There’s no denying that conference and event budgets are being squeezed and organisers want to make their money work harder. While choosing a seating layout might not be the most exciting topic it is an important part of the planning process.

How delegates are seated will decide the value they get from the conference experience. If delegates get more out of the event it results in better value for the organisers. So seating is something that needs careful consideration.

Many conferences still use traditional theatre style seating. It can be very effective when a large number of people are attending because it allows people to see and hear everything that is being said or projected onto a screen. But is this really the most effective way of seating delegates for smaller meetings?

Theatre style seating doesn’t allow people to communicate or share thoughts, which is one of the main aims for small scale events. To facilitate this, interest in cabaret style seating is growing, and is something I think the whole conference and events industry will experience in 2012. In fact, in the last 12 months at HIC, we’ve seen a massive 55% increase in the number of organisers enquiring about cabaret style seating over traditional theatre style arrangements.

One of the biggest benefits of cabaret style seating is that it is ideal for small group discussions and projects while still allowing everyone to focus on the speaker. It’s a relatively informal seating arrangement which allows delegates to communicate and share ideas, and by creating a more social business environment it also provides better networking opportunities.

True cabaret seating should allow for no more than six delegates per table. If more delegates are added then some won’t be facing the front and will have to turn their chairs around to face the presenter. While a meeting room might allow for this, it’s a very awkward way of sitting and can be disruptive.

Cabaret seating may mean an organiser can accommodate less people but they need to weigh up quantity over quality. If interaction is an important part of the conference then cabaret style seating offers the best choice.

HIC has a variety of spaces which can cater to organisers’ requests for cabaret style seating including the Kings Suite and Queens Suite, both of which also offer superb break out areas. So as the lyrics from the famous song say: “Right this way, your table’s waiting. Come to the Cabaret.”

Premier Decorations is the first company to use HIC’s new space.

The first exhibition to use Harrogate International Centre’s (HIC’s) new halls – the Harrogate Christmas and Gift Fair – has been a great success. The completion of the redevelopment project provides event organisers with a perfect link to the existing facilities and the event allowed Premier Decorations to create a winter wonderland when it took over Hall H for the duration of the show.

Premier Decorations is one of the UK’s leading importers of Christmas decorations supplying retailers across the country. It has been exhibiting at the Christmas and Gift Fair for 25 years.

John Athwal, managing director at Premier Decorations, comments: “The Harrogate Christmas and Gift Fair has always been a successful show for us, but this year was the best yet because of the additional space. The new halls were absolutely fabulous and made a real difference in particular linking into the rest of the show. We have an ever increasing product range and wanted to showcase it to its full potential to customers. Having Hall H to ourselves allowed us to create something truly spectacular and we were delighted with the results. It really was a winter wonderland. HIC’s new spaces are amazing and you can produce anything you want because it is a blank canvas. We’ll be back next year to create something bigger and better!”

HIC’s director Angus Houston says: “We’re delighted that Premier Decorations was able to take advantage of the additional space provided by Hall H. The new facilities have been well received by our core and new clients and we look forward to seeing what ideas other exhibitors generate as more shows take place in the coming months. The new halls with greater flow to our existing facilities, particularly our 2,000 seat auditorium, are a perfect blend for our clients which is reflected in the level of interest we are currently experiencing.”

Building and maintaining effective partnerships is one of the most important aspects of doing business. Partnerships create trust, offer stability and confidence for both parties involved. For the events industry, partnerships with big brands and organisations reflect commitment to good service.

At Harrogate International Centre we are committed to providing best services to our clients.

HIC hosts around 150 events and attracts in excess of 290,000 visitors each year, and is consistently acknowledged to be one of the UK’s top event venues. This has been achieved by combining premium facilities with first class customer service.

Recently we signed a three year deal that will see the Harrogate Christmas and Gift Fair and the Harrogate Nursery Fair remain at HIC until at 2015. Both shows are expanding to make use of HIC’s new facilities – Halls H and G – and will have a substantial economic impact bringing in excess of £10 million revenue each year. Renewing our partnership with these two iconic shows reflects the importance we place on building relationships and celebrates the unique bond that has been created between HIC and the event organisers over many years.

The Harrogate Christmas and Gift Fair first came to the town more than 60 years ago. Since then we have seen significant changes in HIC’s offering in terms of both space and facilities. However, the one thing that has remained constant is the quality of service and the desire to work in partnership, helping us create industry renowned shows.

The completion of a £13 million development at HIC underpins our commitment to offering first class facilities which meet the needs of modern events. The new spaces will allow HIC to cater for a wider range of events, particularly award ceremonies and banquets.

Ultimately, the creation of long term partnerships between HIC and event organisers will not only enhance a visitors experience but enhance our reputation as a leading destination both nationally and internationally.

