March 2016
Previews
Associations Events Forum
5
Royal College of
General Practitioners
Annual Primary Care
Conference
1-3 October 2015, Scottish
Exhibition and Conference
Centre (SECC), Glasgow
The Associations
Events Forum will
take place on Day
1 of International
Confex and feature
content curated by
the show and through
its partnership with
Associations Network.
The Associations Event Forum is an integral part of Day 1 at International Confex
In 2015 International Confex
attracted over 350 buyers of
association events, and the
feedback from the Forum was so
strong that organisers this year
expect further growth in this
popular feature of the show.
The programme will kick
off with a dinner on the eve
of the show. Tourism Ireland
have put together networking,
dinner and entertainment for
attendees at that event.
The Forum itself is curated
to allow a mix of networking
and ideas sharing among event
professionals, as well as content
that touches on every aspect
of the event.
In the morning, Jan-Jaap In
Der Maur will host a session
on the important role the
facilitator plays in managing on
stage content at conferences in
CN_02.16_AEM.indd 5
‘The Power of the facilitator’.
Destination sponsors Southport
Conferences will then chair
a panel discussion between,
destination, venue and organiser
representatives on the role this
partnership plays in delivering
major association events. The
session is entitled ‘The Holy
Trinity’ and will ask attendees for
input into the session, especially
around the destination’s specialist
interest in business extension.
The afternoon will look
at the growing importance
of ‘Sponsorship, How and
Where to Achieve it’, a subject
of increasing interest to
association organisers.
Finally the programme
will finish with a session on
selecting appropriate speakers
and developing content entitled
‘Horses for Courses’. Again, an
important subject and one that
will resonate among organisers
of association meetings.
“We’ve got a great
partnership with the team
at Association Network
and together we’ve pulled
together a really strong day for
association event organisers,”
says Liz Agostini, event
director, International Confex.
“We’ve married the right
mix of educational content
and networking opportunities
so that planners can share
learning among themselves.
We’ve even got a cracking
dinner arranged with Tourism
Ireland. It will be a great day.”
All the sessions will take
place in the Associations
Theatre, and Hilton Olympia
will also be supporting the
content as venue sponsors.
Client feedback is of prime
importance to the SECC, which
conducts regular research
with clients as part of its
commitment to service delivery.
Kathleen Warden, director
of conference sales, says
client input helps to keep the
SECC flexible in its delivery of
services and helps maintain its
competitive edge.
Trust is boosted significantly
by listening and acting on
feedback from clients, says
Warden.
These themes were tested
when feedback from regular
SECC Association client – the
Royal College of General
Practitioners (RCGP) –
suggested a different way
of delivering catering to its
delegates.
As well as attending the RCGP
conference at a different venue,
the SECC’s catering partner
Levy Restaurants UK invited
the RCGP into the SECC to test
recipes and tour the facilities.
The challenge was to create,
a bowl food menu for 1,500
delegates breaking from the
conference at the same time.
“The SECC really got it right,”
says Tim Collard courses &
seminars manager at the Royal
College of General Practitioners.
“The catering quality in
particular was excellent with
one delegate even asking for
the recipe. The SECC looked,
listened and learned about what
we wanted to deliver.”
18/02/2016 10:21