| 93 Palmy Conference & Function Centre DEVELOPMENT T T Rosa Watson Putting Palmy on the events map The Conference + Function Centre caters for 20 – 500-person sized events and offers large conference rooms as well as break-out rooms. It was a bold campaign to put Palmerston North on the map as an event destination – and it’s proven hugely successful for the city. Run by the Palmerston North City Council Palmy Venues team, the Bloody Good Conference campaign aimed to put the often-overlooked city on the map and front of mind of event organisers around the country. Palmy Venues oversees the Palmy Conference + Function Centre, which was the first of its kind built in New Zealand, and the Central Energy Trust Arena. The Conference + Function Centre caters for 20 – 500-person sized events and offers large conference rooms as well as break-out rooms. The Palmy Venues team can oversee everything from audio-visual requirements to catering, room set up, theming options, marketing support and event ticketing. Following the campaign that ran this year across Facebook, and with advertising on the MetService website and at Wellington International Airport, the bookings are starting to flow in. “We’ve had our busiest year … on record, which is awesome after all the disruption of the previous 3 years and Covid-19,” Venues Manager John Lynch said. The aim was to put Palmerston North on the map as a conference destination, where it sometimes has been overlooked. “Our problem at that point wasn’t exactly that we weren’t being considered … our problem was on occasion people weren’t thinking of us in the first place.” Humour was added in to catch people’s attention, including a take on the famous Wellington motto Absolutely Positively Wellington, with “Absolutely Positively cheaper than a conference in Wellington”. “We were trying to get people thinking and trying to get people laughing,” John said. It also had messaging around “less Facebook, more face-to-face”, with a focus on bringing people together, which John said had resonated with people. “A point of difference was we are not Queenstown, we are not Rotorua, we are not a big city. “When you come here you come for one thing and that’s to have a bloody good conference. To have an experience that you’ll live to remember.” He said no event was taken for granted. “You get treated that little bit extra because we are grateful for the business, and we are grateful to have you here.” Unique selling points were being council owned and operated gave clients access to a range of suppliers, and that it was a one-stop shop with a designated event coordinator. “There’s one person that the client deals with and talks to throughout the entire lead up to the event.” There were small city benefits being 10 minutes from the airport and central to the city’s accommodation. “For us it’s a huge part of what we are. It’s that easy living.” Another drawcard offered was free onsite parking and around the city through passes. “It’s something we know is really important for people.” Palmerston North offered city conveniences without the big city stress, he said. In the last year Palmy Venues has hosted a variety of events at the Conference + Function Centre, including fifteen conferences, multiple dinners, exhibitions and more than 200 business meetings and social functions. “The aim was to put Palmerston North on the map as a conference destination.” Our passion, your addiction! Since 1996 for the discerning coffee connoisseur, Ebony Coffee Roasters roastery & espresso bar offers a fantastic selection of freshly roasted beans, seasonal coffee treats or exciting small batch microlots, coffee brewing equipment and coffee accessories. We pride ourselves with consistently roasting quality beans and focusing on ensuring that these beans produce a great cup of coffee for our customers with our in-house barista training resource. 208 Featherston St, Palmerston North www.ebonycoffee.co.nz 06 359 3300 info@ebonycoffee.co.nz Branch Locations WeAre www.coastgroup.co.nz/ We are a family of companies With a diverse range of services dedicated to providing excellence across all facets of the events & signage industries.
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