ABPCO
DO IT YOURSELF
Written by Stuart Wood
The finalists from the ‘in-
house’ event category of
ABPCO’s Excellence Awards
demonstrate the benefits of
the DIY approach
ABPCO’S ANNUAL Excellence Awards took
place on 11 December, at the newly-built
ICC Wales in Newport. Three association
event organisers were recognised in the
‘in-house’ category, for their work putting
on successful events without the use of an
external agency.
Here we take a look at the two runners-
up, the Royal College of Physicians and
RenewableUK, while overleaf on p6 we
profile the winners, the National Cancer
Research Institute. All three associations
showcased creativity and independence in
their event design.
Conference royalty
The Royal College of Physicians (RCP)
Medicine 2019 conference was the first
one which the association had organised
without the use of a PCO. It was also the
most successful edition of the event to date,
welcoming over 900 delegates, speakers
and sponsors over two days in Manchester
Central.
“The conference
provided a platform
for UK policy advisers
to help shape the
future of the NHS.”
The conference aimed to provide
physicians from across the world with an
update in the latest research and clinical
advances across multiple specialities. It
encouraged the sharing of best practice, and
provided a platform for UK policy advisers to
help shape the future of the NHS.
For the 2019 edition, the team re-
thought its approach to marketing, steering
away from traditional paid-for physical
advertising. The RCP undertook a fully digital
campaign, which allowed it to track success
and target activity based on results. The
social media campaign had a reach of over
637,000 across six months, with more than
16,000 engaging with posts internationally.
5
Wind in their sails
Global Offshore Wind 2019 was a
conference and exhibition organised by
RenewableUK. It brought together the
UK’s renewable energy sector, alongside
delegations from 47 international countries.
The event promoted itself with a
successful video series titled ‘Black
Cab Diaries’, a series of interviews with
renewable energy leaders in the back of a
London taxi. These videos were viewed over
one million times, and were still used 10
months after the event.
GOW 2019 also had a strong focus on
diversity, with 35% women in a speaker
roster of 190. It welcomed a delegation of
apprentices from the Tall Blyth Ship – the
boat which originally discovered Antarctica,
and is now used for leadership training
expeditions. Two of these apprenticeships
went on to secure jobs in the renewable
sector after attending the event.
www.aenetwork.co.uk
The Gallery