HIC Talk

We thought it was time we revealed a little bit more about Alison…

Name: Alison Griffin

Date of Birth: a well kept secret!

Place of Work: Harrogate International Centre

Job Title: Head of Marketing & Sales

How did you get into the conference / meetings industry?

It is a combination of love of events and marketing, and above all a lot of hard work.

How has business developed for you over the last few years? We set out on a mission to offer an exceptional events experience to our clients. We never compromise on the quality of the services we provide and always aim for the best: from attracting events to HIC to delivering the very best possible destination and venue experience. Read the rest of this entry »

Harrogate International Centre, which has achieved a remarkable £180 million for the local economy during the 2010/11 financial year, has attributed its success to its marketing and sales strategy.

HIC’s head of sales and marketing; Alison Griffin said: “Our success in the last financial year would not have been possible had we not adopted a range of new and exciting marketing strategies. We knew the challenges that the industry was facing because of the global recession but were determined to create more opportunities for business by being creative and optimising our marketing and sales avenues. We decided to go that extra mile by taking a few risks and using whatever resources we had. Some of the strategies we adopted were quite simple and cost effective like making extensive use of social media. We needed to have faith in our team and I am pleased to report that it paid great dividends.” Read the rest of this entry »

Harrogate International Centre (HIC) has achieved a remarkable £180 million for the local economy during the 2010/11 financial year.

HIC’s head of sales and marketing; Alison Griffin said “This is a great achievement for us in the face of tough economic times and truly demonstrates the positive effect we have on Harrogate as a town and the local region.  As one of the largest businesses in Harrogate we would expect to have a substantial impact but this clearly demonstrates the value of events.  There are so many opportunities here for local business: from shops and taxi companies to restaurants and bars; to gain from the hundreds of thousands of visitors we bring to the town every year – a fact that is clearly demonstrated by this figure.”

The last year has been a challenging one for the events industry as a whole, yet Harrogate International Centre has continued to invest in new facilities, that will help bring long term prosperity and growth to the Centre and consequently the local people directly affected by its economic impact.  In particular work started on two new event halls that are due to open in Autumn 2011. On average, 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.

Alison continues:  “The events industry has been particularly competitive in the last year and much of our success can be directly attributed to targeted marketing, attracting the right shows and the development of an ideal event offering.  Our excellent service levels have also helped us to retain a number of clients who were seeking additional support and advice from our in-house expertise.”

Recently, the Stroke Association has chosen Harrogate International Centre as the venue for their annual conference for the next three years (2012-14).  This event alone is likely to be worth a total of £6.6 million to the town and area.

HIC welcome today’s announcement from East Coast that they will operate a new evening direct service between London Kings Cross and Harrogate daily. The service comes following a long campaign from Harrogate’s business community, including Harrogate International Centre. This new service will complement the current train schedule in place which has in excess of 100 trains to and from Kings Cross each day via Leeds or York. Alison Griffin of HIC comments: ‘We already have great transport links with the A1M on our doorstep and an International airport only 12 miles away. This addition will further bolster our train connectivity too, which is always good news for our visitors. Conferences & exhibitions at HIC attract in excess of 200,000 business visitors per annum and 78% of these visitors come from outside of the region.”

If you would like to find out more about getting to Harrogate please click here.

Harrogate International Centre’s stand (B326) for Confex 2011 will feature a live feed from a Harrogate based webcam, bringing the town, and in particular the new development work at HIC to International Confex.  Visitors will also have the chance to meet Angus Houston, HIC’s new director.

HIC’s stand will demonstrate the contrasting opportunities available to organisers in Harrogate by showcasing the town’s chic and opulent offering alongside its cutting edge growth and technological offerings.

HIC’s Head of Sales and Marketing, Alison Griffin: “Harrogate is a meeting point for creativity, culture and professionalism – key attributes we intend to demonstrate through our activities at International Confex 2011.  The stand will be the perfect reflection of Harrogate’s offering, whilst the use of a large video screen will allow us to feed live from our webcam, clearly showing attendees the pace of HIC’s development and growth.”

The screen will also be used to engage with HIC’s expanding social media audience as well as presentations and information about the venue.

Alison continues:  “It is vital that we use every means possible to engage with audiences and potential clients.  Social Media is a growing part of our marketing mix and this technology will allow us to bring online communication into our face to face exposure, creating a legacy of engagement from our attendance at International Confex.”

Angus Houston, HIC’s recently appointed director (due to start work in January) will also be attending International Confex.  He will be available for meetings and informal discussions.

Alison concludes:  “Angus’ attendance at the show will also provide an opportunity for him to meet key contacts and further develop relationships that will support HIC through the final stages of development and launch of our new events halls.”

