Client: The Heraldry Society
Type of Event: Residential Conference
Date: August 2022
Venues: Clare College, King's College, The Cambridge Union Society, The Wren Library, Trinity College.
Following a successful bid, the 35th International Congress of Genealogical & Heraldic Sciences came to Cambridge in August 2022. With 150 delegates, this residential conference used a range of venues in the centre of the city to hold different parts of the programme.
The objective of the biennial in-person meeting was to bring scholars together from around the world. The previous Congress, held in Madrid has been postponed for a year because of Covid.
Dr Paul Fox, MA, FSA, FHS, FHG, AIH, is the Editor, of The Coat of Arms and Secretary General to the Congress. He put together a temporary group to organise the event, following an agreement by the Bureau Permanent to choose Cambridge.
In-person meeting
He says: “We wanted to hold a physical meeting as for us, Zoom does not really work as an effective means of international networking and meeting new people.
“The decision to come to Cambridge was taken in 2017. Our congresses are traditionally held in beautiful towns and cities with a variety of attractions which are also centres of learning. There are, of course, other such places in England, but the organisers already had strong links with Cambridge.
Excellent venues
“All the venues we used – Clare College, King’s College Hall, the Cambridge Union, and the Wren Library at Trinity – were excellent. The conference facilities at Clare were perfect, although the accommodation itself didn’t have air conditioning which was challenging because of the very hot Summer, the auditorium did, I would certainly use all these venues again.
“Meet Cambridge was invaluable in helping with the choice of venues and making other suggestions and putting us in touch with the correct individuals in each case.
Special experience
“We had some really positive feedback from delegates including: “The Cambridge Congress was quite an achievement. The venues and the pageantry certainly helped, but I shall remember it first and foremost as the congress with a particularly high standard of papers overall” and “Brilliant organisation and very careful planning were behind it. In addition, the city of Cambridge is a special experience.”
“Overall a lot of good business was achieved, some new collaborations initiated, many new friendships made, and I think lasting happy memories, based on the feedback received.”
Image credits: Jack Sane.
