When Lou volunteered at The Big Chill

Lou volunteered at last weekend’s Big Chill Festival in Herefordshire with the purpose of seeing a major outdoor public event from the inside.

Lou said “I wanted to volunteer at the Big Chill for various reasons, the main being to get out of my comfort zone in producing typically smaller, indoor events.

On arrival to the festival I received a brief from the organising team and I was delighted to be nominated as a CAT Team Leader for the five days.. (Camping Assistant Team).

Shift activities include a range of tasks from supporting customers on arrival to the festival with moving equipment and setting up tents to providing information on arena times. Unbelievable how much collateral petite under 18 girls need for a weekend!

The overnight shift was brilliant with constant situations to resolve as the festival goers returned from the arena to their tented homes.. J some were just funny and some, more serious.

Being on radio comms taught me a few pointers on anticipating and reacting to situations on such as huge site and remembering to report minor issues rather than typically sorting it yourself as most event managers would instinctively do. Awesome acts I did see were the Chemical Brothers, Nenah Cherry (Buffalo..What..!) and Calvin Harris.

Being on “the other side” has many pros and only a few cons. I didn’t love my two man tent which although was a convenient pop up style, developing a system to get dressed without touching the roof of the tent which was usually damp was like rhythmic gymnastics at stupid o’clock each night, bore off. The drop box toilets..lets move on.

I love the whole experience and even patrolling fields usually led to something to sort out. The range of types of people who volunteered led to a great mix and team vibe.

In closing, I am converted. CAT Team Leader OUT.”

holland alexander. Events Management, Marketing and PR. Leicester and London Studios

Four Winds Festival rehearsal days

Holland Alexander event marketing for Four Winds Festival and The Way the Winds Blow

Holland Alexander’s client the Four Winds Festival are getting ready for their festival and performances this week. The tents went up earlier this week. Don’t they look magnificiant? The festival is on the 25th & 26th June. More information is available on www.fourwindsfestival.co.uk

REM Derbyshire Heritage Awards Winners

press release

10.05.10

Nocturnal adventures, late night openings and activities across Derbyshire this weekend

Night owls can look forward to a weekend of nocturnal adventures as museums and galleries alike inspire fresh discovery by opening their doors to late night visitors as part of Museums at Night 2010 – the annual after-hours celebration.

Museums and galleries across the country are uniting to open up their collections to the public, with late opening hours and a huge range of activities for all and the East Midlands boasting a great range of events this weekend.

Museums at Night is organised by Culture24 www.culture24.org.uk/museumsatnight and will take place from 14 -16 May to coincide with the Europe wide campaign La Nuit de Musées.

Renaissance East Midlands is supporting the family friendly events and museum openings happening at night across the East Midlands. In Derbyshire these include; a special evening viewing of Bridging The Gap exhibition at Buxton Museum and Art Gallery; meeting ‘live’ characters from the collection at the Museum of Childhood; story telling, a treasure hunt and shadow theatre at Strutts North Mill, Belper; high drama and excitement for children as the story unfolds of the Wirkswirth Highway Robbery at Wirksworth Heritage Centre; and traditional games, jigs and reels and sing-along songs with scrumptious buffet food in an evening of Folk, Beer & Skittles at Bakewell Old House Museum.

Buxton Museum and Art Gallery

Bridging the Gap

Friday 14 May 7-9pm

Free

01298 24658

Join us for a special late evening opening – view the ‘Bridging the Gap’ exhibition and find out about the bridges of Derbyshire. Historically, travel in Derbyshire was tortuous, riding over broken roads on high moorland. Artworks from the museum’s permanent collection will show some of the engineering challenges that brought new bridges and tunnels to the county that changed the landscape and travel forever, and some of the famous bridges that may have inspired these designers.

Museum Of Childhood at Sudbury Hall

A Night at the National Trust Museum of Childhood

Friday 14 May 5-8pm

Normal admission charges apply. Free to National Trust members.

01283 585337

Experience the Museum of Childhood at Night when characters from our collections will come to life. Characters you will encounter include a Storm Trouper, Victorian School Master, Mad Hatter, Red and White Queens, Spanish Dancer, Bob the Builder and many more.

Strutts North Mill, Belper

Night at the Museum at Strutt’s North Mill

Saturday 15 May 6:30-9pm

Adults £4 /children FREE

01773 880474

Explore the history of Belper. Come and meet Mr Strutt himself, the mill workers, framework knitters, farm hands and nail makers who will give a personal account of life around the Mills 200 years ago. In addition there will be story telling, a treasure hunt, shadow theatre, refreshments and other attractions.

