Scottish Event Campus: Social and Environmental Commitment to Glasgow

Carrying on the legacy of COP26 has greatly served the Scottish Event Campus to stand out as a globally recognised venue, showing the ability to deliver one of the most significant events ever held in Glasgow. In our conversation with the Conference Sales Director, Kathleen Warden, we found out a great sense of purpose in providing social, economic and environmental benefits, and supporting associations to build great meeting experiences.

Having a multi-purpose convention centre is a must to unlock complex, multiform events that can recreate the imagery of an association. Scotland’s largest city has the luxury of having one of the centres with the most pioneering sustainability policies, a very high level of customer satisfaction, and all-inclusive facilities that unfold across a vast property. The Scottish Event Campus (SEC) features the SEC Centre − five interconnected exhibition and meeting spaces − the iconic SEC Armadillo − the latest addition with 3,000 seats − and the OVO Hydro − a 14,300-capacity sports, entertainment and special events arena - in a testament to its unquestionable flexibility and expansion that has helped position Glasgow on the global MICE scene. During the pandemic, the Scottish venue’s mantra and one that kept them afloat was to be “all in this together” − that was the north star that dictated how they responded as a company. “First and foremost, we wanted to provide the right level of support to our clients, offering them flexibility in meeting their needs. We took a long-term approach with the relationships we had built with our clients over the years, while balancing the needs of our business,” Kathleen Warden (pictured above), Director of Conference Sales at SEC tells us.

A key priority was #TEAMSEC − a skilled and experienced workforce that was core to this success by navigating the new functions the centre embraced as it transformed into a medical institution. “We were able to invest in our digital infrastructure, our streaming and recording technology, and evolve our people to adapt to new ways of running events.” In addition, they had the privilege of hosting one of the most noteworthy global meetings last year − COP26, the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference. The meeting was originally scheduled for November, but the pandemic caused it to be postponed to the same month of 2021. “The event was an amazing way to challenge our team to provide something genuinely innovative. We had to be agile to reschedule some events and accommodate the COP26 date change,” says Warden. But it’s not all about flexibility and adaptability; a new era of events is being driven by both the lessons of pandemic constraints and the ambition for events to be more inclusive, sustainable, and responsible. “I think there is a new business model that is being driven from a reliance on streaming and broadcasting to remote audiences, but also on a focus on sustainability and inclusivity.”

"There are major benefits for organisers to host their conference in a destination that can add intellectual power to the event, and at the same time provide a gateway to greater impact and legacy."

As Scotland’s leading events venue, the SEC is where locals come to learn at a conference, enjoy a great day out, or have an unforgettable experience with a favourite band or artist. “During the pandemic, we became Louisa Jordan medical facility, and over time, we became a vaccination centre as well. All of this was part of our responsibility to the people of Glasgow. It is fair to say that this experience has brought us a greater purpose contributing to the lives of the people who live in the city they call home.” Warden told us. Furthermore, Glasgow is beyond dispute one of the UK’s most vibrant bastions in areas such as research, innovation and academia, positioning itself strongly in key sectors such as healthcare and science, engineering, energy, technology and arts. “We seek to target events that match with our city’s knowledge and sectoral hubs, as well as government policy agendas. There are major benefits for organisers to host their conference in a destination that can add intellectual power to the event, and at the same time provide a gateway to greater impact and legacy.” The SEC has benefited from partnerships with the Glasgow Convention Bureau and VisitScotland, laying the groundwork for a new conference era and bringing global talent together in one central location to share knowledge, ideas, experience and learning.

Through a sustainable food strategy that was developed in partnership with Levy UK and the Scottish supply chain, food has become a central part of the SEC’s journey and commitment to Net Zero by 2030. This work, built on innovative ideas to decrease the carbon footprint, included more than 80% of all locally sourced food, highlighting suppliers practicing regenerative farming and the implementation of carbon labelling on menus. COP26 provided the stimulus for SEC to progress its mission, focused on supporting a sustainable future for the industry. “The strategy is integrated into every area of the venue’s business, including waste, energy, food, transport, and sourcing. It also allows us to support our clients reach their own sustainability promises,” says Warden. COP26 also saw leadership within the SEC contribute to the creation of the globally recognised Net Zero Carbon Events initiative. Representatives from across the global events industry came together to commit to action on climate change and ensure a lasting legacy for the future of the industry. Today, the initiative has more than 400 companies worldwide that have signed up for net zero carbon before 2050.

For Kathleen, “meetings have always been smart, but they’re getting smarter!” Clearly, business event technology has been high on the SEC’s agenda for the past couple of years, but it has also been important to assess demand for tech solutions and gauge what would be right for a venue to offer. The SEC did not go down the path of creating a studio, but dedicated itself to understanding the value of reaching a digital audience by focusing on in-house streaming capabilities and expanding capacity across the venue. “Digital participants are important, particularly for associations, and bringing this knowledge to the digital audience is about democratising education and ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to be included. This is a fundamental shift in the events industry and the role it plays in delivering social good and advancing humanity,” concludes Warden.