2010 Academic Venue Show - Venue Success Stories
July 2010
The 2010 Academic Venue show proved to be a huge success for VENUEMASTERS and many of the venues who exhibited at the event. This year's event was held on 12 May and attracted over 450 visitors. This was a 14% increase on 2009 which created a real buzz at the stunning Emirates Stadium venue.
The Academic Venue Show provides a great opportunity for exhibitors to meet with event organisers who are all genuinely interested in using academic venues for their next event. 80% of visitors to the show said they were planning to use exhibitors' venues. Simon Blows from The Institution of Engineering & Technology (IET) commented; ‘The Academic Venues show is an excellent one stop shop for finding an academic venue. It does exactly what it says on the tin and I did indeed find an academic venue to hold my event in!'
Four of the venues who exhibited at this years show took provisional bookings at the event and many of the venues are now working on turning their enquiries into bookings. Sian Fraser at York Conferences, part of the University of York, has reported £700,000 worth of provisional business which the team at York are currently working to convert.
The University of York is set to undergo major redevelopment which will see the University doubling in size, and the new facilities will be available to book from Easter onwards, Sian believes the appeal of the new facilities is one of the reasons they were able to draw such a huge crowd to their stand. This year marks 40 years of conferencing and events at the University of York and to celebrate they were giving away a Ruby coloured iPod. The lucky winner was Colin Spicer at Twin Group summer school.
Trevor Miller at Leicester Conferences was delighted with the amount of provisional bookings Leicester Conferences took at the event. Trevor commented: ‘We currently have £85,000 worth of provisional bookings and have already held an event worth approximately £1800. We also have £150,000 worth of proposals which we are actively working to convert.'
Other venues who took provisional bookings at the event included The University of Birmingham, the University of Portsmouth and Park Crescent Conference Centre.
VENUEMASTERS Chief Executive Terry Billingham commented: "This year's event was a great success, with a 14% increase in visitors and some really positive feedback from visitors and exhibitors. The venues are now building on this success and the opportunity to showcase their venues to event organisers. With a number of enquiries taken on the day and others placed since the event, the venue teams are now working securing some valuable business.'
Following on from the success of the 2010 event, the VENUEMASTERS team are now working on plans for next year. Watch this space for details of the 2011 Academic Venue Show.
Image Top: Sian Fraser of York Conferences presents Ruby iPod to Colin Spicer
Image Below: Emma Kettle at Leicester Conferences with a visitor
