But, as per, curiosity got the better of me. I had to see what it was all about, if only to tell my pals – and anyone else born before 1995 for that matter – that a flashmob is in fact not a mop-wielding clan of super-human cleaners.

I was cynical. I mean, would the sound of Andy Williams’ Can’t Take My Eyes Off You sung in four-part harmony by South London’s famous Popchoir at one of the city’s busiest tourist hotspots really entice her to say Yes?

Well, you can find out for yourself what happened right here:

Watch the Popchoir flashmob proposal video and I challenge you not to cry.

Suffice is to say I won’t be watching again. The last time it led to profuse blinking and I don’t want to put my false eyelashes in any further jeopardy.

*Urban dictionary definition of a flashmob: A flashmob is when a large group of people suddenly come together and perform some sort of action, which draws an audience very quickly. After they perform the stunt, the group of people quickly disperse.

Or,

A group of arts students with far too much spare time on their hands that collectively pre-arrange to “spontaneously” burst into song or theatrical performance in public spaces to annoy the general public.

Popchoir flashmob proposal, photo by Niomi Goggin

Normally Abigail wouldn’t get involved in such a heavy debate, but on this case she is determined to try and ‘out’ whistleblower14@ymail.com’

Having looked through the dictionary Abigail discovered a whistleblower is someone who reveals that a company or person has deliberately lied about part of their business that they have previoulsy proclaimed to be true.

According to whistleblower14@ymail.com’s email this anonymous keyboard warrior has included details of Event’s ABC profile. Bizarrely, or perhaps stupidly he or she is claiming that this is bad.

Herein lies the confusion. The ABC, which most of Event’s rivals don’t adhere too is an independent measurement of print readers for publications.

Abigail is assured that this is the only tool that can be used to measure print readers, so it is strange someone is claiming they are blowing the whistle on the very same figures Event has been quoting to the industry.

However, after a little digging it has come to Abigail’s attention that whistleblower14@ymail.com is slightly confused and has probably heard that Event’s online readership for January 2012 was 37,223 unique users and 145,433 page impressions, and mixed this up with its print readership. A schoolboy error if you like.

Again this was measured by an independent source known as Omniture, which is a standard for the digital industry. While the other digital standard, Hitbox, highlights Event having 76% of the online event market.

As to who whistleblower14@ymail.com is Abigail is determined to find the coward that has to hide behind the cloak of anonymity.

Abigail is well aware that when someone is leading the way in any sector of life, and in this case the top publication, rivals are queuing up to try and stop their dominance. Perhaps whistleblower14@ymail.com works for one of those publications?

And I was very pleased I did. Because guess what I heard? A certain events manager of a certain London events venue told me in confidence that he has an audition to be a dancer at the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics. I think he then had to fight the urge to pirouette.

Amaze.

I do hope he makes the troop.

Can you guess who it is? Go on, have a little guess!

I love a bauble or two, and sparkly festive decor is springing up everywhere I look. Delight. One of the most spectacular decorations I’ve seen, and certainly one of the biggest, is the five-storey tree in Imagination’s offices near Tottenham Court Road, which reaches the top of the Atrium space.

Imagination staff are told the Christmas elves perform the feat of getting it in the door – I might have some insider knowledge on how it’s done, but I won’t spoil the magic.

Impressively, the 60,000 bulbs that make up those twinkling lights use the same amount of energy as it takes to boil two kettles.

Wouldn’t it be a travesty if there were other twinkly decorations hidden away in event company offices, when they should be shared with the world?

I think a bit of a Christmas competition is in order – all in the holiday spirit of course. If your office has some decorations worth sharing with me, send them via fancy electronic mail to abigaileventblog@gmail.com and we’ll show a selection of the best over the next two weeks.

Abigail learnt this week that the chairman of one of the 19 event industry associations has been using a publication to vent his considerably subjective opinion on the number of award ceremonies in the event industry.

Interestingly the vocal chairman was attempting to explain how there are too many award ceremonies in the industry. However, in his somewhat biased opinion Abigail heard that he launched into something of an underhand and sneaky attack on the three produced by one particular publishing company. Abigail is reliably informed that what he failed to recognise was that each ceremony caters for different sectors of the event industry and serves different sponsors, entrants and guests. In fact Abigail has been told that he even slated the publishing company’s latest award offering for not having enough guests, yet the whole point of the ceremony was to be intimate and provide a night for brands and agencies. In fact the type of brands at the offering were those that association can only dream of attracting. What he failed to mention was that his association’s awards were produced by the aforementioned publishing company for many years. There appeared to be little complaint about ‘too many awards’ when this partnership was still in place. But then Abigail hears that said association believes itself to be the biggest in the industry, yet facts tell a different story. One particular event association that has strong ties to the exhibition industry has double the number of members and double the number of guests at it awards ceremony. Perhaps the ‘self-styled association spokesman’ should look closer to home before speaking to the industry press?

