QE2 50 year event 22 September 2017, Clydebank

[Cunarder Man]

I was encouraged when I spoke with fellow passengers and crew on Queen Elizabeth that many of them were aware of The QE2 Story. A number of crew (ex QE2) were familiar with the site and follow threads. I did highlight a conference was planned and to watch the Story for details. They did like the QE2 Story badge which I was wearing.

In relation to publicity for the 2017 event, a formal release is being prepared by the committee and this will be launched through the Story and in the media in the autumn.

John

[Twynkle]

Thank you both, Lynda and John

"Have cards - will travel"!
If there can be some available by mid- October it would be very helpful.
(Hoping to do a QE2 Interest Group on board QM2, T-A RT!)
In the meantime I'll continue with the cards as usual, mention the conference as well!

John - I very much agree, I overheard many folk on board talking about QE2, too

Maybe for the Anniversary of QE2's Maiden Voyage, Cunard might really push the Boat out and plan another Anniversary Round Britain to Celebrate that, Please.
Menus, Gatherings, Films, Toasts and Bears!
Just Saying!
Rosie

[Clydebuilt1971]

Hi Rob
Please - would it be possible for you to make an additional sheet of A4 for duplicated 'cards' exactly as before, and then importantly, adding one extra line with Title, Date and Venue of next year's conference.

If it's possible for you, it would be good if you can do them tomorrow or Monday  - please and thank you!
Then I can take them (printed here, at home) before I leave for Southampton on Tuesday afternoon.
They can then be distributed as necessary on QM2's 4 Nighter to/ from Hamburg.
Cheers!

Rosie

Hi Rosie,

As usual I am at the "coo's tail" with these posts but as Lynda and John have already said - many many thanks for your continued promotion of the forum via the business cards!

As a committee we decided to keep the event PR separate from any other so we can make announcements as and when we feel appropriate but thanks for coming up with the idea in the first place and enjoy your cruise!

Gav

[June Ingram]

Please allow me to add my thanks to you, Rosie, for all that you do to keep QE2 in everyone's hearts and minds. 

And thank you, Lynda, for outlining the timeline for announcing The Event which will prove to be a tremendously exciting event and tribute.   

[Lynda Bradford]

We are pleased to announce the speaker we have booked for the conference celebrating QE2’s 50 years since her launch in 1967.  A special newsletter has been sent out to members today but we wanted ensure the information was also available on this topic. 

We are also currently working on a flyer that will be sent to maritime organisations and will be available to forum members to hand out to friends, local venues or when cruising.  We should have these available by late September early October.  Keep watching for more information. 

Lot’s of work ongoing and we will be keeping you informed on this topic and on the monthly newsletter. 

Event Speakers

Ian Johnston - QE2 Origins
Ian is a retired Deputy Director and Head of Academic Programme at the Digital Design Studio, which is part of the Glasgow School of Art.   His books include, "Building Ships for a Nation" (the history of John Brown's Shipyard).  He is also co-author with Bruce Peters and Philip Dawson of the excellent book "QE2 Britain’s Greatest Liner".   
 
Dr Bruce Peter - QE2 Interior and Exterior Design
Bruce is Reader in Design History at Glasgow School of Art.  His research relates mainly to architecture and design for transport, leisure and entertainment. Following his PhD, he has combined his interests in leisure design with cruise ship design to write a number of books, including co-author of "QE2 Britain's Greatest Liner". He is also a design journalist and critic writing for publications in the UK, Denmark and Sweden. 
 
Brian Price - life as a Cruise Director onboard QE2
Brian had a forty-four year career at sea.  He was Assistant Purser on Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth at the time when QE2 was being built.  Brian switched to the Entertainment Department on Carmania before transferring to QE2 in 1970.  He was then appointed Cruise Director on Cunard Adventurer and Cunard Countess. In 1974 he was selected as Cruise Director for QE2 and he remained with the ship for 21 years.  He finished his career on QM2 and retired in 2006.  Brian frequently gives talks to organisations. 

Scott Clegg - QE2 in Dubai
Dubai World, Project Manager, who accepted QE2 in 2008 on behalf of the company will be giving an insight into QE2's first 4 years in Dubai.  An exciting time full of promise and also frustration.
 
Ronnie Keir - from QE2 Apprentice to Senior Officer
Ronnie Keir, a retired Cunard Chief Engineer, will speak about his experience as an apprentice at John Brown’s Shipyard and being a Senior Officer on QE2.   Ronnie was a John Brown’s apprentice at the time when QE2 was built.  He worked on the vessel during his third and fourth year, when he was involved in the manufacture of the turbines and gearboxes. He joined Cunard in 2003 as Staff Chief Engineer on QE2 and worked as Chief Engineer on Queen Mary 2, Queen Elizabeth, and Queen Victoria.  Ronnie is a Trustee for the Charity "Friends of Queen Mary" that is working to restore TS Queen Mary and will want to update us on the progress of this work.
     
