Tag: Social media

A record-breaking Scottish Dental Show

This year’s record-breaking Scottish Dental Show was another huge success – with more attendees, supporters and social media activity than ever before.

Nearly 2,000 delegates attended sessions with our expert speakers, met industry innovators and took the chance to catch up with colleagues from across the profession.

Attendees praised the positive atmosphere and the wide-ranging educational programme at the 11th annual event.

And as well as creating a buzz at Braehead Arena, the show also reached a new audience on social media as attendees shared their thoughts and pictures. 

Compared with on-the-day figures from 2023, the Scottish Dental Show’s reach from 31 May – 1 June increased by 1581% on Facebook and 231% on Instagram, with delegates and exhibitors actively posting on social media throughout the event. Discovery of the Scottish Dental brand also grew to new heights, with Facebook visits at an 132% increase on the previous year and Instagram profile visits up by 53%.

Next year’s event is already proving popular, with half the exhibitor stands for the Scottish Dental Show 2025 booked up and 75% of sponsorships confirmed. Book your exhibitor stand now to secure your place.

Ann Craib, Sales and Events Manager for Scottish Dental, said: “I’m delighted to say this has been our best show to date. We’ve had record numbers and delighted exhibitors, which makes my job so worthwhile. It’s been a real team effort!”

Another first came this year when Scottish Dental magazine teamed up with The Herald to launch a survey on the public’s opinion of NHS dentistry reform. The results revealed that the many patients said they had to seek private treatment due to a lack of available NHS dental care. 


Will Peakin, Editor of Scottish Dental, said: “It was fantastic to see so many people catching up with colleagues, meeting suppliers and advisers and benefitting from a world-class education programme. A huge thank you to them and, especially, to the programme speakers who delivered such high-quality CPD content. As well as providing insight into the state of NHS dentistry, the Herald survey also served to publicise the show in the run-up.”

Scottish Dental is a Connect-owned title published every two months which informs dental professionals of important profession updates, key industry topics and developments, and new products and innovations to help practices run more smoothly. The magazine has a strong relationship with the profession, highlighting the challenges it faces but also showcasing its achievements.

The annual Scottish Dental Show enables dental professionals to earn CPD, see demonstrations of new products, and network with professionals from across the international dental community. The show welcomes both new and returning exhibitors and speakers and continues to grow its number of attendees.

A huge thank you to all our exhibitors, sponsors, speakers and delegates for joining us for the Scottish Dental Show 2024. We hope you enjoyed the event.


Good news! The Scottish Dental Show will return to Braehead Arena next year on 20-21 June 2025. To book your exhibitor stand, email Ann Craib at ann@sdshow.co.uk

The Importance of International and National Holidays in Communications

An image of a phone screen showing our Time to Talk Day campaign for IIRSM and a laptop showing the Nature-Based Solutions podcast being played on Spotify.

Whether it’s International Women’s Day or World Book Day, national and international holidays are a crucial part of any organisation’s communication strategy.

Taking part in these occasions has a myriad of benefits for your brand awareness, and there’s bound to be one that aligns with your business objectives. 

Light-hearted occasions such as National Pizza Day can really show off your company’s personality, whereas marking important dates like International Women’s Day provides an excellent opportunity to let your audience know you’re committed to being an equal and fair employer. We’ve previously helped many of our clients with their International Women’s Day campaigns, including The Weir Group. We worked with them on their Women of Weir campaign, shining a spotlight on some of their inspirational female employees. With all these special dates, it’s important to do what’s right for you and your business. Developing a catchy line like ‘Women of Weir’ made the day their own and allowed the organisation to not only show the people behind the business but highlighted the fact that they support their female employees.

Addressing holidays can also position your company as an expert in your field. Commenting on topics such as Stress Awareness Day or World Wildlife Day by adding and highlighting thought pieces and attracting an audience that you may not have reached previously is an excellent way to build these days into your overall company communications strategy.

The International Institute of Risk and Safety Management (IIRSM) was keen to highlight its commitment to promoting positive mental health and wellbeing in the workplace, so it was only fitting that we helped the team develop campaigns for Time To Talk Day and Stress Awareness Day. Using simple graphics in IIRSM branding to highlight their professional development webinars in stress management, psychological safety and more meant a higher chance of the right people finding their content, while positioning themselves as an organisation that values mental health as well as physical.

Weeks like National Apprenticeship Week (5-11 February 2024) offer opportunities to highlight our clients’ commitment to training the talent of the future. We worked with GMG Construction to develop an article that reaffirmed their dedication to investing in apprentices. We highlighted some achievements in this area – including that more than 90% of GMG managers were once apprentices! 

With SELECT and SECTT, the charitable body which oversees the training programme for electrical apprentices, we worked together to promote their podcast Sparks’ Remarks. This is a podcast for electrical apprentices, by electrical apprentices, which aims to attract new talent to the industry. Highlighting it during this topical week meant increased visibility for their message from the people that matter most to them. 

And speaking of podcasts – even they have their day! International Podcast Day, which is observed on September 30, provides an excellent opportunity to market your podcast. 

We’ve been lucky to work on many thought-provoking, engaging, creative and essential podcasts for our clients, including Space Intelligence’s Nature-Based Solutions podcast and UKRI’s Emissions: Impossible? Learn more about our podcast offering here.

So no matter your platform or content, there’s bound to be a holiday that works for you and your company’s communication strategy. 

March is a jam-packed month with the likes of World Book Day and International Women’s Day, but April is no different! With April Fool’s Day, World Art Day and Earth Day just some of the holidays coming up, now’s the time to reassess your communication strategy.

And that’s where we come in! Take your communications to the next level today, by chatting to our friendly team at +44(0) 141 561 0300 or by emailing hello@connectmedia.cc