FW0414 Conference Collection_.

&Award-winning PR, public affairs

marketing campaigns

Conference& Event Collection

Freshwater is a diverse media group offering:

• Communication consultancy to help clients reachconsumer, business, stakeholder and politicalaudiences across the UK in an integrated andconsistent way

• Creative media production services, individually orfor integrated campaigns, including video, events,websites, apps, social media, advertising and printedliterature

• A portfolio of communication products, includingtraining and conferences (Waterfront) and onlinebusiness networking (WalesWorldWide)

We can meet multiple needs in multiple locations –enhancing reputations, building brands, engaging withstakeholders, and influencing decisions.

Our 60-strong team works from seven offices,including the four capital cities of the UK. We havedetailed knowledge of the diverse sectors in whichour 200-plus clients operate. The following casestudies showcase some of our work in the conferencesector.

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About Freshwater

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Our event management team has extensiveexperience in the delivery of a variety of events,ranging from large-scale conferences and exhibitionsto product launches, fashion shows, award ceremonies,exhibitions, road shows, press conferences and small-scale regional business advice clinics.

Freshwater has the capabilities to manage everythingfrom pre-event planning to full support during andpost event. Our team assures the smooth running ofan event, through a combination of our expertise andin-house resources, to deliver against objectives.

Where a company is managing its own event,Freshwater can provide:

• Marketing communications

• PR and social media, including media partnershipdevelopment

• Brand development, design and print

• Website design and registration including onlinepayments and reporting

• Database development and management

• Interactive media including web, email, DVD, CD-Rom

• TV/AV video production and editing

• Modular and bespoke exhibition solutions

• Sponsorship support

• Advertising online and offline

Events managed and/or marketed by Freshwaterinclude:

• VIP Exhibition at Southhook LNG in the presenceof Her Majesty the Queen and the Emir of Qatar

• EdinburghTourismAction Group (ETAG) AnnualConference

• International Maritime Pilots Association Congress

• Welsh Contact Centre Awards

• Tourism Innovation Group Annual Conference

• Wales Against Cancer Conference

• ScotHot Hospitality Exhibition and Conference

• Healthy Living Shows

• ExcellenceWales Awards

• Food Storage and Distribution Federation Event

• People in Property Awards

• Scottish Centre for Carbon Storage

• Taste Local International Food and DrinkConference

• Homebuyers Conference Scotland

• Welsh Contact Centre Conference and Exhibition

• CarbonTrust Annual Events Programme

• Energynet Conference

A key factor in our delivery of the project is our abilityto ‘hit the ground running’, building on our experienceof working on many and varied events. Clearcommunication, agreed action plans, a focus on resultsand evaluation of activity are integral features ofFreshwater’s consultancy arrangements.

About Freshwater

RSPB Mobile

Cinema RoadshowChallengeTo develop, manage and staff the RSPBrolling events programme includingtechnical management, storage,transport and creative design.

StrategyFreshwater provided full service supportto the RSPB through research, planning,booking and implementation of theirmobile cinema events.

The agency researched the available eventopportunities and assessed how well theymet the requirements of RSPB.The mainobjective of the events was to achieve50,000 viewings of the cinema film. Eachvenue was carefully considered through anin-depth questionnaire, ensuring all aspectsof the venue were okay for the large unit.

The daily management including allservicing, transportation and evaluationwas managed by the Freshwater team.

ResultsThe events were very successful, achievingthe target numbers at the end of the twoyear period. Freshwater was commissionedto re-design the exhibition unit andmanage a separate tour following thecinema tours success.

Challenge• The primary aims were to strengthen Edinburghtourism business’ awareness of and engagementwith ETAG, and to create a high level of political,stakeholder and business support for Edinburgh2020: the new tourism strategy.

Strategy• The tourism strategy launch in January 2012provided the platform for the co-ordinatedcommunication, public affairs and promotionalcampaign. A strong, pro-active press office wasat the core of the activity – from briefingmeetings for ETAG with senior mediamanagement and exclusive interviews, toopinion pieces andsector-specific news generation. Whereverpossible ETAG commented on the widertourism agenda and worked closely with partnerorganisations, such as the Edinburgh’s City ofLiterature, to communicate key messages.

