Hosting an Urbano event

Urbano and our host venues
Created in 2010 from our early days running a vibrant business community in Shoreditch from the mid 2000's, Urbano Network is an independent networking community, connecting a ranger of quality companies across our different business communities: Build, Create-Media, Finance, Host, People, Tech & Telecoms, UWACTE (Urbano Women in Architecture, Construction, Technology & Engineering) & Women In Business. 

Urbano acts as a pro-active catalysts to connections and facilitators of opportunities for our membership, including our venues, making introductions online and elsewhere where we know one offers a service that the other requires, including venues where clients and teams can be taken for lunches, or hired for Christmas and summer parties.

For more details on Urbano, our background, history and approach, please click here: Member and Supporter Deck

How does Urbano work with venues?
Urbano's membership consists mainly of companies that have between 8 - 80 employees, though we have smaller companies, such as freelancers and partnerships, and larger ones with hundreds of employees.

The typical Urbano event attendee is a business founder, director or senior professional and we bring our venues to the attention of quality venues through our events and network. Our primary role is about facilitating, encouraging and creating connections between those that create and run our member companies.

These are the most senior of decision-makers, the people who decide how and where money their company money is spent, including their own business events and private parties.

Urbano helps our Host Partner Venues promote themselves and generate new connections in three main ways:

Firstly, attendees book their own social and networking events having first been attended an Urbano event at the venue which acts as a showcase and personal introduction to the event/marketing teams. 

Secondly, numerous numerous companies have been inspired to make enquiries into Host Partner venues having seen details on our events mailers.

Thirdly, companies ask Urbano for recommendations and introductions for venues that fulfill their requirements.

And last, our host partner venues can promote their own 'events', such as Christmas and summer party offers, wine tastings etc on our weekly Opportunity Notices

We only promote, recommend and connect member venues to others across the community. To become a member a venue needs to host ONE URBANO EVENT in 2024.

Our events are one of the ways we connect these companies with our venues. All event attendees get to sample the hospitality, including food, drink and experience offer of our host venue, and meet their events, marketing and sales teams.

Becoming a Host Partner of Urbano also allows a venue and its sales/marketing/BD teams to join an exclusive, active, but friendly community of businesses, looking to find ways to engage and work together.

And every Urbano event is promoted to a database of around 55,000 business representatives three times and features details of the host venue.

Urbano Hosting Event Calendar 2024
(Confirmed events and host in brackets in bold).

Friday January 19th - Tendering workshop (JAW)

Wednesday January 24th - Top Table Networking Lunch (Quo Vadis, Soho)

Thursday January 25th - Speaker breakfast on ESG in Property and Finance (Seddons)


Thursday February 14th - Networking breakfast 

Wednesday February 21st - Top Table Networking Lunch 

Thursday February 28th - Networking evening

Wednesday March 6th - Networking lunch to celebrate International Women's Day

Wednesday March 21st - Top Table Networking Lunch

Wednesday March 27th - Networking breakfast/lunch

Thursday April 9th - Speaker networking breakfast on AI 

Wednesday April 17th - Top Table Networking Lunch 

Wednesday April 24th - Urbano Property/Finance communities networking evening (Italian Greyhound)

If you would like to discuss hosting one of Urbano's events in 2024, please read on to understand how we work with our host venues and then email Mark (details below) with your preferred date and event type. 

HOW TO BECOME AN URBANO HOST PARTNER

In return for sponsoring ONE URBANO EVENT - which includes all space, food and drink costs of an event type and date we agree together (see list below), we offer these venues in return a Host Partner Urbano Membership to run for 12 months from date of hosting agreement, and which includes the following benefits:

  • Annual Host Membership (Corporate Urbano Membership + Urbano Venue Promotions) for your venue and its marketing/sales/events team

  • Your venue details promoted THREE TIMES on Urbano Event Mailers sent to our regularly updated database of 55,000+ business subscribers

  • Full access to network with your Urbano event attendees and exclusive use of their data for follow-up purposes including permission to add to your marketing database

  • Facility to promote your own events via links on Urbano's events mailers and  notices, such as wedding showcases, gin tastings, cocktail masterclasses etc.

  • Receive direct event/venue enquiries through Urbano or prompted by the team's own networking with Urbano

  • Weekly Tender List including conferences, events, catering

HOST ONE URBANO EVENT = ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP FOR THAT VENUE

Networking Breakfast: 09:30 - 11:30 - Host provides showcase breakfast/brunch menu, including juice and coffee for 18-24 attendees. 

Networking Lunch: 12:30 - 14:30 - Host provides showcase lunch menu for 18 - 28 attendees plus a glass of wine, beer or soft drink. (Typical menus can be provided on request)

Networking Evenings: 18:00 - 20:00 - Host provides 2 drinks pp (wine/beer/soft drink) + canapes/nibbles. Space and hospitality for 30-45 people.

We always update host venues on likely final numbers as we try to keep any food waste to a minimum. 

NOTE. Urbano books and pays for our Top Table networking lunches which are exclusively for the owners, founders and senior directors of our company members. We do not share the data of attendees with the venue and we do not promote the venue on our mailers.

But some Host Partner Venues part sponsor a Top Table event so they get all the usual promotional benefits of hosting an Urbano event. Please ask if you are interested in the details.

FOR ALL HOSTING ENQUIRIES

If you think Urbano is a community where you would meet serious businesses with budget for their own events and like to showcase to them what you offer, please email Mark Herring, Connector-In-Chief at Urbano, in the first instance to discuss hosting an event in 2024.

You can follow @urbanonetwork on Instagram, Twitter and Linkedin


 

Partners