Wirksworth Heritage Centre

Stand and Deliver

Saturday 15 May

01629 825225

An evening event for children based around the very real ‘Wirksworth Highway Robbery’ of 1820.
Children will be guided through an evening of high drama and excitement as a story unfolds based on an image of the original Highway Robbery Reward Poster. Fancy dress (for children and adults) optional!

Bakewell Old House Museum

Folk, Beer and Skittles – Cheese and Pickles

Saturday 15 May 7pm – 10pm

Adults £9.50 / Child £7.00

01629 813 642

A fun filled evening’s entertainment of traditional games and lively musical entertainment from the Noisy Neighbours – Irish, English, Scottish Jigs and Reels and sing-along songs such as The Wild Rover and Molly Malone. All washed down with tasty beer from the award winning Thornbridge Brewery and scrumptious buffet food. Book early to avoid disappointment.

Erewash Museum

Night At The Museum Event

Saturday 15^th May 7pm to 9pm

Free

0115 9071141

Come along to the museum as we celebrate our Night At The Museum event.
The museum will be open for a special chance to view the building and exhibitions in the evening.
View the night sky in the museum garden with Ilkeston & District Astronomical Society and hear about the history of Derbyshire through stories, songs and legends.

This is a rare opportunity to visit your local museum during the evening and the exciting activities should appeal to regular museum goers and new customers, adults and children.

For the latest information and to find out what’s happening near you visit www.culture24.org.uk/museumsatnight

ENDS –

For further information, interview requests and pictures contact:

Mandy Dearsley

E: mandy@hollandalexander.com

T: 0116 261 6867

or Louise Holland

E: louise@hollandalexander.com

T: 0116 261 6868

Notes to Editors:

Museums at Night is organised by Culture24 and is funded by MLA. For further information visit www.culture24.org.uk

Museums at Night Weekend will take place over the weekend Friday 14 – Sunday 16 May. The Europe-wide celebration will be on Saturday 15 May.
Culture24 is a registered charity and not-for-profit online publisher, working across the arts, heritage, education, and tourism sectors.
Renaissance is the MLA’s ground-breaking programme to transform England’s regional museums. Renaissance East Midlands leads and delivers the programme across Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire and Nottinghamshire for further details visit www.renaissanceeastmidlands.org.uk
La Nuit De Musée was introduced by the French Culture Department to succeed Printemps de Musées and takes place on the Saturday nearest to International Museums Day (May 18). It is now supported by the Council of Europe. In 2009, over 2,500 museums in 41 European countries took part. For more information visit www.nuitdesmusees.culture.fr
MLA is the government agency for museums, libraries and archives. Leading strategically, MLA promotes best practice to inspire innovative, integrated and sustainable services for all. Visit www.mla.gov.uk

Holland Alexander. Be Inspired. Events, Marketing & PR Agency. London & Leicester.

REM Stories of The World

PRESS RELEASE

9 December 2010

For immediate release

Sights of the East Midlands, Sounds of Scotland,

Stories of the World reverberate around Britain for 2012

From the East Midlands to Edinburgh, museums across Britain are preparing to welcome more than two and a half million visitors to Stories of the World projects, part of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad.

Led by the MLA in partnership with the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG), Stories of the World is already beating records and promises to be an unprecedented exploration of our past.

Hosted in 60 museums across 35 towns and cities, a series of 300 innovative exhibitions and events are being designed and created with the largest number of young people ever to have worked behind the scenes at museums. Over 12,000 young people have already participated in museum workshops and activities and over 1000 young curators enlisted to help shape the final exhibitions in 2011 and 2012.

The collaborative East Midlands programme, Dress the World will celebrate the global exchanges that have shaped and continue to shape fashion in the region. Three significant East Midlands’ collections will be joined by loans from museums in Canada, Japan, and China.

The three exhibitions, which will take place in the spring and summer of 2012, are:

– Living in Silk (Nottingham Castle Museum & Art Gallery, Nottingham City Council) Focusing on Chinese influence on fashion and adornment with Nottingham’s major collection of Chinese garments and textiles alongside a significant loan exhibition from the world premier China National Silk Museum, Hangzhou.

– Suits and Saris (New Walk Museum & Art Gallery, Leicester) Exploring the exchanges of fashion between Leicester, India and East Africa, focussing on Leicester’s South Asian collection, including new commissions and international loans.

– The World at Your Feet (Northampton Museum and Art Gallery) Exploring the role of shoes in creating cultural identity through the Museum’s world shoe collection and loans from the Bata Museum in Canada and Footwear Museum in Kobe, Japan.

