Wednesday, 09 July 2008 |
08:32 UAE time
Organising an event for 600 in Ireland for 600 guests is bound to throw up some challenges, but sun cream was not meant to be one of them.
Ireland based professional congress organiser Advantage ico recently took on one of its biggest challenges to date, in the shape of a three-day conference for 600 local and international delegates.
The brief sounded straightforward at first; the client wanted a region in Ireland with good airport access, sufficient five-star accommodation for the group, large conference facilities and space for team building activities for 600 people.
The delegation comprised two distinct groups of guests, explains Ronan Flood, director of Advantage ico.
"It was a difficult group to cater to; half the group was local to Ireland and generally under 30, and then we had 300 delegates from all over the world who were generally older and we had to keep both groups happy," he says.
"The Irish people were expecting the best of contemporary entertainment, but the visitors from overseas were expecting traditional Irish entertainment, so it was a difficult balancing act," he adds.
The conference had to last no more than three days, so the delegates, who came from destinations as diverse as Mumbai, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Rio De Janeiro and Chicago had to be kept on a tight leash.
Advantage chose a venue in Killarney in South West Ireland, which solved access issues due to its close proximity to three different airports and ensured that the delegates would not be tempted by the bright lights of the big city.
"Most people had access through Farranfore International Airport in Kerry, others used Cork Airport an hour and a half transfer from the venue and finally we used Shannon Airport about a two hour transfer," Flood explains.
The company constructed a 1200m² marquee in the grounds of the venue specifically for the event in order to create an outdoor atmosphere that would keep delegates at the venue for the event, and for the gala dinner on the final night.
"We made the marquee look different for each of the events, but for an overall theme we adopted the corporate colours of the company, which were blue and white," Flood explains.
Some delegates arrived a day early to conduct private meetings, but the conference kicked off in earnest on the first night with a welcome champagne reception with entertainment from Irish favorite Liam Maconelly, who's show is based around Irish dancing and the accordion.
"The production value was immense as we had a significant production budget," Flood explains.
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