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Spring Newsletter 2008
A warm welcome to the latest issue of the Churchill College newsletter.
As the famous fenland winter winds blow the cobwebs from our festive repose we are welcoming in the New Year with some key changes at the College. Joanne Vertigan joins us from the University of East Anglia as the New Director of Hospitality Services. Of her new appointment Joanne said: ‘’I am very excited to be able to further my career within such a prestigious institution and look forward to continuing to deliver the high standards of customer care and hospitality that our customers here at Churchill have become accustomed to."
Back in November we welcomed the return of Almarie Ehlers, the Accommodation Officer, from her 6 month maternity leave break with her baby daughter Zante. Almarie will be resuming her responsibilities for dealing with all conference and group accommodation bookings. She is currently negotiating forward contracts for 2009 and beyond, with the summer months particularly popular for small groups and summer schools.
Jill Hay also joined us just before Christmas as the new Conference Co-ordinator from the University Centre on the West Cambridge site. Jill will be the key point of contact for all of our University and College colleagues.
And whilst talking of babies, we must not forget Martha Oakley, a fresh recruit (of 5 months) to David the Catering Manager’s home team of Michelin starred chefs of the future. With all this nappy changing it’s a wonder we get any work done!
Find all the information you need at www.churchillconferences.co.uk
We are pleased to announce that we will shortly be launching a new website dedicated to the needs of our conference and hospitality clients. The new site will feature all of the detailed information that you need to help organise an event at Churchill College, including room capacities, technical data, a picture Gallery featuring all of our meeting rooms and sample bedrooms; tariff, menus and wine list. Downloadable floor and site plans will enable you to attach documents to your own delegate packs.
And for those based some distance from College a useful videolink virtual tour of the College enables you to refresh your memory about the key features of the College buildings without ever having to leave the comfort of your desk!
Please do let us know if there is any information you could not find as we will be continuously updating the site with special offers and news from the College.
Churchill ephemera…. one feature of our new site will be a changing list of little known facts about some of our greatest 20th century political leaders – always useful for those conference quiz nights or for after dinner anecdotes in the College Dining Hall. For example: Did you know that Churchill thought he could communicate telepathically with one of his pet sheep, which he named ‘Friendly’?
The College wine list for 2008 has been updated and can be downloaded from the new website. A new feature is our reserve list of superior vintage wines for smaller parties and private dining. This changing list can be obtained directly from the Conference Office or David Oakley the Catering Manager. A new menu selection will be available for events commencing in the Easter vacation.
The Recital Room at the Music Centre was recently opened as part of the new Møller Centre Study Centre extension. The Recital Room is available for clients wishing to organise evening musical performances as part of their conference programme. Availability of this space, which has a capacity of 80 and features a Steinway piano and harpsichord, is very limited and we advise you contact the Conference Office directly if you are interested in organising a programme. We are pleased to advise that several of the College music students stay up during the vacations and are available to provide musical entertainment at your events.
Recent events hosted by the College have included the Liberal Democrat leadership election hustings where all 3 candidates spoke to a packed house of party members.
Earlier in September we welcomed a daylong conference on behalf of Cambridge Enterprise intriguingly entitled: ‘Growing Big Gorillas’ . The conference was featured on BBC News 24 and included several key note speakers including Gordon Murray discussing funding and location challenges for high tech companies. This was one of several clients who chose to have pod casts of their speakers’ presentations recorded for post event down-loading from their websites. All the speakers from this conference can be found at: www.cambridgeenterpriseconference.co.uk/presentations.htm
We will be welcoming Cambridge Enterprise back to college in 2008 with the even more curiously entitled: Gazelles or Velociraptors – How to Start Up and Grow Fast; featuring Herman Hauser as the Key note speaker.
The Future of Meetings Technology was the subject of a presentation given by the renowned Hospitality Industry observer, Richard Johns in October. As part of an Open Doors event jointly hosted by the College and Conference Cambridge, Richard spoke on the use and abuse of new technology. His talk can be downloaded from the Conference Cambridge website at: www.conferencecambridge.com
Alternatively, you can download the podcast by clicking here.
And finally...
Save the date if you are interested in:
The Cambridge Science Festival 2008 : 10 – 20 March 2008
Science on Saturday : 15 March 2008
As part of the Science Festival Churchill College Archives Centre will be collaborating in 2 events demonstrating British scientific innovations of the 20th century. These are:
14th February - 12th April 2008: "Conversation After Conversation: Creativity and collaboration in science"
As a collaboration between the Churchill Archives Centre and the University Library, this exhibition will draw together personal papers and public documents of some of the most innovative British scientists working in the twentieth century.
North front corridor, Cambridge University Library (University Library card holders only).
There will be an Open Day on Saturday 15th March, all welcome - please see the University Science Festival literature or website for further details.
North front corridor, Cambridge University Library (University Library card holders only).
There will be an Open Day on Saturday 15th March, all welcome - please see the University Science Festival literature or website for further details.
Sunday 16th March 2008: "World of Science" and "Looking at and Conserving Paper at Churchill Archives Centre"
Archive exhibition of scientific papers, showing the connections between twentieth century scientists across the world!
Quiz and prize for our younger visitors!
All welcome, from 1:30 - 4:30, just drop in!
The conservators will also show examples of different types of papers. See how it is made, try out simple ways to test paper and learn how the conservators repair damaged paper using Japanese papers. Ages 8 and upwards.
Timed sessions 1:30, 2:30 and 3:30 - please book a space via the Science festival co-ordinators, see the University Science Festival literature or website for further details.