We asked Corporate Events Specialist Petta Naylor how she got her start in the event industry and why she loves her work. Petta is pictured 4th from the left with her team at the Prudential Ride London Event “I started out through the secretarial route helping my boss organise events. It soon became apparent that I was better at it than him, and so he gradually passed the reins over to me to undertake all the events. I was very fortunate to have such a good mentor and within a few years I was able to apply and successfully get a job as an events manager. I was lucky to have had the opportunity of organising a lot of high profile events for many years. It was through the confidence gained organising these events that I decided to go it alone, and set up my own business which has been operating for nearly 12 years now. I still love every day and the interaction with clients. The satisfaction when they are delighted with the event you have produced is priceless” Petta Naylor is the Director of Start2Finish Events and has worked on Events such as: The Young Ambassadors Conferences The Market Research Society's Conference The British Sports Awards The 10th International Short Break Conference Petta offers her time to develop talent within the events industry by leading on event management courses such as the: Certificate in Event Management, Summer School 2018 Certificate in Corporate Event Management, Sept 2018 #Facilitator

Train for a Career in Wedding Planning or Event Management London Summer Schools 2018 With many people and organisations finding themselves time-poor, Event Planners and Wedding Co-ordinators are finding their services increasingly in demand. And whether you hope to join an existing business or set up on your own, there is no better time to train for one of these rewarding careers. A career in Wedding Planning offers the opportunity to help make memorable moments for your wedding couple, their family and friends. Being part of this dynamic and passion filled industry is perfect for those with just the right balance of superb organisation, people skills and creativity. Choose Event Management for a career where no two days are the same. If you love to organise people and logistics, have good planning skills, excel at problem solving and love variety in your work, then a career in event management may be ideal for you. Learn More or Phone 0203 239 0950 Check Offers on Summer Schools #careersineventmanagement #careersinweddingplanning

We are delighted to have recently become a Member of the CPD Certification Service. What is The CPD Certification Service? "The CPD Certification Service was established in 1996 as the leading independent CPD accreditation institution operating across industry sectors to complement the Continuing Professional Development policies of professional institutes and academic bodies." What is CPD? "Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is the term used to describe the learning activities professionals engage in to develop and enhance their abilities. It enables learning to become conscious and proactive, rather than passive and reactive. CPD is the holistic commitment of professionals towards the enhancement of personal skills and proficiency throughout their careers." What is accredited CPD Training? "Accredited CPD training means the learning activity has reached the required Continuing Professional Development standards and benchmarks. The learning value has been scrutinised to ensure integrity and quality. The CPD Certification Service provides recognised independent CPD accreditation compatible with global CPD requirements." We look forward to sharing more news with you as our individual programmes become CPD accredited. #News #Certification

We are delighted to announce that Petta Naylor, Director of Start2Finish Events joins our The Event School London's Facilitation team. Petta has a wealth of experience and expertise in event planning and delivery. Petta currently runs Start2Finish event and conference consultancy as Operations Director with responsibility for overseeing, organising and managing all aspects of events and conferences. On a day to day basis, Petta has overall responsibility for various teams which implement all aspects of the client’s event and conference requirements. In an average year she is involved in organising road shows, awards dinners, ceremonies and conferences varying in size from 100 to 2000 for a range of clients. Petta has worked on event processes and protocols with the Offices of Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, the Princess Royal and Prince Edward, as well as athletes such as Steve Redgrave, Beth Tweddle, Kelly Holmes and Victoria Pendleton She has also worked with Lord Sebastian Coe on the Minet sponsorship review and was involved in the organisation of the five city bid to build what became the new Wembley Stadium. Other Career Highlights Include: Working on the Commonwealth Games Council of England (Team England) at the holding camp in Glen Waverley, Melbourne for the 2006 Commonwealth Games - providing support service for all athletes, coaches, medical staff and other personnel involved in supporting Team England before the teams transferred into the Games Village. Producing events for Sport England such as press conferences, corporate hospitality, and team building days and major national and international conferences including Council of Europe conferences and running two major annual conferences then known as the PDM Conference and the Sports Colleges Conference. Building a corporate client base to include organisations such as the National Housing Federation, the Market Research Society, the National Health Service and FIDI Global Alliance. Working for LOCOG as the Press Centre Workroom Supervisor; producing regional training workshops for the Young Ambassador programme #Facilitator #EventManagementSummerSchool #LondonSummerSchools2018 #PettaNaylor #TheEventSchoolLondon

