10 . www.conference-news.co.uk . April 2012ACADEMIC VENUESnce perceived as offering services and facilities that only addressed a limited part of the overall events spectrum, many academic venues have progressively developed to stand alongside conventional venues. Trevor Miller, Conference Sales and Marketing Manager at Leicester Conferences, University of Leicester, explains how his venue moved into the front rank."Few venues have not had to take a very close look at how to deal with the economic downturn."Academic venues sit within a mature industry where organisers are increasingly spoilt for choice. With much improved buying power and choice, organisers have challenged every aspect of what venues have to offer from quality and service, to the signifi cant decider of value for money."Neverthless, a number of universities have raised their profi le and are becoming more recognised as venues of choice alongside hotels and conference centres. Historically, the majority have appealed to particular market areas such as associations and education, mainly due to their ability to host large groups."Many universities have recognised the signifi cant commercial advantage of investing in conference facilities, resulting in dedicated meeting rooms and quality accommodation."Leicester Conferences has been hosting events for over 50 years and now hosts 2,000 a year."Providing customers with value for money, high standard of service, has continued to be our priority," says Miller. "Value for money must go beyond providing a service at a good price. It must focus on truly 'adding value' to the customer experience. We have increased our capacity of dedicated facilities and invested heavily in updating our meeting room technology. Most of our rooms provide built-in AV, including internet-ready PCs, projectors and sound. Our latest venue includes high defi nition projectors with blu-ray players as standard in all rooms. Our meeting rooms also have free Wi-Fi available with free fi xed internet access available in all bedrooms," Miller adds. Raising the standardA vanguard of academic venues have graduated to stand proud alongside hotels and dedicated conference centres in terms of service and productThe new Gilbert Murray hall at Leicester ConferencesOWe've

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