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People organise events for a variety of reasons: training, networking and bringing people together, to name but a few, and the number of organisers doing so for these grounds has increased in recent years. Choosing the right venue and location are stressful enough, but on top of those concerns there are the challenges of running the right activities and engaging the guests once they come through the doors. 

A soul-destroying event could spell disaster for your brand and company, but have no fear. Below are six simple ways you can supercharge your event and keep the attendees clamouring for more: 

1. Call In Some Content Producers

Content is huge now, so you need to hire some professional content creators to help with the content marketing of your event. This is a superb way to start telling the story of your event, get potential attendees familiar with your brand and, generally, get them enthusiastic for the event. The content contributes to the overall experience of the event. Of course, you’re creating expectations by doing this, too, so you must be sure to deliver the goods on the day.

2. Encourage Social Media Use

Social media is another part of the event experience and is a way to generate excitement before the event, during it and after it. An event hashtag is a given, to help promote the event, and that can get the ball rolling, but if you’re the organiser you should keep the momentum going by encouraging discussion on social media. Ask engaging questions or introduce interesting topics, related to the themes of the conference event itself.

3. Keep Things Simple

Now, your audience won’t be idiots, but you should observe a simple formula to keep them from dozing in their seats. The content should be valuable to them in some way or have a wow factor that makes them sit up and take notice. It should solve a problem, provide an answer to a question or respond to a theory or need. The content should also generate some form of emotion and be something that they want to later share with others at the event and away from it. Professional content producers can help with all of this.

4. Train Speakers in Engagement Techniques

Public speaking is a skill and it takes no small amount of guts for speakers to get up there and deliver their speech or presentation. No one likes to give a tranquilising speech or stare into the eyes of attendees who are visibly bored and have grown irritable, maybe a touch hungry, too, or both.

None of that has to happen, though, if you train speakers in engagement techniques. This gets the audience more involved. The speaker can ask them questions. They can have breakout sessions. They can run activities or workshops that lend themselves to interaction. Boredom shouldn’t be an issue.

5. Use audience engagement handsets

Audience engagement system handsets are useful for a simple reason: they include everyone. A lot of events use websites or apps and present polls in which the attendees can take part, but sometimes internet bandwidth issues can disrupt engagement measures like this. A handset offers more reliability and, to a certain extent, equalises attendees because no one has to be tech savvy to use them. Older members may struggle if they were to have to use their mobile phones to participate and would welcome the handsets if this is the case.

6. Harness the power of analytics

How do you know if a conference is going well? A real time analytics tool can help you gauge it. Implement one of these tools and you can track how attendees are responding to your social media content. You can also have a look at any online feedback forms guests have submitted during the event. This data supplies you with valuable insight which you can use to make changes to the event as it happens or keep in mind when you hold your next event. No longer do you have to hit and hope or look on helpless as an event goes downhill.

A note on presenting at a conference event

If you happen to be one of the brave souls presenting at an event, consider hiring an expert to help you with your presentation visuals. Bullet points do add structure, fair enough, but they can be a bit boring as well, to say the least. 

Meanwhile, there are presentation specialists out there who can design your presentation visuals for you. Shoddy visuals can damage your presentation and your credibility. You want to look like a professional, but poor visuals will let you down. Hiring a PowerPoint pro to give your presentation the TLC it needs to shine and keep your reputation intact.  

Whether you’re running an event to train people, get people networking or just bring people together, you can minimise the stress of the endeavour by implementing the tips above. They’ll help you and your speakers to keep the attendees engaged, making it an enjoyable event for them and a successful one for you.

For more details on how to make your next event truly engaging, be sure to check out https://responsecrowd.com

Don’t miss out on a very special Narnia-inspired Christmas experience – The Most Magical Library of the Best Stories Ever – which will take place 22-24 Nov at C.S. Lewis Square, east Belfast, as part of this year’s C.S. Lewis Festival, 22 – 26 Nov.

