Abbey has a well-established relationship with the client and has been working with IFIC on their annual conference for the last 7 years.

Once the client had decided and approved the main conference venue, Abbey then sourced a suitable dinner venue, and contracted hotel accommodation to suit various budget requirements.

Abbey continued to support the client throughout the planning of their conference. We managed all logistics incl. venue bookings, delegate registration, accommodation, site visits and communications.

The programme and two receptions took place at the ICC Belfast, a great central location and easily accessible for all international delegates.

The conference dinner took place at Belfast City Hall a historic venue in the centre of Belfast and within easy walking distance from the venue.

During the conference 5 site visits took place (to various local community projects) all within short driving distances to the venue enabling delegates to get a more hands-on experience around the conference theme.

With such a large number of delegates, providing user-friendly and efficient delegate registration was important. We enabled the option to register for individuals as well as groups. The use of various discount codes offered the flexibility appreciated by delegates and ensured maximising attendance.

With the conference being one month earlier than usual several tasks had to be managed by the team at short notice, which was accomplished by excellent teamwork.

The conference dinner was a great success and included an awards ceremony. We fully coordinated the event, including liaising with venue and various suppliers; we also sourced dinner entertainment which provided great local Irish flair to what was a very relaxed affair.

With the programme being comprehensive, clear and timely communication to all presenters across the various session types was essential. That also extended to our in-house team each responsible for different elements along with managing a high-traffic delegate inbox, ensuring a positive delegate journey remained in focus.

Sessions in two rooms were directly live-streamed into YouTube throughout, increasing the reach to a wider network which is important to the client. Our long-time partner (Richard Jolly TV) provided excellent quality and as always was professional throughout.

Recordings along with slide decks, conference photos and posters were made available for download to all delegates after the conference.

Making full use of a personalised Conference App (again) enabled delegates to plan their agenda and featured up-to-date information, making connections with delegates, providing information on various client projects and supporters, alerts, social media and more…

The venue, ICC Belfast, did excellent in helping delegates have a great experience. A great benefit was that break-out rooms were very close together and easy to navigate. The venue also showed great agility in assisting with ad-hoc items.

Delegates had opportunities to network with like-minded individuals throughout, which was key.

A quiet/prayer room provided space for delegates as needed, which was welcomed by delegates, the conference being a full 3-day programme.