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Welcome to Edinburgh Training and Conference Venue
Greetings!
Welcome to our new look e-newsletter. We thought you might enjoy something positive arriving in your inbox amongst all the doom and gloom you may be bombarded with. We'd be delighted to hear your comments and your feedback and indeed whether you'd like to see any particular subject covered in another issue.
Kind regards
Mike Glaire
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What the Pecha Kucha?
Is this just a fad or a universally fabulous method for addressing conferences that will stand the test of time? Can the concept be integrated into training techniques?
Have you heard of it? Have you used it? Is it like Marmite - do you love it or hate it? Please email to let us know your experience and views of this acclaimed end to "Death by PowerPoint" More...
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Stretching your Training Budget
Whether we like it or not, many of us are having to make our budgets stretch further during this difficult economic climate. Is that such a bad thing?
Whilst the CIPD reports a cut in average spend of over 25% from 2008 (median training spend is £220 compared with £300 last year), it seems that a rethink on where you place that budget could make a real difference in lessening the impact on your overall training objectives. Indeed there are a number of useful tips doing the rounds on stretching your training budget. More...
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What the Pecha Kucha?
Is this just a fad or a universally fabulous method for addressing conferences that will stand the test of time? Can the concept be integrated into training techniques?
Have you heard of it? Have you used it? Is it like Marmite - do you love it or hate it? Please email to let us know your experience and views of this acclaimed end to "Death by PowerPoint"
What is it?
Pecha Kucha, usually pronounced pe-chak-cha or pet-shah coot-shah depending on who you talk to, is a method of presenting that ensures both content and length are kept short and to the point, hence the claim of ending the nightmare we've all experienced - death by PowerPoint.
Using this format, presenters are limited to 20 slides, each of which can be shown for no more than 20 seconds. This is strictly adhered to using a combination of slide-show and automated timer functions on your computer, and limiting the entire presentation to 6 minutes, 40 seconds!
Where has it come from?
It was created in 2003 by two architects living in Japan - Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham - to give young designers a venue to meet, network and show their work in public. Their intention was to find a way of improving audience attention (manna from heaven!), whilst increasing the total number of presentations that could take place in one event, and even encourage those more shy presenters to actually take part.
The term "Pecha Kucha" is Japanese for the din of conversation, like chit-chat and it has been described as forcing the presenter to talk from their heart, as people used to do before PowerPoint became a crutch.
The Real World
Can this format turn the traditional PowerPoint presentation on its head and stimulate a more engaging, passionate and memorable experience for conference and training participants? We have struggled to find examples of use outside the creative industries and would love to hear from you if you've used it yourself or would like to trial it within your organisation.
Julia Middleton, chief executive of leadership development organization Common Purpose is quoted in Personnel Today as saying that the organisations that will come out of the recession first will be those who utilse creativity to best advantage, being first to bring good ideas to market, adapt to new circumstances and go from idea to reality most quickly.
Could Pecha Kucha play a part in this drive for more creativity in the workplace?
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Stretching your Training Budget
Whether we like it or not, many of us are having to make our budgets stretch further during this difficult economic climate. Is that such a bad thing?
Whilst the CIPD reports a cut in average spend of over 25% from 2008 (median training spend is £220 compared with £300 last year), it seems that a rethink on where you place that budget could make a real difference in lessening the impact on your overall training objectives. Indeed there are a number of useful tips doing the rounds on stretching your training budget ...
Business Critical Training
Have you considered which elements of your training plan are critical for the continuity and sustainability of your organisation as opposed to those elements that are less critical during the recession? You may consider reviewing your organisation's latest strategic plan and considering the skills gaps within that.
Are there, for example, skills that are vital to keep up with regulatory compliance? Should you be focusing training on those individuals who may be leading the organization in a few years? Are there skills that have a direct impact on your ability to deliver day to day?
Public Funding
Whilst the usual lack of consistency applies to who can get what, where, government funding is available that could provide definitive financial aid to most organizations. The challenge is to find out exactly what your organization qualifies for ... but it could be worth that challenge!
Creative Approach
Could you bring in a different methodology of delivering some of your training needs? Training Journal cite job swaps and knowledge banks as two creative approaches. Could employees swap jobs for 1-3 months in order to learn new skills? Could you utilize an intranet or knowledge management tool to make key information accessible to a wider audience?
