Case Study Summary
Event type: Multi-day Corporate Conference
Venue: Leonardo Royal Brighton Waterfront
Delegates: 167
The Client Brief
Our client was hosting its multi-day 2024 EMEA company sales conference. For this annual event, held in Liverpool in 2023, delegates were promised a more southern, seaside location for this year. The client’s primary contact has previously experienced Bien Venue’s logistical and on-site event support and defined it as a ‘must-have’ for this event, enabling them to focus on delegate networking and conference content.
Delegates from the UK, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, India, and North America were travelling for the event. Their diverse needs had to be catered to ensure an inclusive and equitable event experience.
The Requirements
- Venue find
- Group accommodation booking and management
- Rate negotiation & contract signing
- Venue pre-event management & on-site liaison
- Event theming
- Menu development
- Entertainment sourcing
- Audio Visual sourcing
- Transport – airport shuttle
- Event logistics & planning
- On-site event management
- Consolidated invoicing
We understand the needs of this team, as an existing BV client. But we’re never complacent. We had plenty of internal and supplier meetings to ensure we could add extra fun and surprises into the requirements to wow the guests.
The BV Approach
Our approach always starts with finding the perfect venue. We provide a detailed overview of various venues to our clients, including the types of dinners available and the kinds of activities they have on-site or nearby. Once this is taken care of and the venue is agreed, we look to the event theme and begin planning entertainment and the logistics of all activities.
The Solution
Event support was a big part of this project. Alongside on-site event management—with no client contact having to worry about anything from coffee breaks and room turnarounds to third-party suppliers—our pre-event logistical support and third-party supplier sourcing and contracts sat high on the priority list.
With the venue confirmed, we contracted third parties. We used the same AV team as last year’s Liverpool event. It was more cost-effective for the client than multiple local and regional suppliers from which we sourced quotes. This is one area where our team’s time and expertise come into play because it can be more cost-effective to cover supplier transport and accommodation than a local supplier – depending on event type and date.
Our team project plan worked with the venue and AV function sheet to ensure all breaks, content changes, and room change-overs from conference to dinner and awards were managed effectively with minimal to zero delegate disruption. We also worked with the entertainment and AV suppliers to agree on entrance music for each winner of the client’s Team Awards.
The event was hosting a global split of delegates (53% UK / 27% Europe / 6% North America / 5% Middle East / 5% Africa / 4% India). As we take event catering seriously, the right menu was a must-have for inclusivity and comfort. With everything from pork and alcohol-free cooking to catering for the minimal three vegan delegates, we also considered many cultural tastes and flavour preferences. So, we worked with the venue to create a menu that didn’t just cater for the minority.
We handled event branding and signage, from event menus and directions to entranceways and delegate materials. And we themed the event around the company President’s promise to delegates for a ‘British seaside’ event. We added little touches throughout the conference, entertainment, and venue to tie into the southern sea, sand, and sun. Despite this year’s UK weather washout, we even delivered some sunshine too.
We also confirmed all the final details with the venue and arrived the day before the event to help ensure the set-up and signage were on point.
Finally, our specialist event finance team consolidated the event and accommodation costs and split them appropriately based on delegate region and team/cost centre.
The Event
Day 1: On-site set-up for Bien Venue and suppliers
Day 2: Client leadership team strategy day, guest arrival, and welcome dinner.
Day 3: Main conference day one, followed by awards dinner and entertainment.
Day 4: Main conference day two.
Day 5: Main conference day three, followed by guest departure, shuttle transport, and supplier/venue de-rig and depart.
Our team already has venue ideas and themes in mind for the 2025 conference, which is expected to take place in Europe.
The Result
We’ve had brilliant feedback from the events we’ve managed for this client in the past, including this 2019 celebration.
And this year there was more.
The feedback from the delegates onsite and post-event was phenomenal, with BV’s main client contact summing up:
“For a service that I didn’t even know existed three years ago, it’s now hard to imagine ever running an event without this amazing on-site support! Mark is an absolute superstar, and such an enormous help to have on-site – with his vast experience of events and hospitality, he is always two steps ahead, which makes my job a whole lot easier in so many ways!”
“Once again, this [pre-planning/logistics] is where BV shines! They take care of every small detail, and always responds quickly to any queries, as well as putting forward lots of great ideas and solutions as needed.”
Event Booker, Education Industry Company
Need help with your next corporate conference?
For more information on Bien Venue’s Event Management services or to discuss your next corporate conference, incentive, away day, or other company event please contact sales@bvevents.co.uk
Bien Venue are a boutique creative agency who specialise in a free UK venue finding service. It’s not just workshops, training, conferences, or off-site meetings we can arrange and venue search for but also away days, residential training events, awards ceremonies, networking, roadshows, hybrid events, summer parties, Christmas celebrations, private dining, team building, incentives, employee engagement hampers and virtual activities. We also offer accommodation booking platforms for both corporate bookers and event specific allocations of bedrooms
Our re-identified strapline alongside ‘Our Team is Your Team’ is ‘Event Management – Professional, Pro Active with a personal touch’.