On 12th June 2007 the first TMAP (Traffic Management and Parking) conference and exhibition took place at The Bridgewater Hall in Manchester www.tmap2007.co.uk . The event was the first from a new collaboration between The Conference People and Whitehall Media.
Matt and I arrived in Manchester on the Monday afternoon. After a pre conference meeting with Jo, our event manager at the Bridgewater Hall, we checked into our hotel, The Hilton Deansgate (http://www.hilton.co.uk/manchester). The hotel is part of a newly built skyscraper which breaks into the Manchester Skyline like a shiny disjointed wafer (if you can imagine such a thing!). It’s ultra-modern, stylish, crisp yet still comfortable and its close proximity to the Bridgwater Hall made it the perfect place for us to call home for the event. It also has great conference facilities so we will certainly be bearing it in mind for future conferences and events.
We arose early the following morning to arrive at the Bridgewater Hall to begin set-up. The Bridgewater Hall (http://www.bridgewater-hall.co.uk/) is primarily a concert hall but its sleek design and excellent service levels mean that it is also a great conference venue. The exhibitors, also the earliest risers of the day, were quick to begin setting out their stands. The event attracted a varied range of exhibitors and there was lots to look at, including flashing bollards that rise out of the road (If you’ve not already seen these then I’m sure you will soon – they’re ‘popping up’ everywhere – ha ha!).
Literally as soon as the exhibitor set-up was complete the delegates began to arrive. This event attracted a really high calibre of delegates, including lots of local councillors, so there were lots of interesting people to meet and great, including the chair – BBC North’s Transport Correspondent – Colin Sykes, who did an excellent job hosting the plenary.
Throughout the morning the delegates were educated and enlightened by a range of speakers from the public and private sectors. One of the councillors even made a ‘shock’ announcement that made it into the following days Manchester Evening News! Lunch time quickly came around and the delegates returned to the exhibition area for their sun dried tomato and feta salads, or hoi sin chicken noodles (yummy!). Having the catering in the exhibition area was great news for the exhibitors as it meant they had a captive audience.
Lunch soon flew by and the delegates made their back into the main conference room for the afternoon session. PM ran as smoothly as AM and the Traffic Management Question Time (in the style of the BBC’s version…… minus David Dimbleby) was a great success, with councillors from opposing parties at the table providing varied viewpoints.
Closing remarks were provided by Colin Sykes who also awarded the winner of the day’s prize draw with a Magnum of vintage Bollinger (unfortunately the event managers were not eligible to enter – such a shame!). As the delegates left we collected their feedback forms and they made their way out into the Manchester sunshine – don’t believe anyone who says it’s grim up north!
Overall the event was a great success and TCP look forward to working with Whitehall Media again
