As we write this, we can’t quite believe that another year has passed! Twinkly lights are back in abundance and with that, our annual review of the past 12 months!
Undoubtedly the biggest highlight for the team has been having the venue open for a full calendar year and seeing people come together again! Whilst delegate numbers haven’t quite reached those of pre-pandemic levels just yet, it’s clear that for those who have returned, the experience of seeing each other in person has been gratefully received!
Some fantastic events have taken place at the Technology and Innovation Centre this year including the ESCoE Conference on Economic Measurement in May, IBioC’s 8th Annual Conference and the 23rd International Conference on Metrology and Properties of Engineering Surfaces in June followed by the European Early Childhood Research Association 2022 Conference in August.
The autumn brought back colleagues from Enable for their Annual General Meeting, the MASTS Annual Science Meeting and BBC Debate Night in addition to new events such as iPRES 2022 and the 2022 UCI Mobility and Bike City Forum. We were also thrilled to finally welcome IEEE to Glasgow for the 29th IEEE International Conference on Electronics Systems and Circuits, originally scheduled for October 2020.
Our Conference Management Service for internal clients has also been in full swing, supporting several events including the 12th SERVSIG Conference and the CMAC Open Day as well as our colleagues in the Humanities and Social Sciences faculty and the Advanced Nuclear Research Centre.
Our focus on sustainability has remained one of our top priorities and we were delighted to receive a Green Meetings Gold Award in October thanks to the collaborative efforts of three teams from across the campus: Conferencing and Events, Catering and the Sustainable Strathclyde teams. The award recognises how we’ve made our services and products as sustainable as possible, whilst encouraging our clients to make their events greener. 2023 will see our journey progress by continuing to incorporate the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals into our everyday operations whether that be talking to clients at the point of enquiry or making suggestions for how to incorporate the goals into their operational planning.
Our Corporate Events team has been kept on their toes throughout the year too, delivering a whopping 83 graduation ceremonies in a little under 12 months – wow! Not only that, but they have also been busy supporting our internal colleagues with events such as the first showcase for Health & Care Futures as well as Strathclyde’s annual Medals Ceremony and Long Service Awards. To round-off the year, the team worked with our colleagues in the Chaplaincy to finally welcome back our annual Christmas Carol Service at the Barony Hall, face to face! We love a sing-song, so we very much enjoyed partaking in some festive carols!
The team continues to grow from strength to strength and we’ve recently added two new members to the fold: Fiona Crawford, who will be supporting Jose and Aimee in our audio-visual team and Thomas Black, who has been working alongside our Conference Porter, Declan, to make sure that rooms are set-up and ready for the day ahead.
Whilst it has been a busy time, it hasn’t been all work and no play! We participated once again in this year’s Step Count Challenge in November, donning our well-worn waterproof trousers, hats, scarves, and gloves – the staple items required to survive a Glaswegian Autumn and Winter!
As many of our regular clients know, we do like a wee night out so it was fabulous to get back together for our first team night out since March 2020. Descending upon the new Strathclyde Union for a ‘Staff Night In’ in June, we enjoyed a wonderful evening being serenaded by the angelic (!) voices of University staff at a very amusing karaoke session. It was such a super night, that our poor ears suffered again in September when the team enjoyed another catch-up in the Union; exactly what the doctor ordered to get us ready for the final months of 2022! Just last week, we had our first face to face Christmas get together since 2019 and thoroughly enjoyed an afternoon of laughs; it definitely felt like ‘the most wonderful time of the year’!
2023 promises to be one of our busiest years to date with events such as the EAUC Scotland Conference 2023, the 22nd International Symposium on Industrial Cystrallization and Huntington’s Disease Youth Organisation (HDYO) 2023 already confirmed. When we look back at the past three years, there have been both highs and lows, but it’s safe to say that we’re incredibly lucky to have such a wonderful team, clients and colleagues who have supported us throughout. Here’s to a happy and healthy 2023, we can’t wait!