With a blend of insightful sessions, interactive workshops, and innovative exhibits, the 2024 Innovation & Learning Festival highlighted the future of highways maintenance and transport technology. Here’s a look at the festival, in numbers:
Event Highlights
- Attendees: Over 600 participants joined us over the two days, including more than 300 public sector delegates representing over 80 local authorities from across England, Scotland, and Wales.
- Sessions and Speakers: The festival featured 22 technical training sessions and 30 expert speakers who shared their knowledge and insights on a variety of topics.
- Exhibitors: The festival hosted more than 90 exhibitors in the indoor and outdoor exhibition areas, including a dedicated Start-Up Zone featuring 8 innovative new companies.
- Live Demonstrations: Attendees witnessed 10 live demonstrations showcasing the latest products and solutions in highways maintenance and transport technology, including 1 world first – a groundbreaking autonomous pothole machine by Robotiz3d, and a drone technology demonstration by Coventry City Council.
- Innovation Think Pavilion: The new Innovation Think Pavilion hosted 6 interactive workshop sessions and panel debates, facilitating discussions on current challenges and innovative solutions.
- CPD Hours: Attendees collectively clocked over 10,000 CPD hours, contributing significantly to their professional growth and expertise.
- Sustainability: We reduced our carbon footprint by using sustainable stock paper envelopes for our vouchers, saving 600 plastic wallets from going to landfill. We also reduced the number of journeys between the hotels and venue by 21, using coaches instead of taxis and by allocating onsite accommodation wherever possible.
Additional Insights
- Steps Taken: The LCRIG Team walked a combined total of 350,178 steps over the two days.
- Organisation Time: Over 1300 hours were spent by the LCRIG Team in the organisation of the festival.
- Accommodation: 195 hotel rooms were booked for public sector fully funded places.
New Venue:
- No of visits: The LCRIG team visited our new venue 3 times in preparation for the event.
- Size: The event utilised more than 5,500 m2 of indoor and outdoor space.
Fun and Engagement
- Tunnocks Tower Challenge: A fun highlight at the festival was the Tunnocks Tower Challenge. Participants used over 340 Tunnocks wafers and teacakes to build impressive structures, aiming to dethrone the Chief Chocolate Tower Builder of Wales, David Denner and raised £600 for the RNLI.
- Networking and Entertainment: The evening networking event, sponsored by SPL, saw over 500 attendees connecting with industry colleagues, sharing ideas, and exploring potential partnerships.
Feedback
Following the event, the positive feedback we have received has been overwhelming:
- 96% of respondents to our attendee survey said they were extremely likely, very likely or likely to recommend the event to colleague, and 95% of respondents said were extremely likely, very likely or likely to return next year.
Register Your Interest for Next Year
The Innovation & Learning Festival 2024 not only showcased the latest advancements in our field but also provided a platform for professionals to connect, learn, and collaborate.
We are already planning for next year’s festival and are excited to make it even more impactful. If you want to be part of this innovative journey, register your interest here and stay updated on all the latest news and announcements.