Scottish Conference Entertainment

Annual conference. Hosted 2018 by EICC, Edinburgh

BADFEST is the social event held for the annual conference of the British Association of Dermatologists. This year’s 2018 conference was hosted at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC). The brief from the client was they wanted a fun and interactive festival-like atmosphere to encourage delegate networking in an informal way. We hosted two spaces in the EICC for the conference which accommodated 750 delegates overall. With people coming from all around the world, the client wanted to ensure that as well as being a networking event, delegates were able to enjoy a real Scottish experience.

Pipe Major Roderick Deans greeted the delegates with a traditional Scottish bagpipe reception.  This was a great way to introduce the guests to the Scottish theme of the evening. In the Strathblane Hall we had our 10-piece Tartanium band open the night with a 20-minute Scottish show. The Tartanium band mixes traditional and contemporary styles of Scottish music combining bagpipes with funked up basslines and incredible guitar solos. Adding to this spectacle, we had three Tartanium dancers perform a choreographed routine which combined traditional and contemporary steps to compliment the bands funky and cutting-edge sound.

Guests were then invited onto the dancefloor where they were taught some easy ceilidh dancing moves. With a 10-piece ceilidh band our guests got a taste of what a full Scottish Ceilidh is like and, also danced to traditional dances including the Dashing White Sergeant, Strip the Willow and Canadian Barn Dance.

Reel Time transformed the main foyer from a delegate registration area into various interactive Scottish experiences. Guests were given the opportunity to try indoor curling and a haggis shy . Indoor curling was a chance for the delegates to try something new and brought a competitive thrill to the evening. Guests were asked to slide their curling stones closest to the target on the mat for competing points. The haggis shy was a fun event involving throwing haggis like balls at targets to build up points. Guests got to meet the Heavy athletes that perform at Scotland’s Highland Games and speak to them about their sport. The athletes then let the guests try their hand at the indoor caber tossing experience.

To wash down the fantastic food served at the EICC we put on a whisky vs gin tasting. This meant the guests could try some fine Scottish spirits whilst also learning about the distillation and production of Scotland’s drinks. One of our bars served two Scottish artisan gins representing one of the largest booms in the Scottish drinks industry. We chose to take Rock Rose and The Botanist to let guests taste a sweeter herbaceous and citrus gin against a more peppery, floral and earthier gin. These were served to guests neat and then as a perfect serve with tonic and our recommended garnish. The second bar for the whisky tasting was our cask bar we had taken and built in the venue. The bar featured two Scottish Single Malt Whiskies showcasing the regional differences that exist in the whisky world. We had Auchentoshan American Oak as one of the drams on offer which is from Auchentoshan distillery located just to the west of Glasgow. It is the only distillery in Scotland to triple distil every drop of whisky it produces, which gives rise to a light, sweet, grassy character. When this spirit is matured in American ex-bourbon casks the resulting whisky is creamy, with vanilla and lemon notes and a striking oaky spice. We chose to contrast this with a peaty whisky from Islay, Laphroaig. Laphroaig is one of just seven distilleries in Scotland which still malts its own barley and it is this age-old production method which is said to give the whisky the unique medicinal, iodine-like aroma and flavour, alongside the unmistakable smokiness.

The event was a great success and the clients were thrilled with the whole experience. In a matter of hours the guests were able to experience traditional Scottish sport, music, culture and drinks all under one roof. The format of the evening, and activities provided, allowed the guests to interact and take part as they wished whilst giving them the freedom to network and engage with each other.

For more information on the Scottish activities that we provide for conferences, please see our conference page on the website or get in touch with the Reel Time Team for more inspiration.

Reel Time Events were chosen to supply the 2017 Biophysics conference with a range of quality Scottish entertainment.  The conference ran over three days at Edinburgh’s premier conference venue: The EICC. 1500 delegates were in attendance.

Reel Time worked closely with the conference organisers to build a range of Scottish events that would be fun, encourage networking and leave them with a great memory of their Scottish conference.

Day 1

On their first evening, the guests were entertained with the spirit of Scotland, with a whisky tasting.  Reel Time is well versed in providing large conference whisky tasting experiences, and our tasters poured and entertained guests.  1 blended whisky was compared to two different styles of malt whisky.  The guests were impressed and intrigued, leaving them with some great whisky knowledge, as well as their own whisky tasting glass, engraved with the conference logo.

Day 2

For their second evening event, we hosted a ceilidh night.  1100 of the conference delegates turned out to enjoy an evening of ceilidh dancing and fun!  We had 8 Highland dancers on hand to help keep the ceilidh dance floor in good order.  We taught the guests some of the easier ceilidh dances, which were enjoyed by an international audience.  Our Scraggly Cats band mixed up the ceilidh dancing with some rock and pop classics to keep the dance floor at capacity all night long.

To conclude the Scottish conference with some signature entertainment, we brought in a mini pipe band to beat the retreat at the end of the last conference session. The delegates were taken completely by surprise, and it was a great lift and conclusion to a successful conference.

We met some wonderful and enthusiastic people, who really enjoying immersing themselves fully in our great Scottish culture.

For more information and inspiration for your Scottish conference entertainment, then get in touch with the Reel Time Team.

The Reel Time Ceilidh Band performed at the EICC to celebrate 10 years of Virgin Media and the Virgin Media Leadership Conference.  Roddy the Piper greeted guests on arrival and piped them in for dinner.  The Reel Time Dancers put on a great dance display during dessert.  The band were asked to be ready in a holding area 30 minutes before we performed.  We were delighted to find 40 Virtual Reality headsets and ear pieces, all loaded up and ready for us to experience the next generation of media.  It was unbelievable!  Luckily, we were allowed to spend the full 30 minutes enjoying this amazing technology!

The Scraggly Cats performed some great ceilidh dances and the Reel Time dancers helped coodinate the 450 guests.  Little did the dancers know that their dancing partners for one of the ceilidh dances were the CEO of Virgin Media, along with the CEO of Virgin Media’s parent company.  They were suitably impressed with the Scottish culture and seemed to enjoy the ceilidh.  Following the ceilidh dances, Kimberley Hamilton, the Reel Time vocalist, joined the band and took pop music up to the next level.  The dance floor party crowd seemed to have forgotten the conference started at 08:30 the next morning!

The Reel Time Band is about to get into the world of 360 filming.  If you haven’t experienced this new media, we definitely recommend you give it a go!  Visit Scotland has also been doing some great things with virtual reality, check out their website for more details and virtual tours of Scotland.

If you are looking for a ceilidh band who can entertain your conference guests with a Scottish experience, get them involved and introduce them to ceilidh dancing, do get in touch.