Executive Director's Blog
Executive Director’s Blog: May 2008
Welcome to the May issue of the newsletter and who else is absolutely enjoying this beautiful weather we are being blessed with! We may be facing all sorts of interesting times in the economy but at least the sun is finally shining. I was at the Institute of Directors' annual convention last week and was interested and at times inspired by a few thoughts shared by the speakers: firstly Sir Bob Geldof said that rock 'n' roll can influence the hearts and minds of people; Kevin Spacey delivered an impassioned appeal for business to support the arts as artisitic endeavours and as the glue that keeps communities together (is that what he was saying at 3am in the park one wonders?). Meanwhile Gordon Brown warns that China and India are developing a new breed of highly skilled workers that are going to come and take our jobs so we need to tackle risk mitigation (where have I heard that one before?!) and David Cameron spoke from the heart about building the future of this country through taking care of the education and well being of our children and families.
This was all very interesting. Personally I found the facts on rock 'n' roll most inspiring out of that lot - but the best quote of the day had to come from Kevin Roberts, CEO of Saatchis, and a fellow kiwi to boot - he said traditional forms of marketing are dead, brands now needed to focus their attention, investment and strategies on relationships, live experiences, face to face marketing, yes folks, he's talking abut us, it's official: Events are the way of the future. There is nothing better than having a guru of the marketing world endorse our industry to such a high profile audience. I beamed with pride thinking of all our wonderful members working hard in their businesses living the virtues of what we do as second nature for our clients - yes, it was a happy moment in my world. At the other end of the day Sir Bob was pacing the stage talking about the moment his heart was touched by the plight of Africa and he decided to put together Band-Aid and we all know the story that follows and the millions of people that were affected. But my point is we were made aware of the issues through literally a great piece of live marketing and an awareness campaign that still has impact today. To have our medium endorsed by two great thought leaders of our time makes me feel very proud to be a part of our industry - or am I just getting sentimental in my old age? Perhaps a bit of both...
Speaking of fantastic events - we are full swing in the midst of planning for the third ever Summer Eventia which by now you should all know is to be held 6th-8th July in Manchester at the Lowry Hotel, part of the Rocco Forte collection. It is shaping up to be a fantastic few days of networking, learning, sharing, communicating - if you haven't checked it out yet the early bird bookings are open and all information is on the website. The event does start on Sunday when the private Accor Hospitality train departs from Euston station, collecting more of our gang from Milton Keynes then fast tracking its way up to Manchester - there will be refreshments and a great chance to netwok and start the party early and be carbon responsible by travelling onboard with us. The welcome BBQ dinner will kick off that evening with the serious brain stuff starting first thing Monday morning.
I'm particularly excited that we have our opening keynote address by Roger Martin-Fagg, an economist who predicts global economic trends and according to our sources has been very accurate for the past few years. Our content committee has been working hard and we have some great workshop sessions in place along with a fabulous celebration dinner and party on Monday evening. Tuesday morning kicks off with the great rate debate and I know some of you are dying to get your teeth into this as it's been a point of many dinner table discussions over the past year at industry events. The event finishes after lunch on Tuesday where the train will return us all safely back to MK or London by the end of the day.
We also have our AGM coming up in June. Now I know normally AGMs are the most boring meetings you could ever attend and most people turn up out of a duty of care and feel responsible to be there, which we really do appreciate, but let me just say that we are trying to make this year's AGM slightly more interesting for you - we have invited speakers for a short session just prior to the AGM to give us an update on what's happening regulation-wise. John Greenway MP who advises and opens doors for us in government to come and speak about issues that are going on that may have impact on our businesses, it's a great opportunity for you to ask him questions and to raise the issues that you see as important for us to be working on. We are also going to give a good update on where we see Eventia moving forward into the near future including the proposed merger with BACD. Afterwards we will be fed and watered (wined and dined) by the lovely team at Starwood Hotels Global sales office who have kindly supported this event for us so it's a great chance to network and meet some other members. I hope you can come along and I do look forward to seeing you, if not there then at the Summer Eventia which is absolutely the not to be missed event of the year in our calendar!
Yours,
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