Alison Griffin continues her look at the economic impact of events…

HIC is one of Harrogate’s biggest economic drivers, impacting on everything from tourism and event providers to local shops and infrastructure. One of the benefits of being an international event venue located in a town rather than a huge city is that we don’t work in isolation. HIC functions as part of the community. At every step we promote Harrogate and the surrounding area as a destination alongside the venue. People don’t just come to Harrogate for the venue – there is far more here on offer and we continually try to present a cohesive and developed offering to potential clients.

To further increase our economic impact HIC has invested heavily in improving the venue’s facilities. A £13 million expansion project to construct new Halls G and H will increase our capacity by 20%. This ensures we remain competitive and will allow us to run multiple events simultaneously. The project will not only benefits event organisers and visitors but the whole region. Investment in HIC will raise the region’s profile as a place to do business and help bring long term prosperity and growth to the Centre. Consequently local people and business will be directly affected by its economic impact.

There are hundreds of venues around the UK, clearly most are smaller with far fewer events than HIC but each one still brings something to the economy, injecting vitally needed funds at a time when dramatic cuts are being made in a whole range of sectors. And these figures truly highlight the importance of events to our economy.

Whilst scientists expect to find habitable new worlds as part of the Kepler programme in 2012, event organisers can find the industry’s newest stars at International Confex 2012 on the Harrogate International Centre(HIC) stand. HIC’s recently completed £13 million redevelopment project created two new stars of the North, increasing HIC’s capacity and ability to host a variety of events and conferences.

The focus of its stand at Confex will be to show people how they can benefit from the improved facilities. Halls H and G have increased HIC’s space by 3,100m2 – 20% – and can be used for a wide range of experiential events, banquets, corporate productions and product launches. The new halls add more space to larger events and offers exhibition space with great flow from the 2,000 seat auditorium.

Alison Griffin, head of sales and marketing at Harrogate International Centre, comments: “Harrogate is the ideal destination – halfway between London and Edinburgh – for events. Our aim is to offer the best facilities so organisers can deliver world class exhibitions and events, and the new spaces will help us achieve this. The focus of our stand at Confex will be to show organisers how the new halls can be used for a wider variety of events and improve the overall visitor experience. The first event in Halls H and G was a great success and we know there will be many more. The new spaces will enhance our reputation and keep HIC at the forefront of the events industry, both nationally and internationally.”

To find out more about HIC visit Stand B1020.

Harrogate International Centre (HIC) provides much more than just a venue for your event.  As a part of the inclusive hire package, we provide a consultative and in-depth event management service to ensure your event stands out from the crowd.

At HIC an event planner is allocated to each event to provide specialist advice and support as necessary. They prepare detailed event schedule documents for you, outlining all requirements and scheduling information including quotations for any further services.  Every event at HIC is overseen by dedicated event planners who are keen to ensure that each aspect is delivered smoothly.

Blending premium facilities and unbeatable customer service with a unique town centre location halfway between Edinburgh and London; it is easy to see why HIC is considered to be one of Europe’s top event venues.

The perfect venue for corporate conferences, sales presentations and product launches, HIC’s conferencing space includes a state-of-the-art 2,000-seater main auditorium, the stunning 1,000-seater Edwardian Royal Hall, Main Hall and the Queen’s Suite, an incredibly flexible 650sq m area sub-dividable into ten individual rooms.

Let’s look at the Queen’s Suite in particular….
With a length of 25 metres and a width of 26 metres the most interesting thing about the Queen’s suite is its flexibility.  Capable of being divided into a range of smaller rooms of differing sizes, almost anything is possible.  With natural or artificial lighting options available, the technically minded will also be interested to know that it has two ceiling-mounted, 100A three phase busbar systems.

The Queen Suite has been an ideal venue of choice for a number of high profile events. Its versatility allows delegates to have both plenary and breakout sessions in the same area, whilst nearby Hall D is ideal for any accompanying exhibition.

To see the Queens Suite in more detail or any of our other halls, why not give the sales team a call to arrange a site visit?

The event industry in the UK is fiercely competitive and requires strategic and smart marketing skills to attract new prospects. Marketing of a venue is both an internal and an external process. It is not only about promoting a venue to the outside world, but a successful campaign also involves maintaining good relationships with the existing clients.

At HIC we have effectively used many different forms of marketing to talk about events, the benefits that each brings to the local economy and other achievements.  Along with a strong presence in the mainstream media, we also use social media for marketing purposes and to engage with stakeholders. We keep a track of interactive networking opportunities as a way of widening the scope and reach of our promotional activities.

Social media can be used to add significant value to campaigns in terms of brand awareness, audience generation, community development and pure buzz.  Social media is increasingly becoming a strong platform for delegate engagement and the development of 360 degree conversations between marketers, speakers and delegates.

But how can you use social media effectively to get maximum benefit out of it? The first step is to understand whether your target audience is ready to engage with you through social media platforms. This helps to find out how your clients will engage based on what they are already doing. There may be cases where some clients are more inclined to write reviews rather than joining conversations on Twitter or Facebook. If this is the case a blog may be more appropriate.