While there is nothing wrong with a well-delivered online course, sometimes you just can't beat the learning you gain from the interactions in a face-to-face course. Especially if it includes site tours where you can see how the skills you are learning apply to live environments. Here are just a few benefits you'll receive on our face-to-face courses: Our training delivery methodologies offer a "student-centred" approach and we design courses that encourage active learning and interactions among wedding planning learners. Face-to-face training provides supportive interaction with Facilitators, class colleagues & industry contacts. Face-to-face learning provision offers the opportunity to receive information, motivation, timely feedback & coaching. Instructional activities provide the opportunity to collaborate with classmates by exchanging and building information together. Effective learning often comes through detailed discussions and debate regarding subject topics where you take in viewpoints you haven’t considered yet. Site tours & guest speakers provide additional opportunities to see how your newly learnt skills apply in the real world, & to collaborate, connect with & learn from a range of industry experts. Network while you learn, as face-to-face delivery offers real life human interaction with other people who share many of the same career and professional development goals. Course Facilitators implement learning strategies to keep your class involved and engaged, because it retains the group's attention and encourages better learning results. We know that every learner is different. Some are very independent and if they have a challenge to consider or address, they will prefer to solve it themselves. There are also many learners who prefer to be shown, or have something explained in a context they understand, or to communicate and collaborate with others. Our training offers participants the opportunity to communicate effectively with their Facilitator, class colleagues, guest speakers or industry contacts. Our courses are designed to offer adaptability - our delivery plans offer the option to be adapted to the learner’s needs, as Facilitators learn more about their participants’ learning and development goals and preferences throughout the course.​ #learningpedagogy #sitetours #Blog #learningstyle #facetofaceclasses #trainingstyle

ExCeL London is hosting the International Association of Convention Centres Annual Conference this July. And it's because of fantastic events like this one that The Event School London hosts our specialist event management courses on-site at ExCeL. Our event management course students are often surrounded not only by world leading events, but by industry leaders from the Event World. The environment at ExCeL offers our course delegates a full immersion experience into the event industry. For example, the International Association of Convention Centres Annual Conference brings together senior level professionals from the world’s leading international convention centres for educational, networking and strategic planning purposes. This year’s programme is themed ‘Strategies for a Changing World’ and includes four keynote speakers covering topics from the impacts of major policy and political shifts to the war for talent. And as proof of our host venues status in the competitive world of events, the conference provides an opportunity for delegates to experience first-hand, ExCeL’s approach to hosting world leading events. The conference will showcase the venue’s latest innovations in convention centre management, from a fresh approach to catering to continued investment in the guest experience, including ExCeL’s onsite Elizabeth line station, opening in December 2018. #ExCeLLondon #HostVenue #EventIndustryNews #TheEventSchoolLondon

This year's Wedding Planning Summer School courses will be led by one of the UK's leading wedding coordinators. Professional wedding planner Siobhàn Craven-Robins has been arranging stylish, elegant and beautiful weddings since 1995 when she established the first dedicated wedding planning business in the UK. Siobhàn is frequently invited to appear on national radio and television to advise on planning the perfect wedding. Siobhàn offers her students a unique insight into her life as a successful wedding coordinator and shares her valuable knowledge and experience freely with her classes. Summer School Wedding Planning Courses include: Certificate in Wedding Planning (Foundations) Starts 30 July, 5 days A career in Wedding Planning offers the opportunity to create memorable moments for your wedding couple and their family and friends. Being part of this dynamic, rewarding and passion filled industry is perfect for those with just the right balance of superb organisation, people skills, drive, determination and creativity. MasterClass Certificate in Advanced Wedding Planning Skills Starts 6 August, 3 days Are you ready to take your wedding planning skills to the next level? Looking to add additional services to your portfolio, like offering destination wedding services? Ready to start working with high-value clients, luxury venues and upmarket suppliers? Update your knowledge and ability to provide creative and unique weddings that result in memorable and unique experiences for your clients. MasterClass Certificate in Wedding Planning Business Acceleration Starts 9 August, 2 days This is a unique opportunity to learn how to power-charge your wedding planning business from one of the most successful wedding coordinators in the UK - Siobhan Craven-Robins. Siobhan's masterful networking, promotions and superb relationship management skills have taken her career to the pinnacle of the UK's wedding business. And in this wedding business focused MasterClass, Siobhan will share her methods for success with you. #weddingplanningcourses #Facilitator

