Conference News Supplements Leeds Supplement | Page 5

5 Leeds Ambassadors flex their muscles “By encouraging industry leaders to become conference ambassadors we will continue to showcase the city and our sector strengths” he city’s conference ambassador programme is going from strength to strength and Jennifer Young of ConferenceLeeds says: “We work very closely with the three universities in Leeds, which allows us to tap into the wealth of expertise and skills that exists within our academia. Our plan is to expand our ambassador programme by reaching out to industry leaders in each of our key sectors; financial and professional services, health and innovation, digital and manufacturing, whilst continuing to capitalise on our sector strengths throughout Leeds. “As the UK’s second largest economy and second financial centre, Leeds is at the forefront of the financial and professional services sectors in the UK. Furthermore, Leeds has the greatest concentration of high-value manufacturers in the UK, 196,000 life sciences jobs and 8,500 digital technology companies. “By encouraging industry leaders to become conference ambassadors we will continue to showcase the city and our sector strengths on a national and international level, in order to drive further conferences and events to Leeds.” CN Speaking the conference language Leeds welcomed delegates from 20 countries to the 2016 International Association of Language Centres Workshop (IALC) in April. IALC brought 350 delegates to Leeds – the first time the workshop has been held in the UK since 1989. After registering at Leeds Marriott Hotel, delegates were able to take a walking tour of the city before delving into workshops hosted at The Royal Armouries. The conference focused on topics, such as smoother co-operation between schools and agents, and the question around standardisation in language travel. Networking events included a welcome reception hosted by the Centre of English Studies (CES) at the Victoria Quarter where catering was provided by Harvey Nichols, and the conference came to a close with a 1920’s themed dinner hosted at the Queens Hotel. After the workshop, 51 agents attended organised visits to IALC schools across the UK and Ireland. Jennifer Young, head of ConferenceLeeds, said: “The team at IALC utilised Leeds and its conferencing and event assets brilliantly during their time here.” Rachael Edmed, event manager at IALC, added: “We’ve had some fantastic feedback. Prior to our workshop many agents were previously unaware of how great the city was for hosting study abroard programmes. I predict that as a destination its popularity will increase.” www.conference-news.co.uk CN-NOV2016.indd 5 18/10/2016 15:48