call you every hour on the hour, but they’re not a third party collector and therefore officially allowed to contact you ad nauseum, if they so desire. You can however ask them not to call you at work

See, you got yourself into this confusion and now you’re going to really need to get yourself out of this confusion. Much of this needs you take action and make yourself alert to your rights and alternatives. Pick up the phone and call. It might not be simple, however , you may be amazed that many of these companies are willing to cooperate with you.

The Fundamental of Recycling for the Future

Right through history, recycling has been around in one form or another. Even as long ago as 400 BC signs of earlier recycling are known to have taken place. Archaeological studies show that historical waste dumps contained less of what is known nowadays as household waste, such as pots, tools and ash, which demonstrates that people were, even in those days, keen to reuse products at a time when natural resources weren’t so freely available. Little did they know that what they were starting would play such a huge role in shaping the world for future generations

Indeed it could be argued that the old ‘rag-and-bone’ man was just an early recycler collecting unwanted goods on his horse and cart, before reusing or turning the collected items into something new.

During periods such as the World War Years, recycling and re-use were common place as natural resources became much more difficult to come by. As well as food being rationed, certain materials such as metal and fibre werenormally permitted only for use by the government in support of military operations, to meet manufacturing requirements often in the production of weaponry.

Due to rising energy costs, the need to recycle aluminium increased in the 1970′s.. As a material aluminium utilises much less energy in the production process than some other materials. Also it was much sought after because of its non rusting properties. The demand for aluminium saw the rise of scrap metal dealers who were willing to pay money in exchange for good quality metal. Also, in the 70′s in parts of the United States of America, the first vehicles were seen to be collecting waste with a separate trailer for the collection of recyclable materials being towed behind the vehicle.

To the late 1980′s, early nineties and as the awareness of managing the global environmental state increased amongst worldwide governments, the focus upon recycling really started to gather momentum. In the UK, the government imposed recycling targets upon Local Authorities and with the introduction of the new legislation upon the waste industry, recycling schemes really began to take off. The once commonly well known waste disposal companies, began to call themselves waste management companies and demonstrated through the offer of waste collection and recyclable material collection that waste needed to be handled more effectively.

Today, many hundreds of materials and products can be recycled, ranging from paper, card, glass and plastics, to mobile phones, electrical items, printer cartridges, textiles, clothing and concrete. The demand for different types of collection receptacles has increased dramatically.

What is Recycling?

The term recycling describes the process of converting used materials into new or nearly new materials to avoid the need for potentially useful materials or products to be discarded. Essentially it is diverting waste from landfill.

Recycling plays a key role in a world where climate change is high on the environmental agenda. It helps to reduce the need to unnecessarily send waste materials and products to landfill or other waste disposal options. This in turn diminishes the need or the reliance upon consuming fresh or new raw materials, reduces energy use and air and water pollution, all of which contribute to lower greenhouse gas emissions.

Recycling is probably mostnoticeable through the recycling services now provided by local authorities for domestic refuse and recycling collections and by modern waste management companies who generally offer a full range of waste and recycling collection services. Some companies, who have traditionally focused only on the collection of recyclable products, are now extending their service offering to collect general waste as well.

Some factories will generate dangerous waste, so visit www.biffa.co.uk and bring in the professionals to be sure of secure disposal and compliance with the law.

In the waste sector, the common promotional activity surrounds the waste hierarchy – ‘reduce, reuse, recycle and recover’. This four R slogan is a simple message designed for a far reaching audience. Think about how you can reduce your waste. Can the waste products or materials be reused? Can the waste product or material be recycled or recovered?

The waste hierarchy is a strategy which many waste management companies and local authorities consider when developing new waste management strategies. The strategy is intended to focus the mind around preventing waste being generated in the first place. Consider the options for reuse and recycling but ultimately minimise the amount of waste produced at the end of the cycle.

So the emphasis is very much on the entire production process. The waste hierarchy extends much wider than to waste management companies and local authorities. Working groups have been set up to bring many sectors together to consider the entire waste cycle. For example, the manufacturer of a product needs to consider how the product is to be manufactured. Can parts be used which can later be recycled or reused? Can the amount of packaging which surrounds the product be reduced? When the product reaches the retailer, is it necessary for the product to be placed within an outer package? Once the retailer sells the product, what will the purchaser do with the unwanted elements of the purchase, i.e. the packaging? How will the packaging be collected and where will it go? Will it return to a recycling plant, for onward transfer to a reprocessing plant, where the cycle begins all over again?

