We've moved! - by Matt Hamnett

Over the past few months we've been working hard on a new website which has now gone live.

We've really enjoyed blogging and think it's a really important way to help you learn more about the great team we have here at MEETinLEEDS.  That's why we've decided to integrate our blog into our website, rather than keep them separate.

So from now on all our blog posts will feature on  the new website.

You can visit the new website and read the latest blog about the website changes at www.meetinleeds.co.uk/responding-to-change

Growing Our Online Presence (or how to be in more than one place at the same time) - by Matt Hamnett

When I first joined the conferencing team at the University of Leeds in 2009 there were two social platforms that we knew we had to be a part of if we wanted to communicate with our customers online. 

The social space has been shaken up over the past few years creating a much broader market share and a new approach to sharing content online.  For a long time marketing via social media began and ended with Twitter and Facebook but as more and more social platforms have gained ground, and members, it’s become impossible to ignore the places where our customers are spending their time online.

Facebook and Twitter are now the veterans of the social media world as an endlessly growing number of social networks provide new spaces for people to hang out, pin photos, create videos, share experiences and make buying decisions.

Pinterest was launched just 3 years ago but already has over 70 million users and gets over 2.5 billion page views each month.  It’s also been reported that it drives more traffic to websites than Twitter and LinkedIn combined – and who doesn't want their customers to end up on their website?!  These figures alone are enough for us to realise that it’s a social space that we’d like to be part of but what really drew our attention to the network was that it seemed an ideal place to showcase the breadth of facilities that we can offer.  Our Pinterest board is still very much in its infancy but it’s a fun place to be and we see a lot of potential in it.

Google is going to incredible lengths to make sure that its social network, Google+, is a success.  Recently they've replaced YouTube’s comments with G+ comments, given G+ more impact for local businesses and a G+ presence will even mean a higher placement in Google search results. So far all of this seems to be working - a study last year showed that G+ has over 343 million monthly users and 34% of all social logins; that surpasses both LinkedIn and Twitter.

We started using Google+ a while ago and love its clean interface and easy to use experience.  The fact that it helps people find our facilities online too is, of course, a great bonus!  Add YouTube and the importance of Google Maps to online search and Google are certainly doing plenty to keep us busy.

It’s not just social media that’s changed at such a pace either.  Email marketing is still as important as ever, websites are crucial hubs that should collate all of your online activity, responsive websites are expected by anybody visiting your site on a mobile device and 2014 is apparently the year that content marketing will fully mature.

Thankfully, Meet in Leeds have always enjoyed being ahead of the game and so we’re growing our team to make the most of what’s to come.  We look forward to seeing you on the next big thing!

At your Service - by Richard Handscombe

Rumour has it that the recession is over and recovery has begun!  This may be so, but in the events market it’s still a fact that there is an over-abundance of suppliers and therefore a massive choice – a buyer’s market.

When retail shopping, we tend not to compare products with products – we compare experiences, and this in the end guides where we shop.  As venues, it’s hard to resist “bigging up” our décor and audio-visual facilities as “state-of-the-art”, but in reality, buyers now simply expect top quality facilities in any venue.

The two main deciders in the conference market have historically been location and price, and the former is often a combination of geographical, micro- and macro-location.  At first glance, if a potential customer states that the destination they want is for instance Liverpool, and we are in Leeds, the location seems hard to counter in a sales context.  And also, in this over-supplied market, price can be tough to beat.  This is where differentiation can play a major part, and there are two key differentiators – innovation and service. The experience.

To work to advantage, innovation needs to be creative and constant, because, given the speed of modern communications and mass connectivity, competitor copying can occur instantly.  Overnight change is a reality we have to live with.

Excellent service gives us the edge, and if we get it right, can overcome both location and price challenges.  I have even experienced examples myself, where good service has even overcome product quality issues!  I gave one particular Leeds restaurant - which shall be nameless - a second chance, due to fantastic service, even though the quality of the meal was dire.  Suffice it to say that they won’t be getting a third chance regardless of the service!

There’s an old adage that people buy people, indeed in some cases people are the ONLY experience, for example many products bought from visits by trusted sales reps. Customers will also buy trusted brands without even trying them first.  But service is also a major factor in many successful top brands, eg M&S, Prêt á Manger, John Lewis.  Once this close association of service, quality and brand becomes complete you’re flying.  The idea behind the marketing of these companies is to induce “loyalty beyond reason”. The creation of loyal customers who don’t quite realise why.

It’s very similar to LOVE. 

Brands that have this have actually been called “Lovemarks” (Saatchi & Saatchi).

At the heart of a strong brand, will be a great experience, and at the heart of that are people.

Success needs people who are committed, creative, engaging, professional, pleasant, caring, competitive, enthusiastic, conscientious, and saleable (phew!).  Commitment to providing good service needs to be strong Service delivery needs to be excellent, and the product great. Exactly our goals at MeetInLeeds.  No wonder our order books are filling!

Reacquainted with Oxley - by Lisa Wood

I recently took a trip down memory lane and visited Oxley Hall with my colleague Natalie Ruecroft (AKA Ginger).  I used to be the Assistant Hall Manager at Oxley Hall some 16 years ago and I must say I felt like a queen living, and working, in such a beautiful hall.  What a way to start my University career!

Working in the central sales office we have recently had a number of new enquiries for Oxley, hence our visit to introduce Natalie to the hall, and for myself to be reacquainted with the venue that kick-started my career.

I have fond memories of Oxley and the lovely surroundings. There are new flats in the grounds now as well as the main hall bedrooms, enhancing the selling opportunities – perfect for my current role!

