Edinburgh Convention Bureau

We make the most of a wide range of sales and marketing opportunities throughout the year. We attend workshops and sales events, promoting you, our members, and the city of Edinburgh, and we invite you to participate in a range of events closer to home.

In addition, we are happy to consider supporting sales missions arranged by you – please get in touch if you would like to discuss this further.

For further information on any of the events, please phone or email the contact.

Please note that some events require the programme to be sponsored by our members – those events are highlighted in Yellow. Your continued support is appreciated.

Date	Event	ECB on your behalf	Option to Participate	Contact
Jan 08
16	Members Event Macdonald Roxburghe		Event Passed	Shona
25-27	Burns Fam visit Apex Hotel and Stirling Castle - aimed at UK corporate and association markets		Event Passed	Shona
Feb 08
14	Corporate E Newsletter		News Articles by 01 February	Hillary Amanda
Mar 08
29 Feb 1 Mar	Destination Edinburgh Workshop Targeted at Direct Corporate clients and corporate agencies		Event Passed	Hillary Shona
11-12	VisitScotland SMAB Edinburgh	Yes		Hillary Ellen
13	Ambassador Academy of Excellence	Open to member attendance. Registration fee £25+vat		Ellen Elaine
22-27	BestCities Management Meeting - Dubai			Ellen
April 08
TBC	Tartan Week New York	FYI
Ambassador Newsletter				Ellen Elaine
22-24	IMEX Frankfurt	Yes		Hillary
30	VisitScotland SMB event Cameron House	Yes		Hillary
May 08
8	Issue Corporate Matters E-Newlsetter	News and offers by 25 April 2008		Amanda Hillary
June 08
TBC	Edinburgh Ambassador Event Murrayfield	Additional program Sponsorship request		Ellen Elaine
5-8	ICCA Destination Marketing Workshop Toronto	Yes		Ellen
TBC	National Association Sales Trip London	Yes		TBC
Jul 08
11-12	Destination Edinburgh Workshop Corporate market		Program Sponsorship request	Hillary Shona
TBC	ECB Members Event			Shona
Edinburgh Ambassador Event (provisional)				Ellen Elaine
Aug 08
TBC	Festival Fam Visit			Ellen Elaine
8	Issue of Corporate Matters E-Newsletter	News and special offers by 25 July		Hillary Amanda

 

Sep08
TBC	Global Scot Conference Edinburgh			Ellen
Oct 08
17-20	BestCities Workshop		Member Sponsorship request	Hillary Ellen
TBC	Ambassador Newsletter			Ellen Elaine
				Ellen
Nov 08
1-5	ICCA General Assembly Victoria Canada	Yes		Ellen
TBC	Association Sales Trip Usa
TBC	Edinburgh Ambassador Event (provisional)		Program Sponsorship request to members	Ellen
21-22	Destination Edinburgh Event Corporate Market		Program Sponsorship Request to members Participation fee TBC	Hillary Shona
Dec 08
2-4	EIBTM Barcelona	Yes	TBC
Jan 09
TBC	ECB Members Event		Sponsors required for program	Shona
TBC	Burns Fam Trip		Sponsors required for program	Ellen Shona

Contacts Ellen Colingsworth mailto:ellen.colingworth@conventionedinburgh.com 0131-473 3669

Shona Black shona.black@conventionedinburgh.com 0131-473 3873

Hillary Bett hillary.bett@conventionedinburgh.com 0131-473 3871

The ECB sales team is constantly in the marketplace, profiling the city as a stunning conference destination, attracting enquiries and building business for Edinburgh and our members. We do this through an effective combination of complementary marketing and promotional activities.

Our sales activities

• responding to enquiries – as the recognised source of information on conferencing in Edinburgh, we deal with thousands of enquiries a year, aiming to convert as many as possible to successful sales
• bid opportunities – in competing with cities around the world for conference business, we compile over 150 bid applications every year, in which we harness all available supporting evidence, and present it in a professional bid document with a host of support materials. In 2005, over 70% of our bids were successful.
• Edinburgh Ambassadors Programme – this innovative and award-winning programme has achieved significant success in attracting conferences to the city. Using our large database of Edinburgh Ambassadors who are specialists in their fields, whether academic or corporate, in all subjects ranging from law, medicine, biotechnology, IT and finance – and everything in between – we call on them to help support bids in attracting conferences for national and international associations
• sales calls – targeted to meeting planners nationally and internationally, with specific information relevant to the interest of the association or company
• attendance at exhibitions and trade shows – both in the UK and overseas, representing all our members and presenting a full package of marketing and promotional materials

Your sales opportunities

By being pro-active, getting involved and keeping in touch, you will maximise the benefits of your membership. We are happy to help you identify the best activities to promote your business and increase your sales. It’s in all our interests to work together as partners, for the benefit of the industry and the city.

• familiarisation visits – aimed primarily at the association market, these are designed to showcase the range of venues, attractions, facilities and services that the city has to offer
• ‘Destination Edinburgh’ workshops – intensive and great fun, these take place twice a year and are aimed at the corporate sector and conference organisers - all full members are invited to participate
• site inspections – either as part of the bidding process, or after the conference has been secured, we arrange site inspections to enable the conference organiser to make the perfect selection of venues, accommodation and social programme activities for delegates and partners
• Edinburgh Ambassadors Programme – you can reach the local business market by hosting a social or educational visit to your venue, or send us ‘conference tips’ to be included in the Ambassador newsletter which is sent biannually to 1000 leading professionals in the Edinburgh area. These are successful ways of raising your profile with this influential group of people. In turn, the Ambassadors are very effective in helping us to win conference business for Edinburgh, and the programme is now used as model of good practice around the world.