50th International Eucharistic Congress

In 2012, Keynote PCO worked under the umbrella of Congress Support Services Ltd in delivering the registrations and accommodation bookings for the 50th International Eucharistic Congress, which took place in the RDS from the 10th to the 17th of June 2012.

On this project, both Siobhan O’Hare and Louise Crawford from Keynote were seconded full time to CSSL where we worked with former colleagues Jackie McGann (Project Director) and Deborah Hayden (Accredited Pilgrims Manager). New to the team were Kasia Czerwinska, Avril McCarthy and Eoin Campbell. The team was joined at various peak times by a plethora of helpers and at some points, we had up to 15 people in our lofty offices in Dundrum.

The congress was a logistical giant with over 22,000 pilgrims pre-registered from all over the world. Louise and Avril managed accommodation blocks and registrations for over 100 groups with Kasia and Eoin managing delegate services for the remaining pilgrims. With the expectation of a huge number of on-site registrations, many hours were dedicated to the design of a mammoth registration desk which consisted of 117 meter, 39 section desk, split into five main registration areas, Clergy, On Site Registrations, Pre-Registered 7 Day, Pre Registered 3 Day, and Group Registrations. Each of the team took a management role on one of the desks and trained and led their team throughout the congress. The CSSL On-site team comprised of a further 30 on-site staff for the 10 day period which were supplemented by up to 80 volunteers who worked alongside us each day. The final tally of on-site registrations was almost 10,000 registrations, a huge achievement for the team, the total registrations exceeding 30,000 pilgrims.

Over the course of the congress, we worked with over 120 volunteers, of various ages, professions and background, all of whom turned up on time (or early) through hail, rain and not a lot of shine and stood shoulder to shoulder with us for the entire duration for the congress. Working for free, the volunteers worked in excess of their rostered hours and put their heart and soul into assisting pilgrims with their myriad of requirements, helping the CSSL team face the challenges that came with each day. For the CSSL Team, the dedication, hard work and good humour of the volunteers is the lasting impression we have from this challenging and unique congress.

And as an added bonus . . . following the completion of the congress, having bid farewell to Brenda and waving her off on her travels across the world, Keynote welcomed Kasia to the Keynote team!