Join The Literary Fairy, her friend Finn Faun, and the Very Interesting Creatures to sort out the terrible mess created by the evil Snow Queen and foil her rotten plan to ruin Christmas! This brand new C.S. Lewis-inspired Christmas experience will take place in a specially designed magical space in C.S. Lewis Square, where children and families will go on a fun and imaginative journey, encountering some fantastical characters before finally meeting Santa himself once their quest is complete. For further information on tickets, booking and the festival  visit www.eastsidearts.net

Maeve Curley from Lavey (and a member of Termoneeny Running Club) is busy training for next year’s London Marathon.

She is determined to raise as much as she can for Children’s Liver Disease Foundation (CLDF) the charity which has been close to her heart ever since her six year old son, Ted, was given a life-saving liver transplant when he was just 22 months. Now Maeve has come up with a novel idea to keep her on track with her training and boost her fundraising – it’s the Tedathon!

“I want people to pledge to walk, run or cycle for 5K or 30 minutes each day during December,” says Maeve. “It’s only £10 to join in so it’s a simple way both to raise money for a fantastic cause and to improve health and fitness during a month of over-indulgence. I’m lucky to have got a London Marathon place but I appreciate not everyone can do that. However, anyone can join in the Tedathon I’ve got friends and family both here and overseas who have signed up.  With a choice of a Tedathon medal (that doubles up as a Christmas tree bauble), or a pair of glow in the dark laces (as well as a ‘fit’ December) upon completion, I would love if as many people as possible could get on board and get Tedathon done!”

“To have a child suffer liver failure and go through transplant at such a young age is truly traumatic but Children’s Liver Disease Foundation have been there for us with information and emotional support all along. We want every family in our situation to have that kind of support and this is my way of giving something back.” 

“I would not have been able to launch Tedathon without the support of Declan and Emma Leung at Virtual Run NI.  They have provided guidance and ideas, and are designing the most amazing medals,” said Maeve.  Declan said, “At Virtual Run NI, we want to encourage people to get fit and active, we want to motivate and encourage runners (and in this case walkers, cyclists and swimmers too!) of all abilities and ages.  We always reward all finishers with the most fantastic medals and we are really excited about our Tedathon medal!”

Jacqueline Mc Gonigle, Chair of Termoneeny Running Club said, “We are proud to support Tedathon, and would encourage all runners, walkers, swimmers and cyclists to sign up for this very worthy challenge.  Termoneeny Running Club is only too happy to promote this fundraiser, and have enjoyed coming up with lots of ideas to support Maeve and Tedathon.  We wish Maeve all the best with her London marathon training.” 

Alison Taylor, Chief Executive of Children’s Liver Disease Foundation commented: “CLDF is the only UK charity dedicated to fighting all childhood liver diseases, by providing information and emotional support, funds for research and a voice for all those affected. In order to do this however, we rely on voluntary donations, so we are delighted to hear about the Tedathon. What a fantastic and fun way to get people involved in raising awareness.” 

Click HERE to sign up to #tedathon19 and good luck!

You can join in the conversation on Facebook and Twitter and use the hashtag #tedathon19

For more information on CLDF visit childliverdisease.org.

By Patience Bradley, author of The HouseWork WorkOut

Many people struggle to find time to exercise.  Sometimes just finding a little bit of time in our hectic schedule is virtually impossible.  So don’t try! At the end of the day cleaning and tidying your house is something you simply have to do, modifying your household chores shouldn’t be that hard.

By turning your household chores into a workout you can increase your heart rate and work your major muscle groups.  From hoovering, mopping and dusting to gardening and even cleaning the kitchen, there’s hundreds of exercises you can do at home.

When doing your HouseWork WorkOuts it’s a good idea to do these in 30 minutes slots.  You could even create a 30 minute playlist to work out to. Don’t forget that having up-beat and fast music on will help to keep you motivated, studies show that working out to fast music will increase your pace (which in turn increases your heart rate and therefore see you burning more calories), and the music typically makes you work out for longer.

