Former Home Secretary, David Blunkett gave the closing address at the National Venue Show 2007, held at the NEC in Birmingham recently, with an inspirational speech offering advice on motivation and leadership. Speaking to a full seminar theatre he offered guidance on how to be a good leader by learning from those around you.
“We were delighted to introduce and welcome such a fantastic high-profile speaker to National Venue Show,” said Duncan Reid, event director, Confex Group. “David’s speech was truly inspirational and offered lots of sound advice for both exhibitors and visitors. Having a speaker line-up of this magnitude underlines the continued investment that Confex Group is making in this event.”
The keynote sessions were not the only success story of show, with preliminary on-site figures (not ABC audited) showing an increase of 10% in visitor attendance to 4,023, with the total attendance over 5,000.
The National Venue Show attributes the growth to a number of new initiatives and feature areas, including the Birmingham Bar, which hosted two networking evenings, as well as offering The Retreat, a spa experience which allowed visitors to take a break from the busy show floor and enjoy some pampering.
“We are obviously very delighted with the increase in visitor numbers at this year’s show, continued Reid. “With the help of our exhibitors I am confident we will keep building the event for 2008. “Re-bookings at the show are double what they were last year, confirming that we have delivered a show that will make people return.”