DoubleTree by Hilton,
Burlington Road, Dublin 4
Case Study
We chose the DoubleTree by Hilton Dublin as our conference venue as it offered the best combination of plenary sessions, exhibition, accommodation, breakout session and workshop options to satisfy the key objectives of the symposium:
to discuss and explore all the best practice and innovation in the sector
to offer sponsors the opportunity to showcase their products
to discuss new student and professionals’ research in the sector
to offer networking time to manufacturers and delegates
to provide a social environment for delegates and suppliers
ESS 2016 was the largest, the most engaging, the most informative and the most exciting symposium to date!
SYMPOSIUM PROGRAMME AND CONTENT
The European Seating Symposium has become an important event in this business sector calendar and, fundamentally, delegates register because of the speaker, workshop and breakout session content. We set up an academic committee who were charged with finalising the symposium content. Along with the academic committee, we decided on the most engaging topics to make up the content. To further add to the academic programme, we issued a call for papers, to international academics and in order to facilitate these abstract submissions and to allow remote access for the academic committee, we designed an online abstract management system tailored to ESS 2016. The academic committee was comprised of eminent professors, researchers and academics, some of whom were invited to chair the plenary and parallel sessions, adding even greater credibility to the symposium.
The details of the programme were uploaded to the ESS 2016 website which became a significant tool in attracting delegates.
One speaker, a wheelchair bound rock-climber, used a climbing wall to demonstrate his skills; unfortunately, the weather was unfavourable and the H&S requirements complex and this became a lengthy endeavour; just another challenging element to the planning and organisation!
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SPONSORSHIP
One of the important components to this symposium was the exhibition, offering sponsors and exhibitors the opportunity to showcase their products and services; sponsorship contributed significantly to the symposium revenue, thus reducing the overall cost of running the event. One of our top priorities was ensuring that the sponsors received good value for their investment.
We designed specific sponsorship opportunities packs to send to potential companies and approached a considerable number of companies to share the concept of the symposium – attracting 67 in all.
To accommodate this important element of the event, we converted a space outside the main conference rooms to site 67 exhibitor booths. It was designed to allow easy access for delegates and sponsors to each other but also to allow refreshments, including tea and coffee breaks along with lunch, to be served.
EVALUATION
When signing the contract with our client, we agreed some objectives, not only Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for the symposium but also soft objectives for delegate and sponsor satisfaction.
Our objectives:
Source a venue that reflected the importance of this event in the sector calendar
Negotiate venue and supplier contacts maximising cost efficiency and minimising costs
Deliver a profit for the event to be reinvested in future symposia
Attract five or six key sponsors and up to another 50 exhibitors
Attract up to 600 domestic and international delegates
Design an attractive and interesting programme to attract the delegates
Design a social programme to satisfy the networking objective
All objectives were achieved, or over-achieved, and clearly the client was, and has been, satisfied with our performance as we were contracted to manage the next symposium in 2018.
Samples of Delegate and Sponsor Survey Feedback:
“I would like to extend my thanks to the Symposium Secretariat who were extremely helpful and professional”
“The most efficiently run conference I have ever attended. Excellent staff, brilliant exhibition, informative sessions, smooth timings, good location and more! I will undoubtedly be attending again next year”
“Very efficient, excellent friendly staff always available”
“The hotel and staff were brilliant”
“App was very useful”