ABPCO will celebrate 25 years since incorporation in 2012 and plans to begin celebrations for its Silver Jubilee year in style at its annual conference on 25 – 27th January, registration for which opens today.  The two-day conference, to be held at the Barbican with the opening social reception hosted by the Ironmongers Hall, will be themed ‘25 years: Past, Present & Future’ and will celebrate ABPCO’s long-standing history of excellence in the conferencing sector as well as looking to the future of the industry.  In addition to The Barbican and other sponsors, the ABPCO conference is also supported by London & Partners.

The conference programme this year is designed to offer delegates the opportunity to ‘learn from the past, evaluate the present and discuss the challenges for the future.’  The programme includes keynote presentations and workshops from three industry-leading experts, sponsored by the London Speaker Bureau.  Dr Graeme Codrington, an expert on the new world of work and multi-generational workplaces will present on the TIDES of change, the five key disruptive forces shaping the new world of work; Peter Cochrane, former head of Research at British Telecommunications plc, is the author of over 1000 blogs, articles, scientific papers and books on the future, technology and business and will address delegates on ‘The formula has changed but we haven’t’; and Adrian Furnham, Professor of Psychology at the University of London, will run a workshop looking at understanding generational differences: the key to motivating and retaining staff.

The 2012 conference includes a new approach to streamlining workshops according to strategic or operational job function.  Topics covered include:

• Managing difficult relationship
• Hybrid events – what’s all the buzz?
• How to successfully engage conference audiences online
• The PCO team: working together to deliver better conferences
• Making the most of the media
• Association case study: account management, past, present and future

ABPCO celebrates 25 years with gala dinner

The Association’s gala dinner on Thursday January 26^th will this year celebrate ABPCO’s 25 years since incorporation.  Additional tickets have been made available to extend the event beyond those attending the conference to join the celebrations and mark the start of ABPCO’s Silver Anniversary year.

Commenting on the 2012 conference, ABPCO Chair Michael Foreman said: “This year’s conference will be our best ever, with an incredible line up of speakers and a very special celebration planned already.  We are proud to have been representing our members for a quarter of a century and delighted that our ranks continue to grow.  We have grown tremendously as an Association, even in the last 12 months, and look forward to continuing to work with our PCO and corporate members, encouraging professionalism and excellence in conferencing throughout the UK.”

Further information about the conference is available on the ABPCO website and registration is now open at http://www.shocklogic.com/abpco2012/.