Here at thestudio, we aim to keep all of our fascinating facts and exciting changes at the forefront for our customers to stay in the loop with us!

We are beginning to install our Good to Know About chalkboards in our refreshment areas in all of our venues across to inform and keep you up to date about our latest fun facts, and all the important work we do behind the scenes every step of the way.

Here are some of our eight must know facts…

1. Around the world in 19 ways…
thestudio team between them speak an incredible 19 different languages! They all travel as far across the world from German, Polish and Yoruba, right up to Farsi, Japanese and Zulu – to name just a few!

2. thestudio and the city…
We have four fantastic and bright and bubbly venues throughout UK in vibrant major cities such as Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow and Leeds, plans are afoot for further expansion … where would you like to see the next studio?

3. Food glorious food…
Did you know that our customers can also join in some of our delicious food taster days and this summer we will be hosting a food innovation day with all of our location chefs, join our studiofamily database to receive your invite. Also good to know that in Birmingham our largest location any food wastage is donated daily to Lets Feed Brum to support with food stations and shelters for those in need.

4. Finding the right BALANCE…
We have our very own not for profit cookbook with all of our favourite recipes called BALANCE. It caters to specialised diets from vegan to gluten free; we even provide nutritional information from energy to protein.

5. Keeping it in the family…
thestudio is an independent and privately owned by a board of four directors who all still work in the business as its continued to expand throughout the UK.

6. Let them eat cake…
For every Foodinate cake added to your event, you can provide a warm and nutritious meal for a person in the local community. Take a look at www.foodinate.co.uk.

7. Coffee for two…
All of our coffee throughout thestudio venues is supplied by Groundhouse Coffee. They not only source their ingredients from co-operatively owned and sustainable plantations, but they also continue to give back to their local communities as a result.

8. It all starts in the Classroom
For every booking that takes places in the Classroom thestudio donate £10.00 to the Wood Street Mission. They are children’s charity helping families living on low incomes in Manchester and Salford. Through their SmartStart initiative, this helps struggling families have access to non-branded school uniforms, coats, shoes, sports kit and stationery throughout the school year.

We’d love for you to stay in thestudio loop with us so give us a follow on Twitter, or tweet @studiovenues for any burning questions about our must-know facts to find out more.

Written by: Leah Mahon

Edited by: Emma Jennings

the studio venues meeting and events Birmingham petsSayings through to films and even being venerated as gods… It’s no wonder we have a whole 24hrs dedicated to these feisty furry creatures: introducing International Cat Day!

Are you a crazy cat lady?

Take thestudio yay or nay test and see how cat crazy you are!
1. Do you talk to your pet cat?
2. Is your perfect evening a night in with your furry friend?
3. When on a walk, would you stop and try to befriend a cat you’ve never met before?
4. Do you think about cats more than 5 times a day?
5. If you saw a cat would you have to point it out to the people you’re with?
6. Have you ever wished you were a cat or live in the hope of being reincarnated as one?
7. Would being around your own kitty (or someone else’s) be the highlight of your day?
8. Ever meowed just for fun even if there’s no cats around?
9. Would you cry from happiness if you were handed a box full of kittens?
10. Have you ever taken your cat out for walks with you on a leash?
1 – 4 yes’s – think you should wait for our #InternationalDogDay blog!?
5 – 6 yes’s – Your heart is cat inclined!
7 – 9 yes’s – You’re just on the cusp of being feline-infatuated
10 yes’s – Coo coo cat crazy!

Cat Competition…

Whether you secretly spend all your free time watching cat videos on YouTube or you proudly relish your love of moggies by tagging your friends in all tabby related posts. Whatever you’re level of kitty cat love, we’re celebrating today by offering a chance to win a studio canvas just for your pet! Here @thestudio we really love our purry pals, we even have a wall dedicated to our studiopets canvas art. Tweet your best pet images to @studiovenues with the #InternationalCatDay #WinYourOwnCatCanvas to be in with a chance with winning your very own master piece. Pet selfies only 

What’s Up Pussycat?
On the surface, your feline companion may only seem good for lounging around. Apart from sleeping most of their days away, did you know these fuzz balls are great stress relievers? Even science says some quality time with your furry friend can boost those feel good hormones! So after a hard day in the office how about a petting session with your four legged buddy? Now where did that string go…

From all the team at thestudio, we wish you a brilliant International Cat Day!

