buddies from sport to help out,” she explains. And help out they did, with stars including triathlete Catriona Morrison taking part in a video message submitted in August as part of the formal bid to Solheim judges at the Buckinghamshire Golf Club in England, the headquarters of the Ladies European Tour.


ON THE INNOVATION front, the video screen itself was embedded within the box – designed by one of Event Scotland’s design agencies – and it could be played as the lid was lifted; it was done to the highest of production values, featuring aerial shots of Scotland’s landmarks, its lochs and mountains. It was a “beau- tiful” depiction of Scotland and a “first” for the directorate, Frania adds. For experience, it was clear Gle-


neagles also ticked all of the boxes; although there were 12 courses that initially were invited by Event Scotland to tender, it was eventually whittled down to the famous course, and that decision was eventually vindicated, says Frania, when the Solheim Cup delegation conducted


a site visit in September. “It was like Downton Abbey with all the staff in a line ready to greet them [the panel].” “Te cars were all tracked with


satnav so they could tell when they were going to arrive. And as soon as they got out of the car, the piper knew it was them. It was fantastic; the staff were so professional.” Event Scotland staff had even been


allowed onto the tarmac at Edin- burgh airport to meet the judges off their plane. Nothing was left to chance. “It was a really great first impres-


sion,” she adds. “I’m just grateful; really lucky I


had the opportunity because I think that’s one of the biggest bids we’ll be doing for a while.”


n TIMELINE With no way of determining what the rival Swedish bid would look like, it was very much up to Event Scotland to decide how to ap- proach their own bid. It began in March when a team went down to the Buckinghamshire course with around 12 other nations; some may


‘IT WAS LIKE DOWNTON ABBEY WITH ALL THE STAFF IN A LINE READY TO GREET THEM’


Frania Gillen-Buchert on the delegation visit to Gleneagles


have been put off by the financial aspect, as a rights fee has to be paid to the organisers. Event Scotland however pressed


ahead with a formal bid and began the tender process with golf courses across Scotland to see which would be the most suitable, and fit the Solheim criteria, which meant being to demonstrate the capacity and resource to host such a competition. Gleneagles was selected and work


began on encouraging partners – including Scottish Government, Transport Scotland, the various golfing unions and even Edinburgh festivals - to support the bid. “Te venue was the easy part compared to what followed,” says Frania. “But the


outstanding partnership work was unbelievable; I don’t know if we’ll ever get that level of support again. I came from an environment where trying to get anyone to work with you was like pulling teeth. So this was very refreshing.” And every detail of the submission


was thought through; there were even 18 reasons on why Scotland should host the tournament in the application. All of the submissions from partners were also contained within a leather-bound book. Te site visit was then arranged at Gle- neagles in September – tea was even taken with the First Minister at the Scottish Parliament - and Scotland was duly announced the winner in a phone call to Event Scotland director Paul Bush on October 29.


What:Solheim Cup Where:Gleneagles Hotel, Perthshire When:2019


Same high quality service. Same great people. Exciting new name.


In January 2016, the Beardmore Hotel and Conference Centre will become the


Golden Jubilee Conference Hotel, Beardmore Street, Clydebank, Glasgow, G81 4SA Tel: 0141 951 6000 – Fax: 0141 951 6018 – www.goldenjubileeconferencehotel.com


EVENTSBASE | WINTER 2015 | 25


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