Andrew Motion, MLA Chair said:

“By working directly with collections in museums, which have been acquired from thousands of years of travel, trade, migration, and human struggle – good, bad, controversial, heroic – thousands of young people will fittingly remember the international celebration that is the Olympics. Stories of the World will help spread the London 2012 celebrations across England and Scotland in a fun but thought provoking way that will bring better understanding and longer term benefits to the museums and communities involved.”

Dress the World project chair Ron Inglis of Nottingham City Council said;

“This is a world class exhibition on three sites, focussing on the way that fashion has influenced the East Midlands and how the region has influenced the world, via its fashion. Some incredible objects from our own collections and museums around the world will be on display and the involvement of young people at each stage of the process will ensure a fresh, youthful and innovative approach.”

Ends

For further information, images and interviews please contact Communications Agency Holland Alexander, on 0116 261 6868.

Notes to editors

The accompanying photograph shows objects which will appear in the three exhibitions and the hyperlinks lead to more information on each museum: (Clockwise)

Nottingham
Leicester
Northampton
Dress the World is a Renaissance East Midlands led project with coordination from ArtReach. Renaissance is the MLA’s ground-breaking programme to transform England’s regional museums. Central government funding is enabling regional museums across the country to raise their standards and deliver real results in local communities. www.mla.gov.uk/renaissanceeastmidlands
ArtReach (www.artreach.biz) is a cultural development and event management agency based in the East Midlands and South East. It has a track record of successful development and delivery of high quality, innovative arts and heritage programmes and projects that pioneer new ways of working; stretch artistic boundaries; and encourage audience development, forging new ways of community and individual engagement.
Leading strategically, the MLA promotes best practice in museums, libraries and archives to inspire innovative, integrated and sustainable services for all. Visit www.mla.gov.uk . The strategic lead for Stories of the World programme is likely to transfer to Arts Council England over the next year, as part of MLA’s transition. Funding for Stories of the World has been secured from a range of sources including Renaissance in the Regions, HLF, ACE, charitable trusts and foundations and the museums’ own core resources
About the Cultural Olympiad and London 2012 Festival – The London 2012 Cultural Olympiad is the largest cultural celebration in the history of the modern Olympic and Paralympic Movements. Spread over four years, it is designed to give everyone in the UK a chance to be part of London 2012 and inspire creativity across all forms of culture, especially among young people. Since the Cultural Olympiad started in 2008 11.2million people from across the UK have participated in or attended public performances as part of the Cultural Olympiad and programmes inspired by 2012 and funded by our principle funders and sponsors. Over 67,000 people have attended 6,800 workshops as part of Cultural Olympiad programmes. The culmination of the Cultural Olympiad will be the London 2012 Festival from 21 June – 9 September 2012. Leading artists from all over the world will come together for a chance for everyone to celebrate London 2012 through dance, music, theatre, the visual arts, film and digital innovation, and leave a lasting legacy for the arts in the UK. Principal funders of the Cultural Olympiad and London 2012 Festival are Arts Council England, Legacy Trust UK and the Olympic Lottery Distributor. BP and BT are Premier Partners of the Cultural Olympiad and the London 2012 Festival. The British Council will support the international development of London 2012 Cultural Olympiad projects. Panasonic are the presenting partner of Film Nation: Shorts. For more details visit www.london2012.com/culture

6. The Stories of the World projects are:

– Brighton: Local Global

– East of England: East Meets East

– Edinburgh: Sounds Global

– London: World City

– North East: Journeys of Discovery

– North West: Global Threads

– Yorkshire: Precious Cargo

– East Midlands: Dress the World

– To find out more about Stories of the World, visit http://www.london2012.com/get-involved/cultural-olympiad/major-projects/stories-of-the-world/index.php

holland alexander, events, marketing and pr all in one place

We are an events, pr and marketing company with a difference. For us it is all about the client, how we can do the very best for you to make your event a success. We know that events, marketing and pr aren’t always separate services; our understanding of the cross over is what will make your event, or marketing campaign stand out.

With offices in London and Leicester holland alexander is going from strength to strength developing the company’s client base and introducing us to new ideas and new challenges.

January saw lots of new business come our way, with the team mainly busy with marketing and pr, along side this the holland alexander team were producing the Leicester Mercury Sports Awards for the 6^th year running. We always look forward to the Leicester Mercury Sports Awards as it allows us continue to challenge ourselves to better the event form the previous year, making the event new and dynamic every year.

Although we love to produce the events we know and love we are always excited to work with entirely new clients producing their marketing or their next event, whether it is a building launch or a conference.

We are looking forward to the next 11 months, working with new clients and new suppliers.

Holland Alexander: events, marketing and pr. Be inspired