PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE COMPANY CONFERENCE 2014
Dates: Monday 24 – Friday 28 February 2014
Venues and Key hotels: Hilton Brighton Metropole and the De Vere Grand Hotel Brighton. And eight other hotels and 20 restaurants and special event venues.
Organised and managed by: The Conference People
Number of delegates: 1,200
Objective: This was the first all company conference for the newly merged Penguin Random House company. It needed to incorporate a combination of business sessions highlighting past performance, future plans and product as well as various networking opportunities and a conference dinner.
Pre-event Planning: The Conference People have worked with Penguin for the past 20 years and in recent years also with Random House. When the two companies merged last year, we were briefed to carry out a comprehensive venue search. Key requirements were: maximum 1.5 hours travel by train from London, two high quality conference rooms for 500 – 600 delegates in each, 1,200 bedrooms, gala dinner venue for 1,200, potential dine-around venues – and all of this within walking distance to each other!
Challenges: Budget was key and the negotiating process involved reviewing every element of the proposal. All the required space and venues had to be available for the selected dates, a concern was the weather at a time when conditions can be notoriously variable (most years this event has seen snow!)
Solution: Brighton has been used the year previously for the Penguin Group Conference for 500 delegates and it was quickly identified as the most appropriate location for Penguin Random House. Key reasons for the decision were:
- Close to London and Gatwick - excellent rail fare negotiated with Southern Rail
- The De Vere Grand Hotel Brighton and the Hilton Brighton Metropole Hotels each hosted a conference for 500 and the Gala Dinner was at the Hilton
- Plenty of other accommodation close by. We used eight hotels altogether, including authors at the Hotel du Vin
- Great opportunities for a dine around - we used 20 different locations. All suppliers were really positive and keen for the business
- Brighton is well versed in events of this size
- Overall good value for money and fitted within the set budget
Evaluation: The feedback from delegates and organisers has been almost exclusively 100% positive. There was a great atmosphere during the event and everyone loved the city of Brighton, they all arrived with special trains from London and were transferred to their respective hotels. The Penguin team presented their conference at the De Vere Grand Hotel and Random House presented their conference at the Hilton Brighton Metropole; the teams then gathered together for a Gala Dinner at the Hilton. The complicated programme ran like clockwork and each part worked perfectly.
Quote from Mike Symons, Groups Sales Director Penguin Random House: “The Penguin Random House Sales Conference is one of our show piece events. We welcome delegates from across our UK companies as well as delegates from our overseas companies. This was the first time that the new Penguin Random House group had come together for conference and I am thrilled how successful it was. Our collaboration with The Conference People in the organisation and execution of the event was paramount to its overall success. Moving over 1,000 delegates across Brighton is no mean feat, however the whole event was delivered without a hitch.”
Quote from Robert Enefer, Managing Director The Conference People: “The event was really successful and Brighton came up trumps all round. Delegates were very happy with the hotels (we used eight, and the conference sessions worked perfectly in the De Vere Grand Brighton and the Hilton Brighton Metropole). We also had a dine-around in 20 locations in the city ranging from The Sea Life Centre to Jamie’s Italian. And the weather was perfect too!”
The Conference People was established in 1986 and provides a free venue finding service as well as comprehensive event management.
If you'd like to hold your next event in Brighton, call us today on 01323 644644.