Event CV

Black Country 'Open for Business' Launch Event

Delegates: 150

Client: Sandwell, Wolverhampton, Dudley and Walsall Councils, the Black Country Consortium

Venue: The Public, West Bromwich

Date: 29th September 2011

Overview

We were contracted by the Event Steering Group including representatives from Sandwell, Wolverhampton, Dudley and Walsall Councils to provide event administration support services for the Black Country Open for Business breakfast launch event. We managed all aspects of the event support including:

  • Producing an invitation
  • Email and hard copy distribution of invitations
  • Managing and chasing responses
  • Providing print services
  • Sourcing sponsors
  • Co-ordinating catering and AV requirements with the venue
  • Event management on the day

Midlands Media Awards 2011

Delegates: 350

Venue: Edgbaston Cricket Ground

Client: Birmingham Press Club

Date: 11th March 2011

(Delivered in association with Ed James PR)

Overview

The Midlands Media Awards are run each year by Birmingham Press Club and are designed to award excellence in the media world of newspapers, radio and television. The Awards attract over 200 entries from across the East and West Midlands and the event is always well attended. As event managers we had the following responsibilities:

  • Find and book a venue
  • Produce all promotional materials including printed and email flyers, entry forms, event programme and posters (ensuring final sign off from Press Club representatives)
  • Manage all entries including keeping a database
  • Approaching suitable people to be judges of the Awards, organising a judging panel, organising a judging session (this was held at the Radisson SAS hotel in Birmingham)
  • Selling tables and tickets for the event
  • Approaching sponsors and securing sponsorship (we managed to get £20,000 in sponsorship)
  • Organise all the set design and technical requirements for the event through the venue and an external AV supplier. This included producing a PowerPoint presentation to work within the Awards Ceremony
  • Organising the dressing of the venue including production of sponsor’s materials
  • Work with caterers to choose a menu and liaise with all those attending regarding dietary requirements
  • Produce table plans
  • Produce and stage manage the event on the night
  • Manage the event budget throughout
  • Source and brief presenters for the event
  • Organise trophies for all winners and certificates for nominees
  • Book entertainment
  • Deliver feedback to the Birmingham Press Club

After the event we had to have a debrief with the Birmingham Press Club, produce a final budget and contact all sponsors to ensure they felt they had gained good exposure from their sponsorship. All sponsors were delighted with the event. We have now been running this event for the past three years and the feedback consistently tells us that we have delivered well organised and successful events.

Business and Traders Consultation for Bewdley Development Trust

Number of Delegates: 40

Venue: The Guildhall, Bewdley

Client: Bewdley Development Trust

Date: 17th June 2010

Overview

We were asked by BDT to produce a consultation event to engage businesses and traders in Bewdley with a view to creating a Business Marketing Partnership for the town. We worked alongside them to do the following:

  • Formulate a delegate list
  • Book a venue
  • Create presentations for speakers
  • Distribute invitations
  • Arrange catering
  • Set up all AV facilities
  • Facilitate discussions
  • Devise feedback forms

The event was attended by a cross section of those who own and/or run businesses in the small market town of Bewdley and the brief was to canvass opinion on whether a formal partnership would be an attractive option to them. The event took place at 5.30pm and finished around 7pm.

Consultation Lunch for the Royal Television Society (RTS) Midlands Centre

Number of Delegates: 30

Client: Royal Television Society Midlands Centre

Venue: Malmaison, Birmingham

Date: 27th February 2009

Overview

We were asked by the Royal Television Society (with whom I have worked for a number of years) to design and produce a consultation event for those working within the television industry in the East and West Midlands. The RTS wished to get feedback from the individuals attending as to how it was viewed as a Society, whether it was still deemed relevant and how in particular it could adapt its Annual Awards to reflect the changing nature of media within the region. I was asked to cover the following:

  • Formulate an invite list
  • Devise and design invitations
  • Manage the invitation responses
  • Liaise with the venue to ensure the private meeting area was appropriate
  • Choose menus
  • Brief speakers
  • Prepare delegate packs
  • Manage the event budget
  • Follow up delegates afterwards for feedback

I was not asked to provide a formal evaluation of the event but I did contact all those who attended afterwards to ask for their feedback on the different element s of the event e.g. venue, content, how useful they felt it was, whether they felt they had been able to fully consult with the RTS. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive with both the RTS and the delegates delighted with the outcome. Much of the feedback was then used by the RTS to influence changes to the content and format of their Annual Awards Ceremony which took place in October last year.

Business Lunch and Exhibition to promote 2012 opportunities to regional businesses

Number of delegates: 120

Venue: Ramada Hotel, Kidderminster

Client: Ramada Hotel Group

Date: 18th September 2008

Overview

This event was formulated alongside the team at the Ramada Kidderminster to coincide with a visit from Lord Sebastian Coe to the hotel’s leisure club. In order to make the most impact locally and regionally from his visit, IJM Media worked alongside the hotel to devise a wider reaching event which would potentially help business from across the West Midlands start to understand more about the process for getting involved with the 2012 Olympics as a supplier. Having support from Advantage West Midlands (the RDA) and Hereford and Worcester Chamber of Commerce, we decided to produce a Business Exhibition and a special lunch at which David Moorcroft OBE would be our speaker and Lord Sebastian Coe would be the special guest.

The Exhibition element was held in marquee in the grounds of the hotel and we contacted local and regional businesses and invited them to attend. There was no charge for those attending the exhibition as the hotel covered costs and we wanted to make the event as accessible as possible. The lunch was run more commercially with small charge for those attending to hear David Moorcroft speak about the business opportunities available around 2012 and then to do a more lighthearted Q &A session with Lord Coe afterwards. There were around 60 companies exhibiting and around 120 attending the lunch.

As event managers for the event we carried the following responsibilities:

  • Formulating a list of local and regional companies and other relevant organisations to invite to attend the event
  • Alongside the Ramada marketing team (including the Regional Director and national PR Manager) developing all promotional and marketing materials for the event, organised a direct mail campaign, posters, fliers and invitations.
  • Produced an email marketing flyer to go out to all targeted businesses
  • Communicated all necessary details to those attending
  • Managed and ran the event on the day including setting up the exhibition space, directing exhibitors on arrival and ensuring they had all the information they needed.
  • Booking and briefing David Moorcroft as speaker and looking after him on the day
  • Managing all bookings for the lunch, producing table plans and choosing the menu
  • Seeking out commercial sponsors for the event (Lloyds TSB Commercial)
  • Producing a presentation to run throughout the lunch promoting Olympic opportunities
  • Working with our technical partner to provide all AV support for the event including internal and external PA systems

We were asked to attend a debrief session after the event where we had excellent feedback from the client (the Ramada) and their regional management in particular. We also contacted all those who attended to ask for feedback on their experiences of the event and provided this anecdotally to the hotel. This was also overwhelmingly positive. We did not have to go through a competitive tender for this process as the Ramada is an existing client of IJM Media.