Having been shortlisted for two awards, BESA was delighted to pick up the silver award at the Association Excellence Awards 2019 for Best New Association Conference / Event category (for LearnED) at the presentation dinner on Friday 11 October at the Kia Oval.

BESA would like to thank everyone who worked on, exhibited or attended the events last year. Our next series of Roadshows start with the SEND edition on 14 November 2019.

Please find below some of the judges’ comments for our entry:

“The Roadshow brochure is very clear. They found and met a need which I like.  Good feedback too.”

“The filling of spaces on a low budget is commendable. The supporting documents were easy to read and the profits being channelled back to schools is a positive initiative. This coupled with the free prize draw made this is interesting entry.”

“Clearly BESA responded to the call from government and DfE. Targeted promotion to anticipated audience. Creative use of sponsor/exhibitor to support promotion of roadshow. Creative use of email to give delegates a sense of build-up. Success with sponsors and exhibitors – Clear support from DfE and TES. Good evidence of a positive attendee experience. Clear evidence of lots of added value to attendees. The roadshow approach was enabling of large numbers of people to take part.  Clear evidence of financial success by the channelling of surplus into supporting attendees from schools. As a free event, the attendees v booked ratio looks high. The fact the LearnED has become embedded into DfE’s strategy speaks volumes.”