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A new iPhone application proclaiming to be 'the ultimate mobile city guide' for Londoners has made its debut on london24.com.

Unlike many other smartphone applications, the MyCityWay London24 has included everything a local - or indeed tourist - could need to know about the bustling capital.

More than 30 specialist 'location-based, real-time and really useful' mini-apps make up the tool, supplying information such as what's on at event venues, where to park or where the nearest café is. Archant, the publisher behind london24, has partnered with the app specialist mycitymyway.com to bring the application to life.

Paul Hood, digital director for Archant London, said: "We are very excited to be able to offer a free-of-charge urban discovery tool, enabling residents, tourists and business travellers to navigate, explore and enjoy London in unprecedented ways.

"It is a natural extension of our London24 digital brand and the Archant core mission to serve London residents, commuters and tourists with helpful and relevant information."

According to mycitymyway.com, the application is not only easy for users to customise and plan, but also a good way for brands to grow their client base without the need for mass marketing.

This is because the built-in GPS features allow brands to specifically target people using the app whilst near their precise location; giving them the chance to promote their own events, parties, or offer discounts in-store.

The craze for having a party to celebrate the gender of parents' new baby has apparently arrived in the UK, reports parentdish.co.uk.

It is a trend that started in the US, with parents either holding a party to tell others if they're having a boy or girl, or hiring  event venues to surprise the parents-to-be themselves.

To facilitate the latter option, the sonographer is asked to write down whether it's a girl or a boy, before putting the paper in a sealed envelope. This is then placed inside a cake, which is cut at the 'Gender Reveal Party'.

Writing for guardian.co.uk, Observer chief reporter Tracey McVeigh pointed out that the celebration follows "hot on the heels" of another US tradition that has been happily adopted by parents this side of the Atlantic: the baby shower.

She commented on the gender reveal party of 27-year-old mother-to-be Michelle Whitney, who recently gathered family and friends around her to find out which sex her baby would be.

Ms McVeigh remarked: "Rarely can a cake have played such a central role at a party. Wrapped in multi-coloured icing, the first slice was cut to reveal - in pink sponge - the sex of Michelle Whitney's baby."

Instead of opting for a traditional but plain wedding celebration, couples might consider turning back time and opting for a retro wedding instead.

That's the advice of wedding expert Sonali Hindmarch, writing for yahoo.com, who suggested that retro weddings are becoming chic as they allow the bride and groom to 'have fun with the fashions of the past and stand out from the crowd'.

For example, the expert suggests those looking to add a vintage feel to their wedding reception venue should look at purchasing some old, disposable Polaroid cameras for each table. Purchasing the cameras comes at a very low cost and guests can keep the photos as mementos, she suggests.

Furthermore, throwing some old-school hip flasks into the mix comes highly recommended by Hindmarch.

"If you're having a 1950s-style wedding and have a big budget (or a small wedding)," she writes, "hip flasks can make a fantastic and unusual gift that people will definitely take away with them.

"You could even supply mini bottles of booze to match. There are some gorgeous retro hip flasks available online from websites such as Etsy or eBay, or you can scour your local car-boot sales or second-hand stores," she adds.

Hindmarch's comments come as fashion expert Mega Paul proudly claims that authentic vintage is 'in vogue' this season, cited by thestarphoenix.com.

London is the world's favourite visitor destination, according to the analysis of millions of travel reviews.

Thisislondon.co.uk reports that the English capital jumped an astonishing seven places up TripAdvisor's worldwide league tables to the number one sport within the space of a year.

It achieved such a feat thanks to the spotlight being cast upon the city in light of several global events, namely the Queen's Jubilee and the Olympic celebrations.

However, it wouldn't be unreasonable to suggest the city's unique mix of culture, history and cool also helped reach this accolade. Even when considering party venues, London is known the world over, for example.

The city's tourism agency, London & Partners, said London's top position was "a testament to the wonderful array of attractions, dining and accommodation that set London apart from all these other destinations."

Such worldwide favourites the city beat included New York, Rome, and San Francisco. It was all change for last year's winner Cape Town, which dropped right down to 23rd place.

The island of Providenciales in the Caribbean took the top beach destination in the world; while Florence came out on top as the best food and wine city in Europe, tripadvisor.com reports. Its Tuscan wines in particular - Chianti, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and the dessert wine Vin Santo - were noted as highlights.

Average day delegate rates (DDR) for conference centres and meeting venues have risen by £2 over the last 15 months, new research shows.

According to figures from venue finder The Event Wall, the average rate charged by a venue per delegate per day for a full day meeting now costs £53, up from the £51 rate seen 15 months ago.

The statistics are based on the analysis of 1,400 proposals received between July 2010 - October 2012, reports meetpie.com and are limited to the data collected on The Event Wall's own systems.

Matthew Oliver, director of The Event Wall, says that while the rate might be "slow and steady", confidence is rising among venue proprietors.

"However the recovery is still not keeping up with the rate of inflation showing that published rates are being heavily discounted in order to win business and meet the demands of cost conscious buyers," he added.

"With the country officially entering a second recession we are likely to see this steady increase maintain at best. 2012 rates have benefited from the Olympic effect, so it will be interesting to see if 2013 brings any increases at all."

Other results recently gleaned by the team at theeventwall.com include research which suggests 'unusual venues' are the most likely venues to shift on price - offering average savings of 31 per cent.

