Background

Sheffield Chamber of Commerce and Industry in conjunction with regeneration agency Creative Sheffield wanted to organise a conference to acknowledge the progress the city of Sheffield has made to date and also provide a focus for future economic development, through learning from Sheffield’s cosmopolitan peers.

‘RE:Inventing the City – the International Business and Economic Summit 2008’ attracted over 500 delegates and world-class speakers who flew in from Melbourne, Turin, Glasgow and Philadelphia. Led by international facilitator Greg Clark, the summit also featured GMTV Chairman Clive Jones CBE, Roberto Quaglia from the European School of Management, Paolo Verri of Italia 150 and Turin and Royal Bank of Scotland economist Robert Blotevogel.

Challenges and Solutions

Due to the scale of the conference, right up until the event it was difficult to finalise numbers that would be in attendance this had a direct impact on planning seating arrangements and catering. The summit organisers provided City Hall with an estimated number of delegates and the City Hall provided extra staff on the day to assist guests throughout the duration of the event.

Part of the conference was a gala dinner held in the venues’ Ballroom, an area which is usually used to serve lunch and for break out space. With the number of delegates there was increased pressure on areas to use, however the City Hall team came up with an innovative use of space to serve lunch and provide room for exhibitions. The Circle and Balcony access areas are not traditionally utilised during conferences but were set up with stalls and tables for a tapas style lunch break, providing an ideal area for guests to flow through and network.

With such a prestigious event being held in the city, marketing and promoting it to local businesses was key. The idea to put some kind of impactful advertising on the outside of the building was raised and with help from the team at Sheffield City Hall and their links within the City Council and local suppliers, a giant banner was installed on the front of the building, providing an eye catching and effective advert for the event.

Adding to the challenges was a decision made by the organisers three days before to sell tickets to walk up guests on the day of the conference. This led to considerations about taking credit and debit card payments. The City Hall was able to provide a fully functioning box office system – due to this being a core element of its business – therefore providing a facility to allow guests to register on the day.
Due to the scale of the conference, right up until the event it was difficult to finalise numbers that would be in attendance this had a direct impact on planning seating arrangements and catering. The summit organisers provided City Hall with an estimated number of delegates and the City Hall provided extra staff on the day to assist guests throughout the duration of the event.

Part of the conference was a gala dinner held in the venues’ Ballroom, an area which is usually used to serve lunch and for break out space. With the number of delegates there was increased pressure on areas to use, however the City Hall team came up with an innovative use of space to serve lunch and provide room for exhibitions. The Circle and Balcony access areas are not traditionally utilised during conferences but were set up with stalls and tables for a tapas style lunch break, providing an ideal area for guests to flow through and network.

With such a prestigious event being held in the city, marketing and promoting it to local businesses was key. The idea to put some kind of impactful advertising on the outside of the building was raised and with help from the team at Sheffield City Hall and their links within the City Council and local suppliers, a giant banner was installed on the front of the building, providing an eye catching and effective advert for the event.

Adding to the challenges was a decision made by the organisers three days before to sell tickets to walk up guests on the day of the conference. This led to considerations about taking credit and debit card payments. The City Hall was able to provide a fully functioning box office system – due to this being a core element of its business – therefore providing a facility to allow guests to register on the day.

Execution

The Economic Summit and Gala Dinner became a total venue event meaning that every available space was utilised during the 24 hours the building was hired for. The main entrance was used for registration, the Oval Hall for the main event and speakers and the surrounding communal areas were utilised for refreshments and exhibition stands. During the day the Ballroom was set up for a Gala Dinner, which took place in the evening for over 300 guests.

Delegates were able to interact with the speaker sessions through interactive voting technology provided by O2, allowing audience members to text their views on issues such as Sheffield’s economy and the importance of collaboration between cities, with the results displayed on big screens.

For lunch the conference guests were offered a tapas style menu of chicken ceaser salad on a skewer, chargrilled fillet of beef in red onion marmalde croute, vegetable paella, seasoned chunky potato wedges and smoked salmon and wild asparagus blinis. The simple but quality food allowed people to network and look at the exhibitions during lunch. Refreshments at each break included homebaked shortbread, fudge brownies and Yorkshire Parkin.

For the Gala Dinner, the 300 guests were met with canapés and champagne on arrival, followed by a dinner of chilled melon and parma ham with balsamic reduction, roast lamb chop with bubble and squeak and rich rosemary jus and for dessert; chocolate fondant with vanilla ice cream and griottine cherries.

Verdict

This event was the first of what is hoped to be an annual event for the Sheffield Business Calendar – and following the huge success of 2008, Sheffield City Hall has already been booked to hold the 2009 summit.

From an organisers point of view the City Hall staff were flexible, available and always willing to accommodate requests where possible. However, an event is only as successful as the attendees rate it. In feedback surveys from the event, 92% rated the venue as good to excellent with comments that included ‘the catering service was first class’, ‘the location and facilities were excellent’, ‘the staff were very helpful’.

Chief Executive of the Sheffield Chamber of Commerce, Nigel Tomlinson commented 'The City Hall was a perfect venue to hold Sheffield's first Economic Summit as it reflected the prestigious nature of the event. The staff were more than accommodating and the use of all areas throughout the venue allowed us to divide up the event sections throughout the day. The venue has such a great presence and feedback from the delegates reflected how much they enjoyed it. The fact that we have already booked again for 2009 is testament to the great experience we had this year.'

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