“We are very pleased to be recognizing the Royal College of Physicians for this honor in what has been a pivotal year for the Apex Award” said AIPC President Edgar Hirt. “They have achieved this distinction in a process that now requires even higher levels of client endorsement than ever before, and are a facility with a very long and proud history which is now reflected one of London’s most distinctive and iconic Grade 1 listed buildings, overlooking the famous Regent’s Park. This history has clearly paid off in terms of their development of superb facility management and customer service skills”.
“The AIPC Apex award is one of the most prestigious titles in the world, and to secure it we have had to prove that we are competitive in every respect with some of the most successful venues in the world,” said Clive Ostler, the RCP’s General Manager, Marketing & Facilities: “The defining factor is customer feedback, and clearly the detailed comments of our own clients gave us the edge”.
The AIPC Apex Award is based on an extensive analysis of customer input via detailed surveys and reflects an unbiased picture of a centre’s performance as seen through the eyes of its customers. The analysis covers a range of categories including facilities, project management, customer relations, catering, creativity and technology. “The Apex Award evaluation process is an extensive one that is able to identify the distinctions that separate even the highest performing centres”, said Hirt. “With almost 1,000 client assessments this year, we have also been able to clearly distinguish the factors that are generally most important to clients in their determination of centre performance, which gives our members and additional insight to drive performance”.
The AIPC Board also recognized three runners-up to this year’s award; the Belfast Waterfront, The Convention Centre Dublin and the Orange County Convention Center, Orlando. “Our runners-up are also deserving of real recognition, given the very high standards required to compete in this program and the fact that they each achieved this distinction by being top-ranked in a specific category of evaluation”, said Hirt. “Overall, we feel the AIPC Apex Award goes far beyond simply the winners as it creates important information and insights that drive overall centre performance “.
Begun in 2000, the AIPC Apex Award is now the pre-eminent award for the international convention centres represented in AIPC. Previous Apex Award winners have been the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre in Australia, Congress und Messe Innsbruck in Austria, the Vancouver Convention Centre in Canada Рwho won on two occasions Рthe Bilbao Conference Centre and Concert Hall. Euskalduna in Spain, Cairns Convention Centre in Australia, the Congress Centre-Sofia of Bulgaria, the Centre des Congr̬s de Qu̩bec in Canada and the Valencia Conference Centre.
AIPC is a professional, non-profit association representing a global network of 173 leading centres in 54 countries with the active involvement of more than 750 management-level professionals. It is committed to encouraging and recognizing excellence in convention center management.
