The two BIBA social events are always a popular component of the conference experience. Both nights are very different but both are great fun and excellent value for money.

Wednesday May 19.

Bowling Evening

On Wednesday, and open to all delegates and exhibitors, we will be taking over All Star Lanes Bowling in Brick Lane for a night of friendly competition, with good food and wine and some musical entertainment.  But forget your pre-conceptions of bowling venues – All Star offer top quality lanes, a night club atmosphere. They call it ‘Boutique Bowling’!

Tickets: £55 plus VAT. Available from the conference website, or from Lindsay Campbell on 020 7397 0221

Thursday May 20.

Gala Dinner

The Gala Dinner, sponsored by AXA, will be on the Thursday night, at ExCeL. This black tie event is a great way to round off the conference, with excellent food, plenty of wine and some great entertainment. This year we will be entertained by comedy newcomer, Jack Whitehall.

At just twenty-one years old, Jack Whitehall has made a remarkable impact upon the comedy world. In August 2009, he was nominated for the Best Newcomer Award at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards for his debut solo Fringe show, Jack Whitehall: Nearly Rebellious. The show received rave reviews and completely sold out, with an extra date added due to public demand.

With a host of competition titles and an array of live appearances under his belt, this so-called ‘newcomer’ recently co-write and hosted TNT Show on Channel 4. He also hosted Celebrity Big Brother’s Big Mouth for its three week run live on E4 and other recent television appearances include You Have Been Watching, 8 Out of 10 Cats, Would I lie to you? and Mock The Week.

To complete the line-up we’re in for a real treat, courtesy of Trevor Chance’s Legends, Since 1990, Chance Promotions have been world leaders in the tribute industry, creating the UK’s first ever live show featuring a full production, with top class artists emulating the biggest stars in the history of popular music.

Since Legends began, Chance Promotions have only ever featured the very best look/soundalikes in the world, flying a Michael Jackson and Madonna from the USA to Dubai for a one night appearance, and a Shirley Bassey to play for Royalty.

Legends has toured the UK many times, New Zealand twice, played Barcelona, Finland, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, The Seychelles, Ireland, Dubai… the list goes on.

Tickets: £85 plus VAT. Available from the conference website, or from Lindsay Campbell on 020 7397 0221.

For more information on BIBA 2010 click here

At least two further sessions will be available to all visitors to BIBA 2010, including Exhibition Only visitors. Details are available on the conference website, but at the time of writing both Fortis and Allianz had announced plans.

Allianz welcomes Sir Steve Redgrave

Allianz’s special guest at BIBA 2010 is the greatest Olympian of all time, Sir Steve Redgrave. Sir Steve will be on our stand on Wednesday 19th May and will also be involved in the Fringe Session that we are hosting where, accompanied by Allianz senior management, he will take part in a Q&A session for delegates and exhibition visitors around the theme of professionalism.

Fortis’ magic formula for commercial success. Discover the secrets to keeping your customers spell bound…

Fortis is committed to the commercial lines sector and is seeking to replicate its personal lines success and service excellence. It is imperative that we stay in touch with you to deliver the same levels of service that you have come to expect from us.

We’ve conjured up an informal networking session with drinks and canapés as we unveil how we can help you to address your commercial customer needs.

Find out how our commercial proposition is evolving with the addition of exciting new products including Fleet Guard and enhanced eTrading, making it easier and more efficient for you to do business.

All brokers who attend the Fortis fringe session will be entered into a free prize draw. The broker drawn out of the hat at end of the session will walk away with an enchanting weekend stay at a magical castle.

Bookings can be made from the conference web site accessed via www.biba.org.uk . Click on the BIBA 2010 conference logo and go to the Delegate part of the site.

Last year in Manchester a number of celebrities could be seen enjoying the BIBA hospitality – we noticed Jeremy Guscott, Victoria Pendleton and Mark Selby.

This year promises to be just as interesting – at the time of writing we had heard that Steve Davis, the snooker legend, would be taking on all comers at the CII stand, Sir Steve Redgrave will be on the Allianz stand on Wednesday, and Ab Fabs ‘Patsy’ will be seen at the Markel stand. On the QBE stand they’ll be having guests from the one of the two teams in the Guinness Rugby Premiership finals, So if you’re a fan of the oval ball don’t miss stand E16!

On the Rok stand () they’ll be featuring demonstrations from the Rok handyman, giving their top ten tips on avoiding household maintenance problems. The handyman will be around between 3pm and 4pm on Wednesday and between 11am and 12am on Thursday.

On the Harris Balcombe stand, David Lewis, the TV caricaturist will be on hand to record a special conference memento for you. David, who has been at the last 14 BIBA conferences, is happy for anyone to bring pictures of their children or animals if they want them incorporated in a sketch. To avoid disappointment, make an appointment before the show, by emailing Nick Balcombe on nick.balcombe@hariisbalcombe.com

For more information on BIBA 2010 click here