FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 2007

Give or take a couple of thousand delegates…

How do you cope when conference registrations double for a high-profile international conference – on the day the event starts? Eventbookings kept its cool as temperatures rose at the Jeddah Economic Forum.

After a three-way pitch against other leading international suppliers, Eventbookings were appointed to provide online registration, and delegate management services, to the prestigious Jeddah Economic Forum at the end February 2007.

The Forum, described as the Think Tank of the Middle East, was established in 2000 by the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Its objective is to address current economic and social challenges from regional and global perspectives. The forum draws CEOs and Chairmen, from public and private sectors in the Kingdom and internationally.

Conference producer Harvey Thomas said: “Eventbookings convinced us they had the capability, skill and enthusiasm for this project and we had no hesitation deciding that they were the right company for the job”

Working in Saudi Arabia is not a typical environment for Eventbookings’ female project managers, but they adapted to local custom and dressed in the abayas worn by local women. Commented project manager Alison Lidbetter “We felt self conscious at first, but hardly noticed by the end of the project. The Saudi people were wonderful to work with, although the separate areas for women in the conference hall and exhibition were a surprise to us”.

Online registration enabled delegates, sponsors and special guests from around the world to pay and register online – a fairly typical installation. Registration was launched at the end of January, reaching 500 a week before the event, and quickly leapt to 2,500 the day before, which was the organisers' projected total.

No one could have predicted what came next – an influx of a further 2,000 delegates on site with the final total hitting 5,500. The ability to deal with such a sudden increase is testament to the rock solid Eventbookings system, and the ability of the company’s project managers to cope with all eventualities – far away from the company’s UK base – and all managed in a temporary air-conditioned marquee.

Among the high-profile speakers at The Forum were Prime Ministers, royalty and business leaders, including Queen Rania of Jordan, Peter Mandelson and Lech Walesa, moderated by Alastair Stewart, of ITN, and Sue McGregor, former presenter of the BBC’s Today programme.

During the event, Eventbookings also provided its integrated bar code scanning solution, to track delegate movements between the exhibition and in the conference, while business partner IML (www.iml.co.uk), provided digital voting.
Philip Haines, Managing Director of Eventbookings commented: “This event demonstrated our ability to deliver a world-class solution, to a world class event in a difficult operating environment, in a very tight time frame. The Saudi people made us feel very welcome and we look forward to a continued relationship with them. This is a sadly misunderstood part of the world but events like this contribute to a greater understanding between widely different peoples, and we are proud to have played a part in it.”