Nov 212014
 

Wedding reception video filmed at Savill Court Windsor in Surrey. Our videographer filmed with a Sony HVR Z7 camera.

Savill Court wedding

Wedding speeches at Savill Court

wedding video Windsor

Throwing the bouquet at Savill Court Windsor

wedding Savill Court

First dance at Savill Court

The wedding video Surrey in Shepperton

Aug 092014
 

Church Wedding Video Surrey, filmed at St Nicholas Church Shepperton, Surrey by Portobello Films using a Sony HVR Z7

Wedding video Surrey

 

St Nicholas Church wedding shepperton

Wedding at St Nicholas Church Shepperton

Church wedding Shepperton Portobello Films

Wedding St Nicholas Church Shepperton Portobello Films

wedding St Nicholas videography Portobello Films

St Nicholas Church wedding Shepperton Portobello Films

Feb 052011
 

Events in a corporate environment are often staged to communicate company strategy, change internal company behavior, launch a product or service, motivate, train or reward staff, or influence the external behavior of customers towards the brand.

In many instances, they bring company employees together, support wider marketing or sales initiatives, incentivize team achievements, or entertain senior leaders, get the most professionaal assistance from Trademark event production company.

What is corporate event planning?

Yet, corporate event planning goes beyond meeting planning. Although conferences and meetings may form the lion’s share of the workload, other events you may be asked to organize include corporate hospitality, client entertaining, conventions, exhibitions, and employees events—such as incentive travel reward programs, team building, motivational events, receptions, parties, and charity fundraising days.

Planning and executing a successful corporate event is no simple task. It’s typically a months-long process consisting of several stages and a variety of organizational steps.

To help you navigate the business of corporate event planning, here is everything you need to know:

  • Types of Corporate Events
  • Event budget
  • Event objective
  • Venue sourcing
  • Event marketing
  • Attendee engagement
  • Corporate event planning checklist

Types of corporate events

Cvent CONNECT Marketing

As outlined above, corporate events can range from company conferences and internal training seminars to team away-days and client hospitality. When planning for any type of corporate event therefore, it’s best to assess them in terms of their size.

Micro events (otherwise known as ‘simple events’) are planned for up to 100 delegates and often take the form of meetings or more intimate training sessions.

The planning requirements for these micro-events may simply involve a room booking, presentation facilities, break-out refreshments, and registration. However, referring to them as ‘simple events’ can be misleading, as an away-day or hospitality for 50 senior managers can be as complicated as planning a conference for 500 attendees.

Small events are classed as between 100 and 250 delegates. They could be seminars, training days or departmental conferences.

Planners may need to manage a main stage itinerary and several break-out sessions, along with lunch, refreshments, audio-visual facilities, online registration, and transport.

Midsize events rely more on technology. They could be company-wide conferences for up to 1,000 delegates or leadership summits for important client customers to meet with senior leaders.

A branded website, pre-event communications, and an event mobile app should all form part of the budgetary considerations. Delegates may require hotel accommodation, plus transport which takes attendees to and from the venue. While a pre- or post-event reception or evening entertainment may be required as part of a complex multi-stream conference itinerary.

Large-scale events often require enterprise technology tools to manage elements such as hotel room bookings, delegate flights, budgets, and online registration.

These may be multi-day events so you could need offsite activities, dinners, partner programs, an awards ceremony or other complex itinerary planning.

Staffing, catering, registration, speaker and delegate management will all need to be carefully planned at scale. Conventions, for example, can attract anything up to around 10,000 attendees and can last a few days.

Event budget

calculator and budget

The amount of available budget can impact every aspect of corporate event planning, from the choice of venue and speakers to the levels of catering, entertainment, technology, and staffing.

Decide if your budget has outgoings only, or will you be able to supplement it with income from exhibitors, sponsors or other forms of external revenue?

Has this event happened in the past? If so, use the previous budget to establish a baseline but ensure that inflation and evolving needs are taking into consideration.

Figures from past budgets are useful in providing a clearer picture of how much certain suppliers will charge. Use these to ensure you are not being over-charged when you reach out to suppliers for initial quotes.