How are Materials Collected for Recycling?

Legislation now dictates that all waste should be treated to avoid the amount of recyclables and unnecessary waste going direct to landfill. Since 1996, UK government has applied a landfill tax on all waste disposed of within landfill. The rate of tax has increased considerably in recent years rising from the original level of £8 per ton, to today’s rate of £40 per ton. The UK government has previously announced that this will increase further to £48 per ton by the end of 2010/11. This rate applies to all general waste streams, although there is a lower rate for inert materials. Sending waste directly to landfill is an expensive option and finding suitable methods to divert waste away from landfill is now a priority. For inert materials the rate is £2.50 per ton.

So, the message to everyone is clear, segregate your waste to reduce the volume of waste going to landfill. Traditionally, at home or at work, as soon as you place waste in the container , it is forgotten about. Someone else will collect it and take it away. Nowadays, at home and at work, recycling is being encouraged through the provision of containers in which to place specific recyclable materials. At home, the children are often the keen recyclers.

Perhaps the most common materials to be seen being collected for recycling are paper, card, glass, metals and plastics. But the opportunity to recycle a vast number of materials or products continues to grow.

One of the ways to make certain we do not disappear at the bottom of a mountain of waste materials is to generate a lot more energy recovering facilities in order that our waste materials becomes a very importantresource.

The methods of collecting materials or waste to be recycled is also increasing and becoming more noticeable within local communities. Dedicated collection sites, often referred to as a bring bank sites, are springing up in supermarket car parks to encourage customers of the supermarket to return such items as bottles, newspapers or cardboard to the containers on their way into the supermarket.

Local Authority waste collection crews or their appointed contractors will collect refuse and recyclables from the kerbside usually at the front of your home. Collection from domestic premises generally remains the responsibility of the local council and many have now employed the provision of bins in which to collect specified recyclable materials or products.

In the industrial and commercial sector, waste management companies offer separate containers in which the customer deposits the appropriate waste stream or recyclable material ready for collection. The bins will often be clearly labeled as to which recyclable materials should be placed within that container or bin. Alternatively, the bins will be colour coded to identify which recyclable materials should be placed within which bins.

The key to a successful recycling initiative is educating about what can be recycled and how. In the commercial world getting the co-operation of factory employees is crucial. The introduction of any recycling scheme must ensure that in asking staff to separate waste for recycling, it does not become time consuming and affect the effectiveness of what employees should be doing in their work. The introduction of any recycling scheme should be kept simple.

The Recycling Process

Various collection systems exist for the collection of the recyclable material . Whichever collection system is employed , the materials are taken to a recycling centre where they will be segregated from other wastes.

To begin the recycling process from a collection point of view, the more recyclable material which can be separated at source, i.e. at home or in the work place, the more efficient it will be for the waste collector. That is why separate containers are supplied to the waste producer to encourage separation at source. If card can be collected on a vehicle, which will collect no other waste material, the card will be kept clean and therefore will have a higher value when it reaches the processing plant. Similarly, dedicated glass collection vehicles are used to collect only glass. Apart from the obvious health and safety reasons and the weight of collected glass, it will have a much higher value if the collected glass load is not contaminated with other waste.

Once collected, the recyclable materials can be taken direct to a reprocessing plant, if the load contains only that specific type of material. So a dedicated glass collection vehicle could take the load directly to a glass processing plant. It is more likely that the glass will have to be bulked up for onward shipment to the processor.

If mixed recyclables have been collected such as paper and card within the same container, it may be necessary for the collector to take the load to a materials recycling facility to unload and allow the load to be sorted into separate paper and card bundles for onward transfer to a paper or card processing plant. Whichever method is used, the recyclable material collected will usually be sorted or cleaned before going through to a reprocessing plant to be converted to a new resource and ultimately used as a new product or in manufacturing. Inert materials can be a useful by product at landfill, for example shredded tyres to aid traction on access roads.

