Ideas have the possibility to create change

That is the very reason people come together to attend events. Whether a congress for 5000, a meeting for 500 or an incentive for 50, these delegates come together to create new connections, establish new networks and to work together to form new ideas, which forms the very basis of VisitScotland’s new social media campaign, ‘Legends’, specifically for the Business Events market.

Scotland is fortunate to have a blossoming business events market. Edinburgh is ranked 27th out of 392 in the world for the number of meetings it held according to the latest International Congress and Convention Association statistics. Glasgow is home to Scotland’s and one of the UK’s largest conference centres while Aberdeen has embarked on a £333 million investment to create a new, state of the art International Conference Centre. But we cannot rest on our laurels.

Many of the international conferences and conventions we want to attract to Scotland specialise in various sectors, from Technology to Life Sciences and Energy to Health Care. Before we can even begin to talk about how easy it is to get to Scotland through our international air connections, or the variety of internationally acclaimed hotels and venues they can choose from, we must first and foremost show Scotland’s credentials in these Sectors. Legends will elevate this message far and wide through a targeted social media campaign that has full collaboration from all of Scotland’s cities and regions and is believed to be an industry first for the MICE (meetings, incentives, conference & exhibitions) sector.

It’s incredible how ideas can be formed over coffee. A task to come up with a strapline to market Scotland to the business events world, ‘Scotland, where ideas become legend’ has become a two-year social media campaign that will highlight 12 of the world’s most important sectors through country-wide collaboration.

Engagement with Scotland-based academics, universities, industries and research centres has led to the creation of blogs, videos and case studies to showcase those at the forefront of world changing innovation in Scotland. Our cities and regions will have a voice for each sector to highlight the ingenuity taking place across the country and unite with us on #ideasbecomelegend. During the first phase of the campaign, launched last week, VisitScotland has worked with renowned organisations such as Technology Scotland, ScotlandIS, pureLIFI, the Scottish Association for Marine Science and The Data Lab to show an impressive cross-section of what is happening in Scotland today and into the future.

The campaign is a first for VisitScotland and the wider MICE industry, hear about it from Neil Brownlee, Head of Business Events at VisitScotland.

As we move forward with this exciting campaign – giving each sector, city and region a chance to showcase their experience and innovation with the world – I look forward to seeing the birth of many more ‘legends’ in Scotland.

Go to scotland.org and join in with the conversation online using #ideasbecomelegend