Meet in Wales has partnered with venue and destination agency, SFA Connect, to further expand its ambassador programme and knowledge within Wales across the association conference sector.
The agency has already achieved early results within the programme. New members Dr Rhian Heyward, Aberystwyth University and Professor Denis Dennehy, Swansea University, has secured the IEEE International Symposium on Technology and Society (ISTAS23) to Swansea School of Management in September 2023.
How it will help
As part of SFA Connect’s scope of work, the team will use the ambassador programme to “unlock international associations that share a natural affinity with Wales”.
In addition, SFA Connect use its experience across the meetings and events industry to provide guidance around the use of Meet In Wales’s subvention budget.
The destination currently has a share of the wider Event Wales annual budget, which is used to attract events across Sport & Mass Participation, Arts & Culture, and Business Events. The funds also support the wider Meet In Wales strategy to attract international events that will flourish in the destination or enrich either its people, business and academic strengths.
It will also work closer with Meet In Wales’s Hero Group and the brand’s Ambassador Wales Working Group, set up between the Wales’s six universities*, and its larger venues and destinations.
Heledd Williams, head of business events, Meet In Wales, said: “SFA bring with them a wealth of experience and understanding and together we can ensure that organisers continue to see Wales as a leading conference and events destination.
“Our industry sector strategy is core to our ambassador programme and SFA are uniquely positioned to support this. We’re looking forward to working with them and building on the early successes of our programme.”
Earlier this year Meet In Wales announced the appointment of 10 new ambassadors to the programme.
