The Ultimate Country Conference Getaway

THE CHALLENGE

A leading FMCG client approached Make Events to manage and produce their Annual Leadership Week, which brings together their decision makers from around the world.

The aim was to create a fun and engaging event that would update the delegates on business strategies and goals for the future year, whilst also engaging in various team building activities and attending dinners.

This is the only time the delegates meet up each year so it was important there were lots of networking opportunities.

The World Cup was on during the event and because we were bringing together people from across the globe, this needed to be incorporated without being overpowering for those who did not want to watch.

OUR SOLUTION

Make Events managed the venue find for the event. Ellenborough Park was chosen as it had 2-hour journey time from both Manchester and London and the client wanted somewhere with lots of outdoor space for team building activities. We worked alongside Ellenborough Park and the client had exclusive use of the hotel for 5 days.

Make Events brought the clients’ ideas to life by working closely with the venue and peppering magic touches throughout; by always aiming to make the delegates experience as easy as possible. Whether this was remembering someone’s favourite drink or changing breakout spaces to be outside due to the lovely weather they had, we were able to be flexible with our creativity and work alongside Ellenborough Park to make the experience stress free for the delegates.

Engagement levels towards the end of the week can sometimes be a challenge, so Make Events made sure we made each day different and there were lots of breakouts and activities.

The agenda for the week –

Sunday
AM – Delegates arrived and checked in.
PM – Informal meal in the grounds of the hotel.

Monday
AM – Conference sessions.
PM – Three course Chairwoman’s Dinner with a string quartet and awards.

Tuesday
AM – Conference sessions.
PM – A cookery class; delegates created a three-course meal and voted on the winner in teams.

Wednesday
AM – Conference sessions.
PM – A GPS treasure hunt around Cheltenham town centre, then to Cheltenham race course where we organised an interactive on-screen horse race.

We added magic touches to the evening; tweed flat caps were given to each delegate, a bespoke racing post was designed which had all the details of the evening in and as we wanted to make the evening as quintessentially English as possible, the food included mini pie and mash, mini fish and chips and real ales.

Thursday
AM – Conference sessions.
PM – BBQ in the grounds of the hotel where we provided gin and rum tasting. There was also a cocktail van which was bespoke wrapped to the brand, which served themed cocktails and ice creams.

Friday
AM – Conference sessions.
PM – Delegates left on coaches to Manchester Airport.

THE RESULTS

The level of detail and personalisation that went into the week succeeded in motivating the delegates, who went back to their offices raring to go. The event was such a success that we are already planning next years event!