Every event budget, however, needs built-in flexibility. Unanticipated expenditure is common and supplier costs are often provided as estimates, rather than fixed prices, so it’s vital that an overall budget is managed accordingly, and a contingency fund is in place.

Once you’ve sourced supplier costings, make a comprehensive list of all the budget line items in the event lifecycle, including venue hire, AV, food, and beverage, accommodation and travel, speaker fees, staffing costs, marketing and service fees.

For larger or more complex budget planning, look into corporate event management software suites, which include a dedicated event budget management tool. This will ensure accurate collection of your budgetary information, help you track expenses easily, generate budget reports, and demonstrate the ROI of your event.

Event objective

Setting Goals

‘What is the event’s objective?’ This should be the first question you ask when a corporate event is requested. By gaining a deep understanding of the deliverables that key stakeholders are hoping to achieve, it’ll allow you to plan more effectively and communicate your ideas in a language your bosses will understand.

Once you’ve understood whether the event’s aim is, for example, to build brand awareness, communicate business strategy, reward and motivate, or launch a new product or service, you can then set goals, put the right metrics in place to track results, and determine who the attendees will be, along with their expectations.

When you have well-defined goals and objectives for your event, planning, promoting, and sticking to your budget all become much easier.

Event objectives should be SMART

  • Specific: What is the desired outcome and when does it need to be achieved by?
  • Measurable: Return on Investment or Return on Objectives… or both?
  • Achievable: Ensure that the event objective is something that can actually be achieved otherwise senior leaders will consider it a failure.
  • Relevant: The overall objective needs to remain something that relates back to the company’s goals throughout the entire planning process.
  • Timebound: Plan for the event objective to have been achieved between two time periods. This may require subsequent training seminars or a follow-up event to assess the outcomes of the first.

Venue sourcing

Venue Search Frankfurt

The event’s objectives may also determine your choice of venue. If stakeholders are looking to leave a lasting impression on valued or prospective clients, for example, the venue will need to play its part and deliver a memorable wow factor.

Other factors that will influence your venue choice include budget, capacity, location, availability, and logistics. Having a clear understanding of these event requirements will allow you to shortlist a number of venues, send out requests for written proposals (RFPs) and arrange site visits.

Some venues offer seasonal pricing, so the hire cost may be lower during certain times of the year. Find out what the costs are for your venue of choice on your desired date. If your dates are flexible, you may be able to secure a better deal at your preferred venue.

If your event has a short-lead time, keep an eye out for last-minute venue offers as there are often great deals to be found. If you’re planning an event that’s a long way off, consider those venues undergoing refurbishment or not yet opened. They’ll be eager to secure your business and may be able to negotiate more favorably.

Three steps to venue sourcing

Step One: Find Venues

  • Know the meeting objectives and requirements. By determining these at the outset, you’ll decrease the search process.
  • Take into account feedback from attendees. Is this an annual event? If attendees ranked the venue from the previous year poorly, look at the feedback to pick a venue that will resonate better.
  • Don’t feel alone. Reach out to your team, or others that have a stake in the event to brainstorm what factors are most important.

Step Two: Write the perfect RFP

  • You already know general objectives and requirements – now define your purpose. Make it clear what this event requires and hopes to achieve.
  • Get detailed. Give as much information about the event as you can.
  • No one likes to discuss money, but you need to share your budget requirements. The venue is one of the largest costs of an event and can make or break your budget.
  • Make your deadlines clear. Give a date and time that provide venues enough time to respond.
  • Don’t start from scratch. Pull a template the internet.
  • Be ready to answer any questions venues may have about the proposal or event.

Step Three: Send and evaluate proposals

  • Using a venue sourcing tool, you can search and filter venues and send one RFP to multiple venues at once.
  • Assess proposals via the chosen venue sourcing tool or by manually importing data into a spreadsheet
  • Create a list of any factors that are less concrete – the qualitative factors.
  • Pay close attention to meeting rooms – do the sizes and layouts make sense for your event?
  • Compare how responsive and helpful the venues are to help figure out how helpful they’ll be if you choose them.
Feb 022011
 

We are nearly there with our new web site. My goodness it take ages though it should be up during next week. We will have a whole new range of wedding videos to show as well as a revamped design. So a really big thanks to all the our inhouse web designers. They have managed all kinds of technical wizardry with the intergration of our tweets and incorporating our Vimeo Pro channel.

