The European Marketing Academy Conference 2007 will be held at the Brighton Centre in May, thanks to the efforts of the south coast English city’s Ambassador Programme.

One of Brighton’s first ambassadors, the University of Brighton’s principal lecturer Dr Keith Perks, played a crucial role in bringing the event to the city, which will attract 600 delegates and contribute over £500,000 to the local economy.

“The European Marketing Academy Conference is the leading marketing academic conference in Europe established in 1972, and the University of Brighton will host the 37th conference,” explained Perks. “VisitBrighton’s Ambassador Programme has been invaluable in assisting the team in its bid and presentation to the EMAC committee. Based on our experiences to date, we highly recommend this service to anyone thinking of hosting a conference in Brighton in the future.”

Commenting on the Brighton Centre’s achievement in securing the conference, VisitBrighton client services manager Julia Gallagher, who is leading the Ambassador Programme, said: “This is a great win for the city, especially since the Ambassador programme was launched less than six months ago. We’re asking key people to use their influence to bring high value conferences to the city. There are also big advantages for them in terms of raising both their profile and their organisation’s.”

The Ambassador Programme has been set up in order to encourage, motivate and support leading members of the academic, medical and professional communities to play a key role in bringing an additional £2 million worth of national and international association conferences to Brighton each year. It is a tactic that's being used by an increasing number of cities to attract more conference business.

Under the scheme, VisitBrighton will help Ambassadors with impartial advice on all aspects of organising conferences, from bid documentation preparation and presentation, venue sourcing, proposals for tours and social programmes, site inspection hosting, accommodation and delegate information. The programme also offers members access to exclusive ambassador events in and around Brighton to network, gain an insight into what's new in the city and to meet other Brighton Ambassadors in order to share best practice.