The event
Ethnic Minority Business Forum - Race for Enterprise Conference
20th March 2006, Royal Society of Arts, London

The brief
The EMBF wanted to hold a one-day conference for 150 people that would bring together policymakers and practitioners in ethnic minority enterprise and business support. Delegates would:

• Hear about the work of the EMBF in more detail and give views on their plans
• Gain an insight into Government policy in this area and share ideas and experiences
• Help to improve communication channels between practitioners, policymakers and the EMBF on ethnic minority enterprise and business growth issues
• Find out about examples of innovative support for ethnic minority businesses and help to identify other examples of best practice
  

The challenges
The client was concerned about the short time available in which to deliver a significant and meaningful event. There was only an eight-week window and this would affect:

• Securing senior speaker participation and ministerial involvement
• Delegate attendance both in terms of quality and quantity
• Obtaining good feedback to put into its forthcoming report
• Finding a suitable venue with the flexibility, room size and appropriate atmosphere.

The client was also concerned about keeping delegates engaged until the end of the day, as in previous events many delegates left after lunch.

The highlights

• Venue We selected The Royal Society of Arts for its size, breakout flexibility, location and its famous main hall. It was important to choose a venue with an excellent catering reputation as many of the ethnically diverse audience would have special dietary requirements.
• Marketing We researched and sourced highly targeted mailing lists. We used email as the main promotion channel. We made regular announcements to core groups. We also used direct mail. We created a dedicated web site to provide information and take online bookings. The event was sold out within 4 weeks and there was a long waiting list. (Total 213 registered delegates.)
• Content  We secured both the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and the Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions to speak at the event.
  
  We created an event comprising plenary morning speakers to outline policy and present the issues. Then practitioners from across various sectors gave case study presentations.  After lunch we devised facilitated, topic-based interactive workshops.
  
  In the final plenary session, facilitators reported back main findings from their group discussions. To conclude, we secured a celebrity speaker to keep delegates until the end. Tim Campbell, winner of the BBC TV show, The Apprentice, spoke about his insights into being a successful black entrepreneur

The outcome
Delegate evaluation from the event was very positive and the client was delighted with the outcome.