Faraday Institution Conference | 2024

We caught up with organisers of the Faraday Institution 2024 Annual Conference about why they chose Newcastle, their Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives and how our Convention Bureau supported them along the way.

Why did you or the society choose Newcastle to host the conference? 

The Faraday Institution has a North East office based at Newcastle University. The Faraday Institution North East (FINE) team bid to host our annual conference and we felt the university and city of Newcastle was the ideal backdrop to our energy storage focused conference, given the North East’s ever-evolving activity in vehicle (Nissan) and battery (AESC) manufacture, research and electrification.

Which venues did you use for your event and what attracted you to them?

The Faraday Institution has a North East office based at Newcastle University. The Faraday Institution North East (FINE) team bid to host our annual conference and we felt the university and city of Newcastle was the ideal backdrop to our energy storage focused conference, given the North East’s ever-evolving activity in vehicle (Nissan) and battery (AESC) manufacture, research and electrification.

We used the Frederick Douglass Centre as our main conference venue, which is based on the Newcastle Helix site. The FDC was an ideal space for our event, with three large lecture theatres for our sessions, spacious atrium for catering, networking and exhibition, plus rooms on additional floors for our poster presentations.

We were also lucky to be able to host our Welcome Networking Reception at the newly renovated Stephenson Building on the Newcastle University Campus. Delegates enjoyed an evening of networking in the building where future engineers, researchers, designers, and visionaries come together to collaborate and tackle world challenges together.

Our conference awards dinner was held at the prestigious Newcastle Civic Centre. The Banqueting Hall at the Civic Centre is a modern-day take on a traditional, baronial style hall with space for our 420 guests. We chose the space not only for it’s capacity, but also for the ‘wow-factor’ – from the moment our guests arrived greeted by the magnificent bronze casting of the River God Tyne to the red carpet reception area, and finally dine surrounded by medieval-style walls inscribed with the names of past Lord Mayors.

How did NewcastleGateshead Convention Bureau support you? Did the support meet your expectations?

NGI supported us hugely with collating best rates at city centre hotels for our guests. Delegates were able to book their accommodation directly via NGI’s accommodation portal which they set up specifically for our event. We greatly appreciated NGI’s local knowledge in this respect and their support on this exceeded our expectations.

NGI also provided our delegates with exclusive discounted rates at several restaurants, tours, and sightseeing activities in the city.

Sustainability is becoming increasingly important, especially in business events. Did your event take any measures to be more sustainable?

We ensured our event materials were sustainable such as our delegate lanyards which were made from recycled PET, event signage made out of cardboard making them easily recyclable post-event and using a conference app for accessing programme and delegate lists that meant little to no printing required.

Additionally, the FDC has multiple water fountains in the venue whereby delegates can bring their own water bottles, avoiding any type of single use plastic. All catering cutlery was biodegradable.

Can you tell us about any Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives you delivered as part of the event?

The conference Local Organising Committee, led by our colleagues at Newcastle University, were committed to raising awareness of green energy solutions and career aspirations of young people in the region by working with education providers in the city.

As part of the programme of activity, Newcastle Discovery Museum, Newcastle University and the Faraday Institution partnered with Callerton Academy to host a day of workshops and exhibitions for more than 100 children aged 11-14 to explore green energy solutions including wind energy, hydrocars and more.

It was brilliant to get involved in the Discovery Museum’s two year Steam to Green exhibition that explores the story of energy in the North East, highlighting the region’s pioneering contributions to green technologies.