Aims

For 2019, the West Midlands Growth Company worked in collaboration with two destination partners, Conference Coventry & Warwickshire and Shakespeare’s England, alongside support from GB&SLEP and CWLEP, bringing a West Midlands presence to the show for the first time.

The main objectives were to increase our regional brand awareness, attract wider conference and events and to leverage on the impact of Coventry City of Culture 2021 and Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022. The West Midlands aimed to achieve an ROI of 20:1, based on show investment and overall enquiries generated from a regional presence.

Deliverables

We delivered a West Midlands stand with appointment space for partners, supported by a range of branding with key messaging for the region and our event capabilities.

The West Midland’s Growth Company supported all stand logistics in the lead up to the show on the partners’ behalf, conducting communications from our owned social channels and throughout the show.

Outcome

During the show, there were more than 200 pre-arranged appointments across the stand with an anticipated £2 million worth of enquiries to the region. There was also a PR reach of over 458,000 and social reach of 206,000 – all contributing to the awareness of the destination.

Testimonials 

Laura Orrell, Director of Sales, Park Regis Birmingham:

“I have exhibited at the Meetings Show for numerous years and I can honestly say that the West Midlands Growth stand was the best stand to date. The pre-show communication and involvement in the planning and design of the stand I think really set them apart as they really found out what was important to the partners. From start to finish the process was seamless and I would 100% exhibit with them again.”

Helen Peters, Chief Executive, Shakespeare’s England:

“This was the 3rd time that Shakespeare’s England had exhibited at The Meeting Show and we were delighted that at last we had managed to find a solution to getting a proper ‘regional presence’ at the show, that put us out there alongside our friends from Yorkshire and Newcastle/Gateshead.  The collaboration between WMGC, Shakespeare’s England and Conference Coventry & Warwickshire, and the support of the CWLEP, GB&S LEP and Combined Authority was really appreciated by all of our Partners, who could see how they benefited when we took this collective approach.  The follow up feedback showed clearly that 9/10 not only want us to repeat in 2020 but have already given expressions of interest to be included. The feedback has also given us great ideas on how we can improve upon what was already a great success, in 2020 and make an even greater impact.  All the more important as we hurry towards Coventry City of Culture 2021 and Commonwealth Games 2022, fantastic opportunities that TMS can only help us as a region, deliver against.”