On the weekend, Johanna and Ulrike came home from CONVENE in Vilnius and are back in the office now. We would like to share Ulrike’s short report about her stay.

“What I first have to say: the whole trip was a great experience and I spent some amazing days in Vilnius.

The organization was perfect, from the information prior to the fair, the booking of the flight and the pick-up service at the airport, over the bus transfer to the exhibition site and the evening events, to the whole stay at the fair. Everything ran smoothly.

We arrived in Vilnius on Tuesday around noon and were welcomed and picked up at the airport. Once arrived at the hotel, every guest got his badge, a bag with useful information about the fair, the timeline and interesting facts about the city. Especially kind: we all received a scarf made of typical Lithuanian linen as a welcome gift.

The organizers of CONVENE had created a programme which was varied, entertaining and interesting. Our time in Vilnius started with a sightseeing tour through the city on Tuesday afternoon – and to put it in a nutshell: Vilnius is a beautiful city with many fantastic sights, a city which is definitely worth visiting.

The evening programme was great, beginning with the Welcome Reception on Tuesday evening in the Sky Bar at Radisson Blu Hotel Lietuva. We spent there a couple of relaxed hours, with an incredible view over the city and interesting conversations with planners from all over the world.

The Networking Event on Wednesday evening was a great experience for me: the event took place in the Palace of the Grand Dukes, a baroque palace originally constructed in the 15th century and newly renovated. Welcomed by two men in knight armour each carrying a torch in his hand, all guests walked down a red carpet with photographers taking pictures all the time. You really felt like a celebrity. Inside the building, Jolanta Beniulienė, Exhibition Director, and the Vilnius Mayor Remigijus Šimašius were waiting and greeting all the guests. The evening was perfect – delicious food and wine, music as well as nice talks. On the last evening, an informal Farewell Dinner was held in Restaurant GREY, an equally fantastic event.

CONVENE itself is rather small but of high quality: 1,000 participants, 87 exhibitors from 10 countries, 170 hosted buyers from 27 countries, 3,600 B2B appointments and 15 international media partners. CONVENE’s strong focus on education and knowledge became clear once again with the education programme which was very professional, varied and entertaining at the same time. Participants could attend 28 sessions, among them Johanna’s Fischer session on “Winning Congresses with Smart PR – an Update on Meetings PR and Communication in the Meetings Industry” and Hugo Slimbrouck’s “Top 10 Incentive Travel Trends”. Really interesting and entertaining was the seminar of Susan Heaton (from Executive Voice, London) about “using your voice and physical presence to make an impact in meetings”. We’ve also published an interview with Susan.

We left Vilnius with a very good impression and hope to come back very soon.

Well-done Jolanta and the whole team of CONVENE!”

Ulrike Kiesel
Project manager content & pr