Thank you Goldsmiths!

I cannot even begin to explain how grateful I am for this experience.  Goldsmiths truly took me under their wing and made me one of their own.  By the time I left I really did feel like an employee of the university - waving to people on campus I recognized, greeting the team in the morning, making tea in the department kitchen and cruising the university hallways like a regular staff member.  Thank you, thank you Goldsmiths!  Special thanks to...

Magnificent Mary, head of RCCS (Residences, Catering & Conference Services)

Charming Caroline who works for Vanessa...

Adorable Anita (in purple) who let me steal her desk...

Fantastic Fred, security guard who greeted me every night I came home (wish I had a photo)..

And lastly, Vivacious Vanessa!  My London BFF (Best Friend Forever) who hopefully does not kill me for putting this photo in :-). 

 

So who is ready to do this in 2011!

Notable Websites

For those in the U.K.:

http://www.acced-i.org/
All are invited to attend our conference held from March 27-30 in Orlando, Florida

For those in the U.S.:

http://www.venuemasters.com/
Website of our sister association

http://www.conferencecare.com/
Venue search site for meeting planners.  No charge for service but site makes commission from booking

http://www.travelstay.com/
Searches for hotels, B&B's, hostels and university accommodations in the U.K.

http://www.universityrooms.co.uk/
Search site for university accommodations in the U.K.

Beautiful Dorich House at Kingston

Vanessa and I took a trip over to Kingston University on Friday where she was employed for five years prior to her move to Goldsmiths earlier this summer.  The Conferences Office runs and manages Dorich House which was the studio, gallery and home of the sculptor Dora Gordine (1885-1991) and her husband the Hon. Richard Hare (1907-1966), a Professor of Russian Literature.   The house was built in 1936, and restored by Kingston University in 1994.  The meeting spaces are simply stunning and truly unique.  I am not sure if my words can do it justice.    Please check out the website and see some of my photos below

http://www.dorichhouse.com/homepage.html

Board Room

Look at those doors!

Sculptures inside one of the meeting spaces

Roof top terrace

A priceless photo

Well I took Judith up on her offer and went back to visit the Principal of Heythrop College. The Principal is the chief executive and the chief academic officer of a university or college in certain parts of the Commonwealth.

I was able to sit and chat with Dr. John McDade, who is also a Jesuit priest, for approximately 30 minutes this morning. He has been in his position for 11 years and his 12th year will be his last. We discussed the purpose of my visit, the latest news from LMU and Los Angeles, getting the word out about Heythrop and a little bit about good Scottish whiskey!

It was truly a pleasure to meet him and I was glad he was able to take some time out of his day to greet me.   The photo below will be taken home and shared with LMU. 

The afternoon at Goldsmiths brought a baby shower for one of the staff members in the office.  She is allowed 1 year off of work - jealous!!  I was also happy to be at my desk when both Vanessa and Caroline secured 3 new pieces of business - one of them being quite a large overnight conference for 2011.   A great day in the Conferences office.

Dr. McDade and I outside of Heythrop

Vanessa and I at our desks in the office.

Another great day at Goldsmiths

It is amazing how comfortable I feel working at Goldsmiths.  Vanessa and I bounce ideas off each other all day, staff let me sit and listen in on meetings, I make tea for myself in the kitchen - I feel like part of the team! 

Today we walked the meeting spaces again in the new media building of Goldsmiths and discussed how it could be marketed to external conferences or groups.  Between two large lecture halls and breakout space they can easily seat 400 participants and offer overnight housing accommodations in the nearby Loring Hall (my current home).

The building is set to officially open the first week of September...I just wish I could be here to see it in action!

http://www.gold.ac.uk/newacademicbuilding/imagesandwebcams/newacademicbuilding-workinprogress16august2010/ 

One of two new lecture hall rooms

Atrium space outside of lecture hall

View from top floor of new building

Breakout space in media building

Soft seating area in building

Kings College

It was a another wonderful day of touring, this time at  Kings College London.  There are four Thames-side campus locations within a square mile and I was given the opportunity to visit 3 of the sites.   The Strand Campus has the most amazing location next to Somerset House and the Waterloo Bridge.  A walk across the Waterloo Bridge gives you a fantastic view of the London Eye and the action of the Thames.

My extensive tour was taken with Ian Hughes, Deputy Conference Services Manager and Farnaz Ayrom-Walsh, Senior Event Coordinator.  The full name of their department is Conferences & Timetabling Services or CATS.  How fantastic is that name!   I was also happy to find a native Californian in Farnaz who grew up in the Los Angeles area and moved here three years ago.  I knew we had the same accent!

I found the CATS department to be setup very similar to my own at Loyola.  Their Timetables department is equivalent to our Events Scheduling Office who reserve all non-academic meeting spaces.  I could not imagine having this office separate from my department but I am not quite sure how common that is among universities in either the U.K. or the U.S..  Kings has something like 200 meeting spaces - so wonderful!  They do not have much storage space so groups typically use the in-house equipment for their meeting.  They also have 3-4 Event Coordinators responsible for coordinating internal and external events which is also similar to my department.  Something I was interested to learn was that ALL groups (including internal) are charged for meeting space.  I am sure many of us would like to follow this model, right?

Please visit their website to learn more about the CATS department and services: www.kcl.ac.uk/kcvb

The Great Hall on the Strand Campus

Principle's Dining Room

Guy's Campus

Edits

It has come to my attention that people are actually reading this blog.  Hi everyone! 

With that said there are a few minor edits I wanted to mention on my previous posts.  Please note the following:

1. UCL stands for University College London

2. Correct conference website for Imperial: http://www.3.imperial.ac.uk/conferenceandevents

Thank you for the feedback.  Feel free to e-mail me directly at tcarlson@lmu.edu with any additional comments or questions.

London Eye and River Thames