The event:

The UK National Conference of The Association of Surgeons in Training (ASiT) took place at P&J Live from 4th to 6th March 2022.

About:

ASiT is an independent professional body that works to promote the highest standards in surgical training and is now one of the largest surgical speciality associations in the UK with 3,500 members. ASiT provides trainee courses, grants and bursaries as part of its membership. The association has yearly conferences that provide educational courses, scientific presentations and lectures of surgical training, with members coming from all ten surgical specialities, representing all levels of surgical training.

Number of days/ delegates:

Day one of the conference saw 300 delegates attend P&J Live, with 600 delegates on day two and three. The conference hosted training courses, main plenary session, a poster display area, exhibition and catering area within the venue’s Baker Hughes Conference & Exhibition Hub.

Venue Set Up:

Throughout the conference over the three days, ASiT used all meeting and conference spaces on the first floor of the venue.

Delegates were welcomed to priority check-in desks allowing for a quick and easy registration before making their way through to begin the conference. P&J Live has nine meeting rooms, some of which can be sub-divided. ASiT utilised all eleven meeting rooms for delegate training courses. Next to the meeting room lives Conference Suite 2. The close proximity to the meeting rooms meant that delegates could easily navigate to the main plenary session.

Our in-house technicians worked closely with the events team to successfully deliver state-of-the-art conference audiovisual technology to enhance and engage delegates. Conference Suite 2, another flexible space, hosted large conference sessions throughout the day.

Right outside CS1 is an impressive open-plan space, aptly named The View, with expansive vistas over the main Piazza of P&J Live. These two areas accommodated an eye-catching poster display, exhibition and catering area. The council dinner was held in P&J Live’s 195 Bar & Grill, with the exhibition space transforming into the drinks reception area.

The highly flexible nature of the venue means that spaces are multi-use for different conference elements and allows for natural flowing corporate and social spaces all on one floor. Digital wayfinding signage meant that ASiT could personalise content for ease of navigation around each event space.

A dedicated shell-scheme exhibition area was also built by our in-house team. This service provision means that there is often little need for additional build days, while there is also in-house expertise on hand throughout the event to assist with technical support.

Being set in Aberdeen’s north east, the venue prides itself on excellent catering, with access to Scotland’s natural larder. Delivering the finest seasonal Scottish ingredients from many of the North East’s fantastic local producers, there is an impressive range of choices that tantalise the tastebuds of every guest. Carefully crafted by our in-house chefs, ASiT delegates enjoyed a range of fresh food and beverages over the course of three days.

Organiser Quote

“P&J Live offered us a self-contained space where our attendees could experience the main plenary, workshops and exhibition and posters all whilst really maximising the networking opportunity with their peers. It was great to be back at an in-person conference, one which our members thoroughly enjoyed!” – Emma Barlow, ASiT Co-Chair