Royal Society of Medicine, SECC, Conference Partners and Glasgow City Marketing Bureau have been honoured at the Association of British Conference Organisers (ABPCO) Annual Excellence Awards.
The winners were announced at the Chairmen’s Lunch, held on Friday (December 9, 2016) at Manchester Central, which bought together over 100 ABPCO members from both the supply and demand side of the industry.
The winners were
· Best Conference by an In-House Conference Organiser: Royal Society of Medicine (BeyondBORDERS), whilst Diabetes UK (Diabetes UK Professional Conference) was also shortlisted.
· Best Conference by an Agency Conference Organiser: Conference Partners (EuroScience Open Forum 2016). Also shortlisted were Meeting Makers (IAPD 2015), Happening (International Symposium on Paediatric Neurosurgery 2016) and MCI UK (World Hepatitis Summit 2015).
· Best Industry Partnership: SECC (RCN Congress). Also shortlisted were Cvent (AEO Conference) and Shocklogic (AAGBI 2016).
The Excellence Awards celebrate the very best the industry has to offer. The shortlist was drawn up by a panel drawn from the ABPCO Executive Board with the finalists giving a five minute presentation to demonstrate their expertise and best practice. The winners were chosen by a live vote from the audience during the event.
The 2016 Chairmen’s Special Award, which recognises CSR and the ability to influence and demonstrate best practice, was presented to Glasgow City Marketing Bureau for their campaign to assess the true legacy of conventions. In particular, their work has gone beyond just the financial to include long term sustainable and social impacts on delegates, associations, the local community and patient groups, the city and its partners.
Sarah Fitzpatrick, General Manager, Conference Partners UK and winner of the award for Best Conference by an Agency commented: “Winning this award here at Manchester Central is the icing on the cake. The ESOF 2016 event, for which we won the award was held here and it was a true success. In particular, we benefited from Manchester’s unique ability to access world leading subject matter experts who added significant value to the event through their roles as speakers and attendees. The Excellence Awards are a true reflection of best practice across the industry and we are delighted that our peers amongst the ABPCO membership voted for us.”
Caroline Windsor, joint chair of ABPCO comments; “I’d like to congratulate The Royal Society of Medicine, SECC, Conference Partners and Glasgow for their winning submissions. The calibre of entries for these awards continue to rise year on year and demonstrates the quality of work our members carry out. The Excellence Awards were established to highlight the expertise and best practice of association conference organisers and are a great showcase for our industry.”
Welcoming the announcement of the SECC as the winner of ABPCO’s Best Industry Partnership Award, Conference Sales Director Kathleen Warden said: “We’re delighted to receive this recognition from ABPCO for our work with the Royal College of Nursing. This was a partnership that was very dear to our hearts as a demonstration of our commitment to giving delegates a range of healthy choices during their time with us. It shows what can happen when a venue and an event organiser come together with a shared purpose and great energy. I’m happy to congratulate everyone at the SECC and RCN who put so much into making this partnership work.”
ABPCO is the UK’s leading organisation for association conference and event organisers, industry associates and those studying for, or seeking a career in the association meetings industry. For more information about ABPCO visit www.abpco.org