• The agency developed a social media and onlinemedia strategy for ETAG which includedimproving the look of its range of social mediasites, providing regular content updates as wellengaging regularly with the blogger community.

• Communication with City of Edinburghcouncillors and officials who had an interest inthe broader tourism product was essential bothpre- and post-local body elections in May.

EdinburghTourismAction Group (ETAG)

Results• From the media perspective, during the four-month campaign Freshwater generated over 50stories, of which 90% were in key publicationsand 70% were judged to be high impact.

• The total number of opportunities to see was12,903,400, which gave an average cost percontact of £0.001638. The PR value was£282,150, giving over 16 times RoI.

• In three months ETAG’s twitter accountincreased followers by over a third and theaverage number of tweets four times.

ChallengeDeliver a high quality international conferencein central London that exceeds delegateexpectations, against the backdrop of theLondon Olympics and Jubilee celebrations in2012.

Requirements• To promote the conference to appropriateattendees worldwide (email and website)

• To process all registrations, requirements andfees through the website and booking portal

• To process all sponsors and exhibitorscontracts and payments

• To produce delegate and companionconference packs (including conferencebriefcase, jacket, brochure,maps etc.)

• To produce delegates badging and ticketingsystem for all aspects of the event

• To provide conference hotline and point ofcontact for all enquiries

• To provide on the ground event team forthe conference duration

StrategyDeliver all aspects of the six day event includingvenue selection and management,accommodation selection, catering,entertainment, speakers and exhibitormanagement.

The event commenced with a Sunday golftournament, then welcome networking andconference registration aboard HQSWellington on theThames.

An evening reception party and entertainmentat the five star Grange St Paul's Hotel featuringtraditional dancers from around the UK, took

place the night before the formal conferenceproceedings and companion tours began.

Freshwater managed the staging and AV forfour days of conferencing and breakoutmeetings, with 24 international exhibitors.Additional highlights included a spectacularopening evening reception at the Palace ofWestminster, night time cruise and full dayGreenwich river excursion with lunch aboardLondon’s largest paddle steamer.

Freshwater also provided a full five daycompanion tour programme,which was pre-booked online and included Buckingham Palace,Tower of London,Windsor, Cambridge andother regional tourist attractions.The eventclosed with a spectacular finale dinner andshow at the Royal Courts of Justice.

ResultsThe event wasattended by over500 delegatesfrom 26differentcountries,speaking 14differentlanguages.

Client and delegates agreed it was the mostefficient and exiting conference they couldremember, exceeding the standard set inAustralia the year before and setting a highbenchmark for Cuba and Korea who theconference flag was handed over to at theclosing ceremony.

The conference grossed nearly £400, 000. Allcosts, expenses and fees were managed byFreshwater returning to the client £128,000,more than double the client’s upper profittarget for the conference.

International Maritime Pilots’Association Congress

ChallengeTo provide event management, creative design,marketing, video production and programmedevelopment for this showcase event, on behalf ofSouthWestWalesTourism Partnership(SWWTP).

StrategyTaste Local is an innovative new project whichaims to improve and grow the SouthWestWalesFoodTourism offer by learning from EuropeanBest Practice.The aim of the event was to recruitbusinesses for bursaries which would allow themto visit European Countries.

Freshwater created an event with a real buzz,something that businesses would attend and beproud of.The programme, developed byFreshwater, included controversial food critic JayRayner, a local farmers’ market style lunch andspeakers from leadingWelsh food and drinkproducers.

Once the programme was agreed the agencydesigned branded marketing collateral includingdirect mail, HTML emailer and the eventprogramme.

Delegate recruitment was carried out by theFreshwater team over a seven week period withweekly updates provided to the client. Regularupdates were provided to delegates via email.

All event set-up was provided by Freshwaterincluding set design, audio visual and videoproduction. The agency managed registrations onthe day, speaker liaison and transport.

Throughout the day businesses attendedworkshops provided by leading food andhospitality companies. The food was provided bymany of the delegates themselves and allowedthem to showcase their businesses to Europeanpartners who were present.

