Charity Poker Evening at The Savoy

The Quintessentially Foundation is organizing a very special charity event in aid of The Prince's Trust: Poker Evening at The Savoy London. This marvelous event will take place on the 30th October 2012 from 6 pm onwards and is open to the general public. Tickets can be purchased by visiting Quintessentialy website and are priced £500 for an individual player (or £5,000 for a table of 10 people). 

All monies raised from the evening will be donated to The Prince's trust - the globally recognised charity dedicated to helping the young and unemployed throughout the UK. Winners of the Poker Night will still be rewarded with 10 amazing 'money-can't-buy' prizes including a Working Title Film pre-release screening for 35 guests and a stay in Vegas, complete with a helicopter flight to the Grand Canyon. 

A poker fan or not, this is a fabulous event with an even more fabulous cause.

Pink October in Hotel Metropole Monte-Carlo

This October, like nearly 40 countries around the world, Monaco will turn pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. In collaboration with the charity ‘Pink Ribbon Monaco’ and in celebration of a new breast cancer screening center in the Principality of Monaco, Hôtel Métropole will show its support with a ‘Pink October’ theme running throughout the hotel from 02 to 31 October 2012.

Besides pink lighting and other pink touches of the interior, the bar manager, Mickaël Bellec, has created the ‘Rose Passion Cocktail’: a cognac-based mix infused with Madagascar vanilla, white cocoa, a wild strawberry liqueur and dairy cream. The cocktail will be served in a pink shaker with strawberry candy. In addition, the head pastry cook, Satomi Kanai, has designed a desert called ‘Pink’ made up of egg white, hibiscus jelly and a yuzu sauce.

The ‘Pink October’ theme is in keeping with the Hotel Métropole’s ongoing artistic themes which are installed approximately every four months. Maud Lesur, the Artistic Director at Hotel Métropole Monte-Carlo, works together with “Miss Rose”, Hotel Métropole’s highly talented in-house stylist and florist, to dress and transform the hotel throughout the seasons. 

The Social Exerciser: how exercising as part of a group can be beneficial

Working as part of a team can have positive effects on your performance. The Kohler (1927) effect – unexpected improvements in individual performance in a group task – suggests that you should join a team or group which shares a performance goal, and even something as simple as exercising with a partner who shares a goal with you can produce the effect.

Many people struggle to maintain regular exercise programs, citing amongst other barriers to exercise a lack of enjoyment and a lack of discernible progress. Both those barriers can be overcome by exercising as part of a group. Social facilitation theory (Triplett, 1897) suggests that we perform simple tasks (such as gym based exercise) better when we are around other people, and several studies have demonstrated that by training with someone perceived as marginally better both motivation and performance rises. Find a training partner, work with a personal trainer who is willing to train with you not just train you, or pick an opponent or a doubles partner you feel is a slightly better player and reap the rewards.

Bandura (1977a) states that people are more likely to engage in a challenging task, or one perceived as not enjoyable, if they believe they will receive a reward (either tangible or intangible) for doing so. If you’re not someone who loves the gym then creating an environment where positive feedback is more likely will improve your chances of starting, and sticking to, an exercise program. In a team setting there are far more opportunities to share resources (Shumaker & Brownell, 1984); to receive positive feedback, learn new skills, and develop capabilities to deal with stress. Improved confidence and reduced stress will have a positive impact on the rest of your life, especially your health, and the social structure of a team gives more opportunity to make new friends and create new business relationships.

Modern business has begun to latch on to this link between group exercise and improved social interaction. The concept of “sweatworking”, a healthy alternative to the traditional networking standard of wining and dining, was coined in the USA and is now making an impression here in the UK with several health clubs offering themed group exercise sessions. The bottom line is; whatever you aim to achieve though exercise, you’ll have a better chance of being successful if you don’t try and go it alone.

Bandura, A. (1977a). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review, 84, 191-215.