Guest blog from Bea Peck …

Day 1
the studio conference meetings and events venue Birmingham 1st floor refreshment areaIt’s 8.50 on Monday morning, the first day of my work experience @thestudio, ¼ of my body weight is currently nerves, another ¼ coffee and the other ½ undeniable excitement. I suppose I should introduce myself – Hi, my name is Bea. I’m 17 and currently studying my first year of A levels but more importantly, I just spent a week @thestudio to learn how such a successful events company is run day to day.

Rumour has it, business people are scary. They’re crazy caffeine fuelled robots who type numbers into a computer nine hours a day – but not @thestudio. I was met with nothing other than a smile.

As I toured the building, I couldn’t help but grin at all thestudios’ little quirks; the bright and engaging décor, the goldfish on the second floor, even the toilet signs could lighten your Monday morning blues.

By 11am I had conquered my fear of the phone lines, it was until this week I had never transferred a call… embarrassing but true! Jyoti navigated me through thestudio’s social media pages, blogs and website, teaching me how keeping clients informed with thestudio’s recent activities or even gaining a twitter follower are all important aspects of establishing solid relationships with clients in this increasingly digital age.

Day 2
Today I sat with Pedro on the second floor reception, greeting puzzled looking guests and showing them to their rooms. Once again I manned the phone lines, discovering the talent of job juggling that the not-so-scary business people @thestudio perform so admirably. Here, I gained experience both behind the desk but also good customer service skills that I can transfer to any workplace in the future. (more…)

Atrium_004Love putting a name to the face? Then why not up your networking A-game and shimmy on down to thestudio’s vibrant meeting and event space in central Birmingham. Why you ask? Apart from being renowned for its light, bright and innovative spaces and being a great location to meet, train and entertain, thestudio are proudly hosting #midlandshour’s tweetup on 04th May.

Tweety bird

If you thought tweeting was something that only birds do, you’d be mistaken! Welcome to the 21st century where our preferred means of communication is through social media. It’s time to connect, share and post with those around you. Affiliate with people from across the world to those in your neighbourhood, indulge in this opportunity to create some truly valuable connections. At this FREE event you’re offered the chance to mingle with like-minded professionals, a perfect opportunity to revive your business links, all in the comfort of your very own city centre.

thestudio? Never heard of it…

Your one stop shop for all your meetings and event needs, thestudio resides at the heart of the city boasting unique, bright and colourful event spaces suitable for both formal and informal gatherings! Our venues are built on their excellent reputation and our simple mission statement of “Customer First”… Plus the food, we always have to mention the food! (more…)

Christmas has come to an end and all the festivities firmly put to rest with the traditional purging of decorations. After every dessert laden and cheese board filled Christmas, it seems common among the masses to rejuvenate during January, working on that all important beach body for the summer. That’s on all of our minds, isn’t it? Most people, and we’re no different, tend to reflect on the previous year and in rose-tinted aspiration of the coming year, look forward to change.

This lead to the thought of this New Year’s resolutions and what thestudio team have set their sights on in 2015. (more…)

A few weeks ago we received our first negative comment on a social media channel. That was quite a shock and we were genuinely gutted about the situation. We responded promptly and everything was handled bearing in mind our Customer First mission statement. (more…)

Had an interesting read this week about social media and content on the Event Magazine’s blog and it got me thinking about content and our business.  Thestudio’s mission statement is customer first and everything revolves around our customers’ experience. Since the explosion of the social media we too have joined in the millions that are using Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn to keep in touch with our clients.

Looking back through our blog’s archive or Twitter history one word stands out more than any: Engage. Our small but steadily growing community keeps connected, lets others know about different events of interest for their particular business, helps with recommendations, advice and suggestions about any topic of interest. Our team keeps their ears and eyes peeled to anything that happens around the business that might affect how delegates travel from traffic news to the recent developments in New Street in Birmingham.

Social media advocates (I dare not call them experts since there is social media is so versatile and volatile that hardly anyone can be called and expert) call on relevant and insightful content to be delivered to consumers, a content that carries with it what the brand stands for. With so many companies that are in the game how do you keep content relevant: how not to be pushed into the shallows, how not to take after so many others that offer small rewards for tweeting and retweeting, or promote exclusive social media offers?

Well, if Scott Stratten is right “to be great at customer service, you only need to be mediocre, because everyone else sucks” then what are we doing? Nothing more than to treat people like we would like to be treated; everyday; in our venues and outside them. Do you think we could do more? Please share your thoughts with us by leaving a comment here or tweet @studiovenues.

Later edit: 1st of May  – it’s official. Director Emma Jennings graduates the Goldman Sachs 10000 small business programme. More about this here.