1. Vacuum Your Entire House

Vacuuming can be a great exercise for your core and abs if you keep those muscles tense while cleaning. It burns around 190 calories per hour, but if you want to take this exercise further and burn more calories, do lunge motions while taking steps to work right in to those glutes.

2. Sweep Or Mop Your Floors

Prepare your floors by clearing the surfaces so you can clean as many as possible in quick succession. Where you can, squat rather than bending over to lift items and get to those hard-to-reach areas. Mopping burns around 195 calories per hour, but don’t forget to switch between your right and left arms to ensure an even work out. Use a good amount of elbow grease when you’re on your hands and knees scrubbing to work out your arms and shoulders, and remember to hold that tummy in while doing so to work out those abs.

3. Run Up And Down The Stairs

When you are tidying-up, and bringing items up or down the stairs, opt to repeat the action more often than you actually need to. For example, when bringing items upstairs, run up and down the stairs three times, as opposed to the one time that you need to. Walking up and down stairs at a brisk pace burns around 500 calories per hour. To turn this in to a toning exercise, go up two stairs at a time, but at a slower pace, so that it becomes a controlled strength exercise as opposed to a cardio one.

4. Do Calf Raises As You Wash Dishes

Start with your legs hip-width apart, before lifting up on to your toes. Hold this position for three to 10 seconds, before slowly coming down to stand on your whole feet again. Repeat this exercise 10 times per set, for three sets, with one minute rest in between sets.

5. Clean All Of Your Windows (Inside & Out)

Use both your left and right hands and arms to ensure an equal work out, and clean in a circular motion. Reach as high as you can to work your abs and oblique muscles (your waist). Cleaning windows burns around 180 calories per hour. The same applies to cleaning surfaces, mirrors, and dusting.

6. Weed Your Garden & Trim Plants

If weeding on your hands and knees, ensure you use proper cushioning, and engage your abs by keeping them tense throughout the work out. If you are doing short duration weeding in bursts, try squatting instead, and don’t forget to squat when gathering up the waste to put it in garden bags. Gardening in this way burns approximately 289 calories per hour.

7. Wash Your Car By Hand

Many of us enjoy the convenience of taking our cars to automatic or manual car wash services, but if you want to take advantage of nice weather, and get a work out in at the same time, wash your car by hand instead. A full car clean includes wetting, cleaning, rinsing, drying, and polishing, which are all fantastic actions for your arms and abs, as well as squatting to reach the lower areas of the vehicle, or to wet your chamois or sponge in soapy water. If you want to maximise this work out, clean the inside of your car, including the windows and hoovering the carpets and seats. Cleaning your car by hand burns around 230 calories per hour.

8. Make-The-Bed Triceps Dips

Depending on your skill level, changing bed sheets can feel like a work out on its own, especially if it’s a double. Maximise the benefits of doing this chore by fitting in some arm toning exercises at the same time. Sit on the edge of the bed with your hands placed palms down next to your hips, fingers facing forward. Scoot off the bed until you are only supported by your arms and feet. The further your feet are from the bed, the harder this exercise is. Lower down slowly, keeping your elbows tucked in to your sides, and use your arms to push yourself back up. Repeat 10 times in one set, for three sets, with  one minute rest in between sets.

9. Toilet Split Squats

When cleaning the toilet and the bathroom, use the toilet (with the seat down) to perform Bulgarian Split Squats. Place one foot on the toilet and your front foot far enough out in front of you so that you can lunge down without your knee going over your toes. Slowly lower your body down and use your extended leg to push yourself back up. Your instinct will be to lean forward over your extended leg – don’t – keep your upper body as straight as you can. This is a fantastic work out for your whole leg as well as your glutes! Don’t forget to repeat on both legs.

10. Lazy Bicep Curls

If you are carrying bags of groceries in to the house, or bags of rubbish out to the bin, use the opportunity to fit in a few bicep curls. Get a good grip on the bag palm facing up and make a fist, keep your elbows at your sides, and lift the bags so your hands reach your chest. This move can even be done with tins of beans, one litre bottles of juice, or anything else that makes a suitable weight, while you’re sitting watching TV!

