Our six tips for giving your delegates the “local experience”

Our six tips for giving your delegates the “local experience”

The IACC 2017 report, Meeting Room of the Future found that when asked what meeting element will be more important in the next five years, 31% said delegates discovering the locality and regional culture and 30% (compared to last year’s 24%) said access to authentic local experiences.

The vast majority of event predictions for 2018 (and beyond) also highlight giving delegates the “local experience” as a key trend that’s not going anywhere soon.

How do you get your delegates to experience their surroundings and local culture as well as the event itself?

Here’s our six top tips for experiencing the Oxford we know and love.

1. Hire some bikes

A bike is one of the best ways to get around our city quickly and easily. You can walk from the East to the West of Oxford in less than half an hour so cycling makes visiting multiple places no problem at all.  It’s also great for the environment, gets you up off your meeting chair and simulates the senses. By the end of the event you’ll feel like a proper Oxfordian.

Simply hire a bike for the summer or per hour via the Oxon Bike scheme – you’ve no excuse not to get on two wheels!

2. Explore Little Clarendon Street and Jericho

Tucked away between the back streets off the Woodstock Road and the Oxford Canal lies Jericho. Once an industrial hotspot, the quaint Victorian terraced lined streets now boast a range of independent shops, restaurants, cafes and bars as well as traditional Oxford pubs of TV and novel fame (any Morse, Lewis or Endeavour fans take note).

Walk past the grand home of Oxford University Press and the brand new Blavatnik School of Government or take a wander down the canal path to see what you can discover.

3. Visit our world renowned museums and historic buildings

Thoroughly recommended by any who visit Oxford are our museums – and they’re worth the hype! The Ashmolean Museum has floor upon floor of wonderful exhibits from Pre-Raphaelite beauties to millennia old artefacts. The Pitt Rivers Museum transports you to another world with its quirky displays and vast range of collected objects.

Top it off with a visit to see the Oxford dodo in the Oxford Museum of Natural History or the writings of Einstein in the Museum of the History of Science – you’ll be demanding a gown and mortar board by the end of your visit!

4. Discover Cowley Road

A diverse, lively area of Oxford, the Cowley Road boasts an abundance of authentic different cuisines, a prominent music scene and a yearly carnival. Just a short walk from the city centre, explore the area where Radiohead, the Foals and Supergrass made names for themselves and discover quirky street art.

5. Pubs, Pubs and more Pubs

If there is one thing Oxford has an abundance of other than colleges, its pubs. A prominent part of British culture, there’s many historic Oxford pubs to choose from. Make like J.R.R Tolkein and Lewis Carol and visit the Eagle and Child on St Giles or see if you can find student and celebrity favourite, the Turf Tavern.

6. Gloriously Green Spaces

Oxford boasts a lot of green spaces for a small city that’ll make you forget you’re even near a bustling centre. A walk through Christchurch Meadow transports you to a bygone era with their herd of longhorn cattle grazing in the fields. Port Meadow, an ancient area of grazing land, is a firm local favourite for an evening walk or afternoon picnic by the river.

If you’re after something different where you can learn more about the flora and marvel at rare and unusual plants, the Oxford University Botanical Gardens is ideal and just down the road from the Examination Schools.

As a delegate what do you want to do when you visit a new city?  As an event organiser how easy is it to find and plan authentically local things into an event?

Visit our Social Activities page for more ideas on exploring Oxford during your event.