No matter what type of event you?re organising, a lot of time can be taken up sourcing the right service provider, says Paul Rowney. From hotels to caterers and entertainers to printers, they all need to be found. For most organisers it?s probably the part of the job they?d rather not be doing. It takes up valuable time and distracts them from the real job of planning, organising, promoting and dealing with the myriad of other details that need immediate attention.
But there is a solution that can make this part of the job a lot less painful. For the last eight years, Forum Events has been organising the Event Organisers Summit (EoS). It goes a long way to short cutting the time spent sourcing and reviewing potential new service providers.
Even with access via the internet to a huge range of supplier databases, at the end of the day there is no way round having to meet face-to-face and discuss specific requirements in more detail. That?s what the EoS facilitates effectively and easily.
Held this year on 7 and 8 September at the Hilton London Wembley, the EoS has developed a time-efficient format that matches up the requirements of event organisers with the service providers they are looking for.
Well in advance of the summit, as organisers book their attendance, they are asked to provide details on forthcoming projects and the type of suppliers they are looking for. Forum Events then source the appropriate providers to match the needs of the attendees.
Prior to the event, both parties then review each others? requirements or services and ask to meet those that are of interest. These requests are analysed and matched up via a clever piece of software. The result is a series of 30-minute one-on-one meetings over a day and a half tailored to the each party?s requests.
As a representative from the Royal College of Nursing commented after the 2104 EoS: ?It was a great event with meaningful client meetings and the seminar content was interesting and relevant.?
?Thank you for a great event. It has been a great opportunity to meet face to face with great industry suppliers,? added the delegate from Brent Council.
Each summit has a new workshop programme to reflect current developments in the industry. This year?s sessions include Engage or die ? Audience engagement as a competitive advantage, An introduction to disruption and Changes in the Event Industry.
In the evening there is a networking gala dinner and entertainment ? some light relief from the busy itinerary of appointments.
And what about the suppliers? They need to talk to event organisers about their products and services. For them, the EoS provides a concentrated day of sales meetings, which can number up to 20 over the course of the event. For anyone in sales, to have this number of meetings with prospective clients is an extremely effective use of their time.
One also shouldn?t ignore the intangible benefit of being able to meet other event organisers in a relaxed atmosphere to discuss the issues and problems they all face in the course of their day-to-day work. Unlike an exhibition, the forums are quite small and intimate, with no more than 85 delegates accepted for each event. It?s a great way to share experiences, discuss problems and take yourself away from the distractions of the office for just a few hours.
Essential details
Date: 7 & 8 September 2015
Venue: Hilton London Wembley
Organisers: Forum Events Ltd
Contact details: Event Manager Courtney Saggers. Call her on 01992 374100.
Email: c.saggers@forumevents.co.uk
Cost to attend: For buyers, complimentary, by invitation only
Numbers attending: Strictly Limited to 85
For vendors: Information pack on the different packages available. Contact Event Manager.
Format: Pre-arranged face-to-face meetings
Additional activities: Workshop programme and complimentary gala dinner with entertainment.
What past attendees think of the EoS: 98% say it?s a better way to meet service providers than a trade show. 96% would recommend a colleague attends.
Some Current Attendees include: Action Medical Research, BBC, Black Rock, BNP, Canon UK, Celesio, Channel 4, Chartered Institute of Housing, Dairy Crest, Global Radio, Innovate Finance, ITV, Jaguar/Land Rover, Muller, Pearsons, QVC, Quilter Cheviot, RNLI, Scottish Water, Simply Biz Group, Thomson Reuters, Virgin Wines, Wella UK and many more.
Find out more at forumevents.co.uk/events/event-organisers-summit
