AD Europe 2011 – The Future of Anaerobic Digestion in Europe- Situations, Barriers and Chances

Conference Ambassador: Percy Foster, CEO of Cré

Date of Conference: 23-24 February 2011

No. of Delegates: 280 - in total
120 international delegates mostly from Europe, but also from America, Canada and Brazil.

Why did you decide to invite and host this international conference?

We recently entered the anaerobic digestion industry and we wanted to bring expert speakers into the country to educate our members.

How far in advance of the event did you begin the preparatory work to bring it to Ireland?

We started in June 2010.

Was there an official bidding process to win the event? Who made the final decision in the bidding process?

Yes. The European Compost Network decided on the bid.

Can you describe what support you received from Fáilte Ireland?

Fáilte Ireland gave money for promotion. A website was created (www.cre.ie/ad2011) for the conference. 1000 flyers were printed for the conference and were distributed by post to organisations in Ireland and UK.

What were your main steps in organising this conference? Did you have any difficulties or discover other supports along the way?

Securing a suitable venue
Picking a date
Organising the speaker programme
Promoting the conference

Did you use the services of a PCO (Professional Conference Organiser)?

How did you promote the conference?

A website was created (www.cre.ie/ad2011) for the conference. 1000 flyers were printed for the conference and were distributed by post to organisations in Ireland and UK. Flyers were then handed out to delegates at the German Biogas conference in January. Adverts were taken out in the Irish Farmers Journal too. People were emailed who were on a database.