In serious economic periods such as today, minimising food waste will make a considerable difference to the expenditure on a personal as well as a nationwide level.

The Increasing Importance of Recycling

In the UK around 35% of waste collected from households is recycled or composted. Whilst in the commercial and industrial sector, the volume of waste sent to landfill has declined substantially in recent years and the volume of waste now being diverted for recycling or reuse by this sector has risen above the volumes going to landfill. But there is still much to be done to increase rates further in this sector.

Landfill continues to play an important role in the management of waste across the UK as not all wastes can be recycled and some are more suited to landfill disposal than by any other means. However, it’s not just the increasing costs of disposing of waste directly in landfill which is making recycling a more attractive option for businesses. Landfill is becoming scarce, with some experts suggesting that the amount of space available across all UK landfill sites, has less than ten years existence remaining before all sites are deemed to be full. Such countries as Dubai have filled parts of the coastline with their waste and created useful land area to extend the boundaries of their country.

In recent years, waste management companies have had to change their focus, and start to consider and invest in new technologies, such as energy from waste plants, anaerobic digestion plants and mechanical biological treatment plants, as alternatives to landfill. Local Authorities have also adapted their attitudes by undertaking detailed strategic reviews as to how waste under their jurisdiction should be handled. In some cases this has meant that unitary authorities are progressing plans to introduce long term contracts, usually around 25 years in length, through which to manage their entire waste management requirements. These contracts will often include the need to build a facility through which to handle all waste generated across the region by segregating all waste streams. The contracts may also include the collection of all waste and recyclables from households across the area. So the face of waste management is changing rapidly. The days of just throw it in the dustbin have disappeared and the advent of new technologies are upon us.

Conclusion

Recycling is now a way of life and is here to stay. It has evolved over the years from something that was undertaken without any real thought behind it. The trusty rag and bone man was just trying to make a living. Today, many blue chip organisations are setting out plans for a ‘zero to landfill’ waste policy, where the intention is very clear – reduce waste, reuse waste and recycle waste, but no waste must end up in landfill.

Many homes across the country now have some form of bin in which to separate waste for recycling. The need to separate newspapers, aluminium cans and plastic bottles are almost common place. Whilst in industrial and commercial sectors, there is an increasing list of items to consider for recycling such as printer cartridges, office paper, metal and electrical equipment.

Ideally the whole process would be a complete cycle such as it was in the days of the horse. However the advent of new technologies will accelerate further the way in which our waste is to be managed in the future, but it is highly unlikely that we will ever reach the ultimate waste free society. There will always be a need for waste to be disposed of somewhere, somehow.

Introduction To Forex Trading

If you are just starting out in the stock trading business or if you are already in it, you may have heard the term Forex trading quite a few times, but you probably might not have a clue on what it may actually mean.

Forex or foreign exchange trading is actually the largest and a fast-rising financial industry in stock trading these days. Here is a quick introduction to trading in foreign exchange.

What Is Forex Trading?

The Foreign Exchange market (Forex) is actually the largest financial market in the world. It actually makes a volume of over 2 trillion U.S. dollars a day, and as compared to its counterpart –the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) which usually only trades a volume of 25 billion dollars each day, this industry is so huge that it becomes a profitable playground for many investors including central banks, large banks, multinational companies and even governments.

What is actually traded on the foreign exchange is money. It actually consists of the concurrent buying and selling of currencies, which are traded through brokers and are traded in pairs.

When you are buying currency, it is like you are investing on the economy of a particular country. For example, if you buy U.S. dollars then it is as if you are buying a share of the U.S. economy. Whatever the market thinks about the current health of a country’s economy would directly be reflected on the price of its legal tender and this is how currencies go up or down.

Forex Trading For The Masses

Originally the whole concept of trading in the Foreign Exchange was only intended for huge companies and banks, but not for normal citizens. After all, you could only take part in the trade if you have around ten to fifty million dollars minimum.

However, with the rise of globalization through the Internet, trading is now offered to retail traders. And these days, almost anyone can now invest on the foreign trade. All you really need to join is some small amount of money, a computer and a high-speed Internet connection, and you can sign up for an account with online Forex trading firms.