With temperatures today in London up to 29 degrees, marathon event organisers are preparing competitors for what may be one of the hottest Marathon weekends in years. Event Organisers are providing important weather updates for runners who may not be used to racing in such high temperatures. For our readers who also organise sporting events that take place in warm climates (or the odd hot UK day!) it may be useful to take note of the warnings that Virgin Marathon event organisers are providing their participants including: Adapt your goal according to the conditions. In the conditions forecast for Sunday, you should slow your planned pace. If you were planning to run in fancy dress, please think carefully whether that is still appropriate in the conditions. Listen to your body. If you feel thirsty, drink water. If you feel overly tired, slow down. If you feel unwell in any way, visit one of the 39 first aid stations on the course. Check out the locations of the first aid stations Wear the appropriate clothing. This should ideally be lightweight moisture management clothing designed for use in warmer conditions (but remember that new clothing can chafe if it hasn’t been worn and washed). Drink according to your thirst. There is water or sports drink available every mile from Mile 3 to Mile 25 on the course. Be careful not to overdrink – drinking too much water can be dangerous and lead to hyponatremia (water intoxication) One bottle only at each water station. Please do not take more than one water bottle or compostable cup at any water station. There is plenty of water for everyone if you only take one. Drink, Douse, Drain, Drop. When you take water, Drink if you feel thirsty. Douse your head and the back of your neck with the remaining water. If you don’t need all the water, check if your fellow runners would like it to douse themselves. Drain your bottle by squeezing out any unused water. Drop the bottle carefully on the ground for our recycling teams to collect. Use the showers. There are six shower stations on the course which are based at Miles 9, 13, 17, 20, 22 and 23 – remember to run through these if you need to cool down. Remember that as your running clothing becomes wetter, you may experience chafing. Consider taping sensitive areas such as nipples and using petroleum jelly to help prevent chafing. Sunscreen. You may be out in the sun for several hours so remember to apply a good quality sunscreen to all exposed areas before you leave home. And with the runners prepared and the organisers all set for the greatest race of the year, all that's left is to say... Good luck everyone! #sportsevents #LondonMarathon #preparingathletes #sportseventnews #sportsmanagement

Bringing a wealth of international venue and events management experience with him, James Mark, International Venue and Events Consultant, joins the London Summer Schools' Lead Facilitator team. The Event School London's Director, Maria O’Dea announced “We could not be happier than to have James on board to share his knowledge and skills with our summer school participants. I am lucky to have worked with James in the past and not only does he offer fantastic events, venue and sports management expertise, he is a delight to work with and our students will love him!” James Mark, International Venue and Events Consultant Ms O’Dea went on to say, “James is a positive and motivational role model for both new talent into the world of events, venues or sports, and to professionals wanting to achieve managerial, director and executive roles. The advice and guidance that James can offer his course participants is the best you'll find in the industry." The bio below captures just some of Jame's experience and expertise: “James offers over 25 years’ venue and event management experience gained from working with many of London’s flagship venues including the London Olympic Stadium, ExCeL London, Earl’s Court Olympia Group & the Barbican Centre. James has overseen venue event management teams’ delivery of high-volume, high-profile, international events such as World Travel Market, London Boat Show, London Motor Show, London Triathlon Show, UK Wedding Show, Defence and Security Equipment International, Hotelympia, International Food and Drink Exhibition, Fashion Week, Salon International and Skills London. He is now applying this extensive knowledge and experience towards advising both private and public organisations in international venue and event development projects. For example, British Athletics engaged James to lead the venue planning and delivery of the largest global sporting event of 2017, the IAAF World Championships in Athletics which took place at the London Stadium and throughout the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. In a previous role as Executive Director of ExCeL London, James was responsible for developing and delivering the ancillary services strategy for the venue, creating a new and transformational Food Vision and overseeing the £15m redevelopment of the venue’s F&B facilities. James was also ExCeL’s Commercial and Operational lead for their participation in the 2012 London Olympic Games.​ Recently, James undertook a Venue Consultancy role with the successful 2017 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. James is currently working with the UK Government, Department of International Trade, as their Independent Technical Advisor on the delivery of the Government to Government agreement with Peru, which sets out to provide expertise and support to the organising committee of the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima. In addition, James is working with the Therme Group to develop a UK strategy, which would see the launch of a UK division with potential for 3 – 5 Therme facilities and an investment value of c.£750m. Below is a summary of James’ key professional roles: Independent Technical Advisor to UK Government, Lima 2019 UK Strategy Advisor to Therme Group Venue General Manager, IAAF World Athletics Championships, London 2017 Executive Director, ExCeL London Services & Olympics Director, ExCeL London Group Head of Event Management, ExCeL London Senior Event Manager, Earls Court Olympia Conference Event Coordinator, Barbican Centre Co-Founder and Assistant Director, Leicester Comedy Festival "James made the class extremely interactive" "Loved the specialist speakers" "Had the time of my life" "Wonderful venue tours" "Very extensive detail" "A fantastic facilitator" "Had first-hand experience" Event Management Class Participants, Nov 2017 James with his Events Management class during a tour of ExCeL London On his recent programme with The Event School London, James took his students on site tours to some of London's most iconic venues. #Blog #JamesMark #Facilitator #EventManagementSummerSchool #SportsManagementSummerSchool