Effective Training
The major cost of training is often considered to be the cost of taking your people off the job, so how could you make the most effective use of that time? Can you review what has been the most effective training for you and focus your budget in those areas?
What else can you do to make your training programmes more effective? Does your training use the best accelerated learning techniques? Are the rooms you use the most conducive to learning? Do you implement a follow-up process to ensure the learning is embedded?
Consolidate
Can you "buy in bulk" by grouping training across different departments or offices? Is it possible to reduce administration costs in booking and evaluating courses if you can find training for a greater number of delegates?
And more?
Yes there is - the challenge is fitting it all in here! Hopefully what we have covered will get your creative juices flowing!
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Edinburgh's Ghost Festival & Rugby Fever
Visit Edinburgh in May and you could experience what are surely two extremes of entertainment, from the multi-award winning Mary King's Ghost Fest, to some top rugby at Murrayfeld!
Running from Friday May 8th to Sunday May 17th, 2009 celebrates the fifth anniversary of the hugely successful, city-wide paranormal festival, delving deep into Edinburgh's dark and mysterious past. Will you dare to join us "on the other side" to explore and uncover the truly 'haunted' nature of this extraordinary city?
Mary King's Ghost Fest has become a popular favourite on Edinburgh's events calendar. Organised by The Real Mary King's Close - one of the UK's most haunted underground attractions - the 10 day festival is bigger and better than ever before and features a whole host of paranormal events and investigations across many of Edinburgh's infamous haunted sites.
Catch the action online
And if you can't get to Edinburgh, don't worry as you can participate in the spooky fun at Ghostwatchlive.com on Saturday May 16, 10.30pm-2.30am. A new event for 2009, this will be the first ever online paranormal investigation in Scotland. A team of ghost hunters and psychic mediums will be down in The Real Mary King's Close and you can take part from your living room. You will also be able to web chat in if you see anything, and put questions to the team.
The events programme will keep the most avid of ghost hunters and the most serious of sceptics entertained for hours ... highlights for Ghost Fest 2009 include a return to the Close for Dr Ciaran O'Keeffe and Steve Parsons from Living TV's Most Haunted and 'The Paradox Experience' at Blair Street Vaults - one of the most technically advanced ghost hunts - using unique, paranormal experimental equipment to answer the fundamental question - do ghosts really exist?
Mary King
And for those of you unfamiliar with Mary King, she lived at the top of one of Edinburgh's narrow Closes off the Royal Mile until her death in 1644. The Close, later named after her, was preserved when the City Chambers was constructed over the site in 1853. What remains today is a strange underground time-capsule of small houses and spaces, steeped in mystery and shrouded in dark stories.
More Ghost Fest Details
Murrayfield's May Rugby Fever
If rugby is more your thing, Murrayfield is hosting some of the sport's biggest fixtures this month including the Heineken Cup Final on 23rd. Europe's biggest club final will see Irish team Munster fighting to defend their crown.
And then on 30th and 31st May, Murrayfield welcomes back the cream of world rugby's sevens sides in the finale to this season's IRB Sevens World Series. The Emirates Airline Edinburgh 7s Festival will give you the chance to get up close to the new world champions, alongside top teams including New Zealand, South Africa and our own home-grown heroes. Who could forget Scotland's storming semi final victory over Fiji at Murrayfield last year?
More rugby information
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Edinburgh's Ghost Festival & Rugby Fever
Visit Edinburgh in May and you could experience what are surely two extremes of entertainment, from the multi-award winning Mary King's Ghost Fest, to some top rugby at Murrayfeld!
Running from Friday May 8th to Sunday May 17th, 2009 celebrates the fifth anniversary of the hugely successful, city-wide paranormal festival, delving deep into Edinburgh's dark and mysterious past. Will you dare to join us "on the other side" to explore and uncover the truly 'haunted' nature of this extraordinary city?
More...
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Mike Glaire
Edinburgh Training and Conference Venue
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Complimentary
Breakfast
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You know that complimentary breakfast is standard when you book
Edinburgh Training and Conference Venue. And you know that
concentration levels can dramatically improve when you eat a proper
breakfast. So kick-start the day with a choice of 9 popular cereals, 4
irresistible hot rolls, toast, fruit juice, tea, coffee ... need we say
more!
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Offer Expires: Whenever you tell us it's a bad idea!
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