The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations is the membership organisation for Scotland's charities, voluntary organisations and social enterprises. Charity registered in Scotland SC003558. Registered office Mansfield Traquair Centre, 15 Mansfield Place, Edinburgh EH3 6BB.
Event host information
We're delighted that you'll be hosting an event with us at the Gathering 2023! We know that the lead up to a big event can be quite stressful, so we’d like to make your time with us as comfortable and relaxed as possible. For a hassle-free event, please take some time to read the following information.
Deliveries, collections and logistics
If you have any support materials for your presentation, you can arrange for deliveries to arrive at the EICC through your own courier or provider from 8am on Monday 6th November. You should mark all deliveries in the following way:
Name of event: The Gathering
Date of event: [Tuesday 7th/Wednesday 8th November 2023]
Name of Contact on site: Sofia Fenoglio
Room name, event start time and date: [e.g. Ochil Suite 9.30am, Tuesday 8th November]
Edinburgh International Conference Centre
The Exchange
Loading Bay Off West Approach Road
EDINBURGH
EH3 8EE
Please note that any deliveries arriving at the venue before Monday 6th November may be turned away, and the EICC or SCVO can’t be held responsible.
Unloading and parking
Event hosts who are bringing their own materials on Monday 6th November, you’ll be able to unload your materials at the loading bay door (for vehicle access) at the above address.
Below is a map of how to access the EICC’s loading bay:
Please note, there is no dedicated parking for the Gathering at the EICC. Once you have unloaded everything from your vehicle, it must be removed off site and parked in an appropriate place. We recommend that you plan where to park ahead of arriving at the venue. The EICC lists the following car parks in close walking distance:
- National Car Parks (NCP) in central Edinburgh
- Sheraton Hotel Car Park located 150 meters from the EICC, with limited accessible parking spaces
- Semple Street Car Park located 300 meters from the EICC
- Spaces near EICC available via yourparkingspace.co.uk
The EICC provide a discount code for parking at the NCP Car Park on Castle Terrace. You can access this by following the below steps:
- Download the free NCP ParkPass App
- Register and add the SaverID: EICC4R to your park pass account before arriving at the car park and you must enter and exit by scanning your QR code to qualify for this discount
Opening and closing times
Access for speakers and presenters begins at 7.30am on both days (Tuesday 7th and Wednesday 8th November). If you need to get in before this time, please contact the SCVO events team.
Badges and registration
When you arrive at the Gathering on Tuesday or Wednesday, you will be given a badge for you to write your own name. Please ensure this is always worn as it will allow you access to all event rooms, the Exhibition and the free cloakroom.
Audio visual information
Technical support will be provided by the EICC. Please bring along any presentations you have on a memory stick or other USB storage device. We ask that you don’t bring along your own laptop/device as they won’t be needed.
All presentations should be in 16:9 ratio.
All event hosts should bring their presentations to the speaker preview room in the Strathblane Office two hours before the session is about to begin. EICC staff will scan your memory stick or storage device for viruses before making your presentation available in the corresponding room.
Please refer to the map below for the location of the Strathblane Office. Staff at the registration desk will also be able to guide you.
Event hosts will have access to the following:
- Technical support from the room technician
- A slide advancer for the presentation which will have been uploaded at speaker preview. You will be able to see your presentation on a comfort monitor located beside the lectern
- Lectern microphones for audio
- Top table microphones for panel discussions
- Handheld microphones for Q & A
- Either a large projection screen or a 80” LED screen to show presentations
There will also be free reliable Wi-Fi available throughout the EICC.
If you require any additional audio-visual equipment or items such as flip charts, please contact us and we’ll be able to provide you with a quote to hire from the venue.
Presentations
Your organisation may have its own style guidelines for presentations, and you may be used to presenting to audiences. If not, here are some tips for creating and delivering an effective presentation:
- Keep the text on your slides simple and minimal, using bullet points or short sentences where possible. You want your audience to listen to you present your information, rather than read the screen
- Use clear graphics and charts/graphs to help convey your message
- Practice the presentation so that you can speak from bullet points. The text on your slides should be a cue for the presenter rather than the full message for the audience
Room set up
Each suite is set up theatre style or round table style as per your booking and confirmation from us. Please note you won’t be able to rearrange the furniture yourself for health and safety reasons.
As your event suite will be used by other organisations on the same day, please arrive 15 minutes before your event starts. Please also leave the room 15 minutes after your event is scheduled to finish.
On the day registrations
A Gathering team member will be allocated to assist you at the beginning of your event with set up and to welcome your delegates.
General information
Registration
Bookings have opened for the Gathering 2023. Please ensure that everyone registers to attend your event and any other events they are interested in attending.
Correspondence
You’ll only receive Gathering-related correspondence from an official SCVO email address.
If you get any requests from any other email address about appearing in guides or anything else related to the event, just ignore it.
If you get requests for payments or credit card details, contact a member of the SCVO events team.
Catering
There are plenty of places to buy food and drink from inside the EICC. Those attending the Welcome talk at 9am on Tuesday 7th November will receive a free hot drink voucher to use before 10am.
Greener Gathering
SCVO is committed to making this year’s Gathering greener, so to help us reduce our carbon footprint, here are some things you might find useful and ways you can play your part too.
Accessibility and inclusion
We want the Gathering 2023 to be accessible, inclusive and enjoyable for everyone. We are applying a range of accessibility measures as standard. We warmly invite you to tell us about your needs by emailing our events team so we can address those too wherever possible.
What’s new?
As well as the in-person Gathering on 7th and 8th November 2023, we are hosting the Gathering Extra on 29th November 2023. The Gathering Extra is in addition to, rather than an alternative to, the in-person Gathering. It is an online event that will feature recorded sessions from the Gathering and special live guests with an SCVO host, in a format that is designed specifically for an online audience.
Our aim is to maximise accessibility, inclusion and delegate experience for both the in-person and online Gathering experience.
What to expect
To prepare for the in-person Gathering on 7th and 8th November, SCVO’s event team and internal staff accessibility group used the ‘Access Chain’ resource. We also took guidance and advice from the venue and specialist organisations. The accessibility measures we are taking as standard include:
In advance of the Gathering we will:
- Proactively ask delegates to tell us their needs
- Provide information about access and accessible facilities in a range of formats
- Offer information in accessible formats
- Present a welcoming and inclusive image for all visitors
- Provide transport and accommodation information and details of car parking/drop-off
- Welcome people bringing their own lunch, snacks and refreshments to save on cost
At the Gathering we will:
- Have an accessible registration desk with welcoming and informed staff
- Provide online and hard copy event and venue information
- Ensure clear signage and easily identifiable staff to provide support
- Provide induction loops at registration and all event rooms
- Limit public address (PA) announcements and ambient music
- Highlight relaxed spaces where group conversations, telephone calls and noisy activities don’t take place
- Provide Gathering exhibitors and event hosts with tips on how to be more accessible and inclusive, stressing our commitment to making the exhibition accessible
- Provide British Sign Language (BSL) interpreters as standard at the most important and/or popular events, which will also be recorded for the online Gathering
Thank you!
Finally, we would like to say a massive thank you to all our event hosts for taking part in the Gathering! We hope you enjoy your time with us.
