Former Prime Minister Balkenende concludes Rotterdam Masterclass

As a final chord, the participants of 'Masterclass Rotterdam: a successful conference' received lobbying tips from former Prime Minister Jan-Peter Balkenende. On 13th February Rotterdam Partners Convention Bureau held the annual conference for anyone who is not a conference organiser in daily life, but who wants to organise a conference as a member of a national or international association. This time in Rotterdam Ahoy during the 45th edition of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament. The 85 participants were presented with a varied programme, with a programme of options that took into account the aspiring organisers' various interests and the phases in which these initiators were in preparing their conference.

GDPR privacy regulation

After the plenary introduction by Erik Peekel of Aaaaha! Bureau for Live Communication divided the group into various workshops with subjects such as the bidding procedure for budgeting, sponsoring and the GDPR privacy legislation. After a short break, a second round of workshops followed.

Rotterdam Ahoy Convention Centre

At the closing plenary session, Peter van der Veer, Director of Rotterdam Ahoy, presented the plans for the new international conference centre, which will be opened in 2020. The Rotterdam Ahoy Convention Center (RACC) will be a multifunctional building with the largest auditorium in the Netherlands (2,750 seats), 35 break-out areas and various foyers and exhibition spaces. After that, it was the 'mystery guest' Jan-Peter Balkenende's turn to talk about the ins and outs of lobbying on the basis of his personal experiences in Dutch and international politics.

ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament

The setting of the international tennis tournament in Ahoy - which ABN AMRO has sponsored for 45 years - was a perfect match for the conference, concludes Joyce Wittelaar from Rotterdam Partners Convention Bureau: "It was clearly a good combination. The halls and foyer were surprisingly decorated and created an atmospheric setting in which the space was transformed into a cosy living room. This created an inspiring environment for the various sessions and networking moments. We named the sessions after tennis terms and afterwards we were able to visit the tournament."