There is no exact physical office for Foreign Exchange unlike its counterpart in New York. However, the three main centers for this trade are United States, United Kingdom and Japan. These countries handle majority of Forex transactions and trades goes on for 24 hours everyday.

Today, the Foreign Exchange, as the largest market in the world, is fast paced and enormous. And it has become a very lucrative arena for many traders who may have had participated in stock trading and in other markets. Many large institutions and even smaller-based individuals have gone out to play in this market.

Although this particular market gives huge promises, remember that there is still too much at stake. It is estimated that around 70 to 90 percent of the Foreign Exchange market is still speculative. And the parties that trade currencies may not always have a plan to actually take delivery of the said currency, and more are still speculating on movement of money.

If you are interested in investing in this particular arena, take time to be familiar with the game and make sure you get the right educational background. Taking the extra mile will all be worth it, and once you have tasted your success in this arena, you will be ready to take on anything in trading.

A guide to Event Photography

One of the many ways you can generate money as a photographer is to specialise on events. Sports, Charity Balls, Schools proms and all sorts of other events where people make memories can be worthwhile business. The best thing is that all you need is a good camera, lots of memory cards and some business cards at one end of the market or a potable studio and printer at the other. Oh and you need to be a good photographer as well, it does help.

Capturing the Images

It’s very important that you get creative on where to take photos. The best possible events are events where people want to keep the memories for a long time . Bonus points can be had if the event is the type of happening where people need extra high quality, or if you can offer something which means that the people couldn’t have taken the photos themselves.

People are making a health income off photographing sports events. Here in England, kids are dreaming of being the next Beckham or Best and their parents are often very encouraging of their sporting efforts. What the photographer does is that he calls up the team manager, ensures it is okay to take pictures at a football game. They then attend the game and takes images .

When the photographer pitchesup with a huge 600mm lens – same as all the parents have seen on television – they are taken seriously and they take great care in making sure they’ll get a couple of action shots of every kid on the field. At the end of the game, they hand out flyers (printed cheaply from an on-line printing company.) Later in the evening, they’ll upload all the photos to an event photography website and sells the prints. The only costs incurred is the petrol for driving to the game and the flyers, which cost next to nothing.

At bigger tournaments, they can shoot 8-9 teams in a single day, hand out around 100 flyers and in the longer term sell around £300-500 worth of photos.

Wedding photography can be done using the same event photography model.

You arrange to photograph the wedding reportage-style and make sure that you capture everybody. People talking and drinking along with all the ‘official’ photos you do. You can charge the regular fee for photographing the wedding and in addition you can arrange for your website to be printed on the wedding invitation (offer the happy couple a 30% discount to get the internet site on the invitation and on any other paperwork they distribute, then make sure to mention to everyone you photograph that they can buy the photos on-line on the website on the invite).

It’s a money making business and in addition you are offering a service most photographers don’t being the option of letting anybody get copies of the prints straight away and conveniently.

The key point is to find a niche market where you can do well by being the best photographer in the room and offering an quick easy way for people to buy your photos. Horse shows, car shows, livestock competitions, rock shows, plays, festivals, portraiture – everywhere there is a market, you can try and do event photography. In addition, for many of the events, you can make money by selling your best images as stock!

Marketing the Pictures

You can get great success by having flyers printed – simple A5 flyers in full colour, with 2-3 of the best photos, and a website . Mention who you are, mention how easy and cheap it is to buy photos from you and hand them out to anyone who might want to buy your photos .

If you can get a tie-in as an ‘official photographer’, it’s worth setting up a booth at the event as well. Hire someone to sit there with a printer and a computer and print out the best photos there and then, allowing people to buy them, but make sure to have a stock of business cards or flyers as well, to allow people to buy the photos at their leisure, at home, via the internet.

How to Sell the Photos

The mechanics of selling photos can be quite complicated. Back when many started doing concert photography, they decided to have a go at doing it all themselves – and Rockprints is a testament to that (incidentally, Rockprints was designed by the same guy who did the current Photocritic design – Martin Jacobsen). Most ended up using commonly available gallery software called Coppermine and hacked the hell out of it so they could use it to sell photographs via on line print web sites.

Retrospectively, it was a clumsy and extremely annoying way of doing things. The solution wasn’t particularly scalable and most spent more time adapting the PHP code than actually uploading photos.

