More than 300 corporate buyers met with ISES UK member suppliers at the recently refurbished Wyndham Grand London hotel on 23 February at the association’s Meet the Market event.
More than 25 member companies of the UK chapter of the International Special Events Society showcased their services from exhibition stands in the hotel’s new ballroom. ISES UK members were able to spend the evening networking with clients after the association teamed up with International Confex and Visit London hosted buyer programmes.
During the evening, corporate buyers were entertained by The Globe Girls and two West End theatre performers. Raffle hospitality prizes were donated by Sandown Park Racecourse and Lord’s Cricket Ground. Buyers who visited the ISES member stands were also given a passport stamp, which entered them into a competition to win a bottle of Dom Perignon 2000.
ISES UK President Zanine Adams said: “ISES has a remit to help our members find and develop business opportunities so this was a perfect environment to enable buyers to meet suppliers. Our collaborations with both Visit London, International Confex and key event sponsors was vital in making this happen and it’s a strategy we will explore further for future events.” Meet the Market concluded with a discotheque and casino table entertainment supplied by Sharper Solutions.
Click here to view more photos courtesy of Simon Lane Photography.
Here's what some of our guests and exhibitors thought of the event:
Great networking, perfect atmosphere....a very effective and budget conscious way of showing our products to the industry.
Richard Joy, Managing Director, Full Circle- Performance and Entertainment
I thought it was brilliant. So good to have so many serious event people under one roof and all enjoying themselves. From a marketing perspective I could not have been happier to be exhibiting and when everyone became glued to their glasses and stopped circulating I just went out to them!
Val Brooks, Events Manager at The Bourne Collection
I thought the “Meet the Market” event was very good, great value for money. We as a venue who were exhibiting got a lot out of it and made some great contacts for new business. The food, drink and entertainment was also very good. This was one of the best networking events I have attended for a long time. Very well done!!
Carol Anderson, Director of Events at The Mermaid Conference Centre
After a long day at Confex the thought of another three and a half hour exhibition was pretty daunting, however the whole event had a real buzz to it and absolutely flew by and we met at least as many buyers as we had at the first day of Confex.
Robin Parker, General Manager of Church House Conference Centre
We found the event very productive for Aenon and are eagerly following up the high quality leads generated! I feel the informal nature of the event and the opportunity to talk to prospective customers on a one to one basis, within this format, was very powerful.
Jane McParlin, Aenon Mineral Water
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