ConferenceLeeds, the conferencing bureau for the city of Leeds, is joining forces with seven other English Core Cities to come together in a UK industry first, to create the Hybrid Event Solutions UK (HESUK), an initiative designed to support the conference and events industry as it continues to navigate the Covid-19 pandemic.
Alongside ConferenceLeeds, the conferencing bureaus for Birmingham and West Midlands, Bristol, Liverpool, Manchester, NewcastleGateshead, Nottingham and Sheffield are collaborating to create a free-of-charge initiative open to all business audiences across the country, that will provide a single point of contact for event organisers who are looking to organise or restructure national and regional conferences.
HESUK will allow delegates to attend the same national event at different Covid-secure venues within those regional hubs, enabling delegates to network and meet those within their field, whilst remaining in adherence to Government guidelines at the time of the event. Through live-streaming technology, each hub can be linked together, so speakers and contributors can be in different cities whilst still attending the same event and any delegates who can’t attend in-person will still be able to experience the event in a virtual way.
The conference industry has been heavily impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, with questions still hanging over us as to when the industry will start to meet face-to-face or in a live environment. In a solution to rebuild confidence within the industry, and to help and facilitate conference organisers, the Core Cities are working together to offer hybrid-virtual nationwide events at a selection of it’s front-running Covid-secure venues and event hubs across the country.
As the first time working together operationally, HESUK brings a fresh, out-of-the-box concept created to help the industry overcome the hurdles that lie ahead, with cities outside of the Core Cities group also invited to join HESUK to facilitate these events.
On the initiative, Leader of Leeds City Council and Chair of Core Cities Cllr Judith Blake said: “The Hybrid Events Solution UK is a fantastic initiative to support the conference industry as we continue to navigate the Covid-19 pandemic. I am so pleased to see the Core Cities work together in this way, and it’s truly inspiring to see them collaborate to stimulate the re-opening of the whole of the UK’s conferencing and events industry. This type of partnership will instil confidence in conference organisers and future delegates demonstrating that our conferencing industry is doing everything it can to enable in-person conferences and events to return.”
The cities are now working with its venues to get the first Hybrid Events Solution UK conferences organised, and invite bureaus from other UK cities to contact the conferencing teams for Leeds, Sheffield, Manchester, Liverpool, NewcastleGateshead, Nottingham, Birmingham and Bristol.
