This month, we get to know Academic Venue Solutions  a bit better with a Q&A below:

What was your motivation to join ICCA?

Our motivation to join ICCA was borne out of reviewing our strategy for 2021/22 and beyond. We are a collection of academic venues which are all tasked with attracting academic conferences and national and international association events. AVS want to ensure that our strategy is closely aligned to that of our members and, in order to support this, our desire to work collaboratively with another association led us to ICCA. We also work closely with ABPCO (as members) and want to make sure that our members are exposed to the right type of organisations. We also want to promote awareness of AVS: we are the leading group of academic venues in the UK. We believe passionately in keeping academic event business within the sector which provides a return for the greater good, ensuring students enjoy reinvestment in their all-important institutions for years to come.

 

What sets Academic Venue Solutions apart?

As an organisation, what sets us apart is our community spirit! Whilst ultimately we are set up as a marketing consortium to support our members commercial aims, we share much more than that. We have sub groups within the membership that are set up to explore solutions to challenges and opportunities that only those operating in a Higher Education will face. Our members have a common goal: to make a financial surplus that is wholly reinvested back into their institutions. As our membership is spread across the UK, this results in members helping as opposed to competing with each other. We regularly move business around the membership, referred by the members. We listen to our members and create educational and networking opportunities around their input. 

 

What can we expect to see from Academic Venue Solutions in the future? 

We are proud to be the UK’s leading group of academic venues. Whilst the pandemic has taken its toll, we have an ambitious growth plan: to increase membership and business into our member venues over the next 5 years. We are actively seeking to partner with like minded organisations that can help our members raise their profile nationally and internationally. Universities are constantly growing and developing as is AVS. We have a wealth of excellent venues within our association and a wealth of talent and experience within our membership – we are very much looking forward to a brighter future for our industry and we want to play our part in that.