BPCA is thrilled to announce that PestExtra won event of the year at the prestigious Trade Association Forum Best Practice Awards.  

Now in its nineteenth year, the prestigious Trade Association Forum (TAF) Best Practice Awards 2022 are supported by the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, and recognise excellence, innovation and best practice amongst Trade Associations in the UK. 

Impressive and ambitious

When Covid-19 cancelled in-person events, BPCA remained determined that pest professionals should be able to connect, share and learn together.

On the 16-18 March 2021, the Association held the biggest online gathering of UK pest professionals.

Emily Wallace, Interim Chief Executive, Trade Association Forum and Chair of the judging panel said:

"The judges were impressed by the scale of the ambition shown by BPCA, bringing their sector together during a difficult time and delivering an event of impressive size and scope.

"The judges praised the commercial performance of the event, maintaining strong revenue streams and sponsor support despite the move to online."

Over three days, 1,780 visitors attended PestExtra from around the world. Completely free to participate in, PestExtra combined an action-packed conference schedule with a digital trade show.

FEATURES

• Live headline theatre – with chat, polls and Q&A
• Four pre-recorded theatres – with chat and instant feedback
• One-on-one video and text chat meetings
• Virtual trade hall with one-on-one meetings with exhibitors
• Roundtable sessions with delegate participation
• CPD points automatically allocated based on participation
• Go on a scavenger hunt to win fantastic prizes and encourage interaction with exhibitors
• On-demand sessions
• Post-show goodie bag. 

Leap of faith

Exhibiting in this new digital format was a brand new concept for many companies, but they threw themselves into it with enthusiasm for the idea and that support was invaluable. 

Internally, we poured time into learning how to use the software, setting up studios and loading mountains of content to all the stands – feeling our way as we went. 

And we went in overdrive marketing the event, filming how-to videos and calling hundreds of BPCA member companies to make sure that they could attend the show.

Lauren Day, BPCA Events Manager, said:

"We're over the moon to have won an award for PestExtra, the whole Staff team is incredibly proud.

"In many ways it was a very challenging event for us to put together, given the upheaval of the pandemic and how new the format was to all of us. 

"All the hard work paid off and we delivered such a unique and brilliant event, and we are thrilled that's been recognised by our trade association colleagues."

WANT TO KNOW MORE?

Take a look at our video review of PestExtra below and read our full review of the event on PPC Online.

Source: Online