Couples are increasingly turning to wedding insurance to protect themselves in case of a slip-up on the big day, newssun.com reports.

The cost of an average wedding is now roughly the same as a small car, which has prompted some couples to look at it in the same way and take out insurance. This way, they claim, they will have some form of compensation if the photographs come out badly or a drunken relative falls into the cake.

Booking the wedding reception venue, cars and honeymoon (not to mention the infamous seating plan) takes time and money, which is what prompted the rise in couples buying insurance to give themselves peace of mind.

Other reasons for the trend include fear of extreme weather conditions, illness or injury to one of the wedding party, poor quality photos or negatives that are destroyed. Another popular reason is for couples in the army, just in case they are called away in an emergency.

Some policies even include a "change of heart" clause, just in case one of the couple gets cold feet and chooses not to go ahead with the wedding at all.

Speaking to midlandsconnect.com of the policies, insurer Milton Wright explained how mishaps at the wedding have been precursors to a divorce in the past.

"It's becoming more of a common thing unfortunately, and we see insurance is there to protect against things of that nature," he added.

The celebration of the ancient rural festival of Beltane is relevant for urban residents too, an expert has claimed.

Speaking to telegraph.co.uk, independent researcher and anthropologist Pauline Bambry described how the festival is all about community, with everyone involved able to feel like "we are all in it together".

The celebrations tend to begin on April 30th, but the festival strictly speaking begins on the first day of May, so function venues may have been booked out for either of these two days.

Ms Bambry noted that Beltane has traditionally been a time for couples to celebrate their love, symbolic outdoor rituals and other ceremonies, but it is essentially a day to mark the end of isolation.

She said: "Beltane is rural pre-Christian prehistoric tradition which saw communities come together after long winters of isolation. It marked their connection not just to nature but to each other. That need to belong to something or someone has not changed."

According to scotsman.com reporter Julia Rampen, Edinburgh's Beltane Festival is the most "exuberant" examples of the festival, involving dancing, drumming, fire and the crowning of the Beltane Queen.

Ms Rampen noted that other customs traditionally associated with the day are the collection of blossoms and the burning of juniper branches.

The search for the event industry's top 50 companies to work for has begun, with entries to the 'Fab 50' competition now being taken.

That's according to a report from Event, which runs the competition. It is designed to weed out the best the industry has to offer in terms of staff experience; judged by the comments provided by the workforce behind each entry.

Professionals from across the marketplace - be it staff of function venues or those responsible for event venues' branding - can take part, as long as they submit their entry by May 25th. Eventmagazine.co.uk confirmed: 'The Fab 50 is open to every company working within the event industry.

'This could include in-house brand teams, agencies, suppliers and venues,' it added. 'To ensure your company is in with a chance of making it into the top 50, all you have to do is get a minimum of five members of staff to complete a number of statements...'

The survey, published on surveymonkey.com, covers everything from job satisfaction levels to internal communication; with a few questions on senior management quality and training thrown in for good measure. Respondents will also be asked to rate how welcoming their company is for new staff members, in addition to what they believe helps it to stand out within the industry.

Due to the inordinate number of events revealed as part of the London Festival, Olympic organisers have issued a handy guide to help visitors get by.

The 140-page brochure, detailing many aspects of the cultural Olympiad, was timed to coordinate with the announcement of the full-festival programme, reports eventmagazine.co.uk.

Thursday's announcement (26 April) was by no means a small affair; with the culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, claiming that 25,000 artists and 900 event venues will be taking part.

In fact, it appears that practically all available event spaces in London will be dominated by the cultural Olympiad, which takes place between 21 June and 9 September, including cinemas and theatres. Guardian.co.uk reports that 130 world premieres and 86 UK premieres will also take place as part of the celebrations.

Celebrities lending their hands to the cause meanwhile include artist Tracey Emin, actor Stephen Fry, director Mike Leigh and singer Rihanna, who will be performing at a BBC Radio 1 sponsored music event.

Ruth Mackenzie, director, Cultural Olympiad & London 2012 Festival, said: "The London 2012 Festival will be the largest cultural celebration in our lifetime.

"With new work from the best musicians, comics, artists, film makers and more, there will be arts events taking place in unusual places all over the UK that will showcase the best in international culture when the eyes of the world are on us this summer."

Technology can help promote corporate or promotional events by using attendees as brand ambassadors, hospitality experts have claimed.

Using new and emerging technologies, delegates at this year's Summer Eventia were told that an audience has the power to spread word of upcoming attractions for very little time and effort, reports citmagazine.com.

"From the brand's perspective, it is about using your audience as your brand ambassadors," said panelist Laura Moody, managing director of brand engagement and technology firm Blondefish. "For every post on Facebook, if it is reaching 400 other people, it is very powerful."

Augmented reality, QR codes, radio-frequency identification (RFID) and other means of content sharing, like social networks, are said to be one of the best ways event venues can use technology to promote an event.

However, other technologies, such as mobile applications, can also be successful at communicating with an audience - providing they offer value to their audience.

Peter Donnelly of event management software company, Active Network, told members at the Learning Lounge session that event organisers shouldn't build an app "just because you believe you need to have one" for example.

Donnelly revealed on meetpie.com that a massive 25 per cent of apps are deleted after being downloaded because they aren't easy to use, engaging or meet the user's needs.

"The first question to ask your client is what is your objective for this event, this activity? Then we can understand what technology will help deliver that," he said.