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Case Study
Nexus’s Fifth Anniversary Gala Dinner

An event to celebrate five years of innovation at Nexus

Early in 2024, we were awarded the tender to run a Gala Dinner for Nexus’s fifth anniversary. 

Since 2019, Nexus has nurtured a vibrant community for innovators and entrepreneurs as part of the University Leeds. It’s home to spin outs and SMEs from the University, from Vet-AI (a SaaS supplier of predictive and preventative intervention strategies for animals) to Little Journey (provider of interactive content to improve clinical outcomes for children).  

The events team at Nexus wanted the Anniversary Dinner to reflect the scale of partnerships and innovation between its members – and it certainly did that, and more! 

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Aims for the Gala Dinner

Our work with Alan Gallacher and Megan McElroy, two of the events and communications teams at Nexus, kicked off in February 2024. The date for the Nexus Anniversary Dinner was set for November 2024, so we had nine months to conceptualise, plan, and deliver an evening to remember. 

Our brief for the B2B event was simple: an exciting, large-scale gala dinner to showcase Nexus’s core value – that ‘innovation starts with conversation’. Nexus was keen to make sure the evening had everything guests needed to continue and spark new conversations, so the main focus of the dinner was allowing people plenty of time and space to connect with one another. 

The guestlist was invite-only, including: 

  • All Nexus members and teams 
  • The wider Nexus business network, like alumni from the University of Leeds  
  • Guests of honour, like regional MPs 
B2B Event Management

What we did

 

As part of our pitch to win the tender, we presented our idea for how the Nexus Anniversary Dinner should run. Alan and Megan were pleased with the initial idea, which we then worked with them on to develop into the end concept.  

It was then over to our team of B2B events specialists who developed and managed: 

  • The guest list and seating plan 
  • All promotional assets, from email marketing and invitations to the development of the event’s webapp 
  • Event branding for pre-, during-, and post-event communications (like signage) 
  • The full run of show 
  • Sponsorship (we secured Arup, HGF, and Northern Gritstone) 
  • Speakers – we had Naga Munchetty, Journalist, as the keynote speaker for the evening, and we also led on sourcing the panellists to sit on a discussion around regional innovation 
  • Catering for the dinner (our team attended a tasting with Nexus members to finalise the menu for the evening) 
  • An app with a host of useful information for guests to use in the run up to the Gala Dinner and during the event itself 
  • Outsourcing and coordinating audio and visual support 
  • Entertainment, in the form of Back Chat Brass and Sound Leisure 

The Nexus Anniversary Dinner was held between from 6pm on Friday 15th November 2024 at New Dock Hall in Leeds city centre. 

 

Nexus 5th Anniversary fireside chat

The Nexus Anniversary Dinner in numbers

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“What a night at the Nexus Anniversary Dinner! And what a way to celebrate five years of Nexus. A huge thank you to each and every person who came along. Innovation really does start with conversation.  

We absolutely couldn’t (and wouldn’t!) have been able to do it without our absolute baller event and marketing partners, Halston B2B, and the direction of Georgia, Nicole, and Eve.

Alan Gallacher, Senior Strategic Events Manager at Nexus

It was a pleasure to work with Nexus on such a special project for their fifth anniversary. We’ve all felt very grateful for opportunity to collaborate with their wonderful team, especially Alan and Megan who we worked with closely to deliver this Gala Dinner.

Nicole Walton, Head of Client Services at HalstonB2B

Sustainable branding and marketing materials

Working with our main events partner, Imageco, and others, we designed and built several branded assets to elevate the aesthetic of the Nexus Anniversary Dinner and make the setting one to remember.  

These included: 

  • Step and repeat for photo opportunities 
  • Table decorations, like menus, made from plantable wildflower seeded card* 
  • A board with sponsor logos and details made from Xanita board, which is 100% recyclable 

*All cards left at the end of the event were collected and have since been planted in Nexus’s Green Garden. 

Combined with the lighting, audio, and visuals that were on display throughout the evening, New Dock Hall was transformed into a setting that truly set an impressive and special scene for the occasion. 

B2B Event Branding

We also developed a no-code web app in-house to act as the hub of information for the event’s attendees in the lead up to the event, as well as during the evening itself.  

From key timings and the seating plan to details about the keynote speaker and panellists, the app reduced the number of queries for both our team and Nexus’s, and helped make the evening run as smoothly as possible. 

The app levelled up the event (if we do say so ourselves!), with the stats showing just how useful guests found it.

Nexus 5th anniversary web app created by HalstonB2B

A web app fit for a Gala Dinner

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I had a great time working with Nexus and our event partners, like Imageco, to plan and deliver this Gala Dinner. I’m looking forward to the next one already!

Eve Procter, Junior Account Executive at Halston B2B

Make your next event one to remember

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