15 Going beyond may involve working with someone who is deeply embedded in the community or someone who has a strong connection to the area . Only then can you think about how to serve that community more authentically and add the biggest value . Also , be aware of limited venue choices in certain parts of the country . You may not find a venue with the required capacity so you may need to spread your event out over a larger number of days . Remember though , more engaged local audiences sell out events quicker in smaller towns and cities .
Marina Lunn , senior project manager at TRO : I run a three-day summit at the Eden Project in Cornwall called Anthropy . It brings leaders together from across the worlds of business , politics and charity to collectively focus on creating a new , longer-term positive vision for Britain .
It ’ s a great event to work on because it breaks the norm and pushes boundaries – from the choice of venue to the event format itself . We continuously look for new ways to make Anthropy more inspiring , fresh and exciting for the audience .
It ’ s important to us that Anthropy takes place each year in Cornwall during a period of low seasonality so that we contribute to the local economy , local services and staffing .
That can be anything from filling hotel rooms and local restaurants to employing local catering staff or working with a local production agency . We even worked with local transport partners to put on shuttle buses to and from the Eden Project to local towns and villages .
The more sponsors we attract , the more branding and print work is required so as the event grows , so too does our contribution to local Cornwall businesses . We worked with four new local suppliers for 2023 and collaborated with them to reuse , recycle , and upcycle bits and pieces from the 2022 event .
We also worked with the event management course at Falmouth University to recruit volunteers , which is another way to ensure a positive impact when staging events in more regional parts of the country .
By giving people the opportunity to work on a full-scale , professionally run event , you ’ re giving them a workplace experience they may only have otherwise been able to get by going to London . We had 230 sessions and workshops across three days and 18 stages , featuring over 600 speakers so it ’ s a huge event .
I also find that a venue like the Eden Project is such an inspiration and somewhere that people may have never had the chance to visit before . Taking people out of their day-to-day and placing them in a unique environment ensures they remain present throughout the event and commit to the content and conversations . So for us , even though Cornwall is far from London , the fact that you can ’ t just pop in for an hour was a big positive .
Steve Keith , equity , diversity and inclusion consultant , Curious Creations : In 2021 , I founded the UK ’ s first annual student celebration – The Queer Student Awards ( QSAs ) – focused on celebrating the talented young LGBTQ + people who are proudly leading in their lives , and the communities around them . The awards also recognise the work that individual allies , schools , colleges , universities and employers are doing to create inclusive spaces that support young LGBTQ + people , many of whom worry about whether sharing their sexuality and gender identity will act as a barrier to their future success in the career of their choice . The awards are judged by a panel of student recruitment industry experts , queer influencers and young LGBTQ + people from schools , colleges and universities .
When I launched the QSAs , they took place on Zoom due to the ongoing restrictions of the pandemic . For the last two years , they have been hosted by venues in Manchester – Whitworth Locke and Victoria Warehouse . In 2024 they will be taking place in Birmingham and we are announcing the venue very soon .
I intentionally chose not to host the event in London because I believe there are far too many events in general that take place in London . I am a very passionate Northerner , and feel very strongly that areas outside of London are www . conference-news . co . uk