RDF23 Annual Conference

RDF23 was The Research and Development Forum’s 2023 Annual Conference. The long awaited annual conference was 4 years in the making do to COVID restrictions, so we were delighted to bring everyone back together after all this time and following the success of the 2019 conference. RDF19 took place in Brighton and was attended by approximately 600 delegates, 21 exhibitors, whereas 2023 saw over 850 attendees and 30 exhibitors attend. RDF23 was a huge success with more delegates, speakers, sessions, exhibitors, sponsors and posters than ever before Delegant managed the entire event from venue finding to delegate bookings, exhibitor and sponsorship sales to AV, social media to graphic design, speaker liaison to printed materials, conference dinner to networking opportunities and workshops.

Services Provided:

Full event management
Venue branding
Branded event material
Interactive audience participation

Newcastle guided tour
2 x Workshops
2 x Networking Evenings
2 x Conference Dinners

Award presentations
Social media before, during & after
Event photography and video
Event app

Hear from our Digital Marketing Executive

“We are incredibly proud of the success of this Annual Conference, an event that brought over 850 attendees and 30 exhibitors together after a four-year hiatus. Managing every detail — from venue selection to sponsorship sales, and from workshops to social media — showcased our team’s ability to handle complex logistics while creating meaningful experiences. Seeing the delegates engage through workshops, presentations, networking evenings, and even guided city tours was a testament to the effort put into crafting a seamless and impactful conference. The energy at the conference dinners and the collaboration across two simultaneous venues were particular highlights. This event truly demonstrated the innovation, dedication, and passion we bring to every project.”

850+ Attendees

30
Exhibitors

60
Speakers

19
Sponsors

5 Networking Events

1321 Hotel Nights

Highlights

What makes the event so successful is the combination of attendees, presentations, workshops, the exhibition, and networking opportunities.

The event began on the Sunday afternoon with a guided tour of Newcastle, to provide delegates with an opportunity to see the sights and take in the history of the City. This led into a choice of two professional development workshops, before networking – the perfect pre-conference icebreaker.

The main conference was 2 days in duration, with a programme full of content including eminent speakers on the main stage and parallel sessions within 10 different streams focussed on specific topics. Speakers of the streams were selected from a Call for Abstracts, which saw 150 submissions, and proved to be very popular alongside the main plenary sessions. Four companies had booked to give a Demonstration Session at RDF23, and these comprised of two parts: a main 1-hour session and a bite size 30-minute session. Monday at Sage concluded with an Awards Ceremony to celebrate posters and abstracts award winners.

On the Monday evening, we welcomed 718 delegates across two 2 simultaneous Conference Dinners. The evening featured drinks receptions, superb food, and games, followed by live music. A fantastic night that brought everyone together to celebrate their hard work over the last few years.

This was the first time delivering onsite at a conference, where the Delegant team was split into two teams to run two events simultaneously at two different venues across Gateshead/Newcastle – and we did this on two occasions to a tremendous success.