Administration and joining instructions for the CIPD annual conference 2008

Have you booked to attend this years CIPD annual conference and exhibition in Harrogate?

What were your experiences of the administration of booking onto the CIPD 2008 annual conference or exhibition? easy... hard... problematic... simple?

What are your reactions to receiving the joining instructions? clear?... concise?... short on detail... too much...?

Joining Instructions for CIPD annual conference delegates

Having arrived home from being away at the NFEA 2008 annual conference waiting for me was my CIPD joining instructions. In the envelope was:

• A welcome letter
• Personalised Conference badge
• An event guide
• A voucher for a free CIPD 2009 diary (to be collected from the CIPD stand)
• A preview of the exhibition and
• Two invitations - one to Carringtons and one to Platinum ABBA

The social activity

The voucher included provides access to two of the seven social events. Carringtons is a night club and free entry is provided to allow delegates to party to their hearts content, Thank you for the music (Platinum ABBA) is a music entertainment evening taking place after the gala dinner. The Dinner is a formal event which required prior booking - I wont be attending as my booking was too late :(

Other social activities include two free delegate lunches, a delegate drinks reception and a Jazz dining event. This event is designed for people attending the conference on their own so that they do not have to dine alone - seems reasonable at £35.

The Exhibition

In the preview guide sent was a timetable of the free seminars taking place. These are being run under three themes:

• Exhibitor exchange showcases
• Employee benefits and rewards showcases
• Recruitment and talent management showcases

The programme looks excellent - and indeed I may well 'escape' from the main event to attend one or two of these. So if you are attending the CIPD exhibition, but not the conference, have a look at this programme .

Also in the pack

There was quite a lot of useful information in the 'pack' including a map of the various venues:

Just a little shame that it was not also colour coded as finding one of 15 venues all as little yellow boxes could have been so much easier... but I trust this will prove to be a useful item to carry in a pocket or bag throughout the event!

At Manchester 2009 (yes the CIPD event is moving) this will be much simpler as the main venue is much larger.. time will tell.