Over the last couple of weeks I have been out with our team
testing and refining some of our favourite events. Although I get the
opportunity to regularly see all of our events it is not that often that we
take part as a whole team and as if we are clients – it is easy to forget how
competitive I am…

Last week we checked out a real gem of a venue, a slightly
faded but full of character country club outside of Sevenoaks, perfect for
Murder Mystery and Quintessential English garden parties. Whilst
there we tried out some of our popular events – we created a new tissue brand
in our Apprentices team building event and collected crystals for time in the
Crystal Challenge dome.

This week DeVere looked after us at their West One venue,
fantastic location, cool contemporary interior and delicious canapés – which
made the ones we made earlier on our Cookery challenge look a little
amateur. Apart from cooking we also created an eco friendly house – Green
Building, we designed and built a racing car and to top it all off tried to
complete 100 challenges in what felt like 30 seconds.

I loved every minute of it and the buzz back in the office
after each day has been great, now I must remember not to challenge Karna to a
hula hoop contest….

Vicki Wren

Our very own Scottish Lassie Vicki, came down from the highlands to join Chillisauce in 2008 after years of specialising in team events, away days and incentives. Since joining Chillisauce she has organised over 50 events, her favourite activities are anything physical or outdoors such as Stuntman training and the brand new Mission Possible event.A true Scot at heart, she loves haggis and Irn Bru. She also has a thing for hot air ballooning and Spooks. (she cried when Adam died)

Banished to Room 101…

Full Day Conferences – people can get restless and lose interest after hours of sitting down, listening to speeches and presentations all day. Conference organisers should look at unique ways to engage attendees throughout the day. Why not try a conference ice breaker or refresher or split up the day with an afternoon of team building to tie in with your conference objectives and liven up the day?

Rain Worriers – Anyone who worries about booking an outdoor event incase it rains or is cold, needn’t worry! Yes, the British weather is pretty unpredictable but Chillisauce have many activities which can be undertaken in or outdoors. We will only ever cancel activities if the weather becomes dangerous. If everyone brings a jacket, from our experience, 95% of people will get outside, get on with it and forget about the weather in no time! Some activities like quad biking or It’s a Knockout can actually be even more fun with a bit of rain and mud.

Vague briefs – the more information that clients can give us, the more tailored and cost effective our proposal will be. The key things we need to know are; the objectives for the day, the location and if a venue is required, how much you have to spend and what dates you are considering. Unless we have this information we cannot guarantee proposing the most appropriate event and it can waste a lot of time.

Dull, small conference rooms – it is important to find the right room for your meeting or team activities. Consider things like natural daylight, decor, the hotel or venues reputation and facilities, where the room is located, what it overlooks.. Also you should make sure there is enough space for everyone to take part in activities comfortably. It is a good idea to spend time visiting your venues or use the knowledge of your account manager to find the best place.

Low costs competition – they may be giving you an event at an incredibly low price but realistically what are you going to get for your money? We strive to be competitive but will never jeopardise the quality of our events or our reputation. If your quote looks too good to be true, it probably is and it won’t reward or engage your team.

Cats – they are just inferior dogs with a smug evil look.

Bad manners – manners cost nothing. A simple please or thank you is not difficult and can make a big difference.

Odd socks – why does it ever happen? How do you lose only 1 sock – where do they go?!

We are always trying to improve our service and we really care what our clients think. So each month we will poll a different question in our newsletter and look forward to receiving your vote.

This month we’re interested in sharing…Usually the minimum number we require is 15. We occasionally have to turn away enquiries for smaller groups as a result of this, so…

[poll id="2"]

[poll id="3"]

Suzy Waller

Suzy has been organising events with Chillisauce for four and a half years now. Her favourite events are Cocktail Making and Stuntman Training, she loves the fact that a genuine team building event can include drinking cocktails!

If she could be reincarnated she would come back as David Attenborough, in fact she loves him so much she even took a degree in zoology in his honour.

Suzy thinks Peaches Geldof is a waste of space and loves cheese. Put her in a field with some animals and a lump of cheddar and she couldn’t be happier.

