A very experiential XVI International Congress of Protocol

Valladolid, host city. Three options were proposed: Alicante, La Coruña and Valladolid. According to Gerardo Correas, president of the EIP, the election of Valladolid is due to several factors: the support of the city council offering the venue of the congress, the proximity with Madrid as facilitator in the logistics of the congressmen, the size of the city (the participants feel protagonists when in a city of moderate size), the support of other local institutions, besides their gastronomic and oenological culture (five denominations of origin).

Evolution of assistance in relation to previous editions. The first congress was held in 1995 in Oviedo with 400 pax. According to Gerardo Correas, president of the EIP, “we have doubled the attendance in these years until we reached 827 attendees in this edition. And the future? The next congress will be held outside of Spain. It is not decided: Buenos Aires, Dominican Republic and Colombia are the three candidates”.

Scientific panel. “Everything that can be read in a blog does not make sense in a congress. Therefore, we proposed that instead of lectures, there would be interventions type TED, with a duration of 20 minutes where two or three ideas are developed on the subject, presented in a friendly and attractive manner. In addition, debates, questions and contacts between congressmen and speakers were facilitated through an app that was designed specifically for the congress”, says Gerardo Correas.

Know the gastronomy of the city taking advantage of coffee breaks. The congress gets to the street, as a way to know city and its gastronomy during the coffee breaks. The participants’ breaks and lunches were prepared in 12 bars selected throughout the city with a ticket system. “It’s a way to encourage interaction, while you know the culinary culture of the city,” explains Gerardo.

Scientific experiences. The idea was to change the concept of “listening” to “doing”. During the whole day, participants attended educational sessions, but from 16:00 onwards, experiences related to the scientific program outside the headquarters were carried out. A total of 32 experiences that the attendees could choose upon registration. Interested in the organization of sporting events? A session took place in the football stadium dealing with communication, marketing and management of sporting events. University events? The participants went to the University of Valladolid, where the secretary of the university explained how academic ceremonies are carried out. In addition, the program included 17 visits to different wineries, where they received information about marketing actions in such a competitive sector. According to Gerardo Correas, “this involved a challenge of logistics and transport, since we had to divide 800 people into groups of 15-20”.