ISSUE 3
Cardiff Met Conferences Keeping you in the Know Recent Events - CyberFirst Launched in May 2016, CyberFirst is a pivotal part of the UK government’s National Cyber Security Programme. QA, working in partnership with GCHQ and the Smallpeice trust, develops and delivers a range of exciting, hands-on cyber security training events for teenagers at UK universities and colleges nationwide. During summer 2017 Cardiff Met successfully hosted three residential training events welcoming over 150 students on the CyberFirst Defenders, Futures and Advanced courses. A number of industry partners were involved in the courses including guests speakers from the MOD, CyberSecurity Challenge, Cisco, BeCrypt and BAE. Each course ran over 4 to 5 days and was aimed at 14-17 year olds, encouraging further education in the
field of Computer Science and ultimately leading to to careers in cyber security. This in the long term will aim to fulfil the cyber security skills gap for the UK. Cardiff Met are looking forward to welcoming CyberFirst back for a one day conference in January and they’ll be running more summer courses again
Presbyterian Church
“All the arrangements went very well with the assistance of the friendly and efficient conferencing and catering staff.” Presbyterian Church
next year. For further information about the CyberFirst courses please email cyberfirst@smallpeicetrust.org.uk
“88% of students rated the venue Good or Excellent”
This July, Cardiff Met welcomed over 120 people from around Wales for The Presbyterian Church of Wales annual residential conference. The event took place over two days and consisted of plenary sessions along with bookshops, stalls and smaller meetings. The full cooked breakfasts, buffet lunches and 3 course evening meals where all served in our K1 restaurant and accommodation was provided in our new en-suite rooms which are in close proximity to the Conference Rooms. The group brought smiley faces to the campus and brightened up our mornings with their harmonious morning worship sessions. Being largely a Welsh speaking group with two thirds of their churches working through the medium of Welsh, the conference team were delighted to be able to practise their Welsh!
01
A Summer of Sport Over the summer Cardiff Met welcomed hundreds of delegates for day meetings, residential conferences, language schools and training camps. This year saw record numbers of sports
events. Cardiff Met boasts a portfolio of world class sport facilities which cater for everyone from elite athletes to budding juniors. Many groups choose Cardiff Met due to the ease
of having all the facilities on one site, including the sports facilities, accommodation and catering. This summer we were pleased to host:
•
FAW Referee Conference
•
Sport Cardiff
•
Henley Hawks Rugby Club
•
Parramatta Cricket Academy, Australia
•
Welsh Rugby Union - U18s Dragons Camp
•
Schools Hockey Tournament
•
Merchant Taylors School
•
Ireland Rugby League
•
Welsh Rugby League
•
England Woman’s Rugby Union
•
Botswana Athletic Team
•
Leicester RFU
•
Zambian Athletics Team
•
Irish Basketball Women’s U17s
•
Inferno Racing Cross-fit Competition
“The team were extremely professional and helpful in arranging our event and made the whole process quite straightforward.” Irish Basketball
For an aerial tour of the sports facilities at Cardiff Met, click here
“Cardiff Met Uni was terrific. The room format was perfect and the laundry / breakfast and social services were ideal. Even on the only rainy day, we were able to fill the day with interesting activities and fun.” Parramatta Cricket Group (Australia)
AEME Cardiff Met Conferences and the Welsh Centre for Tourism Research were proud to host the 14th Association for Events Management Education (AEME) Forum, between the 5th – 7th July 2017. The event took place in the School of
Management with over 50 attendees including key industry speakers and a welcome note by Cara Atichinson. The Event Industry has a long history which has evolved and changed
considerably, raising challenges and opportunities for practitioners, educators and researchers alike. Working collaboratively in a forwardthinking approach is vital to the future success of the industry as a whole.
“Thanks to everyone at AEME2017 for an amazing conference! Great organisation, inspiring research and good company.” 02
ICAS ICAS is a professional body for more than 20,000 world class business men and women who work in the UK and in more than 100 countries around the world. ICAS is an educator, examiner, regulator and thought leader. Throughout 2016/17 Cardiff Met were pleased to host over 35 ICAS training days in our Cyncoed Conference Rooms as well as their final exams in our Llandaff Main Hall.
“The support from the team was fantastic and extremely helpful. A real credit to Cardiff Met.” ICAS
It’s all about the Service When it comes to making events run smoothly it’s all about good customer service. Cardiff Met Conferences work with Schools and Units to provide advice and support on hosting conferences as well as arranging the logistics of the event. Events have included Learn English in Wales, AEME and the FAW Referees Conference.
appropriate venue, hospitality, parking/ transport, AV and technical support, signage, delegate registration etc • Assistance in organising additional conference requirements off-site eg. social events, day trips, coach transfers, hospitality & receptions etc
Cardiff Met Conferences can assist in the organisation of externally focussed events by providing the following services:
• Additional information and coordination as required including licensing, health & safety, access etc
• Commercial costings and assistance in completion of bid documents
• On-site assistance on the day from one of the Conference Team
• Coordination and liaison of preevent planning, such as booking the
• Invoicing as required to organisations or individuals
If you work closely with external associations or societies or attend subject specific conferences nationally or internationally, why not suggest Cardiff Met as the venue for their next conference? We’ll assist in the proposal, planning and on the day logistics to ensure a successful event while bringing kudos to the university and your School or Unit.