Banished to room 101…

Stingy budgets – I’m all for ‘value for money’ but you are not going to get a good event for £25 per head, even in the credit crunch!

Bad food – people will always have fond memories of an event if they are well fed!

Unenthusiastic event staff – how can you expect people to get involved and have a good time if the event staff look like they don’t want to be there!

Bridge Building – it is an unimaginative event and there’s loads more exciting things that teams can do

Restrictive menu choices - If there are hundreds of people attending an event then I can see why the menu has to be the same for everyone. However, surely service for 30-40 people shouldn’t be too affected if they are given a few options!

Lack of attention to detail - Having fresh flowers, afternoon treats, goody bags, making sure areas are kept clean and tidy and speedy hotel check-ins. These things are all very easy to arrange and ensure happy guests and a memorable event.

Harem pants – there are only about half a dozen people on the planet that can actually pull them off

Badly made tea! - too cold, too much milk, not enough milk, that horrible oily film floating on top. I’m very particular about my tea!

Spitting – especially when people spit out their chewing gum onto the pavement

Matt Hull, Finance Director

As the country is officially now in a recession, I spoke to our Finance Director Matthew Hull on his opinions of the root causes. Read on to see what he has to say …

“In a nutshell I believe we are in a recession because public and business confidence has become shattered. People and business, even good risks, cannot get credit primarily because the banks are spooked.

The banks are spooked because they have over lent money and now people cannot pay it back. Finance providers over lent because employees are incentivised to do so.

Some businesses, including the banks were rewarding their staff with short term incentives (bonuses) based on long term transactions. That is, let’s say bonuses are dished out for new mortgages completed in a month, that bonus will have been paid and received regardless of how that transaction pans out in the end. If the mortgage is repaid in full and the bank makes a healthy profit on that deal then that bonus is fully justified.

What however happens if that mortgage is not paid back and is written off? The bonus has already been paid. If I were being rewarded based on the number of new mortgages I completed I would not care much for how they performed in the future.

The former Chief Executive of RBS enjoyed bonuses on the successful completion of a number purchases of smaller banks during a 10 year acquisition spree. Typically it would take 5-10 years to see the affect of the acquisition of another business so why was he not incentivised based on how his decisions performed in 5-10 years time? Ultimately those decisions were spectacularly wrong however he’s already received his bonuses.

Here at Chillisauce our Event Managers are rewarded for the sale and successful completion of Corporate and Team Building Events. This provides our guys with the incentive not only to sell but to deliver what we promise. They are not rewarded if this does not happen. This is also the approach we take with helping our clients implement successful incentive schemes.”

- Matt Hull, Finance Director
- www.addchillisauce.co.uk

So there you have it. We practice what we preach! If you need any help to set or review any incentive schemes you may have then give our Rewards and Incentives team a call on 0845 371 1205

A true girl’s girl, she loves shopping, chocolate and wine. And as our resident Welshie, she loves anything Welsh; Be it Rugby, Rarebit, Steve Jones, Daffodils or Mike Phillips but she draws the line at Tom Jones.

Banished to Room 101…

The credit crunch – If everyone regained more confidence to spend money on events and team building then staff morale and motivation could be improved and businesses could get themselves out of a lot of mess.

Never seeing the sun – roll on spring to cheer us all up with longer days, more sunshine and less gloom and doom. It’s also easier for us to organise some of the fun outdoor events with water and inflatable’s.

Lack of Availability – summer seems like a long way away but people often leave planning events to the last minute and are left disappointed when the availability has gone. I would suggest booking up as soon as you can to ensure you get what you want.

Predictability – There are so many creative and different event ideas out there, why not mix it up a bit and try something new?

Waste – unnecessarily printing off emails, wasting energy, not recycling and generally being lazy when it comes to being eco-friendly.

Dawdlers – people who walk in diagonal lines when I’m in a rush to work!

The Sales – I like the prices but I don’t like rummaging around for hidden gems and I always seem to walk out with the only non sale item anyway!

Chocolate shops – I’ve given chocolate up for Lent and they are haunting my dreams.