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Xperiology

A Chance To “Wine” Down

Here at Xperiology, every last Friday of the month, we place the responsibility on one member of our team to plan a day of fun for the entire office.

This month, it was the turn of our Events Coordinator, Oana Buhus, to entertain the team in an educational (yet enjoyable) manner… We like to call it “edutainment”.

Celebrating everyone’s hard work over a busy month, Oana organised an exclusive tour of the Brighton Royal Pavilion, followed by wine-tasting at Ten Green Bottles – a local wine bar in the heart of Brighton.

The Royal Pavilion was built for the Prince Regent, later King George IV, as a holiday home and houses some of the finest collections and examples of the ‘chinoiserie style’ in Britain.

The team enjoyed a wonderful tour of the entire palace – including the banqueting room, the great kitchen (which made the entire team rather hungry – especially Lewis), the royal bedrooms and the royal reception rooms.

The team even learnt some valuable lessons in how to host your guests, with a friendly, engaging and insightful tour from our exclusive tour guide, Anne. The only trouble was – it was so cold!

What did we learn?

  • Know your “product”;
  • Be enthusiastic;
  • Love your “product”.

Xperiology Tips to Improve your Venue

  • Turn on the heating (people might stay in your venue for longer);
  • Finish the guided tour in the gift shop (increase dwell time and maximise sales);
  • Encourage visitors to explore the rest of the palace (keep visitors in your venue for longer).

Next Up…

The Xperiologists then made their way to Ten Green Bottles for the next stage of the trip.

Laura, our expert wine connoisseur for the evening, talked us through the different wines and served us our antipasti nibbles to accompany the drinks.

Once again, she also showed us some valuable lessons in customer service that we can all take away and use at our events. Her friendly and personal manner made for a really enjoyable evening, the only trouble was… we couldn’t hear her! Perhaps Friday evenings aren’t the best day for wine-tasting?

The team were given six different wines from varying geographical locations, to sample and enjoy. The first was a local sparkling white wine from Ditchling – produced a mere seven miles down the road – and it was a real winner with the ladies!

champagne

Next came two whites, two reds and we finished with a dessert wine. Ian showed off his extensive European wine knowledge by correctly guessing the origin of wine number three… Austria. It seems as though the days of putting anti-freeze in their wine are over!

Inevitably, most of the team woke up with hangovers the next day! Only time will tell if they will remember the educational factor of the trip…

What did we learn?

  • Speak clearly and loudly (communication is key);
  • Timing is everything (Friday evenings are too loud and crowded);
  • Adaptability is appreciated by your customers.

Xperiology Tips to Improve your Venue

  • Offer a mobile wine-tasting service (a busy bar on a Friday evening isn’t the best setting?);
  • Have a separate secluded room for small group wine-tasting.

Keep an eye on our website for the next instalment of ‘Xperiology’s monthly outing’ (to be organised by Salim, Content & Programming Manager) plus all of the latest news and announcements from Xperiology. More on the Xperiologists here.Here at Xperiology, every last Friday of the month, we place the responsibility on one member of our team to plan a day of fun for the entire team.

Posted in Xperiology