ROYAL ACADEMY OF ENGINEERING
AWARDEE EXCELLENCE COMMUNITY
May 25, 2023
The Event
The Academy has created a community for their current and past awardees to bring them together to connect, share their expertise and get involved in their work. To launch this community, they hosted events in various locations to bring awardees together for the first time, to recognise their achievements and celebrate excellence within the group. The event aimed to spark discussion and connections between the guests and to give awardees the opportunity to network, collaborate, and share insights with other leading professionals in the field.
BrightSpace Events were contracted to support the delivery of the event in Sheffield from sourcing the venue, through event planning and on-the-day event management. We were able to bring local knowledge and our event management expertise to support the organisation of the events.
Client Testimonials
We hired Brightspace to help with one of our events. They were very professional, courteous, and very organised. They were quick to respond to queries, excellent at problem-solving and were thorough.
Senior Events Manager
I would recommend Brightspace and I would definitely use them again for future events.
Senior Events Manager
The Challenges
The Academy’s first Awardee Excellence Community event presented several challenges. Because it was the inaugural event, accurately predicting audience numbers proved difficult and we needed to be responsive both in planning for; and reacting to, changes in delegate numbers.
The event took place simultaneously in Sheffield, Glasgow, London, and Belfast as well as online. Each venue required a reliable and robust live stream connection plus technical support on the ground to ensure seamless access to the speakers. The success of the event hinged upon maintaining a strong and stable live stream connection throughout all locations.
In line with the Academy’s strong focus on sustainability, selecting environmentally friendly venues and viewing everything through a ‘low-impact’ lens was crucial.
The Solutions
Numbers: We contracted flexibly with the venues, allowing for adjustments in delegate numbers. Deadlines and cancellation policies were carefully managed to reduce liability.
Technical: ‘Plan B’ programming meant there was a contingency plan for technical disruptions (thankfully not required!)
Sustainability: Venues were prioritised that demonstrated true sustainability values and actions and venues discounted with policies but that showed little or no action.
Sustainability was factored into catering with more vegetarian choices and only white meat options offered. The venues also had processes to reduce food waste.
Branded backdrops used fully recycled and recyclable materials with a generic design that can be reused at future events.
Virtual site inspections were conducted to reduce the need for travel and minimise emissions.
Local staff were employed to further decrease travel-related carbon emissions.
Multi-Location: Detailed and inclusive briefings were key with all internal stakeholders, venues, local staff and the Brightspace project team. All were scheduled well in advance to ensure availability and used templated documents and communications for consistency.
Client Testimonial
I want to register for the next event from now.
Great event. Please continue this type of event.
Thank you for organising this. It was fun.
Attendees
Results
The events were a huge success with 100% of attendees saying they were “likely” or “very likely” to attend another event in the future and 90% rating the events as “outstanding” or “very satisfactory”.
The technical delivery went without a hitch and guests were lively and animated during the group discussions and most stayed on to continue networking at the drinks reception after the event had finished.
Brightspace were also asked to step in at the last minute to provide additional support to the client team over in the Belfast events due to a change in their structure which was arranged with minimal fuss.
The Academy’s focus on responsible practices and environmental considerations was reflected throughout the event, highlighting their ‘do as we do’ approach to excellence and sustainability in the engineering community.
The Stats
5
Simultaneous Event Locations
213
Attendees
3
Live Streamed Speakers