Captain Nick Bates - his experience as Captain of QE2
Captain Bates worked with Cunard for 45 years starting his career with Port Line a cargo subsidiary of Cunard.  He was appointed Master of QE2 in 2004 and Queen Mary 2 in 2008.  After his retirement in 2010 his various interests include working for the Seagull Trust, a charity offering free cruises on Scotland's Canals for people with special needs.  He is also a popular after dinner speaker. 
 
John Little – a  passenger’s perspective
John, a QE2 Story forum member enjoyed many cruises on QE2 over 25 years. We can look forward to an interesting presentation on many of his unique experiences and perspectives as a  passenger and Cunard enthusiast. 

Rob Lightbody - closing remarks and vote of thanks
Rob Lightbody is founder of The QE2 Story website, and also ran one of the very first QE2 websites.  His father was Manager of Engineering Development at John Brown's Engineering and involved with QE2's Steam Turbines until they were replaced in 1987.  Rob's first trip on QE2 was also his Dad's last, on the sea trials following the refit in Bremerhaven.  Rob gained exclusive access to QE2 in Dubai in 2011. 

Chairpersons for the morning and the afternoon sessions will be announced within the next few months as will information on invited guests. 

Note:  We will have full resume information for speakers nearer the time of the conference. There may need to make minor changes to the content to avoid duplication and ensure the conference talks give a good overview of QE2's 50 years. 

[Lynda Bradford]

On Saturday evening I sent a special newsletter to Forum Member announcing details of the 50 year conference speakers.  I always send the forum newsletters using Mail Chimp.

 It is interesting to see the statistics, which I thought you would like to see:

The list rate for opening newsletters on Mail Chimp is 43.3% which we always achieve and exceed.  After one day the open rate for the 50 year event newsletter is 40.8% so we will easily beat the list average. 

The number opened by location (showing our worldwide membership) is as follows:

United Kingdom 526 51.0%
USA 307 29.8%
Australia 63 6.1%
New Zealand 22 2.1%
Canada 16 1.6%

[Peter Mugridge]

Interesting... can MailChimp tell whether something has been read only via the preview pane ( where people use that ) or does it only count an actual full click to open type reading?

[Lynda Bradford]

Interesting... can MailChimp tell whether something has been read only via the preview pane ( where people use that ) or does it only count an actual full click to open type reading?

The information on Mail Chimp on the open rate is as follows"

The open rate is a percentage that tells you how many successfully delivered campaigns were opened by subscribers. To find this out, MailChimp loads a tiny, transparent image into each campaign, and counts how often the image is loaded among the delivered campaigns. The image is invisible to your subscribers.

[Lynda Bradford]

Conference banners:

I would like to hear from any members who have had experience of designing conference banners.

Do you have any advice on what size of roll up banner to use for a conference hall the size of Clydebank Town Hall.  We would not want it too small and looking insignificant. 
We want the banner to list sponsors' name and logo (where appropriate).  Do you have information on what file type for logos should we request. 
We will be incorporating our QE2 50 year logo or this may be the main background for the banner.   

It will be next year before we will be ordering the banners but good to give this some thought in advance. 

Looking forward to hearing from you on this topic. Or you can send a message to me on the personal messaging system or at events@theqe2story.com

[Twynkle]

Hi Lynda,
These are "Pull Ups" aren't they?
(Often expensive and  devised in collaboration with / provided by sponsors!)
Have sent a PM, hoping it'll be helpful
Cheers
Rosie

[Lynda Bradford]

We are currently working on an Events web site for the QE2 50 year event.  Details and a link to the web site will be available soon. 

As the information on the web site will be available to the public, we have now merged and moved the members only topic, so that it can be seen by all.

I know it seems like a long time until the conference next year on 22 September, but it was no time at all since last year, when Rob made the announcement about the event at the site of John Brown's shipyard, where QE2 was built. 

Tickets will go on sale in January, so now is the time to start to think about whether you want to join us to celebrate QE2's 50 years. 

[Lynda Bradford]

Have a look at the QE2 50 Year Event web site for the QE2 50 Year Conference, which I am sure you will agree is looking good. 
www.qe2event.com

We were pleased to announce in the September newsletter that Stephen Payne, OBE Naval Architect who designed QM2 has agreed to chair one of the sessions at the conference.  We have also received confirmation from Richard Bridge, ex QE2 Officer that he would be happy to chair another session.  We will be posting information about these two chair persons soon, on the event web page. 

[Rob Lightbody]

Have a look at the QE2 50 Year Event web site for the QE2 50 Year Conference, which I am sure you will agree is looking good. 
www.qe2event.com

We were pleased to announce in the September newsletter that Stephen Payne, OBE Naval Architect who designed QM2 has agreed to chair one of the sessions at the conference.  We have also received confirmation from Richard Bridge, ex QE2 Officer that he would be happy to chair another session.  We will be posting information about these two chair persons soon, on the event web page.

Thank you for posting a link to the new dedicated QE2 Event website Lynda.

I just want to mention that already many, many hours have been spent on this event by a number of people (almost entirely not me I hasten to add!).  Its a year away, but a huge amount has been done.

[June Ingram]

Thank you, Rob, for your post, and thank you very much for setting up the website for the 50 Year Event. 