Kohler, O. (1927). On group efficiency of physical labor and the conditions of optimal collective performance (translation). Industrielle Psychotechnik, 4, 209-226.

Shumaker, S.A., & Brownell, A. (1984). Toward a theory of social support: Closing conceptual gaps. Journal of Social Issues, 40, 11-36.

Triplett, N. (1897). The dyanmogenic factors in pacemaking and competition. American Journal of Psychology, 9, 507-533.

VIP Lounge Service at Heathrow

London's Heathrow has opened its VIP suites to passengers arriving to the airport with the promise of securing luxury brands to add to the experience. These suites used to be reserved for royalty, heads of state and diplomats; now they are targeted towards high-net-worth individuals for a premium service, labeled Heathrow by Invitation.

Heathrow by Invitation enables the users the exclusive use of the VIP suites and the privacy these offer.  Offerings include curbside drop-off and pick-up point and exclusive terminal entrance, a luxury private suite with VIP handlers taking care of check-in, luggage drop-off, customs and passport control, and a dedicated private security search area. Among the other pamperings are a limousine service to and from the passengers’ private suite directly to the airplane’s steps, a private suite to host meetings for up to six flyers and non-flyers before boarding the flight, and the pickup and delivery of arriving bags directly to the VIPs.

Convenience and customization are the key. The way to get a sense of this VIP service is to watch the following video:

Festive afternoon tea at Quince at The May Fair

Escape the hustle and bustle and step away from the frenzy of festive shoppers in London and into the luxurious comfort and relaxed sophistication of Quince, at luxury London hotel the May Fair, for an indulgent Quince Afternoon Tea with a seasonal twist. Featuring a mulled wine martini, chocolate mince pies and caramelised chestnuts, this is the perfect way to spend an afternoon of seasonal indulgence.

Vivienne Westwood presents Gold Label in Paris

The British Embassy in Paris hosedt Dame Vivienne Westwood and her Gold Label Spring-Summer catwalk show this Saturday. The show was held in the Embassy to celebrate the UK Governement GREAT Campaign, which highlights areas of British excellence and showcases why Britain is a world class destination for trade, investment and tourism.

Inspirations behind Westwood's collection go from the Beatles to Velasquez, from Chinese tea box wrapping to Ballet Russes. The show in Paris was entitled Climate Revolution, due to Westwood's dedication to environmental protection. In words of Vivienne herself: 

"Really the only connection with the collection and the Climate Revolution is the title but I want to remind you that it has begun, that we must all act fast, that our first line of attack is the economists who still insist on keeping separate the mutual cause of climate change. Their ignorance is driving into economic and environmental misery. Economists must face the truth and join the Climate Revolution."

Vertu and Italia Independent launch Constellation Blue

Constellation Quest Blue - qwerty

Vertu and creative brand Italian Independent announce the launch of a unique handset collection, “Constellation Blue”. The Constellation Blue collection comprises of two distinctive models, Constellation Quest Blue, the qwerty smartphone edition, limited to 77 handsets and Constellation Blue, Vertu’s touch smartphone, limited to 777 handsets.  For the Constellation Blue Collection, Vertu introduces a number of innovative performance materials, never before used by Vertu. The handsets have been handcrafted from polished ultra-hard blue pvd stainless steel, blue carbon fibre composite, blue metallic sapphire crystal keys as well as two-tone blue rubberised leather.  Each handset from the Constellation Blue Collection is built by just one craftsman in Vertu’s headquarters in England.

Constellation Quest Blue - touch screen

A truly co-developed product, the collection is inspired by the purity and simple elegance of the colour blue.  Lapo Elkann said: “I have a great love and passion for the sea. Blue has been the colour of my life. Using blue as the theme for this unique design collaboration seemed therefore natural to me.” Blue has become the very soul of this product and Vertu has made no compromises in delivering the spirit of Italia Independent to every element of the handset. The result is a unique handset collection reflecting Lapo’s ultimate style and unique personality.