ast year we created the Unexpected MK marketing campaign , which pretty much sums up the city both for leisure and business visitors . As a part of the planning process , we started looking at everything we ’ d been saying about Milton Keynes to date , and comparing it to what other towns and cities were saying . When we started looking from a business perspective at what our Conference Desk messaging had been , we stumbled on a fairly horrific truth . For all the amazing unexpected differences that MK has , we ’ d been saying the same thing as everyone else . It ’ s amazing how many towns in the UK claim to be ‘ centrally located ’. Well , I suppose we ’ re all central to somewhere . Wasn ’ t it Alan Partridge who extolled the virtues of his favourite Travel Tavern , based on it being equidistant between London and Norwich ? It ’ s not just our central location that we ’ re guilty of turning into cliché … Good transport links … Free Wi-Fi … Scenic views … It ’ s all dull . It ’ s all samey . It ’ s all clichéd , and most importantly , it ’ s all Everywhere . Nothing about what we ’ d been saying was Unexpected and , in a

city like Milton Keynes , it was not acceptable . There ’ s nothing more cathartic than taking a pile of out-of-date , misinforming collateral and throwing it in the nearest recycling bin . The second , equally horrific realisation was that conference marketers have got their segmentation wrong . We were as guilty as the next person . We would start a marketing campaign and look at whether it was for a B2B or B2C audience . In the modern joined up world , there ’ s no such thing . Everything we say should be B2H : Business to Human . In 2016 we ran a campaign promoting MK as a destination where business and leisure work

together . The campaign had excellent results and in many ways was a precursor to the successful Unexpected MK piece . It harnesses the unexpected strength of Milton Keynes . The fact that it ’ s worth having a conference in one of our venues because , not only do we offer first class conferencing facilities , but you will have an unparalleled visitor experience – where else can you have a meeting overlooking a real snow slope , then pop out for a bit of snowboarding ? Where else will the conference bureau work to turn an entire city around into your bespoke venue ? I can tell you that both of those are examples of

conferences we ’ re working on right now for international clients . Destination Milton Keynes operates a conference desk facility , connected to all of the major hotels , conference centres and business venues in the city ; and because our remit is to promote and enhance the Visitor Economy , we treat every incoming conference delegate as a visitor to the city and ensure that they get the full package . Even better than that , profits made through the conference desk are channelled directly back into promoting and marketing the city and our members , allowing campaigns like Unexpected MK to happen . I hope I ’ ve left you with a feeling that the city that you may have only ever thought of as a destination in jest might have a bit more to it than you first thought . At Destination Milton Keynes , we ’ re small enough to care but large enough to cope .

Steven Gordon-Wilson is chief executive of Destination Milton Keynes and can be contact at : steven @ destinationmiltonkeynes . co . uk or on Twitter @ stevengw