However, even i was slightly taken back by some of the Tweets i witnessed last night over the event to launch the Nokia Lumia.

As with all innovative and unique events there are bound to be a number of technical hitches. However, i was shocked that one particular managing director from a leading event agency decided to make a point of retweeting all the negative tweets that had been posted. Not only that, but said MD slyly added a couple of cheeky comments under each retweet.

Very sneaky indeed.

Yours Abigail

And I’ve spied a bit of a cosmic theme.

The outer-space themed
We Sell Space Differently event at Harrogate International Centre on 18 November
showed off its new exhibition halls, which will open in December. Back in my hotel, I delved into my goody
bag and discovered a silver packet containing a freeze dried vanilla ice cream
sandwich designed for astronauts. I’m not sure I’ll be leaving the stratosphere
for my next event, so I’ll nibble on it later and let you know how it turns
out.

Then, earlier this week I mingled at the ACC Liverpool
showcase, which was held in the beautiful 45 Millbank.
The ACC is nicknamed ‘The Star of the North’ and fittingly the goody bag gave
each guest the deeds to name our own star. I have always enjoyed owning sparkly objects, so I must say this suits me well.

To add to all this, at the Planit Supernova
lunch on Thursday I heard that one of their fabulous marquees could
have a space theme next year. Just so long as Mystic Meg isn’t the guest of honour.

It was the Lord Mayor’s show last Saturday (12 November) and to celebrate the new mayor heralding from Yorkshire, he hosted a private reception, which of course I was a guest at, on board the HQS Wellington with a scrumptious Yorkshire themed menu. I then got to watch the fireworks over the Thames from an optimum vantage point on deck.

On Wednesday night I was a guest at the glittering SportsAid Sports Ball at Battersea Evolution, where I admired some brilliant young althetes demonstrating their skills. BBC Sport presenter John Inverdale hosted and drew considerable laughs from the crowd at the expense of his friend Kris Akabusi. I had the honour of holding the Olympic torch which complemented my gold ballgown perfectly if I do say so myself. The three-course dinner from Smart Event Catering was exquisite, although the company at my table – including Olympic pentathlete Dame Mary Peters – reminded me I’ve enjoyed plenty of fine suppers recently but haven’t visited my personal trainer in a while. The evening raised over £50,000, topping its previous record.

Then of course there was the delightfully festive VIP drinks among an enchanting Christmas tree forest for the Ideal Home Show at Christmas, at Earl’s Court last night. The drink was flowing, but the canape to wine ratio was somewhat concerning. The miniature warm mince pies partially made up for it, although one simply wasn’t enough. Still, the scarcity of food didn’t seem to bother Masterchef’s Greg Wallace, who was enjoying a drink or three in the snow.

Until next week…

Abigail x

Unfortunately, and just like at The Next Big Thing in 2009 at the NEC in Birmingham, Kitty Brucknell couldn’t quite last the distance on this year’s X Factor and bowed out on Saturday.

But unlike her appearance in The Next Big Thing – where she offered to show one of the judges her breasts in a desperate attempt to make it into the final – she didn’t promise to show anything of the sort to Gary Barlow or even Louis Walsh.

In fact, Abigail hears that her ‘interesting’ performance of Britney Spears in Birmingham was far from the highlight of the corporate competition.

However, after her exit on Saturday, it would appear Kitty is ready to embrace the corporate market once again and is putting her talents to good use by switching the lights on at the shopping mecca that is Bluewater.

Abigail expects her to be appearing at a corporate event near you very soon.

Pros:

- The food, provided by Searcy’s was a delight. Well cooked fish and chips and the aphrodisiac Oysters went down a treat
- Young Guns’ Soul Symphony were a class act- Hip Hop classics mixed with strings and amazing vocals.

Cons:

- The psychology talk was didn’t interest me (I keep my cards close to my cleavage) so the excessive volume of the presentation was a little in your face for me
- The men in polo neck jumpers I oggled on the way in failed to make a return appearance

For Event’s more factual story, with pictures, click here.