ResultsThe event was a great success, the conference wasoversubscribed and all bursary places were takenup.The SouthWestWales businesses will bevisiting their chosen countries in 2013.

Taste Local InternationalFood and Drink Conference

Property Investorand Homebuyer Debate

ChallengeTo create a dynamic Property Investor andHomebuyer Show and attract a high level ofdelegates at a time when the investor propertymarket was beginning to experiencing aslowdown.

StrategyTo give the show additional credibility, andattract both developers and investors,Freshwater created a property trade debateahead of the show calledWhy is property stillthe right home for your money?

It was important that the debate be hosted bya leading and well respected media figure; theassociate editor ofThe Scotsman agreed totake on the role. Freshwater also advised theclient, Homebuyer Events Ltd, on who shouldmake up the panel and directly contactedindustry experts, securing a top surveyor,managing director of a leading house builderand the marketing manager of the GlasgowSolicitors Property Centre.

Freshwater also sourced an appropriate venuefor the debate to take place, which would fulfilthe criteria around location, layout, in-housefacilities and cost, as the team was workingwithin the constraints of a tight budget.Freshwater organised catering for the event,undertaking the appropriate protocol, healthand safety procedures and legal requirementswith venue staff and suppliers.

Freshwater collated a database of more than400 individuals who included Scotland’s topresidential house builders, solicitors, estateagents, banks and surveyors. Freshwaterproduced invitations and managed the mail out,RSVP responses and follow up.

Freshwater also handled the PR for the show,which was held at the Scottish Exhibition andConference Centre in Glasgow.

ResultsThe event was extremely well received andFreshwater had many requests from those whoattended the debate that this should becomean annual event for the property industry inScotland. Media relations includingdevelopment and distribution of the press pack,securing a media partner, advertorials andproperty supplement.

TourismInnovation DayChallengeTo promote the annual Tourism Innovation Day, targetinglocal, national and trade media in order to drive bookingsfor the event over the four-month project.

StrategyA comprehensive PR strategy to promoteTID to groupsand individuals working in the tourism and hospitalitysector via key print, online and broadcast media in localand national outlets.Tactics included a photo shoot withbroadcaster and host, Muriel Gray; updated newsannouncements; profiles of key speakers and exhibitors;securing media partners; inviting business and tradejournalists to attend.

ResultsCoverage appeared in over 28 media, with an advertisingvalue of over £30,000, representing a PR value of almost£73,000.This represented over 20x RoI. Strong coverageappeared in newspapers such as Press & Journal,TheScotsman andThe Sunday Herald and trade media suchsuch Scottish Catering & Hospitality andTravelMole.com.Six journalists attended on the day, including BBCScotland’s Good Morning Scotland.

Scottish CentreFor Carbon Storage (SCCS)

ChallengeTo ensure maximum media coverage for theannouncement of the findings of a joint study,Opportunities for CO2 Storage Around Scotland, at thesame time creating and co-ordinating mediaopportunities around the press launch with AlexSalmond, Scotland’s First Minister,

StrategyFreshwater organised a high profile press announcementto launch the findings of the joint study undertaken bythe Scottish Centre for Carbon Storage and 22 industrypartners.The paper unearthed ground-breaking findingsregarding Scotland’s ability to store 200 years worth ofCO2 emissions under the North Sea from major powerplant sources across the UK and some parts of Europe.

SCCS is made up of academics fromThe University ofEdinburgh, HeriotWatt University andThe BritishGeological Survey. SCCS completed this research alongwith the Scottish Government, the study’s largest singlefunder, and a steering committee including companiessuch as ScottishPower, National Grid andWoodMackenzie.

Freshwater was responsible, not only for the organisationof the press conference, but also for the media relationssurrounding the announcement.This involvedconsiderable liaison with 22 steering committeemembers, as well as the First Minister’s communicationsteam.

Prior to the announcement, Freshwater worked closelywith government representatives, including the FirstMinister’s press secretary, special advisor and speechwriter, to secure a suitable venue, Edinburgh Castle.Alongside the First Minister, Freshwater organised amedia panel of industry representatives involved in thestudy to field questions from the press and participate inlive broadcast interviews.The panel had undertaken a ‘keymessaging’ session with Freshwater prior to the event toensure all were comfortable with what they needed toget across about the study.

