ABPCO’s annual conference held last week at Manchester United Football Club and hosted by Visit Manchester has been hailed as a huge success by delegates and organisers.
ABPCO received the largest attendance to date, partly due to the destination and the new initiatives launched in 2010, such as the ABCPO Academy and the Corporate Membership Scheme.
The conference gave PCOs and other industry professionals the opportunity to develop “Winning Partnerships” with fellow delegates from other areas of the industry.
Delegates benefitted from the networking opportunities and interactive workshops and there was a genuine buzz at the conference, particularly on Twitter where many delegates were ‘tweeting’ what was happening at least hourly around the day.
ABPCO’s conference was open to non-members too and that saw some new members signing up on the day.
The first day of the ABPCO conference saw delegates challenged to make the most of networking opportunities by motivational speaker Roy Sheppard’s Meet, Greet and Prosper session, introduced to Meetings Architecture by Maarten Vanneste and a welcome from Paul Simpson from Visit Manchester.
Delegates also had the opportunity to attend various workshops on social media, marketing events effectively and sales pitches for events.
Jessica Roberts, NewcastleGateshead Initiative said: ‘I thought the conference was a great success – I only heard people saying good things.’
Maria Franzoni of the London Speaker Bureau added: ‘I really enjoyed last year but this year absolutely topped it, not easy as last year was so good. I don’t know what you’ll do next year to top this one.’
The student contingent also benefitted from the conference and had the opportunity to network with PCOs and other industry professionals. This is the first time that a programme has been designed for the students and there were dedicated student sessions on topics like pricing, networking, marketing your events effectively and making the most of your CV.
Judith Robinson from Leeds University said: ‘What an amazing opportunity to meet people from the industry. I am so fortunate to be taking away with me first-hand knowledge from industry professionals.’
‘What a welcoming environment and such a fantastic opportunity to engage with PCOs.’ said Caroline Johnson from University of Winchester.
The second day of conference focused on interactive panel and workshop sessions covering green meetings, the future of the PCO, adding value to the client/organiser relationship and making the most of PCO/convention bureau relationships.
ABPCO Chair Rebecca Cadman-Jones said: ‘We were delighted with the turn out at the ABPCO 2011 Winning Partnerships conference this year and most certainly feel it has been a huge success. Our delegates have all been tweeting and linking in with each other post-conference and the general feel was one of the best ABPCO conferences to date.’