Wedding Video and Wedding Videos Check out of last entry
Lanesborough Hotel wedding video

Oct 012010
 

We haven’t blogged for while as we were waiting for the season to end. Thing is, it hasn’t as we will be shooting wedding videos all during October and November. A first for us. Our wedding videographers have shot some great footage in some truly memorable locations which will be showcasing over the winter months. We will also be posting a blog on how to shoot your own wedding video from an inhouse wedding videographer.

May 312010
 

Another biggy in the questions department is HD.
(its all in the “i” and the “p”)

We hope that below explains (without getting too geeky or too long winded) what it is really and what you should watch out for.

HD referrers to a variety of differing resolutions all higher than SD.
HD has 2 main differences from SD – Resolution and frame rendering

A normal SD TV has one set resolution
Which is 720×576 lines or pixels shown at 25 frames per second. The frames are what is known as interlaced – meaning that 1 frame is actually made up of 2 frames lashed together in strips. All the even numbered horizontal lines mixed with odd numbered lines of the following frame. – Kind of like lacing your fingers together but not, as you would need only half the fingers on each hand.

You can watch a HD film on your computer as your screen’s resolution is high enough to cope with the increased information. Your ordinary TV cannot.

Sooner or later everyone will have a HD TV. However while HD TV and HD players should be able to show SD films (just). A film shot in SD can only be “up converted” to HD. Kind of like transferring your old VHS cassettes to DVD. It works but doesn’t look too great.
But films shot in HD can be “down converted” to be shown on an SD TV and looks absolutely stunning.

The two main (there really are way too many to mention) resolutions for HD are 1440×1080 and 1920×1080. We shoot the “documentary” and “television” packages in the former. For the “film” package and the “Diamond Lounge” we use the latter. All HD TVs and HD players can play these resolutions. Most HD movies are in 1440×1080 and most HD broadcast channels are in 1920×1080. So typically a decent new HD player will be playing at 1440×1080 and a decent HD TV can show a whole variety of HD formats including 1920×1080.

In conclusion

However, (other geekier settings) aside, the real nub of the matter is in how frames are rendered. You may often see an “i” in HD descriptions of wedding videography as in 1080i. This “i” is our old friend (and we mean old) interlaced frames. (half the fingers on each hand laced together).
The whole point of HD is that it mimics film. Film is not made of interlaced frames, but full individual frames. This is the main reason why it looks so nice as each frames is literal a still photo. In HD this is referred to as “p”. or progressive scan. Basically “i” is rubbish and “p” is great. While SD TV only plays “i” if your footage is shot in “i” you cannot change it to the far superior “p” later (when you get a lovely new HD TV). You have to “de-interlace” in edit which (and this is why “i” is so rubbish) literally makes up/invents the missing odd and even lines. Not good.

So regardless of all the flim flam that is spoken about HD and wedding videography. If you see an “i” remember that this old technology and “p” is the one of the main advantages HD has over SD.

May 052010
 

A quick update on
“At this time of year we have many people enquire as to best working practices for videographers or videography in general……… we are frequently asked to provide information or recommend another wedding videography or wedding video service”

The London based Wedding TV channel picked up on this resent post and interviewed our technical director to discuss further what to watch out for when selecting a wedding video or a wedding videographer.

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Mar 072010
 

What is SEO?

Search engine optimization is working with your website and online marketing to make sure you have the best results from search engine searches. Knowing what terms people type in when they search for a product/ service helps you decide what words to use on your website. If you offer any type services, a quick search for SEO Words will tell you that you shouldn’t use any random keyword’ as a primary keyword as most people search for the specific/ targeted word not random. If someone searches for something specific, you want to make sure your web site comes up in the results. If you want to be in world of business you need to have a professional reseller SEO services provider company which make your website on the SEO satisfied way.

What is SMO??

