Latest news with #socialcalendar
Yahoo
04-08-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Beloved south Essex business named 'Pub of the Year' after major refurbishment
A beloved south Essex business has been named "Pub of the Year" by Echo readers, to the delight of its dedicated team and loyal regulars. The Castle, in High Street, Hadleigh, is a pub described as being the "heart of the community" and known for its vibrant social calendar. Now, thanks to votes from Echo readers, it has won the "Pub of the Year" competition. After winning, Una Green, the general manager at The Castle, said: "We are all so pleased to have won Pub of the Year. Harley McGreadie-Smith, Ryan Benson, Lily Gibson, Mary Wilkins, and Terry Chandler (Image: The Castle / Newsquest) "We would like to thank all the lovely people that came in to us and dropped their voting forms in to us to post off. "The Castle pub is at the heart of the community. "We drive success through delivering our guests a great service, through a great brand, and great value. "We are all so excited and proud of winning." Charlie Merison, Una Green, and Mary Wilkins (Image: The Castle / Newsquest) From coffee mornings and book clubs to weekly quiz nights on Wednesdays and Poker Thursdays, the pub has something for everyone. Music lovers are also treated to regular live acts, including local bands like The Sarfenders and tribute performances such as the recent Pink Tribute night. The team has already hosted a mini summer festival on July 26, and they're also planning a craft fair in the autumn. The Castle also underwent an extensive and modern refurbishment during a four-week closure. Boasting a brighter, new modern look, the renovation saw the pub undergo a complete transformation. Una added: "After our refurb last year, we have had loads of new guests that re-joined us, after years of giving up on the place as it looked so run down. David Steel, who has been visiting The Castle for the last 20 years (Image: The Castle / Newsquest) "As a team, we have really stepped up on hospitality and the team here strive for that perfect customer service. "The team all love working here; they love the visitors that come old and new alike. "We are all so pleased." Regulars and visitors to the pub also had plenty of praise for the business with Craig Morgan stating: "Don't be shy, give it a try. David Steel, who has been visiting the pub for the last 20 years, added: "Home is where the heart is."
Forbes
06-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
The ‘Billionaire Social Calendar,' Made Relatable By A Psychologist
Imagine a packed stadium filled with millionaires. And in the crowd is a single, small VIP box ... More reserved for billionaires. That's how rare they are. Getty Images Psychological research shows that the easier something is to picture, the closer it feels to us in time and emotion. Seven years ago, I co-authored a paper exploring this phenomenon, known as simulational fluency. We found that when people could vividly and easily imagine an event, it felt psychologically 'closer,' even if it had happened ages ago. So what happens when we apply this idea to the seemingly distant world of billionaires? Though there are fewer than a thousand in the U.S., if you play along — if you imagine their calendars, their rituals, their decisions — their lives stop feeling impossibly remote and start feeling almost familiar. Let's take a step back from billionaires for a moment. Look around you. What are your closest relationships built around? Analyzing college friendship networks, researchers discovered a surprising pattern: People were most likely to form close relationships when they either shared strong similarities — or stood out sharply from one another. Psychologists call this a quadratic effect. It's especially intuitive in a college setting, where you're constantly exposed to a variety of people. Shared time, shared space — and either shared values or striking differences — create fertile ground for friendship. It's also intuitive when you visualize the typical road to obscene riches. There is some evidence to suggest that people who become wealthy often have a somewhat ambiguous attitude toward culturally accepted ethics. In some ways, it wouldn't be wrong to say that those who have 'perfected' the capitalism game tend to 'get' each other in ways the general population wouldn't. Among the super-wealthy, especially those at the center of constant media attention, this effect compounds. Shared success, mutual understanding and, at times, shared detachment from conventional norms pull them into orbit with each other. This, in turn, helps explain why the idea of a 'billionaire social calendar' has taken hold in pop culture. The idea of a billionaire social calendar might sound exotic, but underneath, it's not that different from how many of us live. If you're over a certain age, chances are you network at familiar places: conferences, alumni gatherings, industry events. These are places where you're likely to meet others like you. Billionaires do the same thing. The difference is scale. Their circles are much smaller, the stakes much higher and the events far more exclusive. For the ultra-wealthy, sticking to the calendar and attending places like Davos, Cannes or the Monaco Yacht Show is a business expense. Showing up reinforces relationships, signals influence and often lays the groundwork for future alliances. The pattern is real enough that some have painstakingly mapped it out. Across articles , you'll find references to this unofficial circuit: the predictable flow of where and when billionaires are likely to cross paths each year. Priscilla Chan, Mark Zuckerberg, Lauren Sánchez, Jeff Bezos, Sundar Pichai and Elon Musk were ... More spotted posing together for photographs during Donald Trump's second inauguration as the 47th President of the United States. Getty Images Is The Billionaire Social Calendar An Overgeneralization? Well, yes, but that's obvious. Not every billionaire shows up at these events, and there's no secret handshake that binds them to a calendar once they hit a 10-figure net worth. In reality, you don't even have to be a billionaire to move through parts of this world. Being wealthy enough, and well connected enough, often does the trick. Still, exclusivity runs deep. It's part of the story we sell ourselves, and it only gets more pronounced the higher we climb. Take the Yellowstone Club in Montana, for example. It's a 15,000-acre private resort with its own ski mountain, a place where membership depends less on filling out a form and more on proving you belong. Joining means buying land, a condo or a house — with undeveloped plots starting around $10 million — plus passing background checks, securing high-powered references and paying hefty annual dues. And even if you clear all those hurdles, you're one of just 914 people allowed through the gates. And inside the gates, privacy remains the norm. Many properties are purchased through Limited Liability Companies, meaning you might not know who your neighbors are unless you already move in the same social circles. The billionaire social calendar works much the same way. It's not about formal invitations or official registries. It's about who gets to orbit — and who doesn't. Ever enjoyed watching the ultra-wealthy stumble? Take the Schadenfreude Scale to see what that says about you.
