5 of the best venues – art and culture

When you’re holding an event, the venue that you choose clearly speaks volumes about your brand or product.  That’s why we have a venue-finding team dedicated to seeking out the best and most appropriate venues for each and every Line Up event.

Our ‘5 of the best venues’ series will bring you up to the minute information on venues of every shape, size and genre.

This week, with the exciting and much-awaited opening of the New Saatchi Gallery just round the corner, we’re looking at venues that deliver art and culture in spades………

The Saatchi Gallery

Synonymous with Britain’s contemporary art scene, the Saatchi Gallery (www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk) re-opens at the old Duke of York’s HQ on London’s Kings Road this summer. It will, we feel, be one of London’s hippest spaces.

Tate Modern

   

One of London’s most prestigious venues (www.tate.org.uk/modern) in its dominant position on the Southbank. The Members Room and East Room offer unrivalled views over London and the infamous Turbine Hall could be yours for one evening a year if you become a corporate member.

Dali Universe

The three white spaces within County Hall (www.countyhallgallery.com/exhibitions/dali.htm) provide a perfect blank canvas. We hosted some future-thinking sessions for our client Inchcape there as part of a 2-day management event – combined with a trip on the London Eye, it’s the perfect escape for some blue-skies thinking.

The Serpentine Gallery

Based in Kensington Gardens (www.serpentinegallery.org), this stylish gallery is perfect for cocktail receptions, or other evening events, particularly in the summer when the external spaces come into their own and offer something incredibly special in the heart of London.

Delfina

Housed in a renovated factory in the Bankside area of London, Delfina (www.thedelfina.co.uk) houses 30 artists’ studios alongside the Delfina Studio Café and an Exhibition Gallery, both of which are available for private hire.

The Blogger’s Guide, Florida, May 2008

- What is the purpose of your visit……
- How long are you staying…..
- What is your occupation…….
- Place your right index on the scanner…..
- Place your left index on the scanner…..
- Look into the camera…..

The United States of America is, perhaps, not as welcoming as it once was; or so I told myself at the start of my first ever jaunt to the land of the free last month. I considered it important to keep an open mind as my US career dawned; a country not known for its minimalist approach would surely play host to some incredible events and there is an enthusiasm for a good bash that runs right to the top, as recent evidence suggests.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=EvxKZRf8k2k&feature=related

So, to work; Fort Lauderdale, holiday destination of many an American, growing in popularity with visitors from further afield and still teeming with droves of tourists at the tail end of Spring Break. Lying on the same latitude as Northern Africa, India and Southern China, the Sunshine State enjoys a tropical climate, joyously nestled in between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. The weather is consistently glorious, the natural landscape stunning, the beaches long and golden. Once again, I was here to work in a large, windowless room. I did at least have the above view to admire on rising from a jet-lagged stupor in the mornings.

The amenities outside the aforementioned windowless room also brightened the experience. The level of service provided by the hotel staff was quite impeccable: the general manager personally attended a client tour (all too rare in many UK venues), the event manager effusively courteous, staff encountered in the bars and restaurants gushing with the attitude of ‘nothing is too much trouble’. Of course, it is to be expected in a venue of this calibre. In the restaurant for an evening meal, I encountered a new idiosyncrasy of high-end service: the colour-coordinated approach to napkin/attire combinations. In other words, they removed my white napkin and substituted it with a black replacement, so that any stray lint would not offend the delicate eyes of any passing well-bred lady by starkly contrasting with my dark trousers.

This trip was just a site visit, I’ll be back again for the event soon and reporting back on my experiences second time round. I’m already preparing my answers for the immigration official.

- …….To determine if there is anything weirder than matching tableware with clothing!
- …….As long as it takes.
- …….For the purposes of this mission, I’m some sort of etiquette enthusiast.
- …….Right
-……. Left