Brief

Our brief is to deliver all major conferences for Unite. Our remit includes:

• Developing a theme and brand for each conference
• Designing high-impact stages and sets
• To-scale floorplans
• Specifying appropriate lighting, sound, video and projection
• Overseeing the design and build of custom-built offices and registration facilities
• Managing shell scheme production for exhibitions
• Overseeing fringe events
• Managing audio visual displays (including autocues)
• Delivering electronic voting systems
• Arranging live-streaming
• Designing animations, PowerPoint and video content
• Managing catering
• Show calling
• Technical delivery and support, and at-event management

Among the multiple events we deliver for the union, the largest is the biennial National Policy Conference. Described as “the most important single week in the Unite calendar”, the conference is attended by over a thousand members, VIPs, members of the media and politicians from across the UK and Ireland, as well as international guests, who come together to agree the union’s policy priorities.

Previous attendees include prominent politicians such as Sir Kier Starmer, Jeremy Corbyn, John McDonnell and Andy Burnham, actor Ricky Tomlinson and TUC General Secretary, Frances O’Grady, in addition to the union’s key personnel including General Secretary, Sharon Graham.

Delivery

Due to the sheer scale of the conferences, our events management team develops a six-month project plan ahead of each event which includes a day-to-day breakdown of tasks, responsibilities, milestones and deadlines for every element.

By working with Unite’s constitutional administration team, communications team, the legal service department and the General Secretary’s office, we can plan, in granular detail, what will be covered each day.

In tandem to the project plan, we develop a risk register that is updated throughout the project, making it an invaluable troubleshooting and risk management tool.

After identifying the venue best suited to each conference, we develop a series of to-scale 3D animated fly through visualisations to map out the conference space and determine how the exhibition hall could best be utilised to include an appropriate stage and set, top table, floating screens, lighting and camera structures. By working closely with the General Secretary’s team, our interactive 3D fly throughs help the union complete a visual walk-through of the event and gain an understanding of a delegate’s experience months in advance, and without even walking through the event space door.

Our in-house design experts collaborate with the union’s communications team to design the conference theme and branding, before producing all necessary artwork and collaborating with specialist printers to develop and deliver all collateral to the venue.

Our events team will typically be on site for three days during set-up and rehearsal, and then up to five days to manage the live event and oversee breakdown. As with any event of this scale, our team will manage impromptu speakers, ad-hoc announcements and fringe changes, additional client needs and extra security checks in the event of high-profile speakers’ schedules changing.

​As a union with almost two million members, who aren’t all able to attend conferences physically, we also arrange for events to be live streamed for virtual attendees, enabling members to participate in voting and presenting motions from their homes.

Results

Freshwater has received excellent feedback from General Secretary, Sharon Graham, and other members of the Executive Committee about the conferences.

For more than 10 years, Freshwater has been commissioned as Unite’s sole event supplier, which is a testament to the continuing successful and innovative delivery of the union’s conferences. Our understanding and experience of the trade union sector and its priorities has been put to good use, with Freshwater delivering 22 conferences in total for the union, and engaging over 20,000 delegates during our partnership.