Since visiting I have already secured a hockey camp booking for the Hall (ideal with it being next to Weetwood playing fields that are managed by the University’s sports department) and potentially a government booking at the venue also.

Post by MEETinLEEDS.

Knowing the Hall as I do I am confident that they will all have a fantastic stay and that they’ll all enjoy a real Oxley Hall welcome!

Oxley Hall is our #venueofthemonth for February.  You can find out more about Oxley Hall at www.meetinleeds.co.uk/oxleyresidences

Sentenced to Email Servitude - by Richard Handscombe

“Thou shalt reply to every email” isn’t really the commandment most of us think it is.  How many times have you sent an email to someone only to receive a reply saying “thanks”.   If you’re a polite and well-brought-up Yorkshire lad like me, the temptation is to write “You’re welcome”.  So far, I have resisted this fearing that I’ll receive a reply saying “the pleasure was all mine”, but the temptation remains….

The email inbox is up there with action points from meetings, completing tax returns, and inviting the in-laws to dinner as one of life’s more oppressive monkeys on our back; something to nag away at us, give us indigestion and feed our guilt complex.  If you read about strategies for handling email, you’ll find these two rules expounded:

a)    If you’re working efficiently, you can read, file and/or respond to every email you read
b)    Non-response is unacceptable where an email implicitly or explicitly asks for a response.

Considering the first of the above decrees:  I first saw email in 1995, and I think it would have been around 1997 when my email inbox reached a volume at which it became largely unmanageable! My inbox is now TB41P (too big for one person), and anyway, work gets in the way.

As for the second of the above statutes, I think it’s a hangover from the pre-email era (PEE), as an acknowledgement that the person who had sent the letter (this is a piece of paper with squiggles written by a pen.  A pen is an instrument …. Oh never mind) had actually gone to some trouble and expense writing the letter and envelope, stamping it, and trudging to the post-box!  That’s almost heroic and clearly deserves a response.  But in order to accomplish this level of courtesy today, we have to give up personal time swatting emails with our smart phones on the train and at home because there’s just not enough time in the working day.  And don’t we all love the après-holiday backlog?


I don’t know the answer, so I’ll leave the question out there and you can email me if you do.  I promise to respond. But here’s an out-of-office message suggestion I read recently which, although not recommended as it’s probably professionally suicidal, made me smile.

Due to the volume of email I receive, I no longer personally review every message. If you are interested in learning more about why I have decided to set limits on my email time, you can read this [link to their blog post]. If you do not receive a further reply within 72 hours, please assume that I have had to focus on other professional or personal priorities at this time. Thank you in advance for your understanding.

Rant over.  I won’t even start on why we actually type in our names at the bottom of an email reply when it already has an automatic signature and anyway should be obvious from whom it came…….

Making an Exhibition of Myself - by Richard Handscombe

As 2014 dawns, I have been thinking of how the conference business has changed in the last 20 years….

Back in 1993 when I came into the academic conference sector, computers were few and far between (we had just one in our department), and very basic, with dark screens and green writing, and Windows were things to watch rain drip down.  We wrote letters…real letters, with typewriters (typewriters were things with keyboards connected to sort of hammers with letters on…never mind, Google it!).  Oh yes, and we had to go to the library to research anything because the World Wide Web was a year or two away!

Back in those days, when we’d only just heard of Bill Clinton,  the final episode of Cheers was in the can, and Whitney Houston was topping the charts screeching  “I Will Always Love You” (I know these things because I Googled them), I used to exhibit at seven or eight venue shows.  These included Venuemasters, EIBTM, Confex, Chase, HRD, and the Chartered Institute of Professional Development (CIPD).

How times have changed.  Although face-to-face discussions are still said to be important to buyers, the years are littered with failed attempts to launch new shows and attendances at exhibitions went into a steep decline.  The truth is that the speed, content and usability of the Web means that we can exchange vast amounts of information in a microsecond, and increasingly savvy buyers can comprehensively research venues without leaving their offices.  And conversely, venues are able to seek out and target potential buyers without breaking sweat.

These days at MEETinLEEDS we routinely attend only one, very focused exhibition (Venuemasters, 14th May 2014, at the Earl’s Court Ibis) and the rest, like Bill and Whitney, are history.

I actually did tot up the number of exhibitions I’ve done over these twenty years and I reckon it’s an astounding 60 at a cost probably well in excess of £150k!  Although this seems a high cost, we did see a lot of business coming from exhibitions when they were at their zenith, and in fact I can remember one single enquiry returning £150k of revenue.

What will the picture be in another 20 years?  It’s anybody’s guess, but thinking very positively, One Direction will be no more…..

Our Big Day! - by Natalie Ruecroft

As you've no doubt read already, September 1st 2013 saw the University of Leeds host its very first wedding fayre at Devonshire Hall.

This was a project that the sales and marketing team had begun working on only 3 weeks prior to the fayre taking place so needless to say, those 3 weeks were jammed packed with planning and also excitement! Who doesn't love a good wedding?!

The lead up to our very own big day saw new MEETinLEEDS web pages created, regular tweets and Facebook statuses and an advertising campaign taken out with the Yorkshire Post. One of the newspaper adverts even featured an interview from yours truly – a very proud moment for my mother I'm sure!

The day itself was a huge success. With over 40 brides in attendance, wedding cars displayed in the courtyard, the live band playing and the foyer filled with exhibitors the day had a fantastic atmosphere. It
really was a brilliant day that everyone enjoyed, including the MEETinLEEDS staff who dressed up for the occasion complete with button holes and corsages courtesy of our exhibiting florist.

As a result of the fayre so far we have 3 happily confirmed brides and more enquiries in the pipeline waiting to confirm The University of Leeds’ very own Devonshire Hall as their dream wedding venue.