Good HR practice within the meetings and events industry – navigating today’s challenges
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This month’s news round-up brings you industry and association news and views from October 2024, including Martyn’s Law latest, MIA new CEO, NOWIE 2.0, All-Party Parliamentary Group for Events, and more.
After MPs voted to approve the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill, otherwise known as Martyn’s Law, at its second reading in Parliament.
The Home Secretary said that Martyn’s Law should balance protection of life with protecting our way of life.
Despite hopes that the legislation would be signed off by the King in early 2025, Access All Areas understands that the second reading of the Bill is likely to be followed by six to nine months of further consideration in the House of Commons and House of Lords prior to Royal Assent.
Read more at Access All Areas.
The Meetings Industry Association (MIA) has appointed Shonali Devereaux as its new chief executive. She takes over from Kerrin MacPhie, who stands down in December.
Devereaux has a wealth of experience working across the business meetings and events sector. She has 30 years’ experience working on high-profile events. Her experience includes the Olympics and Commonwealth Games, 20 years in senior leadership.
Shonali Devereaux said: “Everything that I have done in collaboration has always been better than I could have envisaged on my own. This is why it is exciting to lead a membership organisation that not only promotes excellence but seeks to forge strong relationships between and beyond its members.”
Events now rank second for growth in the most recent Bellwether report from the IPA. The quarterly analysis of marketers’ confidence and budget choices found that uncertainty surrounding what policy announcements may come from the new Chancellor has prompted a more cautious approach to marketing spend. Yet, events still have a net balance budget expansion of +9.9% compared with +17.2% in Q2 and a record-breaking 23.1% in Q1.
Compared with other growth forms of marketing, events outperformed direct marketing (+9.7%) and sales promotion (+3.2%). Budget allocations for market research dropped to -1.5% while PR saw the most significant upward revision, with the net balance soaring to a record high of +11.0%, from +2.6% in the previous quarter. Read more.
NOWIE has rebranded and registered as a Community Interest Company, and championing gender equality and opportunities for women in events.
Cat Kevern, chair leader of NOWIE, said: “After being entirely volunteer-run for over a decade, this feels like one of the most significant changes we have made for NOWIE.”
Robert Kenward, a senior specialist in event and brand experience industry recruitment, has shared his latest quarterly report on recruitment trends.
For the fourth quarter of 2024, Kenward has identified several key trends and forecasts. Read them via the link below on Conference News:
Robert Kenward shares quarterly report on recruitment trends and forecasts for 2025
The International Association of Professional Congress Organisers (IAPCO) has launched a new advocacy campaign, ‘IAPCO: Unlocking Excellence’ designed to enhance the quality and professionalism of event and congress organisation globally.
IAPCO, the only international accreditation association for Professional Congress Organisers (PCOs), is recognised for its stringent accreditation process. This ensures IAPCO members meet high standards in timeliness, efficiency, creativity, financial responsibility, and management.
Martin Boyle, CEO of IAPCO commented:
“Our goal with the ‘Unlocking Excellence’ campaign is to highlight the rigorous standards that our members adhere to. We want to emphasise the importance of quality assurance in the global meetings and events industry.” “The accreditation process is designed to ensure that our members are recognised as the best in the industry. This process also includes a demonstrated commitment to ongoing education and innovation to keep up to date with the changes facing our sector.
Read more, via the link below:
IAPCO Launches ‘Unlocking Excellence’ campaign to raise standards in global event and congress organisation
The London Convention Bureau has reported a record year so far, with business events adding over £158m to the London economy. From January to September 2024, this marks the highest record since post-Covid recovery. The 32% year-on-year increase saw revenue rise from £120m compared to the same period last year.
Read more here via Exhibition News.
After a highly successful debut earlier this year, The Meetings Show Asia Pacific has strengthened its team with the appointment of Nelson Khoo as its new Event Director. This strategic hire comes as the show looks to build on strong momentum and capitalize on significant interest from new and returning exhibitors ahead of the 2025 edition, which will take place on 16-17 April at Marina Bay Sands, Singapore.
