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Case Study
October 2016
Robinson College making history
A case study from Cambridge offering food for thought
Robinson College’s new Crausaz Wordsworth building, dedicated to conferencing
The Economic History Society
(EHS) and the Urban History
Group (UHG) hosted their
annual conferences at Robinson
College, Cambridge, in April
2016. The organisations used
both the main building and the
new state-of-the-art Crausaz
Wordsworth Building for their
events.
The conferences celebrated
and promoted the academic
work of both organisations,
offering delegates a chance
to network, discuss new
ideas and debate existing
theories. The events
required a one-site facility
that could accommodate
multiple activities running
CN-10-16-AEM.indd 14
simultaneously. By using both
of the college’s buildings, a
versatile mix of rooms were
used, from large plenary
auditoria, to smaller boardroom
style meeting rooms.
Comprehensive AV facilities
were needed in each space,
which the organisers were
able to use in order to deliver
key messages and themes to
delegates.
Maureen Galbraith, from the
EHS, said: “The teams ‘can-do’
attitude and professionalism,
attention to detail, helpfulness
and good humour were
outstanding; Robinson College
was a pleasure to work with
and made my job much easier.”
The EHS tells AEM the
challenges it typically has when
Robinson College’s association business:
• Association conferences makes up 35% of the College’s residential
conference business, with an average value of £30k per booking, which
means it is a very important business for Robinson College.
• In the College’s financial year 15/16 (finished June 2016) the College
increased its association business year-on-year by 13%
finding a venue and what they
look for when booking include:
• A venue big enough to hold
the number of delegates that
attend its events
• A venue that has multiple
rooms where sessions can take
place simultaneously
• A venue that provides
good AV facilities enabling
presentations to be delivered
• A venue that is flexible and
accommodating
And the EHS confesses to having
no scientific method or process
of measuring success of its events.
“Delegates returning year on year
is how we know it’s successful,” a
spokesman said.
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