ABPCO Innovation Award for The Virtual Delegate
ABPCO - The Virtual Delegate
The Virtual Delegate, a six-part digital event series, was borne out of a need for the business events industry to come together and respond to the universal challenges faced and look towards the future with ambition and energy at a time when the potential for networking and meaningful interaction was severely compromised.
Powered by ICC Belfast and hosted by international keynote speaker David Meade, each episode took a deep dive into how organisations can maximise virtual, hybrid and in-person events to engage their people and clients. Meetings industry heavyweights and the faces behind some of the best-known brands in events joined David to explore the importance of creating killer content, choosing the perfect platform and maximising the legacy of major events to affect transformational change.
Over 3,000 viewers tuned in for the series on LinkedIn, which was recognised with an Innovation Award as part of the annual Association of British Professional Conference Organisers (ABPCO) Excellence Awards. The Awards were the culmination of the week-long ABPCO Festival of Learning, at which attendees were encouraged to debate the key challenges and opportunities for Professional Conference Organisers.
David Meade, Keynote Speaker and Broadcaster commented on the award saying, “It’s an honour to be recognised for The Virtual Delegate series and our collaboration with the great team at ICC Belfast.
This live broadcast model is extremely effective and serves so well as an interactive and revolutionary communication tool.
"This model works so well to help clients maintain a competitive advantage, serve global audiences, enhance relationships, and build brand new ones. It truly is an innovative solution, that we love to help our clients create.”
Julia Corkey, Chief Executive at ICC Belfast, Waterfront Hall and Ulster Hall added, “As a team we pride ourselves on adopting a unique, solutions focused approach to challenges so to receive recognition from ABPCO as the UK’s leading Professional body for Association Conference & Not-for-profit Event Organisation in respect of our innovative approach is a fantastic achievement.
Business preparedness has been at the forefront of ICC Belfast’s activity throughout 2021.
"Thanks to our partnership with the team at David Meade Events on The Virtual Delegate, we have stayed at the cutting edge of all industry trends, which will greatly assist us to better serve the needs of all of our clients in a tailored way.”
ICC Belfast’s partners, Visit Belfast, were also winners in the CSR Award category, seeing off competition from Scottish venues P&J Live, Aberdeen and EICC.
The 2021 Innovation Award win follows ICC Belfast’s 2018 ABPCO Excellence Awards success when they took home the Best Industry Partnership title following the convention centre’s support of the Royal College of Nursing annual congress with an integrated communications plan.
Catch up on all episodes of The Virtual Delegate here or find out more about the ABPCO Festival of Learning here.