SMO (Social Media Optimization), helps in augmenting the fame and status of websites via medias like online communities. As one knows that in viral marketing, the popularity is increased through word of mouth. Similarly, websites gain recognition via social networking sites like Facebook, Orkut, and Twitter etc.

What are the strategies to get professional SEO Services?

There are some points which you have to remember while making a site for your business-

Content is king- I think this phrase is known by every service provider. Good, well-written and original website contents are preferred by search engine spiders. Try to add keywords to the website content and do regular content update, you will find the result turns better. You need to know that spiders can only “read” text rather than flash or images. Therefore, if you MUST use images or flash, try to include a transcription near them. When SEO service providers are selecting keywords for their customers, avoid those competitive ones. Most of the time designing your business website can take a lot of time, but website design columbia sc can make it for you and you’ll get great results. The valuable keywords will cost more effort to handle, while some long tail keywords are relatively easy to optimize.

Link building- does remember that only good and authoritative links can really help your work. Publishing poor qualities links is a waste of time and can actually cause harm to the site. Do not forget social marketing. Social marketing is becoming more and more important in search engine optimization strategy. SEO service providers can try to use social media to optimize their customers’ websites.

Use an XML site map-No matter the website is large or small, it needs a site map. A complete site map can help visitors find what they are looking for and inform search engines about all the useful information of the website. When offering SEO services, you should also measure the performance. You can go to Www.adbuz.com/seo-company-delhi/ and get advice on business marketing. You can use some tools to help you know how long your visitors stay in your site, where they find the website and some others.

What are the strategies for Social Media Optimization services?

There are some strategies which you can follow –

1. Make Sure To Present the Content in A Smart Way

The first impression is certainly the last impression and therefore it will be wise for you to post authentic content that has the capability to catch the attention of the online readers within few seconds.

2. Make Sure To Post Question and Answer Based Content

This is also one of the best possible ways to engage people with interactive content. You can run live chats on your website to gain opinions from your valuable readers. You can make use of TikTok for business that can boost your online popularity so your products can reach a larger clientele and therefore generate more profits to your business. You can also contact hypetik that is the leading tiktok agency that can help businesses use this platform to get their product famous online.

3. Improve the Speed of Web Page Loading

Most of online users do not have the patience to wait for a specific webpage to load. It will certainly be wise for you to check the speed of your website quite often. Make sure to get rid of the unnecessary plug-ins to make sure that the images and content of your website loads faster.

4. Make Sure To Use Latest Innovations in Technology

It will certainly be wise for you to use the latest innovations in technology in order to make your content more interactive. You must consider using animation and even 3D images in order to attract online users towards your website.

5. Make Sure To Put Call of Action

Lastly, it will certainly be wise for you to put a call of action at the bottom of your content. Ask your valuable online users to register for the services or get the product and feel the difference.

Feb 102010
 

Welcome to our new blog. Over the course of the year we will document how our clients films are produced, from the initial contact through to delivery of the final film. We hope this will give you an insight and hopefully some ideas when you consider filming your wedding.

We have just completed a NTSC transfer for an American client from Iowa City USA. Unable to attend his niece’s wedding here in London. Dennis decided to purchase one of our packages as a wedding gift. Because here in Europe we use a different system for television, called PAL. It meant that Dennis needed a company that operated pro edit systems to transfer the footage to his native NTSC format. Happily we were glad to oblige and in fact we can transfer our films to any format worldwide.

Towards the end of last season we introduced our new cameras. So now has come the time to take down our old and fondly remembered samples and highlight what those new cameras can do.

After much debate we have managed to select Kathrina and Alistair’s absoulutely lovely village wedding in Dorset, for our example of the “Documentary” package.

Shot in and around  Charmouth.

We selected Kathrina and Alistair’s  Church wedding film in the end as we felt it highlighted how at ease people felt around the camera. Something that we really feel is important is that the film should be about the people starring in it. We have a sort of motto at Portobello Films – invisible but approachable – and we think that Kathrina and Alistair’s film shows both in equal measure. We hope you enjoy it.

However we cannot bring ourselves to take all those films away so we have kept one of our favorites from 2007. We will be adding some more examples to show our other packages, just once we can decide which ones.