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 - 150 employees, though we have smaller companies, such as freelancers and partnerships, and larger ones with hundreds of employees.

Most have offices in London, but we also have members as far afield as Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Oxford, and Manchester.

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

Urbano membersship include 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  four key ways.

Promotion: We feature each Host Partner venue on three mailers sent to the Urbano database of 60,000+ subscribers. Our mailers get read and opened by an average of 15% each cycle.

Connections: Those who book our event with you will enjoy a sample of your hospitality. They also share their experience via Instagram and other social channels, but perhaps more importantly tell others in their networking circles.

Recommendations: At the centre of the Urbano web, we often get asked to recommend venues for cleint and team meals, parties, networking events etc by member and associate companies.

Introductions: Opportunities come attached to people. Often it is impractical for venue marketing, sales and events teams to come to events, so we make sure we are their 'eyes and ears', looking for and listening out for opportunities to promote them.

Host Partners can also promote their own events via our Tuesday Opportunities Notice and the first monthly events mailer, which features links to our Corporate Members own events.
Members event calendar

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.

Urbano Events Calendar - to December 2024

(Confirmed events and host in brackets in bold. Excludes speaker events hosted at member law firms)

Wednesday August 21st - Networking lunch, Sixes Fitzrovia

Wednesday September 11th - Top Table networking lunch, Cafe Du Marche, Clerkenwell

Wednesday October 9th - Urbano Women In Business Community Top Table networking lunch, The Harben Room, The Pem, Conrad St James's

Thursday 22nd October - Urbano 'open' breakfast (venue TBC)

Wednesday November 6th, Urbano Build Community Top Table networking lunch (Venue TBC - 30 places)

Wednesday November 20th - Urbano members Christmas networking evening

Wednesday December 11th - Urbano Christmas Top Table networking lunch


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 unless hosted by a Host Partner Venue.

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.

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