Thank you to all who have, as Rob says, put in countless hours to bring to life what will be a marvelous tribute to our beloved ship !

Check the website frequently to keep in touch with the plans as they are posted !   

[Lynda Bradford]

Thanks Rob and June.

It is hard to believe that it is now over a year since we asked Rob to announce the conference and by this time next year the conference will be over and we will be having a get together with QE2 Story forum members. I hope the weather is better than today as it is very wet and windy in Scotland.  I must remember to order some blue skies and sunshine for next year! 

The conference committee members that live in the Central Belt of Scotland, myself, Cunarder Man and Clydebuilt 1971 meet every three months in Glasgow to check on progress and agree on actions, to ensure we make good progress.  We met yesterday on Friday (23 September) and noted that next year at that time the conference would be taking place (Friday 22 September). 

We are ensuring that we are keeping regular contact with our speakers and chair persons.  Next month we will be meeting with conference speakers Ian Johnston and Bruce Peter to discuss their talks on QE2 origins and QE2 interior and exterior design. 

We have started to send information out to maritime organisations to give details of the event website address www.qe2event.com as we know that many people with an interest in QE2 will want to have the opportunity to attend the conference. 

I posted information on our speakers a few weeks ago. We have two excellent chair persons for the conference.  Stephen Payne, Naval Architect and Richard Bridge, Ex QE2 Officer.  We will be posting their resume on the conference web site soon. 

Thanks to everyone who has contacted us to date expressing an interest in the conference.  Please post on this topic or contact us by email at events@theqe2story.com to let us know if you are thinking of attending.  We would love to hear from you and will be releasing information on how in book in January 2017

Event Speakers

Ian Johnston - QE2 Origins
Ian is a retired Deputy Director and Head of Academic Programme at the Digital Design Studio, which is part of the Glasgow School of Art.   His books include, "Building Ships for a Nation" (the history of John Brown's Shipyard).  He is also co-author with Bruce Peters and Philip Dawson of the excellent book "QE2 Britain’s Greatest Liner".   
 
Dr Bruce Peter - QE2 Interior and Exterior Design
Bruce is Reader in Design History at Glasgow School of Art.  His research relates mainly to architecture and design for transport, leisure and entertainment. Following his PhD, he has combined his interests in leisure design with cruise ship design to write a number of books, including co-author of "QE2 Britain's Greatest Liner". He is also a design journalist and critic writing for publications in the UK, Denmark and Sweden. 
 
Brian Price - life as a Cruise Director onboard QE2
Brian had a forty-four year career at sea.  He was Assistant Purser on Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth at the time when QE2 was being built.  Brian switched to the Entertainment Department on Carmania before transferring to QE2 in 1970.  He was then appointed Cruise Director on Cunard Adventurer and Cunard Countess. In 1974 he was selected as Cruise Director for QE2 and he remained with the ship for 21 years.  He finished his career on QM2 and retired in 2006.  Brian frequently gives talks to organisations. 

Scott Clegg - QE2 in Dubai
Dubai World, Project Manager, who accepted QE2 in 2008 on behalf of the company will be giving an insight into QE2's first 4 years in Dubai.  An exciting time full of promise and also frustration.
 
Ronnie Keir - from QE2 Apprentice to Senior Officer
Ronnie Keir, a retired Cunard Chief Engineer, will speak about his experience as an apprentice at John Brown’s Shipyard and being a Senior Officer on QE2.   Ronnie was a John Brown’s apprentice at the time when QE2 was built.  He worked on the vessel during his third and fourth year, when he was involved in the manufacture of the turbines and gearboxes. He joined Cunard in 2003 as Staff Chief Engineer on QE2 and worked as Chief Engineer on Queen Mary 2, Queen Elizabeth, and Queen Victoria.  Ronnie is a Trustee for the Charity "Friends of Queen Mary" that is working to restore TS Queen Mary and will want to update us on the progress of this work.
     
Captain Nick Bates - his experience as Captain of QE2
Captain Bates worked with Cunard for 45 years starting his career with Port Line a cargo subsidiary of Cunard.  He was appointed Master of QE2 in 2004 and Queen Mary 2 in 2008.  After his retirement in 2010 his various interests include working for the Seagull Trust, a charity offering free cruises on Scotland's Canals for people with special needs.  He is also a popular after dinner speaker. 
 
John Little – a  passenger’s perspective
John, a QE2 Story forum member enjoyed many cruises on QE2 over 25 years. We can look forward to an interesting presentation on many of his unique experiences and perspectives as a  passenger and Cunard enthusiast. 

Rob Lightbody - closing remarks and vote of thanks
Rob Lightbody is founder of The QE2 Story website, and also ran one of the very first QE2 websites.  His father was Manager of Engineering Development at John Brown's Engineering and involved with QE2's Steam Turbines until they were replaced in 1987.  Rob's first trip on QE2 was also his Dad's last, on the sea trials following the refit in Bremerhaven.  Rob gained exclusive access to QE2 in Dubai in 2011. 

Note:  We will have full resume information for speakers nearer the time of the conference. There may need to make minor changes to the content to avoid duplication and ensure the conference talks give a good overview of QE2's 50 years.