It is also important to have a clear objective. Are you going to use social media for external marketing or are you more interested in using internally to help employees communicate more effectively? You should also have a strategy that defines to what extent you want to engage with clients. And in order to make the most of social media successfully, it is imperative explain its benefits to staff so they can contribute effectively.

Social media has provided us with another platform to not only talk about our events but also promote the region as a place to do business and get vital feedback from visitors. Social media is an important part of the marketing mix; are you making the most of it?

UKSG has confirmed it will host its annual conference and exhibition at Harrogate International Centre (HIC) in 2014 and 2017 following the success of the event at the venue in 2011.  Revenues from the two shows are likely to be in excess of £130,000.

The organisation held its 34th annual conference and exhibition at HIC for the first time earlier this year and as the result of positive feedback from the 850 delegates  it has decided to come back for a further two years. UKSG spans a wide range of interests and activities across the scholarly information community of librarians, publishers, intermediaries and technology vendors. During the three day event, UKSG utilised the 2,000 seat auditorium for its plenary sessions, Hall Q for its exhibition stands and the Royal Hall for social events.

Alison Whitehorn at UKSG comments: “Harrogate was the ideal place for UKSG to host its annual conference. Our delegates fell in love with it straight away. Often events have to bend around the venue’s facilities. But HIC offers flexible spaces and it was well equipped to meet our requirements for meetings and breakout areas as well as catering for sessions arranged at short notice. The team at HIC were able to facilitate all our requests which helped with the smooth running of the event. The conference was a great success and we’re pleased to be coming back for future events.”

Alison Griffin, head of sales and marketing at HIC, says: “UKSG’s decision to bring their annual conference back to HIC in 2014 and 2017 is recognition of the hard work of the entire team in making events a success. It’s also good news for the whole area as conferences like UKSG, with a large delegate attendance, have a significant economic impact on Harrogate, providing revenues for businesses of all sizes. We’re delighted with the positive feedback not just about the facilities but the location too, and we look forward to welcoming UKSG back in 2014 and 2017.”

In the first of two blogs looking at the positive effect of events on a local economy, Alison Griffin considers how impact can be measured.

The events industry is expected to provide a big boost to the UK economy over the next few years. Conferences and events already play a key role generating almost £25 billion a year, and Britain is recognised as one of the world leaders in the field of events.

The industry faced challenges due to the recession but it has remained strong. And growth is likely as a report by Britain for Events predicts that with the right support the industry could grow to £48.4 billion by 2020.

Events don’t just benefit the host venue. The sector is vital to more than 25,000 small businesses – hotels, visitor attractions, transport companies, caterers, retailers and many more. And it’s an industry that sustains 530,000 jobs. Any event, meeting or conference has a substantial impact on local communities. They bring in far more than just spend at venues and on-site and create many opportunities for local businesses to gain from the people who come to the area, particularly those on business trips.

There are many ways to calculate the economic impact of an event. But perhaps the easiest method is to use the Visit Britain definition. It applies the following values to individual visitor types so venues can simply calculate how their event benefits the local economy.

•    Corporate Day – £127.27
•    Corporate Multi-Day – £486.92
•    Association Day – £180.30
•    Association Multi Day – £488.94

Hundreds of events are held in Harrogate each year. These events bring in an audience in excess of 290,000 visitors making it one of the UK’s top event destinations. These visitors help HIC make a substantial contribution to the town’s economy. Using the Visit Britain calculation, in the 2010/2011 financial year, HIC contributed £180 million to the local economy and demonstrates the positive effect event venues have on the destination as a whole. And mirroring the prediction in the Britain for Events report, this is likely to continue in the coming years as HIC grows in popularity amongst event organisers and brings in more business to the area. For example, the Stroke Association has chosen HIC as the venue for its annual conference for the next three years (2012-2014). This event alone is likely to be worth an estimated £6.6 million to the town and area.  Worth the effort I think!

It’s cabaret all the way at Harrogate International Centre (HIC). The largest venue in the North of England has received a record number of enquiries for cabaret style set up at events and conferences.

In the last 12 months, HIC has seen a massive 55% increase in the number of organisers enquiring about cabaret style seating over traditional theatre style arrangements. It believes this is because organisers are looking for better value for money and increased delegate interaction. One of the biggest benefits of cabaret style is it creates a relatively informal seating arrangement allowing delegates to communicate more effectively throughout the day.

Alison Griffin, head of sales and marketing for HIC, says: “The trend towards cabaret style seating is growing, and is one I think the whole conference and events industry will see continue into 2012. Budgets are being squeezed and organisers want to make their money work harder. Seating configuration is an important part of conference planning and using a cabaret set up allows delegates to work together more effectively. It also allows for better networking opportunities as it creates a more social environment. If delegates get more out of the event it results in better value for the organisers.”

HIC has a variety of spaces which can cater to organisers’ requests for cabaret style seating including the Kings Suite and Queens Suite, both of which also offer superb break out areas. HIC has recently previewed its two new event halls which are due to come online in the New Year making a total offering of ten event halls, a 2,000 seat auditorium and 1,000 seat Royal Hall.