Promoting women’s rights
European Commission, Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers
November 2017
Question
How do you make sure a high-profile event on women’s rights goes off without incident?
Answer
Call on an experienced events team used to dealing with EU protocol, security and press.
“A meeting of great minds to talk about how we get equal treatment for women”. That’s how Frans Timmermans, First Vice-President of the European Commission, described the 2017 Annual Colloquium on Fundamental Rights. The event brought politicians, civil society, business and the media together over two days to reflect on how to promote and protect women’s fundamental rights in turbulent times.
Our job? Run the event from A-Z for nearly 400 participants. This meant managing registration, travel, event staffing, security and protocol for VIPs as well as catering for a gala dinner and cocktail for Ministers, Commissioners and members of civil society. Flexibility, reactivity and resistance to stress were key ingredients in our success. Our events team was on-task from well before registration opened to well after the last participant reached the airport for the flight home securing web streaming, social media boosting and helping arrange a last-minute interview for First Vice-President Timmermans with CNN.
