The ABPCO Festival of Learning concluded yesterday with the annual ABPCO Excellence Awards - with the Royal College of Physicians, MCI UK and Visit Belfast among the winners.
The seven-day hybrid event included both online and face to face content across key issues affecting professional conference organisers (PCOs) in the current commercial climate including: the importance of remaining relevant, CSR, mental health, COVID resilience, insurance, logistics and career choice.
The festival finished with the reveal of the following Excellence Awards winners, chosen through a combination of voting and judging:
• Best Conference by an In-House organiser - RCP for Medicine 2021
• Best Conference by an Agency organiser - MCI UK for King’s Live 2020
• The CSR Award – Visit Belfast
• The Innovation Award – EICC and ICC Belfast
Industry and Partner recognition Awards were received by: ACC Liverpool, Shocklogic and EventsAIR. In light of the high quality of their submissions, PLSA, Alzheimer’s, Fitwise and KC Jones Conference&Events were also recognised for their excellence.
The final day of the Festival of Learning and Excellence Awards was attended by more than 100 people at ExCeL London with more members joining online. The headline sponsor throughout the whole Festival was GES. Other sponsors and partners were: ExCeL London, Anna Valley, ACC Liverpool, EventsAIR, JL Live, The Meetings Show and Outsourced Events.
ABPCO chair Barbara Calderwood said: “It is wonderful to finally be face to face. The festival has been a tremendous success with high levels of engagement throughout the online content as well as the people here in person. Hybrid events are now a part of our everyday so it was only right that we bring that to the ABPCO festival demonstrating best practice to our members across the UK and overseas.”
ABPCO chair Michael Smith added: “Unfortunately I tested positive for Covid just before the final day so was unable to attend. However, it made little difference as the content was flawlessly shared throughout the online portal and I was able to experience the event and learn from the incredible speakers throughout. Well done to the finalists for your incredible submissions and congratulations to the winners, who demonstrated ABPCO’s values of excellence, learning and belonging throughout.”
M&IT editor Paul Harvey is a journalist with more than 15 years of experience. He began his career in the local press, working for various titles across the north. Since joining M&IT in 2013, he has become a trusted and respected voice in the sector, championing event professionals and reporting on all aspects of the events industry for the brand.
