Background

Visit Britain is the UK’s national tourism agency, responsible for marketing Britain worldwide and for developing England’s visitor economy. The 2008 annual meeting of trade representatives was held in the city of Sheffield and attracted guests from all over the world including destinations such as India, Brazil, Italy, Sweden and the Americas.

The 2 day conference saw guests taking part in discussions on future strategy and meetings with representatives from conference bureaus and venues from the UK to talk about upcoming projects.

Challenges and Solutions

With delegates from all over the world visiting Sheffield, the venue and city were under pressure to deliver a unique and memorable experience which required some creative thinking from the whole team at Sheffield City Hall.

Past Visit Britain conferences have taken place at a wide variety of venues from hotels to heritage locations, but this was the first time that a music and entertainment venue had hosted event. The City Hall wanted to convey the broad use of the space available while providing the delegates with an unforgettable setting for the conference.

The conference presented the city of Sheffield with an opportunity to showcase its ongoing development to an international audience. Updating outdated perceptions of Sheffield in line with a number of organisations in the city who are working hard to dispel these outdated images, was taken into account when delivering the conference.

Although Sheffield is proud of its industrial past, in recent years, the city has experienced massive investment and regeneration, which is increasingly transforming it into a destination venue for visitors and business events alike. The city is now able to provide outstanding venues, quality hotels, an extensive cultural offer at affordable prices – and at just over 2 hours travel time from London this is increasingly becoming an attractive offer for both national and international guests.

Execution

The event was carefully scheduled to showcase all the spaces available at Sheffield City Hall. The annual meeting was located in the Memorial Hall where the 500 capacity auditorium was transformed into an intimate meeting space with the creation of break out areas, relaxation spaces and a catering area. This was achieved by careful use of draping, furniture and lighting.

These elements all ensured that the room did not feel in any way too big for the 31 delegates that took part in this particular stage of the conference.

Lunch on the first day was served in the traditional style South Hall - a striking room with oak panelled walls and high ceilings. Following lunch, the delegates were taken on a short walk through the city centre to the Millennium Galleries to see the Vivienne Westwood exhibition that culminated its world tour in Sheffield over the summer of 2008.

Upon returning to the City Hall, guests continued their meeting in the Memorial Hall and were treated to an unconventional afternoon break with a fitting theatrical theme – homemade ice cream in homemade cones, served by an usher with a traditional ice cream tray.

On the second day of the conference, the meeting format continued but in order to utilise one of the more unusual space at the venue - lunch was served on the stage of the Irwin Mitchell Oval Hall. The stage, having played host to acts from the Beatles to U2 and Sugarbabes to Jamiroquai was certainly an inspirational setting for the 3 course lunch and provided a unique experience for the guests.

The final day of the conference took place in the Ballroom, another of the venues distinctive offerings. The 475 square metre room with an illuminated dance floor has a variety of uses from conferences to awards dinners. The attendees were served a buffet lunch of traditional homemade ‘pie and peas’.

Verdict

Attracting and impressing international delegates at the venue required careful planning and organisation, maintaining high standards throughout.

Joss Croft, Head of Business Tourism and Events for Visit Britain commented

‘It was great to experience the product first hand and rest assured that everyone was thoroughly impressed with the facilities on offer. We all especially enjoyed having lunch on the stage and think this is a unique selling point of the venue! The annual meeting is a great opportunity for our overseas specialists to gain more product knowledge of different areas of the UK and after out visit to Sheffield I’m particularly pleased that the previous perceptions of the city have been changed - rest assured you have left us all incredibly impressed with the city and the products on offer.’

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