3 posts tagged “event”
What can I say other than the best Valentines experience that I’ve
ever had- by far! My partner and I normally avoid over capitalising on trashy Valentines
Day activities, but this year was different when I accidentally on purpose
booked the feast two weeks ago.
We arrived at the River Cottage and were asked to wait for the
next tractor and trailer to pick us up and take us down to the farm. We waited
in excitement around burning oil drums and bantered with other couples who were
attending the event. On arrival at the venue we entered a
reception area - a cosy, modern yurt - and delighted in sipping rhubarb Bellini’s
and munching canapés.
After a brief introduction by Steve Smith, Hugh
Fearnley-Whittingstall’s right hand man, we were asked to be seated at the two
huge banqueting tables. The tables were rustically decorated with red rose
petals and fragrant herbs, rosemary and bay. Waiting for us at the table was a
chilled bottle of champagne and many introductions from friendly couples. Below
is the fantastic menu which used nothing but locally sourced ingredients- each guest
having every single dish!
Chicken liver parfait on digestives
Confit pork belly, date and honey puree
Fresh organic trout tartare, rye toast
Cream of Jerusalem artichoke soup, chestnut and parsley pesto
Devon rock oysters
Paprikash of lamb's heart and tongue, mint yoghurt, toasted
sourdough, herb salad
Poached pear, air dried ham and Dorset blue vinny salad with
honey and thyme
Roast rump and loin of Park farm Lamb, slow cooked shoulder, parsnip puree,
green herb sauce
Bramley apple parfait, cinnamon shortbread
Vanilla yoghurt pannacotta, poached rhubarb, ginger and cider brandy snaps
Coffee
Petits fours
The River Cottage is 3½ hours from London by car and is an excellent location for special events. The venue can entertain groups of 10–200 at the farm, nestled in the Axe Valley, Dorset. Celebrate tying the knot or a host a party with a local, seasonal feast, and dance the night away in the converted 17th century barn. After booking our Valentines feast I would recommend them as a professional events team and can vouch that they are capable of tailoring a specific package for your time spent at River Cottage HQ.
I attended the launch of a new networking group Mesh Minds at the weekend, at the Adam Street private members club. I was accompanied by the wonderful Sarah Platt co-founder of Kinura a company that offers live web streaming, flash streaming and Web TV services. Kinura is also the home to the Speakolascope an interactive video installation for events, please check out the video footage on the above link for a demonstration.
Mesh is a new social networking group that aims to connect arts and business professionals with like-minded people so you can share contacts and creative interests, generate ideas and potentially collaborate on creative projects. The social group functions online, but they also host networking parties. T he website is still in beta phase and membership is by approval.
All in all my feedback was generally positive about the evening. I was quite impressed by the choice of venue and the DJ although it was pretty loud for a networking event. I also thought it was great to introduce some additional entertainment in the Adam Street gallery to create a talking point amongst guests. The comedy sketches ‘London Bites’ were part of the Standupdrama group.
Over the next few months, Mesh will be rolling out a programme of intimate themed events, starting in London, aimed at helping Mesh members to develop, produce and market their creativity to potential investors and collaborators. I'll be interesting to see what’s in store for these more edgy networking events.
Last week end I coordinated Games:AV, a
collaborative event on behalf of Cybersalon, Noise of Art and Slipped Disco.
The event was run in conjunction with the London Games Festival, as a fringe
event. This event formed a live concert, screening and club night featuring
musicians, DJs, VJs, audiovisualisers, film-makers, animators and digital
artists whose work has been shaped by Video Games culture.
I particularly enjoyed the Sancho Plan's digitally animated set of aquatic characters- true performance art of the 21st century. Also the digital funfair interactive works by Gavin @ Boredbrand I can recommend as fun element to any event. Overall the event was a success, despite being on a rainey Sunday evening in October.
