Contest venue

I always knew I'd have my university to back me up so did not quite expect any problems with booking a meeting room for the competition, but you never know what you can face in the event management... So it happened to me. Although I had approached the university at least 2 months before the event it took me ages to connect with the right person. My point of contact was Ann Willis, Corporate Events Officer. Just at the time I expected to discuss final arrangements she was called for two weeks of jury service so facing a competition with no venue I really thought my PR career was over. Ann Willis did prove me wrong. She was in touch with me after her jury service hours and assured me that the room would be booked and my event terms would be met. Finally I met her on Thursday 6 May when she showed me the auditorium and we finalised the logistics.

Ann accepted my invitation to the event and I was looking forward to welcoming her on the day!

The venue for the cocktail reception

Here comes the most exciting part:) Bar selection! Well, I must admit I had considered quite a few places nearby . My key requirement was proximity to the Moorgate campus where the contest was going to take place. British pub "The Globe", Indian restaurant "Mehek", popular chain "Pizza Express", another traditional pub "O'Neills" and  The Wall bar which was about 6-7 minutes walk from the campus.

Most of the venues I had approached seemed willing to accept my limited budget terms but only waiter Pavel from The Wall Bar seemed to be taking me seriously as he kindly agreed to find a quiet function room at 7PM on a Thursday night to sit down and go through my event budget requirements and terms. Restaurant manager Katherine Atkins contacted me next morning to finalise the details. More over, she generously accepted my limited budget of £140 and gave me a 25% discount on my order which included 6 platters of nibbles (Mediterranean and veggie options), 4 bottles of white wine, 2 bottles of red wine, a bucket of beer and they also allowed me to bring in 5 of my own bottles of champagne. The hired area itself was much more than I expected - it was a lovely airy function room for at least 40 people with a private bar, bathrooms, terrace and projector facilities.

Liaising with Katherine and her team has been a pleasure from start to finish.