Corporate Events Blog

This contraption invented by Ross Lovegrove’s is a futuristic ski chalet pod. It looks like a George Lucas inspired metal tent – but believe me this is nothing like camping. Instead of cold noses peaking out of sleeping bags and wrestling with calor gas stoves, this place is fully hooked up with portable power plants with vertical wind turbines and petal-shaped solar panels will provide it with 500W each of energy. If you think that’s good then the carbon footprint is tiny to insignificant so you can rest easy in the comfort of your new age pod. The mirrored exterior means you’re almost invisible on the mountain but even more impressively enables you from the comfort of the pod to have 360 degree views of the mountains. It will be available to rent from late next year meaning if you’re planning a ski trip in 2010- 2011 you could stay in one of these. I never thought I’d be tempted by sleeping up a mountain in ski season but when it sounds this good for the environment I don’t think I can resist.

The word conference rarely fills people with excitement; it conjures up images of dark stuffy rooms, bad coffee and rubbish locations. As I flick through some new work we’re doing in the office I have to say I think Ten80 may have solved this age old problem by hosting conferences in Chamonix. We have done the hard work too, inspired by the growing amount of hotels and conference facilities becoming available in Chamonix; from small meeting rooms to Le Majestic Conference centre which has the capacity to hold 400 people, we have launched the Ten80 Conference brochure. Not only are there great facilities available but also lots of extra touches to add value to your event and create something memorable. It’s a picturesque location to host a conference with views of Mont Blanc amongst other things; Chamonix will inspire your staff and motivate people – which is what conferences should do.

By going abroad not only do you excite your audience before the event has even started but also open up your options for your and your delegates’ spare time. Chamonix offers great choices for team building or group activities: from skiing, mountain biking and glacier walks to team bonding over a fondue and some great wine it really suits any style of event. With cheap flights available all over the internet and bargains to be had in Chamonix, especially out of season, it seems an ideal location to host a conference, and the coffee isn’t too bad either.

So now that the snow is back in Chamonix, everyone’s missing the sunshine, including myself. As much as I love to snowboard sometimes you can’t beat sitting outside with friends on a warm Summer’s night. Despite the new snow fall, the Ten80 office is getting geared up for the Summer. I’ve heard a lot of things about the summer in Chamonix and believe me its all good. When the snow has melted the mountains truly live up to there reputation as a playground, with a load of activities to get stuck into. Of course the mountains play as the perfect location for hiking, climbing, and mountain biking but also in Chamonix there are the glacier walks which provide beautiful views over the mountains and the valley. To make the most of the inevitable melting snow then there’s the water based sports like rafting and canyoning, which involves making your way along rivers and rapids by using the river bed as a natural obstacle course; plunging yourself into the mountain streams by abseiling, jumps and natural water slides. It’s something I’d never heard of before and can’t wait to try when the water warms up a little.

If your fancying something a little more relaxed, then Ten80 also have Summer events in Ibiza, which have a much more laid back feel with sailing, beaches and beautiful restaurants, it sounds like the perfect Summer break for businesses looking for to relax or reward their customers and staff. I have also recently been looking into hotels for a corporate surfing trip in Biarritz this September. With talks of events as far a field as Morocco, the world really is our oyster at Ten80. It seems that if you’re looking to organise a corporate event then you’ll be spoilt with options this summer.

As I sit tapping away at my computer in Chamonix, it seems very strange to think that I could be doing my internship back in the UK. When I first found out I had to do an internship for my master’s course I thought that sounds like a great excuse to go snowboarding – that’s not entirely true, but, as it goes, it is a good excuse to enjoy the pistes. As I sat trawling through internet searches thinking about what I enjoy and what experience I wanted to gain, I realised that I have always wanted to work abroad so why not do my internship overseas. I had recently visited Chamonix and had a great time so started to look at what sort of events the town has to offer. As I searched, I stumbled upon Ten80, which sounded like an exciting events company. Organising bespoke corporate ski and summer trips sounded appealing and working within a smaller company would give me the opportunity to learn lots.

I am currently getting my hands dirty in the office and the experience is great, learning about the business and how its run, not to mention the views from the office and organising trips you’re jealous of is a lot of fun. I’ve really enjoyed my time in Chamonix so far, it’s been a real mix of work, snowboarding and socialising. The saying work hard, play hard comes to mind. I’ve learnt a lot for my course which is the fundamental reason I’m out here (honest) but I’ve had great fun doing it (and my snowboarding’s improved a little too.) I’ve met some really great people and the experience has really fired my passion to work abroad. I would recommend it to anyone who has the means and the inclination – you won’t be disappointed.