11. No Time To ‘Waist’

If you are waiting for the kettle to boil, pasta to cook, or the microwave to ding, squeeze in a few squats, lunges, or push-ups off a wall or kitchen counter. If you make a dinner every evening, and a couple of cups of tea a day, the short-duration exercises will soon build up over a week, and after all, every little helps
The HouseWork WorkOut by Patience Bradley is out now and available from Amazon or www.excaliburpress.co.uk/book-shop

Foodies from across the borough and beyond will be delighted to learn that a new guided food tour, Taste of Comber, will take place on Thursday 31 October.

Taste of Comber, hosted by Ards and North Down Borough Council, is the third in a series of tasting tours this autumn, taking in some of the finest dining establishments in historic Comber. This foodie experience celebrates the abundance of flavours autumn has to offer with a distinctly local twist. 

The tour begins with a starter of local seafood at the award-winning Indie FÜde – experts at sourcing the finest artisan Irish produce. Next you will move on to enjoy a main course with wine at the luxury Georgian House followed by a delicious seasonal dessert at the multi-award-winning Sugarcane Bistro.  The tour ends at McBrides on the Square, where guests will enjoy the finest local artisan cheese paired with a tasting flight of local beers.

It’s a truly mouth-watering prospect and as the dark nights start to close in, treating yourself to an exquisite guided food tour in the historic town of Comber where you can hear about the culinary heritage and enjoy delicious food, never seemed like a better idea!

Pre booking is essential. Tickets cost £47 and are available from www.ticketsource.co.uk/ardsandnorthdown.

For more information, including a full menu, go to visitardsandnorthdown.com.

Organisations of all sizes, and across all sectors, possess a powerful asset that can help them to gain competitive advantage, offer unique insights into their organisational performance, and enable them to ‘level up’ by making smarter and more informed decisions.

Although all organisations have access to this asset, many are not able to fully exploit it and leverage the opportunities that can flow from it.

According to Geoff McGimpsey, Marketing Communications Manager at Belfast-based data analytics specialists, Analytics Engines: “Every organisation produces and holds data. This can include transactional information, logistics records, staff timesheets, machine performance, product warranties, and more. When this data is appropriately captured, transitioned into a digital format, and analysed correctly, the organisation gains tremendous insights into its operations, its customers, and its external environment.”

Data can be a powerful and persuasive tool that can help decision-makers in organisations, as well as informing business strategy and reducing risk. Geoff provides the perfect example of the power of data – a data solution called ‘Precision for Pharmacy’ which is currently deployed for the Western Health and Social Care Trust at Altnagelvin Hospital.

Geoff explained: “We helped the clinical pharmacy team move away from paper-based record systems by co-designing a digital solution that enabled greater transparency and improved reporting methodology. The bottom-line was that the teams felt more empowered and they collaborated more effectively. Managers were also able to evidence the impact of the work they carried out.”

The Challenges of Digital Transformation

Organisational change is inherently difficult to accomplish. However, it remains the only constant in today’s dynamic business environment, and the powerful results of a well-developed and strategic change management plan should not be underestimated. 

Analytics Engines has a wealth of hands-on experience in helping organisations develop their digital roadmap. He said: “I’ve found that quite often the biggest challenge businesses face when starting their data journey is properly understanding and correctly mapping out the problem they are seeking to solve. Organisations are aware that they have data, and they understand that it can help but they don’t always understand how. We work closely with businesses to help them understand their problem and to deliver a solution that properly meets their needs.”

For many businesses, there are some hurdles to overcome when implementing a digital transformation strategy, such as getting access to the right data at the right volume, managing it effectively, and getting buy-in from different functions across the organisation.

“Working with an expert partner such as Analytics Engines helps to demystify the process for organisations and gives them the confidence that their digital transformation roadmap is one that will be effective, with useful and positive outcomes that can have a significant impact on the organisation,” he said. 