ResultsMedia coverage for the event and study was extensive,with 21 separate pieces of broadcast coverage, includingBBC Reporting Scotland, STV News and BBC RadioScotland. Press coverage was also considerable, with 16features across media outlets including a full page inTheTimes, a half page inThe Daily Telegraph and a doublepage spread inThe Scotsman.There were more than 60pieces of online coverage, including the online magazinesof Offshore Magazine, Infrastructure Journal and CarbonCapture Journal.

Welsh Contact CentreConference & Exhibition

ChallengeThe Cardiff & Newport Call Centre Initiative aimed topromote major UK and international investments inWales. Freshwater provided complete eventmanagement of the annualWelsh Call CentreConference and Exhibition - a key date in the contactindustry calendar.

StrategyThe remit of this project involved all aspects of eventmanagement, from venue selection and speakermanagement to gaining sponsorship, conference andexhibition sales, website design, direct marketing andemail marketing to the design and distribution ofpromotional materials.

Freshwater worked closely with the partners and theEmployers Forum to provide an informative and topicalconference forWelsh call centres and connectedindustries.

ResultsThe pan-Wales conference attracted over 150 delegates,18 exhibitors and key sponsors, including ntl: from withinthe contact centre industry.

Wales Against Cancerfor Cancer Research UK

ChallengeTo provide all aspects of event management includingrevenue generation for theWales Against Cancer one-day conference.

ApproachFreshwater was commissioned to manage this one-dayconference by Cancer Research UK who were inpartnership with Cancer Care Cymru,Tenovus, Macmillanand Marie Curie on this project.

The conference was aimed at all those working withcancer acrossWales, attracting around 250 delegates.Theevent was part-funded by the charities; Freshwater wasresponsible for generating around £20,000 of additionalrevenue from sponsors.

The Freshwater team handled all administration,recommendations on the programme, topics, speakersand marketing collateral including the website.

All aspects of the event were given special attention,including the bespoke menu that was designed with thebest produce for avoiding and fighting cancer.Thisincluded a breakfast of juice smoothies, fresh fruitplatters and herbal teas and a lunchtime menu ofsteamedThai red rice, Mediterranean couscous,vegetables and other delicious yet responsible foods.

ResultsThe event helped the transfer of cutting-edge knowledge,raise awareness and provide the foundation for thedevelopment of useful relationships within the sector

CarbonTrustAnnual Events Programme

ChallengeTo provide event management support throughout theyear as part of the CarbonTrust’s strategy to achieve itscorporate objectives.

StrategyThe aim was to provide the CarbonTrust with a strategicapproach to its events programme. Set up by theGovernment to help the UK meet its climate changeobligations, the CarbonTrust creates practical, business-focused solutions to help capture the commercialopportunities of low carbon technologies.

Taking a fresh approach to format, style and delivery ofthe events Freshwater communicated the organisation’skey messages, provided valuable practical information andassistance. A number of new high profile events werealso created for the CarbonTrust outside its usualcalendar commitments.

ResultsThe events raised awareness on the key carbon relatedissues to key stakeholders. Freshwater wascommissioned to continue work on this rolling eventsprogramme as the retained event management agency.

EnergyNetWales Launch Event

ChallengeHandling all aspects of this very targeted event includingrecruitment, registration, creative set design, audio visualand event management.

StrategyEnergyNetWales is a programme run by the Departmentfor Enterprise, Innovation and Networks.The programmesupportsWelsh companies of all sizes with the potentialto supply goods and services to the energy sector.

The event was opened by Andrew Davies Minister forEnterprise, Innovation and Networks.All recruitment wascarried out electronically allowing delegates to registeronline and other elements including pre eventmanagement, set build, audio visual and speakermanagement were carried out by Freshwater’s eventteam.

The event was also filmed and edited to produce a DVDof the launch.

ResultsThe day was an outstanding success giving manycompanies within the sector a chance to network andlearn more about the support available from theWelshGovernment.

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