Case Study Annual Conference voco St Davids| Meet In Wales

voco® St David's Cardiff case study

Client - The British-American Project

Event - Annual conference, 7 - 11 November 2019

Delegates - 230 delegates - UK and USA

Background

The British-American Project is a transatlantic network of over 1,400 pioneers and opinion-formers, from journalists to scientists, musicians to politicians, CEOs, artists, actors, and activists among countless other diverse professions. The highlight of the BAP annual calendar is their four-day conference, hosted alternately in the US and UK.

The annual conference is a four day event, bringing together leaders from the UK and US for a mix of workshops, panels and community events.

Challenge

With a group of high-profile and unique delegates, each making a considerable personal investment to attend the conference, it was vital that the venue provided very high levels of service and flexibility and that all spaces, accommodation and catering were of the highest standard.

Proximity to a range of appealing off-site activities, as well as the ability of the venue staff to respond to last minute requests was important. Another challenge was the transportation of delegates to the various activities, without breaking up the flow of the event.

The event required flexible options and staff support to achieve quick breakdowns and set ups of spaces, to accommodate the needs of the programme and delegates.

Solution

voco® St David’s Cardiff was chosen as it was able to provide flexible, high quality spaces required for the programme, along with the accommodation and service levels to meet delegate expectations. The organisers found the team at voco St David’s were able to really understand the needs of the planner, delegates and the aims of the conference, to be able to provide a turnkey solution and support for the event.

The hotel delivered full use of all rooms for day time workshops and panels and catering throughout including late night dinners and entertainment.

Transport requirements were also managed by the hotel providing seamless transportation of 230 delegates to a range of offsite activities.

In addition, the hotel was able to accommodate last minute requests such as arranging an abseil of the building, arrange late licences for social activities and fast turn around of set up to accommodate the busy programme.

Benefits

Attractive waterfront, accessible location with lots of options for both on and offsite activities
High quality onsite accommodation
Flexible event spaces
Innovate catering solutions, aligned to company brand
Support from in-house events team and concierge to meet organiser and delegate requests

A clear understanding of the needs for the event and delegates meant that the overall rating given by delegates for their experience was ‘outstanding’.

Testimonial

A real understanding of the unique selling point of our conference and the diverse needs and expectations of our delegates"

Jo Saucek and Bela Arora, British-American Project

Jo Saucek and Bela Arora, British-American Project continue "A willingness to accommodate any request, for example 18 of our delegates abseiling down the side of St David’s to raise money for the Royal National Life Boat Association. Particularly thoughtful was the changing buffet menu for mid-morning and lunch, as delegates become more tired over the four days and needed a little extra pick me up. People felt so well cared for.”