AAT (Association of Accounting Technicians) is celebrating its success at the MemCom Membership Excellence Awards after taking home the award for Best Event on a Shoestring.

The awards took place on Tuesday 26th September at the Hilton Bankside in London. They aim to spotlight successful membership organisations and include 34 awards in six categories, judged by an independent expert panel.

AAT won the award for its first accelerAATe student conference in January 2022. The conference was created to support students who were struggling to complete their qualifications following the Covid-19 pandemic and provide them with motivation and guidance. It included online webinars covering key subjects such as study support, assessment tips and career advice, with session timings to fit students’ schedules.

The judges recognised AAT’s commitment and passion to its community in identifying students’ need for more support and connectivity during a challenging time, as well as making use of existing resources to create an authentic community feel.

The conference was a huge success, with over 10,000 registrations and overwhelmingly positive feedback from students who attended. It is now a flagship event in the AAT calendar, with the next event set to take place in 2024.

Claire Bennison, Director of Commercial, Partnerships and Innovation, AAT, said:

“Huge congratulations to all of our team who worked on the accelerAATe online 2022 student conference. Through their focus on our students and passion and creativity to find new ways to support them, they have broken new ground with the creation of this event and showed just what can be achieved. This has led to the accelerAATe online student conference becoming a permanent fixture in AAT’s calendar. I’m delighted that their hard work and effort has now been recognised through winning the MemCom Excellence Award for Best Event on a Shoestring.”