Attending our annual conference: a young person’s guide
18 Mar 2025
A few months from now - or in 72 days if you’re counting - Children in Scotland will hold its Annual Conference at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Glasgow.
Changing our World, our children and young people’s advisory group, play a critical role in the delivery of the conference from co-chairing the two-day event, to selecting workshops for the programme, and collaborating with us on the conference messaging.
During a recent Changing our World session, we discussed the importance of creating accessible and informative communications that supported our attendees to feel confident and empowered to attend the conference.
We know that many of you will be ‘seasoned’ conference attendees and know your ‘plenary’ from your ‘break-out’, but for those of us who are new to this world or attend less frequently, Changing our World have created a young person’s guide to answer all the burning questions you may have before the big event.
What to expect
Members of Changing our World discussed how daunting it can be when first arriving at a conference, whether it’s your first time or your fortieth. To help build confidence, they highlighted the importance of planning ahead and knowing what to expect at the event.
Here are a few ways that you can feel prepared before the event:
- Get to know the programme which consists of inspiring keynotes, workshops, networking opportunities and an interactive panel
- Learn more about the people that will be speaking at the event by visiting our digital speakers’ area
- Complete the delegate registration form so that we can prepare for all your needs
- Our digital conference programme will be shared with all attendees before the event and will keep you right on where you need to be and when.
Accessibility
Changing our World members emphasised the importance of accessibility. This has been a key consideration in planning, from picking a venue, to creating our programme, and developing our communications. We work hard to make the conference as accessible and inclusive as possible and with the often challenging and difficult topics that will be addressed, we are also prioritising self-care this year.
Here’s a few things to look out for:
- Find out about accessing the venue on their website
- Take a pause in our quiet room, which delegates can access throughout the day
- Speak to one of our lovely team members, they are always happy to help and will be easily located at our conference welcome desk
- Know that it’s okay to step out of workshops and presentations if you need some space
- Make use of the green space located 10-minute walk away at Braid Park.
Getting to the venue
Have you had that feeling of arriving off a bus or train into a new city and not being sure what direction to take next? Changing our World members stressed the importance of feeling confident about getting to the venue and finding your way around once there.
You can find out more about getting to the venue on the DoubleTree by Hilton website.
Looking forward to the event
Group members shared some of their own highlights from attending past Annual Conferences. They enjoyed attending the keynote addresses, especially when they had met or spoken to the speakers beforehand, they loved the interactive sessions including the workshops and panels, and they liked exploring the exhibition halls and sampling some of the goodies offered by our exhibitors.
While there is much work to be done during the two-day event, we hope you leave feeling inspired, energised and part of a fantastic community.
Finally...
The food! An important part of any conference, Changing our World members wanted you to know that we will be catering for all dietaries - please tell us your requirements when completing your registration form.
With Changing our World’s passion for sustainability, it has been an increasingly important consideration during our planning. For this reason, our catering offer will be 100% plant-based and vegetarian – we can’t wait to see what culinary delights are on offer!
To book your place please visit our conference hub
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