HIC will be exhibiting at International Confex from 1-3 March, 2011 at Earls Court, London on Stand No. B326.

Using Visit Britain’s definition of economic impact for events, Harrogate International Centre has achieved more than £92 million for the economy during the first six months of their 2010/2011 financial year.

HIC’s head of sales and marketing, Alison Griffin: “As the BVEP Manifesto and Britain for Events reports have highlighted, our industry has a substantial impact on local economies, bringing in far more than just the spend at venues and on-site.  This figure represents just six months of work at HIC and clearly highlights our importance to Harrogate, the surrounding areas and to UK’s economy as a whole.”

During the period April 2010 to September 2010, HIC held 38 major events plus a plethora of smaller meetings and seminars.  Just the major events were used to calculate the economic impact so the true figure is likely to be higher than the headline £92 million.  July 2010 was the month with the highest economic impact – £31.7 million.

However, one immeasurable area these figures only hint at is the impact HIC is having on the knowledge economy, where HIC plays a huge role.  As one of the UK’s largest venues, millions of people are educated each year through attendance at HIC events, adding to the UK and Global knowledge pool.

Alison continues: “These figures truly highlight the importance of events to our economy, there are hundreds of venues around the UK, clearly most are smaller with less events than HIC but still – each one brings something to the economy, injecting vitally needed funds at a time when dramatic cuts are being made in a whole range of sectors.”

“HIC is clearly one of Harrogate’s biggest economic drivers, impacting on everything from tourism and event providers to local shops and infrastructure.  We are closely supported through all our work by the efforts of the town and residents, who ensure we remain a fashionable and friendly place to hold events.”

“HIC’s place at the heart of Britain’s knowledge economy can also be extrapolated from these figures.  With so many events and so much education taking place within the Centre we are continually helping to improve and disseminate knowledge at a time when the most valuable commodities are information and understanding.”

Alison Griffin, Head of Sales and Marketing at Harrogate International Centre recently wrote an article for Stand Out Magazine – further extracts from which are detailed below…

Destinations and venues need to focus on several key areas to excite and engage the audience.  Three of these include:

Marketing of the destination – no matter how little time they spend in a destination, event attendees will prefer to visit somewhere they actually like.  Somewhere clean, attractive and benefiting from the facilities they need.  The longer the event the more important this becomes, which is why it is vital to engage with the whole community and clearly demonstrate why you are not only capable of holding the event but have a destination-wide desire to.

Location – very different from destination, this is about geographical location and ease of access.  Events with delegates countrywide are likely to prefer somewhere central, with good motorway access, train links and an airport within twenty minutes.  A regional event on the other hand can afford to have less national links as long as the local infrastructure is in place.  In either case it is still vital to develop the destination-based links to ensure ease of access once the visitors arrive.

Going beyond the RFP – often the first stage in the planning is the RFP, which is often focused on the venue and essential facilities needed for the event.  Whilst it is of course paramount that this is completed correctly – and opportunities for embellishment are challenging – initial impressions count and this is an opportunity to make a difference.  Highlight the extra facilities you can offer: the links with the community, the newly installed equipment, the added value services that are free to organisers.

And finally – great service.  Despite the recession, despite this “time of austerity”, events go on and price is not the be all and end all.  Organisers still need to hold their events in a great destination that is easy for their audience to reach.  They need to know the hidden benefits’ of one venue and town over another and above all they need to be confident that everyone working on their event – from managing director to car-parking assistant will offer the best possible service and friendliest attitude to their visitors.

Alison Griffin, Head of Sales and Marketing at Harrogate International Centre recently wrote an article for Stand Out Magazine – extracts from which are detailed below…

Events move and there really is not much we can do about it… or can we?  Destinations and venues frequently face both the fear and excitement of an event move.  The fear comes from the fact that a “regular” is considering somewhere else, whilst the excitement revolves around the possibility of a new event.  The big questions of course are why the event is moving in the first place and what can be done to secure the business.

It is important to recognise the fact that different events move for different reasons. Regular (annual / biennial etc) conferences tend to be more flexible and often work on a rotational system, revisiting the same venue for several years or in a fixed pattern – sometimes because “it is the way they have always done it”, other times because of delegate locations or particular messages to be delivered at particular times.  Exhibitions on the other hand tend to stick to one location for longer periods of time and move for “a change” or because the organisers believe a different location will drive up visitor numbers.

However, don’t be fooled into believing that it is the organiser’s decision.  More often than not the need for a move comes from a far less controllable and harder to influence group – the audience and delegates.  If they are unhappy, they will make their problems known to the organisers and change starts to take place.  With this in mind, destinations and venues need to focus on several key areas to excite and engage the audience… More to follow!