The Association of British Professional Conference Organisers (ABPCO) held its annual Excellence Awards on Friday hosted by members, The Brighton Centre.
The Awards are a key part of the Chairmen’s Lunch, which brings together ABPCO members from both the supply and demand side of the industry.
The winners were: • Best conference by an in-house conference organiser.– Diabetes UK • Best conference by an agency conference organiser– Opening Doors & Venues • Best industry partnership– NewcastleGateshead Convention Bureau • Special Chairmen’s Award – SECC Glasgow
“The winners should hold their heads high because the shortlist this year was of exceptional quality,” commented ABPCO Joint-Chair, Caroline Windsor. “To be a finalist for any one of the categories is a real acknowledgement of excellence but to be voted winners by your fellow peers is something quite special – the Excellence Awards continues to be a fine example of how fantastic the industry really is. Congratulations to all our finalists, the worthy winners and of course to our fantastic hosts at The Brighton Centre”
The Excellence Awards, now in its second year, celebrates the very best the industry has to offer. A shortlist was drawn up by a team of industry experts with the finalists sharing a five minute presentation of their submission as a case study at the awards lunch. Voting then took place amongst peers following those presentations and lunch at The Brighton Centre.
“On behalf of the entire team at the SECC, we are genuinely thrilled to have won the Chairmen’s Award,” comments Kathleen Warden, Director of Conference Sales at the Scottish Exhibition Conference Centre. “We’d also like to congratulate all of the other winners in the ABPCO Excellence Awards and all those that were nominated. These awards are testament to the partnerships we have developed with the PCO community over the years, and we would like to thank the ABPCO board and their members for recognising the work that we do in continuing to innovate and move our industry forward. Thank you; it’s a true honour.”
As well as the Chairmen’s Lunch and the Excellence Awards, ABPCO arranged an industry dinner on the previous evening at The Old Ship with a tour of Brighton itself the morning after. The tour offered delegates the opportunity to ‘get under the skin’ of the city before a series of microforums, held at The Brighton Centre, with partners including Shocklogic, Hiscox, Glasgow City Marketing Bureau, Eventsforce and Cvent
ABPCO is the UK’s leading organisation for professional conference and event organisers, industry associates and those studying for, or seeking a career in the conference and meetings industry. For more information about ABPCO visit www.abpco.org