SRITC Gathering Transport Write-up by Matthew Kendrick (14 Jun 2023)
Hosting a conference is challenging; the challenges are compounded when you host a rural conference across three days at three different venues and have around 100 attendees signed up in person and around another 44 online.
From 10th to 11th May 2023, SRITC hosted a transportation conference in the Aviemore area of the Highlands and Scotland. The conference aimed to unite the voices in rural transportation to network and discuss solutions to global transportation challenges from a rural perspective.
The event brought together the private sector, public sector and third sector. Attendees came in person from across Europe, including Sweden and Finland. Online, the conference's footprint expanded even further, with attendees from America and Japan in attendance.
One of the challenges faced by our team in pulling off the conference was the logistics of moving people around the venues and to/from the accommodation.
To meet the logistic needs of the attendees, one of our sponsors, Stagecoach, provided an electric bus and driver (Michael) to provide pick up and drop off attendees.
Before the conference, we compiled a list of people’s transport needs and created a bus timetable. We complemented the schedule with carsharing. There were also attendees who brought bikes to ride from their accommodations to the conference.
During the conference, we created a WhatsApp group for the attendees. Michael shared the bus’s location throughout the day and attendees shared photos of their journeys around the area.
As people started making the journey to the conference, attendees shared their travel experiences through photos and messages in the group chat. We learnt of one attendees’ terrible luck of missing three train connects that extended his train journey across Europe to 30 hours.
Through the WhatsApp group and shared transport options, attendees were able to organically connect with each other and break the ice. The challenge of transporting people rurally turned into a fun feature of the event.
