Case Study 8 March 2017
Case study
Association : ANTOR - Association of National Tourist Offices and Representatives ( UK ) Lead organiser : Alison Cryer – Executive secretary / Representation Plus Event and date : ANTOR ’ s Annual ‘ Meet The Media ’ event ; 26 September 2016 ( 5pm – 9pm ) Venue : Trinity House , London Budget : £ 10,950 , including venue hire
Event brief and objectives : The annual ANTOR ‘ Meet the Media ’ event is designed to facilitate news updates and media understanding of member destinations and has been a popular date in the association ’ s calendar for 25 years . Due to the nature of the event , it was important that a degree of informality and flexibility camouflage a carefully planned programme of activities . In addition , the venue selected needed to provide additional appeal and caché to ensure optimum attendance . Of the 60 member countries , nearly half ( 27 ) signed up to co-host the event at Trinity House and welcome 85 members of the travel and consumer media . The ANTOR members were each identified by labelled ‘ poser ’ tables . The media guests were encouraged to wander informally through the room meeting with the representatives of the destinations of most interest . Upon confirming their attendance , each media guest was invited to join one of three private tours of the historic building , which is also the working home of the General Lighthouse Authority . The House ’ s Library room proved an ideal area for the evening ( from approximately 6pm ).
Event challenges : The inherent challenge , as in the past , was to provide an environment that was convenient , prestigious , interesting , unusual and conducive to both the co-hosting ANTOR members and media guests ( the latter are notoriously selective about which industry events to attend ). The venue needed to be located in proximity to public transport to facilitate easy access and the room set up , although technically uncomplicated , required a uniform format that would be acceptable to all participating members . Registration of the guests required particular attention as it was inevitable that the media would arrive at different times , depending on whether they had signed up for a site tour ( and which period ) and each needed to receive a name tag and bag to contain information from the ANTOR hosts and the program for the event including a map of the member layout of the Library . It was also important that each ANTOR co-host had equal opportunity to meet with members of the media and were occupied for most of the workshop segment . From a catering perspective , the wine and canapes had to last throughout the evening and four different types of wine were served . Not unusually , there were budget considerations which required creative thinking in order to achieve all these objectives .
Solution : An incentive suggested by the venue management to encourage attendance was a schedule of private tours of the House by expert guide Geoff Boyd . The House is not normally open to the public and the scheduled public monthly guided tours are traditionally sold out months in advance . This element was a rare bonus and helped attract the media . A choice of timings for the tours - 4.30pm , 5pm and 6.30pm – meant media had a choice of meeting ANTOR members first and then seeing the House , or vice versa . Clearly labelled poser tables were set up throughout The Library with sufficient space in between to allow easy flow and movement of the guests . When a table