“We collaborate with a wide range of businesses and offer advice on a variety of areas, such as how to best source and present the raw data, how to cleanse it, and how to draw down those all-important insights.” 

Increased Potential from Digital Transformation Opportunities

Digital transformation presents exciting opportunities for a range of business functions in organisations of every size and sector.

“Some organisations may feel that digital transformation is for more technically matured businesses only, or that it is only suitable to certain industries and sectors,” said Geoff, adding: “Digital transformation is so much more than an online presence. We guide and assist organisations to realise the value of their data assets and to identify where they could be missing out on real business opportunities.”

Often, it is in an organisation’s best interest to be receptive to new data and information.

“Many can combine their owned data with open datasets which can be incredibly enlightening and identify key trends and indicators that the organisation would otherwise have missed,” said Geoff.

With experts in data science, graph and text analytics, location analytics, data visualisation, artificial intelligence, advanced record linkage, legacy system integration, and custom business processes, Analytics Engines have helped organisations – from very varied backgrounds – to embed digital transformation with great success. 

“We recently worked with The National Gallery in London as part of their digital transformation process. We pulled in a range of datasets to create a ‘single source of truth’ reporting methodology,” said Geoff. “The custom dashboard was rapidly adopted across the organisation, putting everyone in every department on the same page in terms of their reporting methods and their understanding of how visitors interacted with their exhibitions. We put the user at the centre of the solution – reducing system complexity and ensuring they could draw the greatest possible insights from their data to optimise organisational performance.”

Experienced in working with healthcare organisations, local and regional government bodies, biomedical science centres, the entertainment and media industries, the hospitality and tourism sector, and education and higher education establishments, there are few industries Analytics Engines have not worked with.

“We have the agility to design business intelligence solutions that provide our partners and clients with comprehensive insight that is capable of enabling change and quickly providing a return on their investment,” said Geoff.

Analytics Engines is also organising a major conference – Big Data Belfast – featuring business use cases and data analytics thought leaders drawn from local domain experts and multi-national organisations. The event takes place at the ICC Belfast on Thursday October 24 2019, and is sponsored this year by EY, as well as Dell, CME Group, Allstate Northern Ireland, SmashFly, SpotX, Altra Executives, Invest Northern Ireland and Signifyd. Find out more about Big Data Belfast and register to attend the conference by going to: https://www.bigdatabelfast.com

To find out more about Analytics Engines and how they can help your business, log on to: https://analyticsengines.com.

Join us this Halloween at The Market Place Theatre in Armagh, if you dare, for the mother of all horror movies.

Phoenix office worker Marion Crane, seeking a new life, leaves town with $40,000 stolen from her employer, and heads towards her lover Sam’s store. Travelling on the back roads to avoid the police, she stops for the night at the ramshackle Bates Motel and meets the polite but highly-strung proprietor Norman Bates, a young man with an interest in taxidermy and a difficult relationship with his mother. Psycho is now considered one of Hitchcock’s best films and praised as a major work of cinematic art by international film critics and scholars. Tickets are priced £9 which includes a Green Lady cocktail.

Celtic Soul, the definitive tribute to Van Morrison, comes to The Market Place on Saturday 2 November, with a memorable journey through the songbook of our very own musical legend! Receiving critical acclaim from devout Vanatics wherever they perform, they have continued their success with shows across Ireland.

With years of playing in blues, folk, trad and jazz bands, the seven-piece band have the ingredients to deliver Van’s music authentically. They are Clarke Wilson on vocals and saxophone, Ray McEvoy (electric guitar), Marcus McAuley (acoustic guitar), Rik Gay (drums), Keith Ward (piano and keyboards), Gerry McClurg (trumpet) and Mark Crockard (electric and double bass). Expect to hear songs from right across Van’s musical history including the big hits as well as stand out album tracks.

Tickets are available from the Theatre Box Office on [028] 3752 1821, or online at www.visitarmagh.com/marketplacetheatre. To keep up-to-date with the latest news at the Market Place Theatre, you can follow us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/marketplacearmagh) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/mptarmagh) where you will find all the latest information, special offers and video previews.

