Press release -
Exciting panel of industry leaders confirmed for National Events Conference closing plenary session
Five of the country’s leading industry professionals will share their thoughts and insights into the challenges and opportunities facing Scotland’s events industry after being confirmed for the closing plenary session of this year’s National Events Conference: Setting the Stage for 2025.
Jean Cameron, Paisley 2021 bid director, Leonie Bell, Scottish Government’s Head of Cultural Engagement and Culture Strategy, Philip Long, Director ofDundee V&A, Malcolm Sutherland, Director ofLoch Ness Marathon & Festival of Running, The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo Chief Executive and Chair of Events and Festivals Industry Group (EFIG), Brigadier David Allfrey MBE, will all take part in the closing plenary session: ‘Scotland’s Assets and The Perfect Stage’.
Chaired by Marie Christie, VisitScotland’s Head of Development – Events Industry, the session will take an in-depth look the assets – our people, cultural identify and heritage, natural environment, built facilities, and signature events – that make Scotland the perfect stage for events, and will highlight some of the future challenges and opportunities from the perspective of each speaker.
Marie said: “We’re delighted to have such an illustrious panel of speakers for our closing plenary session. The events and festivals sector is a fast-paced and ever evolving industry and this final session is designed to share some of the most current ideas and best practice from speakers leading some very exciting projects.
“I’m sure the session will generate lots of lively discussion amongst the panel and audience as well as practical thoughts and actions for us all to take away; providing the perfect conclusion to the day’s informative programme.”
Each panel member has been selected to speak about one of the five assets and will share with delegates their own experiences in this area as well as providing their thoughts on how we can continue to utilise and develop them to ensure Scotland continues to be the perfect stage for events.
Speaking about her part in the plenary session, Jean said: "Scotland is indeed known the world over as a perfect stage for events and I am looking forward to taking part in this discussion about how the industry can evolve and improve.
"I am delighted to have been asked to speak about people - Paisley Buddies have been at the heart of our bid and our friends around Scotland have wrapped around that in a way typical of the warmth of the Scottish welcome which is central to the country's appeal.
"Paisley is fast building a reputation as a key destination on Scotland's events map - and should we win the UK City of Culture title we will bring to Scotland major events and cultural programming with resonance throughout the UK and the world."
Paisley is the only place in Scotland to make the final UK City of Culture 2021 shortlist and will find out in December if they are successful in their bid.
The announcement of the closing plenary panel comes as tickets for the conference are selling fast and with some breakout sessions already full. More than 70% of tickets are already sold and with only three weeks to go, time is quickly running out to secure a spot at this flagship industry conference.
Taking place on Monday 27 November at the Technology & Innovation Centre in Glasgow, other confirmed speakers at the event include Adam Perry (EventTech Live), Gillian Henderson (Ticketmaster), Kevin Sewell (Scottish Borders Council), Tom Clements (NOEA Scotland), Colin Rodger (DF Concerts & Events) and ACC Bernie Higgins (Police Scotland). They will join keynote speaker, David Coletto from Abacus Data, Secretary for Culture, Tourism & External Affairs, Fiona Hyslop MSP and conference host, sports broadcaster Eilidh Barbour.
Organised by EventScotland on behalf of the industry, the National Events Conference provides 300 delegates with a unique opportunity to hear from industry experts, share experiences and network with industry colleagues. As well as the two plenary sessions, there are 11 breakout sessions for delegates to choose from as well as the chance to arrange short one-to-one meetings with key speakers and industry figures.
For the full programme and to buy tickets, visit www.nationaleventconference.scot
Topics
- Tourism
Categories
- eventscotland
Regions
- Scotland
Notes to Editors:
List of closing plenary session speakers and the Scottish asset they will be representing:
- Our People – Jean Cameron, Bid Director, Paisley 2021
- Our Culture & Identity – Leoni Bell, Head of Cultural Engagement and Culture Strategy, Scottish Government
- Our Built Facilities – Philip Long, Director, Dundee V&A
- Our Natural Environment – Malcolm Sutherland, Director, Loch Ness Marathon & Festival of Running
- Our Signature Events – Brigadier David Allfrey MBE, Chief Executive, The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo and Chair, EFIG.
