Networking Events
Find out about upcoming and past networking events around the country.
Upcoming events
How to market your town: Wednesday 15 September in Thirsk, North Yorkshire
Following a very successful seminar on ‘Attracting and Retaining Visitors‘ in May, bookings are now open for our next North Yorkshire Towns Alive seminar which focuses on ‘How to market your town’.
Come along and find out how you can improve the marketing of your town on a limited budget.
Complete the booking form or find out more about the ‘How to market your town’ seminar.
Events in your area
As well as coming along to these seminars and events, why not work with us to hold similar events in your area?
Not only would you benefit from AMT’s expertise on market town issues and experience in organising such events, but AMT can contribute up to 50% of the cost of the events! Please contact Debbie McGrath for more information.
Past events
The most recent North Yorkshire Towns Alive Seminar, which was held in Malton, North Yorkshire on 13 May, was all about helping market towns realise their visitor offer and increase ‘footfall’ of both residents and visitors (from near and far).
Fifty delegates attended the event from across the UK to consider the benefits of looking at their town’s ‘offer’, learn about the various tools which could help them identify their town’s ‘market’, and find out which features, events and festivals they already have could attract people to the town.
Delegates were shown how to identify their unique selling points from this research, pinpoint products and themes to promote and then develop these themes and projects into an overall vision for the town. (A second event, to follow at the end of the summer will focus on how to promote and market their towns’ projects).
Read a more detailed report on the seminar and download the event presentations.
Dales Market Towns Networking Event, Grassington, Monday, 8 March
This networking event was specifically for Market Towns in the Dales area of North Yorkshire. The purpose of the event, which is part of the North Yorkshire Towns Alive programme, was to promote the benefits of towns working together.
Dr Tony Jackson, Chairman of Henfield Community Partnership in West Sussex gave a presentation about the ‘Horsham Rural Towns Forum’ which brings together representatives of six small market towns in West Sussex to share learning and develop joint projects to benefit the whole area. Tony reported how the towns worked together, explained the benefits of this joint approach and suggested how such an approach could be adopted in other areas.
This project won a Market Town Award in 2008 and a case study about the project is included in the AMT database. Read the Market Towns of Horsham District case study – AMT member access only
Download Tony’s Horsham Rural Towns Forum Presentation
Susan Briggs from the Tourism Network then led the towns on a discussion about potential joint projects, starting with a presentation on what visitors to the Dales want and how the towns could use local distinctiveness to stand out from the crowd. The event has initiated what will hopefully be a regular meeting of representatives from the towns involved and improved coordination.
North Yorkshire Towns Alive Shop Local Seminar, Knaresborough, Thursday 25 February
The North Yorkshire Shop Local event attracted interest and delegates from across the country. Towns gathered to hear about the successes and problems of existing loyalty card schemes and shared ideas and plans for starting or expanding loyalty schemes in their own towns.
Read about the Shop Local seminar and download the event presentations
If you have questions about starting a loyalty scheme, why not check out our North Yorkshire online forum where people experienced in developing and running shop local campaigns are ready to answer your questions.
North Yorkshire Towns Alive Study Tour – Settle, Wednesday 11 November
Community activists from market towns in Yorkshire and further afield gathered in Settle, North Yorkshire to study the innovative Settle Hydro Project and the Riverside Improvement Project.
The idea was to look at both projects in detail and see what lessons there were for other market towns in devising similar projects for their communities.
Read about the Settle Hydro study tour and download presentations and other information
Read and contribute to the Settle Hydro online discussion forum
North Yorkshire Towns Alive Market Towns Seminar – Recession busting in market towns -and Yorkshire & Humber Market Town Awards Presentation, Thirsk Community Cinema, Thirsk, North Yorkshire – Wednesday 1 July 2009
The Market Towns Seminar in Thirsk featured presentations and discussion on Thirsk’s successful community cinema, how to use benchmarking to shape your town’s future, and using online communities to share successful recession busting initiatives between market towns across the country. The day finished with the Yorkshire & Humber Market Town Awards 2009.
Read more about the North Yorkshire Towns Alive Seminar in Thirsk.
Pocklington Study Tour, East Riding of Yorkshire – 26 February 2009
Read about the Pocklington Study Tour – includes case study of the Pocklington Arts Centre project.
