What you never get to see

Happy New Year!

 

Over Christmas I signed off the artwork for our new season brochure.  It's being printed as we speak (or is that type?!), and will be in the post to our subscribers and available in hundreds of locations across the South West in 2 weeks time.  It's our major showcase of the events we're presenting from now until the summer.

 

However, what I bet you don't know is that a sizeable amount of what we do in the Pavilions Arena never makes it into the brochure.  Or the website.  Or into any publicity at all.

 

That's because as well as the entertainment events we host, the Plymouth Pavilions is the South West's leading conference and corporate destination.  Organisations from all over the country (and sometimes abroad) choose to hold their events right here in Plymouth, which often go below the radar of the local community.  Recent examples include a conference for the Royal College of Nursing, a prestigious media awards ceremony and a trade union congress.  This year amongst others we're hosting a major Baptist Assembly.

 

In addition to that, we host many local corporate events.  Just this week we have 2 local employers hosting their Christmas parties in the arena.  But back to the national stuff we attract.  The planning cycle for these types of event is often 2-3 years.  It starts with us pro-actively marketing Plymouth as an exciting conference destination to the people who book these events, and after lots of conversations ultimately leads to some bookings. 

 

This part of our business is incredibly labour intensive in comparison to sticking a comedian on a stage for a night.  However, the benefits to the city of several hundred (or thousand) delegates and their families descending on Plymouth, staying in our hotels, eating in our restaurants and buying in our shops is a return that far outweighs the investment. 

 

Plymouth is a wonderful destination, and we find time and time again that once we've demonstrated that, business will come from all over the country to the West Country.