Football legends come face-to-face to entertain exhibition attendees on NewcastleGateshead stand (J50).
The North East’s passion for football will head south next month when two of the games’ legends come face-to-face over a game of Foosball at International Confex (12-13 March).
Former Newcastle United player John Beresford will take on Sunderland legend Jimmy Montgomery in a Friendly Foosball Derby match. The game will take place as part of a drinks reception to be held on day one of International Confex (12 March) on the NewcastleGateshead stand (J50), from 4.30pm.
Attendees at the exhibition are invited to spectate as the legends go head-to-head and are challenged to take on the two sporting stars themselves.
Paul Szomoru, Head of Business Tourism at NewcastleGateshead Convention Bureau, said: “In the North East we love our football and with two top-flight clubs just a few miles apart, derby matches are always met with anticipation and excitement.
“This year, we’re delighted to be joined by the conferencing arms of both Newcastle United and Sunderland football clubs, so we wanted to bring some of the beautiful game’s passion with us to Confex.”
The Tyne-Wear Friendly Foosball Derby, is just one of the activities set to entertain visitors to the NewcastleGateshead stand. Magician, Paul Lytton will return with the Convention Bureau team to wow audiences and a host of prizes are up for grabs to those lucky enough to win on the Bureau’s Geordie one-armed bandit.
NewcastleGateshead’s new Meetings and Events Guide will also launch to conference planners at the show, having twice won the Meetings Industry Marketing Award for Best Brochure (2010, 2012).
The new guide is designed with the Convention Bureau’s successful ‘Experiences Delegates Love’ campaign in mind and has maintained its most popular features; integrated QR codes, testimonials and a destination user guide.
Paul Szomoru commented: “We’ve been blown away by the positive response to our ‘Experiences Delegates Love’ campaign – it really tapped into the personality of NewcastleGateshead and has helped us reach conference organisers in a new and interesting way.
“We hosted a fam trip on the same theme in July, pinned around the destination’s EAT! Festival, from which we’ve secured important business for the place. It made perfect sense to extend the delegate experiences theme into the new Meetings and Events Guide, and we hope it proves to be as popular and as successful with conference organisers as its predecessors.”
NewcastleGateshead Convention Bureau is attending International Confex 2014 alongside a range of local venues & suppliers, they are:
• R&B Group
• Sage Gateshead
• Newcastle United Football Club (Sodexo)
• Sunderland Association Football Club
• Hilton NewcastleGateshead
• Crowne Plaza Newcastle (due to open in 2015)
To learn more about holding a conference in the North East, meet the Convention Bureau at International Confex, Olympia, London – 12-13 March 2014, stand J50 – or visit www.NewcastleGateshead.com/Meet
The Convention Bureau is part of NewcastleGateshead Initiative, which is funded by Gateshead Council, Newcastle City Council and 170 private sector partners from across North East England. Its mission is to inspire people to visit and to live, learn, work and invest in NewcastleGateshead. The organisation has been instrumental in supporting the growth of the visitor economy, which is currently worth £1.3bn and supports 18,799 jobs in the local area. An inward investment team is the most recent addition to the organisation.
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For media enquiries contact:
Shelley Armstrong
Media & PR Manager
T. +44 (0)191 440 5739
M. +44 (0)7717 631 109
E. shelley.armstrong@ngi.org.uk
Notes to editors:
• NewcastleGateshead Initiative is a destination management and marketing agency; a public-private partnership supported by Gateshead and Newcastle City Councils, working with around 170 private sector partner organisations across NewcastleGateshead and the wider region
• NewcastleGateshead Initiative is supported by a board offering expertise from a range of sectors and professions. We also work with a wide range of partners, stakeholders and businesses, who share our ambition to inspire people to visit and to live, learn, work and invest in NewcastleGateshead.
o Our marketing & communications team works to promote and position NewcastleGateshead as a vibrant tourism destination, through targeted campaigns nationally and internationally. Our visitor information team helps ensure visitors have the best possible experience when they’re here, providing information and support.
o Our cultural programming team work with partners across the destination to bring together NewcastleGateshead’s cultural offer and deliver some of our most popular festival & events, including EAT! NewcastleGateshead, Juice Festival and the NewcastleGateshead Winter Festival.
o Our Convention Bureau uses local knowledge and expertise to help organise conferences, meetings or events in NewcastleGateshead and the surrounding area. It provides a free service including, venue sourcing and accommodation booking, to arranging transport and entertainment for delegates
o Our inward investment team helps businesses locate, expand and flourish in NewcastleGateshead, providing a range of services to make it easy to realise their ambitions for growth
• United by seven bridges across a spectacular riverscape, Newcastle (a city on the north bank of the River Tyne) and Gateshead (a town on the south bank) form a single, diverse and extremely vibrant visitor destination. World-class culture, vibrant nightlife, award-winning dining, inspiring heritage, fantastic shopping and acclaimed architecture are combined here like nowhere else, by the famous Geordie spirit which is symbolised by Antony Gormley’s iconic Angel of the North as it welcomes travellers to the area.
• The Supporting Business Growth and Attracting Investment to NewcastleGateshead and the North East project is part financed by the North East England Competitiveness European Regional Development Fund Programme 2007 to 2013. The Department for Communities and Local Government is the managing authority for the European Regional Development Fund Programme, which is one of the funds established by the European Commission to help local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects which will support local businesses and create jobs. For more information visit www.communities.gov.uk/erdf.
Imagery / Photography opportunities:
• www.NewcastleGateshead.com/Images – NewcastleGateshead’s Initiative’s extensive royalty free image library
Useful links:
• www.NewcastleGateshead.com/Media – NewcastleGateshead Initiative’s media website
• www.NewcastleGateshead.com/Meet – conference and events website for NewcastleGateshead