Bridge to Growth ERDF Programme  

Advantage West Midlands has acquired funding from the European Union to develop its inward investment programme, Bridge to Growth. The programme encourages companies from across Europe to set up subsidiaries in the West Midlands and offers a range of advice and services via a network of private sector partners including Martineau, Tenon, EBS, Mercuri Urval and Warwick Science Park. Advantage West Midlands requires the services of an event management company to take total responsibility for the execution and management of the programme within the objectives and guidelines of ERDF. The supplier must co-ordinate a mix of events and information seminars across Europe and the UK which are often complex and require the collaboration of multiple venues, presenters and partners. Also included is responsibility for audience recruitment; development and maintenance of a registration website; liaison with delegates; venue, accommodation and catering sourcing and on-site liaison; partner, country manager and speaker liaison; collateral and branding.  

Delivery:         

Lead Generation:

Sector Marketing works in conjunction with Country Managers in each territory to establish the lead generation requirement for each project.  The work is either sub-contracted to local partners or provided by Sector Marketing’s dedicated lead generation team who are highly experienced in dealing with senior level executives. Sector has a number of bilingual callers across the market territories.

Management of the invitation process:

A Sector team member is project manager for the Bridge to Growth programme and is the first point of contact for all delegate enquiries via email and telephone. A unique mailbox has been set up This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and this is monitored on a daily basis.   A central part of the reporting process for Bridge to Growth is tracking delegates from initial interest, through to registration for European and UK events, through the process to company set up.  In order to manage this process we developed new registration pages which can be accessed via www.bridgetogrowth.co.uk. These pages enable delegates to register for Information Seminars or UK Evaluation visits.  All data is stored in a secure database and Country Managers receive automatic alerts of new registrations for their Information Seminars.  A monthly CRM programme has been established to keep in touch with potential and established companies.  

Delegate management:

The Sector team manages all delegate management for UK events including booking accommodation, travel advice, car hire and dietary requirements.  We also compile and provide copies of the event programme and travel directions to delegates in advance of the event. We also support Country Managers is answering delegate queries and send out joining instructions and programmes etc for Information Seminars. 

Venue sourcing and accommodation booking:

The ERDF funding guidelines requires Sector Marketing to book and pay for all venues, travel and accommodation for the Bridge to Growth programme.  We work in partnership with Country Managers to secure venues and hotels that suit the requirements of each seminar. To date we have managed the booking of international travel for the Bridge to Growth programme 2009 in Finland, Demark, Brussels, Netherlands, Helsinki, Germany and Sweden.

Programme development:

We work in partnership with Advantage West Midlands to create the programme for each UK event.  This includes venue sourcing and booking, private sector partner selection and liaison, meeting scheduling, recruitment of industry experts and speakers, organisation of an evening reception and dinner and booking of delegate transport.    

Production of event collateral: 

Name badges:

Overseas - Delegate badges are pre-printed and distributed to the Country Managers in advance of the event or shipped ahead to the venue with any additional collateral. Spare name badges are sent which can be hand-written on the day in case of any last minute changes or issues with spelling of delegate names.  UK - Delegate badges are pre-printed and distributed on the day.  We ensure that we have badge printing facilities on site for any amendments. 

Signage:

We draw up a plan of all directional signage requirements in accordance with the overall event branding. Where possible we print on recycled and/or recyclable stock.

Registration staff at event:

Sector Marketing has selected a dedicated project team to plan and deliver all the at-event activity as required. Staff are on hand to ensure that all delegates are registered quickly and efficiently, and also to ensure the smooth running of all elements of the day.

Thank you email:

Post event evaluation is an essential part of any project and it is important to get a real impression of how staff and delegates viewed the event in order to gauge success. It is also this feedback that is often instrumental in shaping future events.  An evaluation form is emailed out to all delegates post event and the responses managed via the registration pages and database. We believe that that it is easier to assess feedback if it is rated against specific question areas (rating 1–5) as well as providing free from space for comments, suggestions and recommendations.