-ENDS-

On Friday 25 October, North Down Museum, Bangor is bracing itself for some intergalactic visitors when ‘Invasion from Planet X’ takes place in its historic building.

Find out of if you could survive an alien invasion at this fun event which is part of a series of after dark happenings across Northern Ireland, to encourage over 18s to try a different kind of night out at their local museum. 

On the night, museum visitors can expect storm trooper performances, escape rooms, alien walkabouts, live music and more!

The event is adults-only with an on-site bar, food, live music and a DJ, all the ingredients for a great night out.

Speaking about the event, North Down Museum’s Manager, Heather McGuicken said: “After the success of last year’s Zombie event, we are thrilled to host Invasion from Planet X. We do hope people will come along and enjoy this unique experience – something different for Halloween!”

Students from South Eastern Regional College are involved in the night and will be showcasing their artistic and theatrical skills with a fantastic programme of alien-themed antics.

‘Invasion From Planet X’ will take place on Friday 25 October in North Down Museum, from 8.00pm to 11.00pm. Tickets for this strictly over-18s event are £10 and available to book online:  https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/invasion-from-planet-x-tickets-70136537271

The event is part of ‘The Late Shift’ – a series of after-dark, adults-only happenings in museums across Northern Ireland this autumn. The project is supported by National Lottery Heritage Fund, Tourism NI, and Department for Communities.

Attention Foodies: feast your eyes on this!

Celebrate the abundance of flavours autumn has to offer with a distinctly local twist. #TasteOfComber is our third tasting tour this autumn, taking in some of the finest dining establishments in historic Comber on Thursday 31 October 2019

This guided food tour begins at the award-winning Indie Füde, experts at sourcing the finest artisan Irish produce. Enjoy your main course in the beautiful No 14 at The Georgian House, followe…d by dessert at the multi-award winning Sugarcane Cafe Bistro. The tour ends at McBrides On The Square, where guests will enjoy the finest local cheese paired beer and ale.

Tickets must be booked in advance: £47 per person

Full menu and booking details available on

https://www.visitardsandnorthdown.com/events/food-tour-a-taste-of-comber

To celebrate Positive Ageing Month, Ards and North Down Borough Council is hosting a Positive Ageing Event in Ards Blair Mayne Wellbeing and Leisure Complex on Monday 28 October from 10am-1pm.

Aimed at those aged 55 and over, local agencies and clubs will promote their activities and ensure visitors are provided with important information about what’s on offer in the borough.

There will be an opportunity to try different sports and activities on site, including low-impact taster sessions in Tai Chi as well as ‘Active Ageing’ and ‘Gently Does It’ classes. And for those who want to be a bit more active, they can try badminton, pickleball, zumba and walking football!

This year’s theme is based around ‘Take 5 Steps to Wellbeing’ – a Public Health Agency campaign that aims to raise awareness of five simple actions to maintain and improve emotional wellbeing: Give, Be Active, Connect, Keep Learning and Take Notice.

The Mayor of Ards and North Down, Alderman Bill Keery, said:

“The event will highlight the range of activities and clubs that are available in Ards and North Down. The number of older people in the world, including our borough, is increasing at an exponential rate so we want to bring them together and help them become more active and more socially connected.

“This growth in our population is one that should be viewed as a successful achievement and the Council intends to make Ards and North Down a great place to grow older as well as a place that is supportive, valuing and enabling for older people.”

The Positive Ageing event is free to attend and opens at 10am on Monday 28 October. A variety of exhibitions, workshops and activities will be on offer so remember to wear comfortable clothes and suitable non-slip shoes!

More information is available from Ards and North Down Borough Council’s Environmental Health Protection and Development department. For further queries, contact Jennifer Parkinson or Gareth McCausland on 0300 013 3333 ext. 40221 or email healthandwellbeing@ardsandnorthdown.gov.uk.