Ron Kaufman is one of the world’s leading motivational keynote speakers on the topics of achieving service excellence, increasing customer satisfaction, retaining loyal customers, and building sustainable service cultures. Rated one of the “Top 25 Who’s Hot” speakers by Speaker magazine, Ron presents powerful insights and global best practices from working with clients in every industry and on every continent for more than thirty years. His energetic keynote speeches have inspired millions, frequently earning standing ovations from audiences of all ages. In 2018, GlobalGurus rated Ron the #1 customer service guru in the world. Ron travels worldwide to speak at company meetings, industry conferences, and association events throughout the year.

Ron is author of the New York Times and USA Today bestseller, “Uplifting Service! The Proven Path to Delighting Your Customers, Colleagues and Everyone Else You Meet” and 14 other books on service, business and inspiration. He is the founder of Uplifting Service, a global education and consulting company that enables leaders and organizations to build sustainable cultures that win the hearts and minds of customers, colleagues, and partners.

Newcastle is the most populous city of the UK’s Northeast region. Officially known as Newcastle upon Tyne, the city is famous for its high standard educational institutions, culture, business corporations and landscapes. Ranking as the 15th most visited city in the UK by overseas visitors, Newcastle offers a diverse architecture mixing medieval buildings, neoclassical constructions and modern structures. While the city center conserves a neoclassical core with landmarks such as the Theatre Royal, Grainiger Market or Clayton Street, contemporary metal landmarks include the Gateshead Millennium Bridge and the Tyne Bridge. In the city center is also home to the Haymarket area (where most businesses’ headquarters are located), the Newcastle Central Station, the Quayside, and the Metro Centre, one of Europe’s top 10 largest shopping malls. Newcastle is home to some of the best higher education institutions in the UK and the world including the Newcastle University (ranking in top 1% of Universities worldwide according to QS World 2016), the Northumbria University Business School, the Newcastle College and the Kenton Technology College. Besides being an important center for science and commerce, Newcastle has many annual events such as the art and design festival North East Art Expo, the food festival EAT!, and the Asian cultural festival SAMA. Newcastle is the birthplace of the famous comedian Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean), the singer Sting, and the TV presenters Ant & Dec.

Newcastle as a Conference Destination

Many important events, conferences, conventions and festivals are held each year in Newcastle. Some of the most renowned ones include the Northern Powerhouse Business Summit (with presentations from various industries) and the VentureFest North East (a free, full-day event focusing on business growth through innovations and connection building). Other important annual events include the Newcastle Science Festival, where the latest scientific developments are presented and discussed, the North East Art Expo, an important art and design festival, and the Newcastle Digital Marketing Conference, an event focused on strategies of building traffic, expanding brand awareness and improving customer service.

Newcastle Food Options for Conference Delegates

While attending a conference in Newcastle, there are several fantastic restaurants you should not miss. Some of the best ones include: the Blackfriars (Phone: +44 191 261 5945), the Peace & Loaf Restaurant (+44 191 281 5222) and the House of Tides (Phone: +44 191 230 3720), three of the best places to eat traditional British food; Aneesa’s Buffet Restaurant (Phone: +44 191 222 1110), serving an innovative mixture of Indian and Chinese cuisines; Simla (Phone: +44 7917 391319), another great Indian restaurant; and the Mantra Thai Dining Restaurant (Phone: +44 191 232 6080), offering a diverse selection of Thai dishes.

Newcastle Attractions for Convention Attendees

Some of the most famous and highly rated tourist attractions in Newcastle include: the Newcastle Castle Keep, a beautiful example of Norman stone architecture built in 1178; the Beamish Museum, an open-air museum featuring recreations of the Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian periods; the BALTIC Center for Contemporary Art, one of the largest museums of modern and contemporary art in Europe; the Theatre Royal, where more than 300 plays are staged each year; the Saltwell Park, a 55-acres Victorian park containing gardens, a boating lake, woods as well as an amazing Gothic mansion; and the Angel of the North, an iconic massive statue of an angel build by Anthony Gormley and overlooking the Northumbrian countryside.

Conference Center Venues

Newcastle, UK has a large number of great conference centers and facilities, such as:

Central Square Conference Center (Location: Forth Street)
Jesmond Dene Conference Center (Location: Red Walk)
Life Meetings and Events (Location: Scotswood Road)
Newcastle United Conference and Events (Location: Strawberry Place)
Newcastle Gateshead Marriott Hotel MetroCentre (Location: Marconi Way)
The Castle Gate (Location: Melbourne Street)