Conference News Supplements Sheffield Supplement | Page 12

12 Sheffield INNOVATION AND INSPIRATION Steve Timmins, business development manager at The University of Sheffield tells CN why his team leads the class in refining the lessons in conference innovation with inspiration, engagement & a contemporary variation on creating dynamic meetings. n a competitive market place, innovation and investment are central to maintaining clients in addition to winning new contracts. The University of Sheffield has made significant investments over a number of years in key areas such as facilities, technology and proactive account management. Ensuring we consistently deliver and surpass the expectations of each and every one of our customers means that we constantly benchmark ourselves against high profile branded names such as Costa, Starbucks, Holiday Inn, Mercure & IHG etc; our aim is delighting our guests every time. The university’s commercial business includes bespoke conference facilities, two large convention centres which can each hold 1,250 delegates, dedicated UK Masterchef dining and meeting spaces, twenty retail outlets and two contemporary hotels, all of which offer free high speed Wi-Fi as well as state-of-the-art AV equipment in the conference facilities. We have also invested heavily in new technologies, using products from Cvent, Kinetic Solutions and HubSpot to enhance our clients’ event management and delegate registration experiences and, acknowledging www.conference-news.co.uk the importance of delegate engagement in events, we have now introduced an Event App for delegates to register for meetings, select syndicate sessions, confirm accommodation, fully engage with other delegates via social media, download presentations, post images and pose questions for speakers in real time - these are just a few of the attributes which augment the conference offer to our clients. Our dedication to offering intelligent solutions for our clients was illustrated by four nominations at the annual Academic Venue Awards.