ICC Belfast are bronze winners in the Conference Awards 2020
ICC Belfast wins again at Conference Awards 2020
Northern Ireland’s only purpose-built international convention centre was recognised alongside ACC Liverpool and Tobacco Dock in the ‘Best Conference Venue – over 1100 theatre style’ category.
Originally planned as a glitzy ceremony at City Central at the HAC, the Conference Awards 2020 pivoted and went virtual to celebrate winners and finalists across categories spanning conference development, sustainability and event operations. The Best Conference Venue award that ICC Belfast received bronze in focuses on what sets venues apart from the competition in terms of technology, client experience and delegate satisfaction.
ICC Belfast’s unique approach to client management was applauded. In order to go beyond creating ‘just another conference’ the team strive to create emotional connections. This methodology is based on research published in the Harvard Business Review. The results indicated that creating an emotional connection matters more than customer satisfaction and by moving highly satisfied customers to fully connected, the return on investment is three times higher than moving them from dissatisfied to highly satisfied. In order to better serve the needs of clients, ICC Belfast seeks to understand the motivating factors of clients as well as those of delegates. The venue team then adopts the role of trusted advisor on all elements from the proposed spaces and event production to hospitality, citywide branding and digital marketing to ensure objectives are met and exceeded. Whether the overall objective of an event is to ‘feel a sense of belonging’, ‘protect the environment’ or ‘have confidence in the future’, by working in collaboration to deliver an experience, not just another conference, engagement, innovation and the event profile can increase exponentially.
Marie-Claire Caldwell, Head of Sales and Marketing at ICC Belfast commented on the award win saying,
The Conference Awards are a highlight in our annual awards calendar and the organisers did an excellent job in transitioning to a virtual format. To receive bronze in such a competitive category is an incredible achievement and it’s a great boost for our team who have continued to deliver innovative solutions for clients over the last few months. We’re currently developing plans to reopen safely, and we know that when in-person events return, they’ll be better than ever.
To find out more about the Conference Awards and see the full list of winners click here.