ABPCO announces seven day Festival of Learning

From 1-9 December, ABPCO will deliver more than 25 sessions of content to association, conference, meeting and event professionals, at a hybrid Festival of Learning.

The first six days (1-3 & 6-8 Dec) will be delivered virtually, whilst the final day (9 Dec) will be a fully hybrid experience – online and in-person at ExCeL - culminating in the annual ABPCO Excellence Awards.

The Festival of Learning content will focus on four key themes identified as the most important to association managers, professional conference and event organisers and their supply chain partners: Future and Innovation, Marketing, CSR and Career Development

Full details of the learning programme will be released shortly.

“ABPCO has consistently evolved and provided extensive support for our members throughout the last year – reflecting the fact that we always have been and continue to be a close-knit community,” said Barbara Calderwood, ABPCO co-chair. “As chairs of the association, Mike and I wanted to deliver something new that would provide an in depth learning experience to not just our members but the wider industry – in fact for anyone working in the association and conference sector. The Festival of Learning will be the culmination of extensive research, hard work and planning – and I look forward to seeing the inspiring and insightful content we have lined up for our audience.”

The Festival of Learning is being supported by:

• EventsAIR – digital platform provider
• ExCeL London – live event venue
• Outsourced Events – PCO (delivered by ABPCO member Sue Frye and her team)

Samantha Shamkh, Head of Conventions, ExCeL London said, “We are delighted to be welcoming the ABPCO Festival of Learning to our venue. We recognise what an important milestone this is for the PCO community as we return to in-person events. We are looking forward to discussing the critical role conferences play in legacy building, as well as professional development and cross-party research. We hope to have the opportunity to share our reflections from hosting a full programme of in-person events for the last quarter of 2021; including RenewableUK Global Offshore Wind 2021 and the 18th European AIDS Conference.”

ABPCO co-chair Mike Smith concludes: “The Festival of Learning would not be possible without the input and ideas of our many industry leading speakers and content providers. Their sessions provide the foundation on which we are building the Festival and without them the Festival would not be possible. I would also like to thank our event partners EventsAir, ExCeL and Outsourced Events for their time, resources and creative support in bringing this learning experience together, which we firmly believe is applicable to association professionals, conference organisers and their industry partners.”

Register here to hear more about the ABPCO Festival of Learning: https://onair1b.eventsair.com/abpco---festival-of-learning