A lot of things have happened since then those days. Selling work more effectively and directly to the customer can only give the event photographer more benefits.

There are quite a few specialised sites on line , who help you out by providing ways of selling pictures .

Luckily, there are plenty of solutions out there to choose from so you find one that suits you best. Photo Stock Plus offer a ‘events-photography-in-a-box’ solution, which works very well.

The company takes a fee up-front each year. For your money, you typically get a 500MB printing account, which can store up to say 10,000 images. All you need to do is to use the uploading tool (which also watermarks and resizes your photos for you, saving you a metric tonne of time) to create events galleries, and you’re up and running.

A Final Word of Warning

Event photography is very hard work. No, seriously. You’ll be constantly on your tip toes, trying to get the best images, fielding questions from people around you, handing out flyers, travelling to locations, copying images, preparing galleries, etc. You’ll hate it until you’ve managed to get used to the pace of the work and managed to work out a good workflow.

On the other hand, there is a great deal of money to be made if you are happy to put in the hours.

Event photographers can earn a good salary from this kind of work.

Most of the event photographers have a similar setup to this whenever they do weddings, to maximise their income. Best of luck to you!

Great places to visit in Bristol

Bristol is an interesting city to visit because it has a rich history but much more besides. The Bristol of today is a mix of the old and the new. Extensively bombed in World War II, many of the old buildings were lost. Some of the surviving aspects of the old town are the narrow cobbled streets and some beautiful old architecture such as the Llandoger Trow and the Corn Exchange.

There are occasionaly some landmark properties for sale in Bristol and when the Llandoger Trow came up for sale, Whitbread snapped it up. The Llandoger Trow was built in 1664 and is one of the last timber-built buildings in Bristol. Rumour has it that Daniel Defoe met Alexander Selkirk (the inspiration for Robinson Crusoe) there, and there are tales of pirates, ghosts and secret tunnels too.Relax and have a few drinks in this famous pub.

The clock over the Corn Exchange (a grade I listed building) is interesting because it has two minute hands. The black minute hand shows Greenwich Mean Time and the red minute hand shows Bristol time. The exchange was finished in 1743 and the clock was installed, at that time with only one minute hand, in 1822. The second minute hand was added later to show the time in London as well as the local time in Bristol. The arrival of the railways was the reason for the extra minute hand. The railways required a standardised time across the country for timetabling and on 22nd September 1847, the Railway Clearing House recommended that every railway company in Britain adopt Greenwich Mean Time at their stations, as soon as possible.This standard time became known as ‘railway time’, which Bristol officially adopted on 14 September 1852. Bristol is 2º 35′ west of Greenwich, which makes the black hand just over 10 minutes ahead of the red.

Bristol has plenty of religious buildings of architectural note. Bristol Cathedral is one of the UK’s finest hall churches and a prime example of late Norman architecture. It was built as an Augustinian abbey in the 12th century and converted in 1542 into the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity. St John the Baptist’s Church is the only surviving church out of five built on the 12th century Saxon walls of Bristol’s old town. The church would have acted as part of the city’s defences as well as a place to offer prayers. Also worth visiting is the parish church of St Mary Redcliffe where you can admire the gothic arches and beautiful stained glass windows.

If castles and stately homes are your thing, don’t miss Berkeley Castle which has over 900 years of history. 24 generations of Berkeley’s have influenced the character of the stately home that now contains the bedspread of Queen Elizabeth I and Sir Francis Drake’s cabin chest.

If you visit Bristol at the right time of the year you will see the spectacular that is the Balloon Festival. Bristolians love to see the hot air balloons and there are many beautiful balloons gathered for the fiesta from all over the world. The fiesta started in 1979 and now boasts around 150 balloons and half a million visitors. If you miss it, you can still get in on some of the action by taking a hot air balloon flight over the city between April and October, weather permitting. The fiesta will be held between 12th and 15th August this year.

Bristol is a fantastic city, the delights of which I have only touched on. The docks have been refurbished since the days of urban decay, the streets are packed with cutting-edge restaurants and designer bars, the museums are world class and the nightlife and artistic talent are up there with the best.

For places to stay in Bristol or a guide to Bristol restaurants and shops, you may be interested in the Activ Bristol website which is a good place to start your internet research if you need to know more about what the city has to offer.

