Velvet @ Event UK 2008

Great anticipation awaited the new two day Event UK show at Birmingham's NEC on Tuesday 16 and Wednesday 17 September. A new format, new layout and new approach were very much evident at this year's event attended by Velvet's Chris Gibbs and Tim Clark.

Key Velvet clients Conference Leeds and HEY (Hull & East Yorkshire) held prominence of position with their stands at the main entrance to welcome visitors as they arrived. Yorkshire Tourist Board's (YTB) Nick Bond coordinated the Yorkshire show area grouping each of the region's destinations into one key area of the exhibition space. For the first time, YTB had their own stand space in amongst the exhibiting destinations.

"Event UK is a great opportunity for us to meet with existing clients and also to pre-arrange appointments with new clients" commented Velvet's Tim Clark. "The NEC is just over an hour from our offices in Swindon and is ideal for use to meet with almost half of our clients over the two day exhibition.".

BICB, Bournemouth's International Conference Bureau team member Suzy Wheeler used their award winning stand design to attract visitors. The innovative surf board themed stand won the "best at show" award at Confex earlier in the year. Maximising stand space and providing a welcoming open meeting area worked well again for Suzy and her team on the stand. "I love the design and the layout - simple, clean and clever", said Velvet's Chris Gibbs. Chris attended the show on Tuesday to meet with Worcester's Emma Robinson and Nottingham's Andy Melton. Chris was giving Emma some face-to-face support and help with Chaser BUREAU whilst her discussions with Andy were focused around Velvet's new on-line registration system reg.istrations.com and their web based accommodation booking system ConferenceBookings.co.uk.

Tony Rogers, Chief Executive of The British Association of Conference (BACD) hosted a drinks reception on their stand on Tuesday afternoon to introduce key members of the Eventia team. BACD and Eventia are set to merge later this year to form one organisation brining together destinations, event organisers and industry suppliers.

Conference Leeds' Nicola Lockwood met with Velvet's Tim Clark on Tuesday to discuss the development of the new Chaser BUREAU system - the project is being led by Conference Leeds and their members and will prove to be one of the most significant system releases in Velvet's eleven year history in the industry.  "It's great to be working with Nicky on this project - her industry experience and position as coordinator for conference enquiries, on-line accommodation booking and registration services across not just Leeds but Bradford, Kirklees and Wakefiled are proving to be a great asset", said Tim Clark.

The new format show and layout appeared successful; as ever we hope that all of our client exhibitors have come away with valuable leads that they are able to successfully convert into event business for their destination.