The Event School London Director, Maria O’Dea confirmed today that London’s premier wedding planner, Siobhan Craven-Robbins would take on a role as a lead facilitator on their London Summer Schools 2018. Ms O’Dea said “We are absolutely delighted that Siobhan will be offering her significant experience to share a wealth of event planning knowledge with our summer school participants this July and August” Siobhan Craven-Robins Ms O’Dea went on to say, “ Siobhan has always supported the development of new talent into the event industry and the students are sure to love her Foundation Courses and MasterClasses with her focus on creativity and design in weddings and events.” The bio below captures just some of Siobhan’s experience and expertise: “Back in 1995, Siobhan recognised a gap in the market for designated co-ordinators to help couples through the wedding planning process saving them time, money and disappointment. Siobhan is acknowledged in the industry as the UK’s first Wedding Planner. Siobhan is now established as one of the UK’s leading wedding co-ordinators. Her beautiful weddings have featured in Hello, OK! and many bridal magazines in various countries around the world. Her famous clients include Joan Collins, Barbara Windsor, Greg Kinnear, Sacha Mascolo-Tarbuck, Des O’Connor and Ronni Ancona. She was GMTV’s resident wedding expert and featured on the show for the Interactive wedding (2002-2006) where she designed various aspects of a wedding for the viewers to vote on. Siobhan writes for various wedding magazines and is frequently requested as a speaker at business seminars and wedding shows. She is also frequently hired as a consultant for wedding related TV and radio shows, new venues and other suppliers within the wedding industry. In 2005 she launched her DVD, ‘From This Day Forward’, a guide to planning the perfect wedding. In 2013, with two of her industry colleagues, she founded National Association of Wedding Professionals; an association promoting professionalism and integrity within the UK Wedding Industry. The association has gone from strength to strength, boasting a high calibre membership and starting to be regarded as a benchmark for professionalism within the UK industry. Recently Siobhan was invited to offer her expert views on Pippa Middleton's wedding in a BBC News interview. This year, Siobhan has featured on Radio 5live's Drivetime show discussing a wedding related news topic and Siobhan was interviewed for her wedding planning expertise for Rocks and Frocks. Siobhan now spends some of her time guest lecturing to Event Course/Degree students at various colleges and universities in London. Siobhan is renowned for her imaginative flair; no two weddings are ever the same. Her goal is to achieve a wedding that is truly representative of the couple involved. A wedding that is individual to them - and one that guests enjoy and appreciate.” "Siobhàn's classes personally were fantastic, her passion for her line of work really reflected in all her teachings. Delivery of the programme was wonderful" Brianna, Class of Nov 2017 Siobhan with her Australian Events Study Tour group after a tour of the wedding event spaces at The Ritz London Learn more about Siobhan’s work at: Siobhan Craven-Robins Just a few of Siobhan's beautiful weddings #SiobhanCravenRobins #Blog #weddingplanningcourses #Facilitator

Our London Summer School's venue this year is CentrEd at ExCeL London. We love being on-site at ExCeL any time of year but Summer is our favourite time of all! London is one of Europe's premier venues, a Centre for Industry and one of London's most popular visitor destinations and ExCeL's events attract a range of industries. From product launches to science conventions, medical conferences to culinary expos, wedding shows to sports competitions, concerts to studio productions, ExCeL hosts a range of events that attract Industry from across the UK and internationally. And with excellent transport links, on-site hotels to meet any budget, fabulous cafes and restaurants and a stunning dock-side location, it makes the ideal location for our London Summer School programmes. Learn more about where our summer schools are based at ExCeL London by clicking on the links below: Take an interactive tour of ExCeL London What's On at ExCeL London Getting to ExCeL London #ExCeLLondon #LondonSummerSchools2018 #HostVenue

Where you study can make a big impact on your learning experience. So for our London Summer Schools 2018 programme we have chosen a venue designed to meet the needs of our learners. CentrEd is London's state-of-the-art meeting and training venue, located on-site at ExCeL London. ExCeL is one of Europe's premier venues and has become a centre of industry for London. At CentrEd you’ll find the creative and comfortable learning atmosphere you would expect when studying in a sophisticated, global city like London. CentrEd is a bespoke training and meeting centre, designed to support interactive, contemporary learning practice. The state-of-the-art facilities at CentrEd reflect our own commitment to quality and innovation, and make studying with us a rewarding summer experience CentrEd knows that developing your future involves a comfortable and stimulating environment just as much as it requires the latest tools and technology. Being at the heart of what’s new and fresh, CentrEd at ExCeL combines all the vital ingredients, and a bit extra, to deliver a complete learning experience for our Summer School participants to question, explore and learn. Take an interactive tour of CentrEd #Blog #CentrEd #ExCeLLondon #HostVenue