Strong teamwork adds up to conference success

CWT Meetings and Events collaborates with world's largest professional services firm to deliver smooth-running global events for IT leaders

Pre-event planning

The world's largest professional services company was looking to bring together IT leaders from its member firms for an annual global conference. The three-day event to be held in Greece in April 2018 would see 120 delegates attending from New Zealand, Australia, America, India, Africa, the UK and other destinations.

Having previously worked closely with Alice Franks to deliver the same event while she was at another agency, the client came with her when she moved to CWT Meetings & Events as senior project executive in 2017.

The scope for 2018's conference included:

• Creating a new website for delegates and full delegate management
• Liaising with Hilton Athens to ensure the event ran smoothly
• Taking the lead on logistics
• Onsite event management
• Working as part of the core team made up of internal and external stakeholders

Challenges

The company's global events project leader had formed a strong partnership built on trust and respect with Alice when they collaborated on this event previously. He is a big believer that everyone involved in a project – whether an internal or external stakeholder – should feel part of the same team.

Solution

Clear and frequent communication, including conference calls between the project leader, Alice and other team members, underpinned everything they did in the six months of event planning.

CWT M&E redesigned the conference website with a fresh look embracing the client's brand identity. It was simple to use, with delegates able to log on to confirm their attendance and specific needs such as dietary requirements. A link took them to the Hilton's website where they could make their own room bookings.

Client verdict

After the conference, the client's global events project leader described Alice as a "lovely person and great professional", adding: "You're the standard I judge others on."

The company's chief information officer said: "It was very clear to all who attended that a great deal of effort and teamwork was put into the event. The positive feedback that I am continuing to receive is indicative of your success."

Conclusion

CWT M&E's flexibility ensured Alice's availability to attend client meetings. This, alongside the powerful team ethos inspired by the client's project leader and his strong working relationship with Alice, resulted in the seamless delivery of the event.

With Alice onsite to expertly liaise with suppliers and look after delegates, the project leader was freed to concentrate on other aspects of the conference.

Alice concluded: "He is big on buying into people rather than companies. For him, it's all about who is on board. Rather than being viewed as an agency servicing them, the client sees us as part of the same big team. It's this that paves the way to a smooth-running event where everyone understands their role and pulls together."

Back