The Bench gets a Grumpy Refurb! Over the summer The Bench café at Cyncoed campus got a welcomed refurbishment which included not only
a full complement of modern furniture but also a new brand of coffee, Grumpy Mule.
The Conference Team recently held their social media meeting at The Bench and tried out the new coffee.
“The coffee is excellent and I do like a good coffee so I will definitely be visiting again!” Sally
03
A big “Thank You!” Arranging and organising conferences and events involves collaboration with many different departments in order to be successful. Our clients will interact with staff around the University during their event so it’s
fantastic that everyone is so helpful and professional. We’ve had some great feedback this year and this is largely down to excellent customer service. The Conference Team would like to pass on a thank you to all the
departments at Cardiff Met who have worked with us in 2017, we couldn’t have done it without you! To read some our recent feedback, please visit www.cardiffmet.ac.uk/conferences
Focus on Health and Safety Health and Safety is one of the key priorities at Cardiff Met and is not to be overlooked when organising a conference or event. The job of the event organiser is to plan, manage and monitor events to ensure the safety of both the staff and the visiting public. Things to consider include the scale and type of event including people and traffic management as well as ensuring understanding and awareness of risk assessments and evacuation procedures. The Conference Team at Cardiff Met review health and safety for each event and have been brushing up on their emergency skills this summer with Evac chair training and fire extinguisher awareness.
AED Defibrillators Watch this short video to learn how a defibrillator works If you’re managing an event and need help with health and safety you can find some useful information at the HSE website. Plas Gwyn Reception Llandaff reception and CSAD Cyncoed Reception NIAC reception Cyncoed Physiology Lab
AED Defibrillators are located at every Cardiff Met campus
Sustainable Restaurant Association Award At the recent Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA) awards, Cardiff Met were nominated for the ‘Feed People Better’ award, coming second place behind Jamie’s Italian. Our Head of Catering Andrew Phelps and his
deputy Karen Thorne received the award from the SRA president Raymond Blanc. Cardiff Met are delighted to be the first university in Wales to receive 3 gold stars from the Sustainable Restaurant Association.
Quirky Fact We’re on TV! Cardiff Met Conferences recently hired out facilities to the BBC and S4C for the filming of Doctor Who, Casualty and Pobl y Cwm. Keep your eyes peeled when you next watch the box to see if you can spot us!
04
New Outdoor Athletics Facility and 3G Rugby Pitch
Our newly refurbished and updated outdoor athletics facility has long been anticipated in the athletics fraternity, and we are excited for all of our stakeholders and users that we will now be able to provide a state of the art outdoor athletics facility alongside our prestigious National Indoor Athletics Centre. The facility will become a pivotal training centre for high performance athletes, University athletes, the local community as well as our junior athletics academy – the Cardiff Archers.
The new facility was officially opened on 4th September by Professor Cara Aitchison, Darren Campbell, Aled Davies, Colin Jackson, Christian Malcolm and Jamie Baulch. Olympic silver medalist and two-time World Champion Colin Jackson said: “This new track is fantastic. I brought a group from Australia here to have a look around for possible Summer training camps when they come over for the European Athletics season. They know the value of having everything they want under one roof from an indoor and outdoor track to gym and accommodation – they thought it was phenomenal here.”
In addition to the athletics facility there is also a new 3G rugby pitch which will provide an all-weather rugby training and competition facility.
An International Welcome During the summer months, both Cyncoed and Plas Gwyn Accommodation were very busy welcoming over 450 students from across the world for English language training and pre-sessional English courses. Hosting these international residents over the summer months is another opportunity for potential students to experience Cardiff Met as well allowing the new intake to fulfil their induction requirements. The Conference Team work hard to ensure maximum availability throughout the summer for international and pre-sessional students and this often means juggling bookings around to find the best fit for these popular months.
05
Spotlight on Clare
Competition Time! Guess who? Here’s a younger version of the Conference Team but who’s who? Email us your answers by 17th November and one lucky winner will receive a bottle of wine.
1 Clare (Conference Services Manager) has a range of hobbies outside of work and is part of a number of teams playing tennis, table-tennis and golf. This summer she was delighted to win the Mixed Pairs Pattûllo Cup competition at Whitchurch Golf Club.
Join us on...
2
4
3
FREE Desk Calendar Get organised for 2018! Give us a call if you’d like to receive one of our handy desk calendars.
Twitter Facebook Linkedin For further information give us a call on 029 2041 6181/2 or visit our www.cardiffmet.ac.uk/conferences
06