7
Academic Venues
The event:
EIE 2018
Date: April 2018
Venue: McEwan Hall,
University of Edinburgh; a
19th century landmark and
ceremonial hall
Event organiser: Dr Steve
Ewing, director of operations,
Informatics Ventures
Host: Edinburgh First
Attendees: 600 delegates
Case study:
Engage Invest Exploit
Technology investor event shines the light on academic venues
IE (Engage Invest Exploit) is
an annual technology
investor event that highlights
up to 60 of the most
promising and innovative data-driven
high growth companies, seeking
funding from seed to Series A.
The event brings together
hundreds of investor and business
guest delegates to network and help
these young companies seek
funding from investors.
Dr Steve Ewing, director of
operations at Informatics Ventures,
said: “We have been organising EIE
in Edinburgh for 10 years now and
we feel it is important to pick a
venue that not only is large enough
to host several hundred delegates
but also offers a unique and
memorable experience.
“When we first launched EIE in
2008, we held the event at a
University of Edinburgh venue, so we
were keen to bring it back to where it
started, and the iconic and
newly-refurbished McEwan Hall
couldn’t have been a better fit.
“The event started at 8am and
delegates didn’t begin to leave
McEwan Hall until 6pm, and during
this time we had to organise
Above:
University of Edinburgh
www.conference-news.co.uk
presentations, Q&A sessions, as
well as exhibition stands for 60
companies looking for investment.
We needed a large screen set up in
the main room, as well as 60 pods
for exhibitors.
“Fortunately this went without a
hitch thanks in no small part to
Edinburgh First. We also had fears
about how easy it would be to cater
for hundreds of delegates in a quick
and orderly fashion, but Edinburgh
First allayed these and we had all of
the high-quality meals out of the
kitchen and into the hands of our
guests in a matter of minutes.
“A number of delegates have since
commented on how unique and
stunning the venue was, made all
the more impressive by the fact it’s
just a short walk from the train
station, historic Old Town, and more.
I was wholly impressed by McEwan
Hall and the support we had from
the fantastic venue team at
Edinburgh First.”
Lyndsay Wilkie, assistant director
for business development at
Edinburgh First, added: “After a
three-year, multi-million pound
refurbishment, we reopened
McEwan Hall in 2017 with
state-of-the-art conference,
exhibition and break out spaces.
This means we are able to provide
an even greater service for
organisers, such as Informatics
Ventures, who want to host
large-scale events at a unique and
historical venue.”