Founded in 2007, the Ambassador Club of Bordeaux has created an environment propitious to welcoming French and especially international conferences to Bordeaux.

The Ambassadors are well-known local personalities from university, medical and scientific circles active in French and international associations. They play an essential role by spreading the word about what an attractive destination Bordeaux become to their colleagues all over the world, and by attracting conferences in Bordeaux.

It is estimated that 75% of all conferences come to a city thanks to the influence of a local contact.  Very active in their field of expertise, the Ambassadors promote Bordeaux's virtues, and we acknowledge their precious role by providing them with a warm welcome to the Club.

In 2010, the Club has nearly 160 Ambassadors, with particularly strong representation in the medical, chemical, biology, biotechnology, new technology and physics sectors.

The following chart shows the importance of these various sectors:

Based on synergy and shared dynamics, the Ambassador Club of Bordeaux was initiated by the Bordeaux Gironde Convention Bureau. The BGCB continues to support the club, which is complemented by each member's skills and contacts.

Ever since its creation, the Ambassadors Club has supported efforts by the BGCB in more than 25 bids for events as far in the future as 2016. Nineteen congresses have already taken place, or will take place in Bordeaux thanks to help from the Ambassadors. These events represent 8,000 participants  and an estimated economic impact of over 4 million euros.

Thanks to their frequent involvement in the organisation of French and international symposiums, the Ambassadors do a great deal to convey Bordeaux's image around the world and highlight the region's research activities.

At a ceremony to mark the Club's 2nd anniversary on the 10th of June 2009, Dominique Ducassou, Deputy Mayor of Bordeaux, acknowledged the precious contribution of 10 Ambassadors who organised scientific congresses in Bordeaux by awarding them a medal.
 

They have been rewarded by the BGCB :

- M. Abdelhamid Benazzouz from the Neuroscience Institute for the 9th Congress of the Society of Neurosciences (1,200 people).

- M. Stéphane Oliet, research director at the CNRS (French National Center for Scientific Research), co-organiser of the 9th Congress of the Society of Neurosciences, and named "Ambassador of the Year" for his considerable contribution to the development of the  Ambassadors Club and the reputation of Bordeaux's expertise in scienctific and technical fields.

- M. Joseph Colin of Pellegrin Hospital in Bordeaux, for the International Conference on Femtosecond Laser in Ophtalmology (250 people).

- Mme Maylis Delest, of LaBRI (Bordeaux Laboratory for Computer Research), for having submitted Bordeaux's candidacy in a bid for the European Summer School in Logic Language and Information (500 people), as well as Erocomb (European Conference on Combinatorics, Graph Theory and Applications)  organised by her laboratory (200 people).

- M. Denis Delonca from Clinique Esthétique d'Aquitaine, for the 20th Congress of the French Society of Plastic Surgeons (300 people).

- M. Jean-Louis Dulucq, from the Institute of Laparoscopic Surgery, for the Euro-Mediterranean and Middle-East Laparoscopic Meeting (1,000 people).

- M. Boas Erez of Bordeaux I University for the Cyber University Era Now congress (900 people).

- M. Philippe Garrigues of the Institute of Molecular Sciences, for the organisation of the Pollutant Responses in Marine Organisms congress (350 people).

- Mme Anne Gégout-Petit, of Bordeaux II University, for the Journées Françaises de Statistiques (500 people ).

- M. Bernard Haas of the Centre for Nuclear Studies, for the Compound Nuclear Reactions and Related Topics meeting (80 people).

- M. François-Xavier Mahon, of Haut-Lévêque Hospital, for his role in organising the Chronic Myeloid Leukemia conference of the European School of Haematology (600 people).

- M. Michel Maze, of Eurovia, for the European Symposium on Photocatalysis (180 people).

- Mme Michèle Pellegrin, for the Journées Nationales de la Société Française de Gynéco-Pathologie (150 people).

- M. Didier Portmann, for Technical Otological Surgery Courses in English.