The Meetings Industry Association (MIA) has partnered with train operator Avanti West Coast to highlight the importance of sustainable and efficient business travel to its members. The partnership will provide MIA members with regular updates and travel trips as Avanti invests in a dedicated MICE business development role to create a streamlined booking solution for delegates when travelling to meetings and events.
The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Events will meet in the new Parliament, with Shaun Davies, Member of Parliament for Telford (Labour), as Chair Elect on 5th November 2024. The APPG, which serves as a crucial platform for discussing and advancing the UK events industry, will welcome a cross-party group of MPs as vice chairs.
The APPG will focus on the key areas outlined in The Business of Events’ Policy Agenda, which includes Updating SIC Codes for accurate representation and tailored support for the events sector, easier Visa schemes to support international collaboration, and an Event Tax Credit scheme to offer financial incentives to attract new events and support existing ones.
Read more here on Event Industry News.
This year’s IMEX America reported record attendance as organisers hailed the sector continuing to prosper and power ahead.
The show, which took place in Las Vegas, welcomed over 15,500 participants. Visitors included in excess of 5,500 buyers, of which 4,300 were hosted buyers. Buyers took part in more than 86,000 pre-scheduled meetings in three days, the majority of which were one-to-ones with exhibitors.
The strong appetite for personal and professional development was clear from the record attendance at the education programme. Over 1,600 people attended learning sessions held at the show floor’s Inspiration Hub.
Carina Bauer, IMEX CEO, concluded: “We’re delighted that the global business events community has reconvened in such strong numbers here this week, bringing with them a desire to meet with purpose and forge connections for mutual long-term gain. The broader catalytic effect of the show has shone through in the many fringe events, activities and celebrations on and off the show floor – it’s exciting to see how people have used the platform of the show to elevate their own impact and experience. “The sheer number of attendees and meetings at IMEX America this week is further evidence of how our sector continues to prosper and power ahead.”
MPI, the world’s largest Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) association. It has a global community of 140,000 professionals and membership of 13,000. And its 2025 European Meetings & Events Conference (EMEC) will take place in Istanbul, Turkey, from 22-25 February, 2025.
The Conference returns to Turkey for the First Time in a decade. Registration for EMEC Turkey officially went live on 26 September, 2024, at mpi.org/emec.
The Association of Event Venues (AEV) has unveiled a new mentoring programme for junior event managers. The programme is intended for newly qualified and junior event managers, event assistants or co-ordinators starting their careers, or any venue placement students studying or training for a career in event management. It offers a fully customised 12-month plan to support growth and career development.
Rachel Parker, director, AEV said: “We are delighted to introduce the new mentoring programme. It is important we invest in our industry’s future and ensuring the talent grows and learns from current experience is vital.”
EDGE Venues’ Commercial Director, Scott Ford, summed up this latest monthly Insights:
“October as is traditional saw a huge amount of news, new developments and trends published, we operate in such a dynamic and fast passed industry its sometimes hard to see the wood for the trees. However, some of the things that really caught my eye this month were that The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Events meets for the first time in this new parliament.
After what has seemed to be a quiet period due to things like the general election. With focus on the key areas outlined in The Business of Events’ Policy Agenda, including updating SIC Codes for accurate representation and tailored support for the events sector, easier Visa schemes to support international collaboration, and an Event Tax Credit scheme to offer financial incentives to attract new events and support existing ones, hopefully we will see some much needed progress in these critical areas.
It’s always good to see schemes mentoring and elevating new talent in the industry, and so The Association of Event Venues new programme to support junior event managers is a most welcome initiative.
Finally, it is encouraging to see the latest Bellwether report from the IPA showing continued growth in events, even during the uncertain times ahead of todays budget.”
Missed September’s news round-up? Check it out here!
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