Speak profiles available here
EventScotland
EventScotland is working to make Scotland the perfect stage for events. By developing an exciting portfolio of sporting and cultural events EventScotland is helping to raise Scotland’s international profile and boost the economy by attracting more visitors. For further information about EventScotland, its funding programmes and latest event news visit www.EventScotland.org. Follow EventScotland on Twitter @EventScotNews.
EventScotland is a team within VisitScotland’s Events Directorate, the national tourism organisation which markets Scotland as a tourism destination across the world, gives support to the tourism industry and brings sustainable tourism growth to Scotland. For more information about VisitScotland see www.visitscotland.org or for consumer information on Scotland as a visitor destination see www.visitscotland.com.
VisitScotland
- Follow us on twitter: @visitscotnews
- VisitScotland is Scotland’s national tourism organisation. Its core purpose is to maximise the economic benefit of tourism to Scotland.
- The organisation’s core objective is to contribute to the Tourism 2020 Strategy ambition of growing tourism revenues by £1 billion by 2020.
- This will be supported by seven overarching strategies:
- Marketing: we will market Scotland and its outstanding assets to visitors from all parts of the world, including the promotion of Scotland to people living in Scotland to visit different parts of the country
- Events: we will support the national events strategy and its delivery, and sustain, develop and promote Scotland’s international profile as one of the world’s foremost events destinations
- Internationalisation and International Engagement: we will utilise all our platforms to enable Scottish-based tourism businesses to better understand international opportunities and market to a global audience and we will work within One Scotland Partnerships to optimise the potential of Scotland’s Diaspora and our strategic partners at regional, European and global levels
- Customer Experience: we will provide information and inspiration to visitors both locally and globally via their preferred medium of choice
- Quality and Sustainability: we will provide support and advice to businesses, with the goal of improving the quality and sustainability of the tourism sector in Scotland. We will provide quality assurance to visitors through our Quality Schemes
- Inclusive Tourism: we will strive to make tourism in Scotland inclusive and available to all
- Working in Partnership: we will listen to and work with the industry, partners and communities to shape our offering and support
- To ensure everyone can safely enjoy Scotland’s amazing countryside and landscapes, VisitScotland encourages all visitors to fully respect their surroundings by behaving in a responsible and appropriate way.
- VisitScotland works together with tourism businesses to make tourism a success for everyone and ensure the industry continues to grow.
- The organisation employs 700 people and has offices and VisitScotland Information Centres across Scotland.
- Spending by tourists in Scotland generates around £12 billion of economic activity in the wider Scottish supply chain and contributes around £6 billion to Scottish GDP (in basic prices). This represents about 5% of total Scottish GDP
- The Scottish Government is the Managing Authority for the European Structural Funds 2014-20 Programme. For further information visit www.gov.scot or follow @scotgovESIF
- For VisitScotland’s press releases go to http://www.visitscotland.org/media_centre.aspx, tourism statistics and frequently asked questions go to http://www.visitscotland.org/
- Where possible, a Gaelic speaker will be made available for broadcast interviews on request (Far an tèid iarraidh, agus far am bheil sin nar comas, bruidhinnidh neach le Gàidhlig aig agallamh) 2017 Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology
- 2017 is the year to delve into the past and discover Scotland’s fascinating stories through a wide-ranging variety of new and existing activity to drive the nation’s tourism and events sector, boosting tourism across Scotland.
- The Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology begins on 1 January 2017 and will end on 31 December 2017. It will build on the momentum generated by previous themed years in Scotland including the 2015 Year of Food and Drink, Homecoming Scotland 2014, the Year of Creative and the Year of Natural.
- The Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology is a Scottish Government initiative being led by VisitScotland, and supported by a variety of partners including Creative Scotland, Scottish Tourism Alliance, Scottish Enterprise, The National Trust for Scotland, Historic Environment Scotland, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Built Environment Forum Scotland, Heritage Lottery Fund, Museums Galleries Scotland and Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland.
- The Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology is supported by £570,000 of Scottish Government funding.
- The Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology events fund is managed by EventScotland, part of VisitScotland’s Events Directorate.
- For more information visit visitscotland.com/HHA2017 or join the conversation at #HHA2017
