Conference and Hospitality Show hailed a huge success
Visitors and exhibitors alike were keen to comment on the success of the first Conference and Hospitality Show held at Saviles Hall in Leeds on Thursday 18th March. With its new format which included over 50 exhibitors from across the Yorkshire region, a Demo Zone, Hospitality Hour and strong seminar programme the Show attracted conference buyers from all over the UK.
Show Organisers concentrated their 2010 visitor strategy on attracting quality buyers to the show following feedback from previous exhibitors and this year stand holders agreed that the buyers to the show were keen to do business.
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Show footage from myvenues.co.uk
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Other feedback inlcuded exhibitor John Swinburn of Harwood House:
“The show today has been all about quality buyers coming through the door. We have seen a wide range of buyers who are particularly interested in placing business in this area and it’s particularly good to see the financial sector so well represented”.
These sentiments were echoed by Hannah Fielding of Alea Casino who filled her diary with 6 weeks’ worth of appointments at the show and who actually co-ordinated 20 showarounds of the casino which is adjacent to Savile’s Hall on the day!
Visitors to the show were impressed by the range of services and venues on offer. Visitor Natalie Bell, Events Co-ordinator with Cynergy said:
“This show is definitely one for an event organiser’s calendar”.
Rachel Dick, Internal Events Manager for M & G Investments added:
“I have only ever used a couple of venues in this area, but having visited the show I now know there are so many more unique and unusual venues I could use that I wasn’t aware of before.”
Organiser Emma Cartmell was ecstatic at the level of support from exhibitors who were putting their trust in her to ensure that only high quality buyers were attending the show:
“I believe we had a good mix of venue and supplier that met the needs of visitors and this certainly contributed to the success of the show” says Emma, of Event Management 360, the company who took over responsibility for the event from the Royal Armouries in November 2009.
She added “I couldn’t have done it without the support of Conference Leeds, who planned a 2 day familiarisation trip for Executive PA’s to coincide with the show, adding 50 carefully selected VIP buyers to the visitor numbers.”
Nicky Lockwood, Head of Conference Leeds, was happy to get involved:
“Emma and her team proved to be effective and efficient. The new format of the show encouraged visitors that were genuine buyers who were interested in placing business. There was a great atmosphere and buzz to the show this year and it really raised the profile of Leeds and West Yorkshire”.
The free seminar programme was very popular with a high attendance at each presentation, which covered topics such as ‘Event Planning for PAs’ and ‘What’s my Gold Dust’ along with a panel for ‘How to Cut Costs not Corners’ and culminating with a seminar on ‘Generation Y’ hosted by Professor Rob Davidson of the University of Westminster.
The show was also the first of its kind to offer a volunteer programme to students from a local university. Fifteen students from the Event Management course at Leeds Met University had the opportunity to add up to 15 hours onto their Volunteer Passports and were enrolled to work both behind the scenes and front of house to gain first hand experience of running a live event.
