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Find out what happened when the UK’s business travel industry de-camped at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre
July 2007
Lights, camera, action……
“A conference is just like a movie”, says Mark Harris of the Institute of Travel Management. “It needs a good beginning, a compelling middle and a strong ending”. Find out what happened when the UK’s business travel industry de-camped at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre…
“We try to put ourselves in the shoes of the delegate and think what would excite us,” says Mark Harris, Head of Marketing & Communications at the Institute of Travel Management (ITM) and organiser of the association’s annual conference. “I don’t believe that people want to feel ‘talked at’ for three days. That’s why we place a big emphasis on interaction, networking and, importantly, fun.
“An event is very much like a movie,” he adds. “It needs a good beginning, compelling content with action-packed set pieces and a strong ending. In between, you’ve got to give people a chance to catch their breath, without giving them too much time in which to become bored. Our conference programme was designed to achieve exactly that, and all the feedback suggests it succeeded.”
In the wake of Al Gore’s cinema success with An Inconvenient Truth, it’s perhaps appropriate that the theme of the ITM Conference 2007 was ‘Responsible Travel Management’.
Communicating this message to delegates began before they arrived in Edinburgh, with all delegates being encouraged to offset their carbon emissions from attending. Yet, whilst threats to the Earth’s environment have never been higher on the political and economic agenda, it remains a topic that could have resulted in worthy presentations, polite applause… and little else. Not at the ITM Conference, however. “There’s a lot of ‘greenwash’ out there,” says Mark. “As a trade association, it is not for us to evangelise, but to stimulate informed debate by engaging all our delegates throughout not only the business sessions but also through networking and in the social programme. .”
The technology offering provided by the Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC) also played a big part in delegate communication for ITM. “Historically we have used an external production company but for the first time this year, we went with an in-house team” he says. “The EICC offering was excellent. It was cost-effective, the pre-planning was highly professional and their use of Encore gave us a huge ‘wow’ factor.
Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou speaking at the EICC
“Encore helped us to pull together all the strands of our requirements,” he adds. “It delivered a way for our delegates to interact and for our speakers to communicate with the audience. Importantly, it also avoided ‘death by Powerpoint’. The flexibility of the technology kept the event fresh and stimulating; delegates were greatly engaged and first-time delegates were impressed with the slickness of the presentation.”
Encore worked particularly well in sessions such as ‘Business Travel Weakest Link’ (complete with an Anne Robinson look-a-like) which provided light relief to the programme of seminar, panel sessions and keynote speakers. Mark believes that ‘set pieces’ such as these are central to the success of ITM conferences. “Our industry is people-based and full of entrepreneurs with great ideas,” says Mark. “Keeping them entertained whilst meeting business demands is important. In the past we have staged Room 101, Into The Tardis and, next year, we will be hosting a business travel version of Dragon’s Den. Although these are fun, they also generate some brilliant ideas. For instance, in the Dragon’s Den session, we will be inviting people to think of new products and services to introduce to our industry. It’s a much more exciting and engaging way of approaching things than many other conferences are willing to embrace.”
Interaction with conference delegates was another key element in the ITM Conference. Instead of incorporating a traditional exhibition within the conference programme, ITM runs a kind of speed dating programme that is simple and useful for everyone involved. “Rather than have our sponsors sitting waiting for our delegates to appear, we organised one-to-one 15-minute meetings between delegates and suppliers in the Cromdale Hall, which was an ideal space for that. The appointments were all pre-arranged but managed using technology called SpotMe,it worked very well.”
“By the second day of the conference, 700 business cards had been swapped, 750 messages been sent and it had a conference-wide survey. The next generation release is even more of a conference ‘must have’. Spotme brings the ‘personal’ into the mass community but more traditional forms of communication still play their part too. For example, the internet café provided by the venue also proved highly popular with delegates”
Of course, all the technology in the world and the greatest venue imaginable is of little use without good content – and it helped that the ITM had attracted speakers straight out of the top drawer such as Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou of easyGroup, and leading environmentalist Jonathon Porritt. Broadcaster John Stapleton, making his third appearance as conference moderator also brought a professional presence to the stage for the sessions. “A key attraction for our delegates are speakers relevant to our industry who are high profile and would otherwise would be inaccessible to the delegates,” says Mark.
2007 was the first time that the ITM Conference has been held at the EICC. “It was an easy choice though,” says Mark. “Edinburgh is an inspiring and innovative place with a great atmosphere – and the EICC proved a truly inspiring venue.” From the planning support, to the technology and the food, Mark was delighted with the quality of service. “There is usually a delegate acceptance that food in a congress centre will be fairly average,” says Mark. “But during this conference, we had senior executives take the time to comment on the high standard. The Leith’s at the EICC team was very unobtrusive – a sign of great service.
“A truly successful event must have a dynamic venue at a dynamic destination, dynamic speaker content, dynamic production and dynamic staff on the ground,” adds Mark. “It has certainly been our experience that Edinburgh and the EICC have proved dynamic on all fronts.”
Event: ITM Conference 2007
Client: Institute of Travel Management
Date: 21-23 March 2007
Delegate numbers: 400+ (buyers of business travel, airlines, hotels, rail companies, TMC’s and technology providers.)
Conference theme: Responsible Travel Management
Fact: This ITM conference attracted 120 first time delegates
For further information please contact Sandy Pearson, Marketing Manager,
EICC on
t. 0131 519 4093 e. sandyp@eicc.co.uk, www.eicc.co.uk