Law Society of Ireland Annual Conference 2009
Organised by MCI
I think we can be very happy that the conference was a complete success. I have received nothing but positive feedback on all aspects – location, business session, organisation, food and weather!
Mary Keane, Deputy Director General, Law Society of Ireland
Great value for US buyers
Organised by Unknown
Not only is there a wide range of accommodations and meeting properties in Ireland, but I also discovered it is great value for US buyers compared to other European destinations. Most importantly, the people are all great ambassadors of each destination and are most hospitable. No beauty or physical attribute that a destination may offer can cause a more memorable impression than that of the people and business partners that we encounter.
Norah Marr, Conference Direct, TX
Easy bid ambassador process
Organised by Fáilte Ireland
I would strongly urge anyone, any academic who is considering doing something large scale, or even small scale, to actually get in touch with Fáilte Ireland. There are so many levels of assistance that are available that we should all know about it and take advantage of them. They were completely helpful right from the very beginning. When we went to Fáilte Ireland we learned immediately that we could apply to be bid ambassadors and to get funding to go to make a bid for the conference. We were supplied with materials in order to do so. But, in any case, when we first had that meeting, we were walked through the process of writing that proposal, which made it much easier. First of all it’s quite a straight forward form, it’s quite easy to work through it... It was an immediate turn around, it took them only two weeks to approve the funding for the bid ambassadors to go to UPN and to make this bid; we had all kinds of materials that Fáilte Ireland provided us with about Ireland. In the
Chandana Mather, European Association of Social Anthropologists
Keystone Symposia on Molecular and Cellular Biology
Organised by Keystone Symposia
Keystone Symposia on Molecular and Cellular Biology is a non-profit organization with a distinguished 40-year history of organizing conferences to connect the scientific community and accelerate discoveries in life sciences. In 2007, we hosted our first conference in Ireland at the Irish National Events Centre (INEC) in Killarney County Cork, Ireland. Since that time, we have hosted three conferences in Killarney, one conference at Trinity College in Dublin and another conference scheduled in 2012 at the Royal Dublin Society, Dublin. These conferences would not have been possible without the help of our partners in Ireland; Science Foundation Ireland, Fáilte Ireland, Tourism Ireland, Dublin Convention Bureau and our hotel/conference center partners. Fáilte Ireland and the Dublin Convention Centre have helped with delegate bags, receptions, information about the area, checking for festival conflicts and information that I didn’t even know I wanted but proved invaluable.
Heidi Daetwyler Simpson, CMP, Director Meeting Management, Keystone Symposia
EuroCVD 18
Organised by Martyn Pemble & Mary-Clare O'Regan
The conference Ambassador programme is quite excellent in terms of raising the profile of Ireland on the international stage. The staff that we dealt with were knowledgeable, professional and very helpful. As a result, we intend to try to run another conference in Kinsale in 2013 - this time on the topic of Thin Films (the latest in the ECOF series- European Conference on Organised Films).
Prof. Martyn Pemble, EuroCVD 18
8th Annual World Forum on Early Care and Education, 16-19 June 2009, Hastings Europa Hotel, Belfast
Organised by World Forum Foundation
Belfast exceeded all expectations. We sold out for the first time three months in advance, and had a waiting list of close to 400. That never happened before... from my point of view, Belfast is a great easy-in and easy-out destination. Many of our delegates flew into London and then took the short hop to Belfast International Airport, which is literally six minutes from the city center... my sense is that Belfast has moved on from its past and has a lot more to share with the rest of the world than its previous troubles.
Bruce Schon, Event Planner, World Forum Foundation
Venues that offer everything in an ideal world
Organised by Meet in Ireland
This is a great place to have a conference because delegates need to work. They need to take on board what their company is trying to portray and instil in them, but you come here and it’s the smile good factor. This is where you enjoy being. I found that a big surprise. To me the biggest surprise I think I came across, were the venues that we’ve seen offer us everything that in the ideal world when you’re planning these things at a desk – you’ve got good standard accommodation, you’ve got magnificent sized meeting rooms, and then most of the centres have got ready-built, inbuilt motivational programmes. They’ve been there, done that. This is not a matter of just bringing something in and hoping that it’s gonna work, it’s tried, tested and proven. I’m delighted. So if somebody asked me, should I go to Ireland to hold this conference or that meeting, I would say ‘go’. You seem to have very good value for money. You’ve got everything you need as an organiser.
Denis Linehan, The Medical Meeting People Ltd
The Availability and Amenities for 20,000 Delegates
Organised by Meet in Ireland
We’re organising the European Hairdressing Championship, which is a huge huge operation, a huge event... We expect 15,000-20,000 people to attend from all over Europe, and actually America... Well without Fáilte Ireland we couldn’t take it on. Because we wouldn’t be able to estimate the cost, we wouldn’t be able to have the conference people, we wouldn’t be able to do this because we didn’t have that experience, we’d never run an international competition. And they are fantastic in the way they tell us all about the accommodation that we can offer to the guests and the competitors, and all the attractions that Dublin has for people to come here and they really have helped us in so many ways that we couldn’t have done it without them, and it’s gonna be fantastic. The OMC, the international body, were shocked when I told them what we could offer, they didn’t think Ireland had the availability or the amenities. It’s a huge event, really prestigious.
Frank Hession, Internationale des Coiffeurs de Dames
Reputation for being extremely professional
Organised by Meet in Ireland
What is special about Ireland is, we are a very welcoming country, but over the last decades, we have earned a reputation for being extremely professional, on the ball, in putting a good act together, and that’s what Slane Castle is all about. Ireland has an international reputation for being very welcoming, but we’re also in the 21st century, we have a real edge of professionalism, and a young dynamic population.
Henry Mount Charles, Slane Castle.
Great infrastructure and access
Organised by Meet in Ireland
We’ve seen a couple of places in Cork and Killarney. They are very fascinating, very nice and the location is very good. They’ve got very good infrastructure, they have very good access, so I think it’s going to be very suitable and comfortable for people to travel here, for conference events. The service is the top service you can find, and the hotels, they are amazing, they have beautiful bars, the nature, the views, absolutely fascinating...
Marina Feyskanova, Picadilly Travel Ltd