I
cannot really recall how far back it all goes. I started in the conference industry in 1976 when The QEIICC was but a
hole in the ground. In fact, it was not The
QEIICC at all, it was known just as Broad Sanctuary, the street on which it
resides.
My
earliest
memory was looking at plans in the offices of Conference Services, in
Charles Street, under the direction of Fay Pannell, who had been
engaged as a consultant on various elements of the fitting out. This
consisted of furniture layouts, and
that was my first involvement with the then non-existent centre. How to
make the furniture flexible,
attractive, functional and then fit – and with no CAD systems or even
computers.
Of
course, from then it rose majestically out of the ground. Initially almost all a
secure government building, with only minimal areas available for public use,
and then slowly but surely, floor by floor became available – making it the extensive centre it now is.
My
first conference at the centre was the Silver Jubilee Meeting of the Royal
College of Pathologists, September 1987, attracting 500 delegates, one
year after the centre opened. Hard hat
event planning at that time was commonplace; we did it at the Barbican, the
SECC, Birmingham ICCâ€Â¦ and The QEIICC was no exception.
The
spectrum of events I’ve worked on at The QEIICC has been phenomenal; from
Police IT to World Advertising, from Pre-Cast Concrete to
Neuropsychopharmacology; from World Nuclear to Young Lawyers, from Securities
Commissions to Urology. At a rough guess, about 20,000 international delegates
have attended Concorde’s events at The QEIICC over the years. But, perhaps the times we laughed the most
was during the catering tastings. I mention no names, and no events, but those
at The QEIICC who took part will know exactly who and which, and can share the
joke.
And
so, over 25 events later, at least one for every year of The QEIICC’s
existence, I can say with real honesty that I have loved working at that
venue; the people, the trials, the laughs and of course the successes.
