Farnham Castle reports growth in online inter-cultural & language training

Thursday, 26 August 2010

Intercultural training organisation Farnham Castle has announced significant growth in delivery of its online training programmes during the past six months. The organisation has now delivered full intercultural training as well as regular online language tuition.

Farnham Castle offers the option of participating in its entire range of intercultural workshops, overseas assignment briefing programmes and intensive language training over the internet. This is achieved through a combination of WebEx and the use of a custom-designed web-based training platform that allows simultaneous group and one-to-one delivery and mentoring. 

Says Jeff Toms, director of marketing and client services at Farnham Castle. `Many of our programme participants fly in to study at our training centre. We have been offering remote training for some time, but, in recent months, have seen a dramatic increase in takeup for online delivery of programmes.

Mr Toms attributes the increase in online training delivery to the economic downturn, resulting in a reduction in available training budgets, combined with disruption of travel plans due to the ash cloud following the eruption of Iceland`s Eyjafjoell volcano. Training companies and clients have been looking towards implementing more innovative working practices, and remote training is now beginning to deliver. 

`The advanced technology we are using now allows us to provide high-quality training for staff regardless of their geographical location, through the use of our web-based platform,` explains Mr Toms. `Online training not only eliminates the cost of travel and associated expenses but also allows organisations to fulfil their corporate social responsibilities through a reduction in environmental impact. There is also increased flexibility relating to the timing of sessions, and some of our clients are increasingly beginning to allow staff who would previously not have been able to participate on a Farnham Castle training programme to benefit.

`Potential efficiencies can also be gained compared with face-to-face training, as it addresses the challenge of executives` increasingly busy schedules, which often prevent individuals taking time out of the office for residential study,` continues Mr Toms. `Further, due to the widespread use of Wi Fi, it is possible to undertake training wherever there is access to a computer this could be at home, in the office, or taking advantage of downtime during a stay at a hotel, for example.

Further information can be found at www.farnhamcastle.co.uk

(Reproduced from Relocate Magazine: http://www.relocatemagazine.com/language-training/language-news-main/1468-farnham-castle-reports-growth-in-online-inter-cultural-a-language-training )

Twitter Visitors Grow Farnham Castle’s Web Traffic by a Third

Wednesday, 10 March 2010

Leading Surrey corporate events venue, Farnham Castle, has today announced visitor numbers to its website have grown by a third since first taking advantage of social networking sites such as Twitter, in summer 2009.

Farnham Castle, which is due to be the venue for the forthcoming, social networking festival, Twestival, on 25 March, has up until now, seen around 10% of its total web traffic come through Twitter, “but this is rapidly increasing,” explains Jeff Toms, director of marketing and client services at Farnham Castle. “We are now using Twitter to promote our intercultural and language training courses and even availability for wedding dates at the Castle, from which we have received numerous enquiries.

“Social networking is a great promotional opportunity for all sorts of organisations, because it is free and requires minimal effort,” continues Toms. “The global reach of sites such as Twitter, Facebook and Linked-in will ensure their popularity continues to grow significantly over the next few years and we would encourage other businesses to learn how social networking can help them communicate with customers and prospects. The Twestival is an opportunity for local people to find out about this exciting new medium of communication and promotion.” 

The Twestival will be celebrated at the same time in cities across the world and the Farnham event is being organised by Surrey based PR agency thebluedoor and supported by sponsor iBundle. Tickets for Farnham’s Twestival range from a minimum donation of £10 up to a maximum donation of £30, with all proceeds going to the international educational charity, Concern Worldwide. Tickets are available from the Farnham Twestival website.

For more information on Farnham Castle please call 01252 721194 or visit www.farnhamcastle.com