The Eastside Rooms, Birmingham
This week’s destination blog is our final Birmingham installment and we’re focusing on the city’s newest conference venue and hotel.
Leanne Bladen, Director of Sales and Marketing at The Eastside Rooms and Aloft Hotel on Woodcock Street, Birmingham shares the latest with the city’s most exciting new project.
The conference venue is due to launch next month, April 2021 and is sure to take center stage as the ‘new kid on the block’ when it comes to the events industry. The venue is adjoined to the Marriott branded Aloft hotel which offers 195 bedrooms including 2 suites and a Re:Charge gym. Guests will be able to mix and mingle at the cool and contemporary ‘W xyz Cocktail Bar’, dine at ‘Tempo! Restaurant’ and there is also a 24 hour offering for food and beverage in Re:Fuel.
It is obvious that opening a venue in a global pandemic is testing to say the least, we asked Leanne about the venue’s operational path during this time of uncertainty.
‘We had to think outside the box and think about what demand would look like in the here and now. With that in mind we have worked with our on-site AV Company On Productions to produce an offering called ‘Plug-In’ which is a full studio set-up to support and facilitate virtual events and we also have a ‘Mini’ studio available too. We are also fully aware that we now live in a world where it is vital to have a back-up plan so we are also offering the option of a hybrid format for events too, whereby clients could be spaced out amongst our 23 meetings rooms on site with broadcast capabilities across the whole venue or we could even link up with delegates based in other parts of the county or even other parts of the world, having cutting edge technology is what will really help us to drive forward during these times’.
After the year that the industry has just been through, the MICE market can only be on the up from here! People are desperate to get back to live events, and after a year of virtual meetings and events, it is so important to convey messages in person and to get teams reunited.
In terms of the Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) market and its development in the future, Leanne had this to say on the topic: ‘I think the landscape may look different for the interim period with clients turning to technology and looking for a hybrid approach to begin with, which is where we will be able to be on hand and support with our Plug-In options at The Eastside Rooms.’
After a challenging past 12 months, it is paramount to look forward and plan positively for the future. The Eastside Rooms, 2021 will focus on raising their profile as a new venue and being able to facilitate live events upon their return.
Contact us at Autograph Events to find out more about how you can utilise our Free Venue Finding Service for your conferences, exhibitions, meetings and more! We are on hand and ready to help with all of your Event Management needs – we would love to hear from you. You can call us on 01905 676 444 or email us your enquiries to events@autograph-events.co.uk