CONF ERENCING
MEET CAMBR IDGE Meet Cambridge is the single point of contact for regional, national and international event organisers. It has over 70 venues on its books, from traditional colleges and university spaces to museums, country houses and hotels, and can book a small- scale meeting for just eight people or find a venue for 1,000 international delegates, and every permutation between the two. “We have venues to suit most budgets and tastes: ancient, contemporary, indoor and outdoor – we like to think we can find our clients their perfect setting,” says Judith Sloane, deputy manager at Meet Cambridge. Even better, the service is free of charge – organisations are under no obligation to make a booking – and saves time. “With one single enquiry we can check every venue that meets the event specification,” says Judith. It’s all achieved by a small, four- strong team of local people who know
our area intimately, have a strong network of contacts, understand what event organisers are looking for, and really care about doing the best for all their clients – regardless of the size and type of event. “The knowledge and ideas that are shared at events can have a huge
impact on the world that we live in – the technology that we use daily or the medication that we take to make us better probably started life as a spark of an idea that was exchanged at a meeting or conference. It’s wonderful to be able to play a very, very small part in that,” says Judith.
THE GRANTA CENTRE Located in a science and business park just outside Cambridge, The Granta Centre is every inch a sleek, modern and purpose-built venue, starting with the plane parked just outside that sets its lean lines off to a T. Its light, bright interiors must do wonders to encourage blue-sky thinking and green spaces aren’t far away either – the centre is surrounded by parkland and pleasant walks. Inside the building, there are eight rooms (for a larger space the two generously-sized lecture rooms can be combined) that seat between 10 and 250 delegates, with room for 300 guests in the restaurant. Rooms feature high ceilings, dimmable lights and – that organiser’s essential – plenty of plug sockets. The venue’s magic ingredient? “Do what you do and do it well,” says Andrew Bell. “We try to keep everything as simple as we can, focusing on the long-term relationship by getting the here and now correct for each event.” Organisers would agree – one praised the “perfect organisation and super attentive, helpful staff”. The goal for organisers, he says, is to be consistently focused on their objectives. “I often ask organisers how their day went and whether they achieved what they came here to do,” says Andrew. “It’s all about outcome. If we can understand the goals we can pull on all the experiences we have to help achieve the goal.”
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