Arabic Translation Services

Arabic Translation Services – No prices hidden – you find out immediately how much your translation project costs. Simply click our Online Quote and complete the details of your translation.

Arabic Translation Services are available for legal, medical, commercial and web designers. Translations from or to English and other languages, Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, English, Flemish, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Swedish. Translate English words, phrases, idioms, technical terms and specialized terminology into Arabic by using our translation site.

The most important choice when choosing a translation company is to know your document is correctly translated. To ensure that the Arabic translations we deliver to you are perfect, all our documents are proofread by a separate translator. All our translators are qualified with experience in the subject of your document.

Our Arabic translation team consists of native speakers, with each translator specializing in a different field, such as legal, financial, medical, and more.  At Arabic Translation Services, no matter what your Arabic translation needs, we will provide for them. We provide professional, high quality Arabic to English translations and English to Arabic translations.

Please visit our Online Quote page for an accurate Arabic translation quote or contact us today on +44 (0) 560 3148825.

Why get any Arabic translation when Arabic translation UK can deliver you the best.  We guarantee all our valued clients a perfect Arabic translation, delivered promptly and at a fair price. We provide Arabic to English as well as English to Arabic translation for the Global community. 

Arabic Translation Services provides a one-stop Arabic translation solution. You get top quality Arabic translation, a straightforward, easy process and real, competitive prices. For a reliable Arabic translation service you have come to the right place.

Our Arabic translation team works exclusively into their mother tongue. This guarantees you that for an English to Arabic translation only a native Arabic speaker will be used. Moreover, we assure all our clients accuracy, readability and localisation, whether we are translating, proofreading, website translation or DTP services.

Arabic Translation Services will tailor our Arabic translation requirements to different Arabic dialects where required.  Feel free to contact us for any kind of Arabic translation in any dialect of the Arabic language including Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Bahrain, UAE, Iraq, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Sudan, Morocco, and Egypt.

Arabic Translation Services offers a complete solution to all your Arabic translation needs.  We excel where a corporation’s image is at stake, where professional and culturally adapted Arabic translations are of crucial importance.  If you need Arabic translation, we have the right translator for you.  Our Arabic translation teams are professional linguists who have studied and achieved qualifications in translating from other languages into Arabic, for a wide range of documents in various industries.

Oak Sideboards are they right for you

Sideboards are an ideal solution for the most common problem that most households in UK face STORAGE SPACE, everyone needs storage, and storage that looks good is something that sideboard does best, by offering  a variety o storage, and are in keeping with the decor of the room, a sideboard if chosen correctly can not only add storage to a room, but drastically enhance the aesthetics of the room.

One of the most popular type of sideboards are OAK SIDEBOARDs, there are many reasons attributed to their popularity, from the ability of creating large storage space, without a big footprint, to fitting in just about any interior, without looking out of place. There are a few factors to consider before buying a sideboard. Especially as there is a huge range available in UK, which one is right for you?

Size

When searching for a side board, it is easy to get carried away, but a sideboard that is in keeping with the room, will look far better then an ill proportioned item of furniture. Oak Sideboards are solid and by design are made to fit in your home, adding warmth and aura of comfort and hence if they are too small or too big they will not look good and will give a cluttered look.

Purpose

Defining the purpose can be advantageous when choosing a sideboard, because it focus the attention to what space requirement should be as well as  the finish and ultimate quality of the sideboard.  Side boards are made for a number of purposes, from telephone tables, display ornaments and general storage.
Most sideboards have cupboard underneath, which is great for storing all clutter quickly. Oak sideboards look great in any situation from living rooms, hallways, kitchen and bedrooms.

Design

Having decided on the size and purpose of the sideboard you are can now start to think about the design. Generally speaking the oak sideboard come in three designs categories simple, contemporary and modern.  There is also a choice between light or dark wood.

Paying close attention to these parameters will ensure a quality addition to any house hold, we at oak sideboards pride our selves in comparing the market and finding the best deals in sideboards. Make sure you have your measurements, and we will make sure you get the best deals.

Oak Sideboard has ALL OAK Sidebboards in UK from £0-250 to £750+

Blog

Next Page »