news

New Eventia Leadership Elected

The annual general meeting of trade body, Eventia, held on Thursday 10th June at the Grand Connaught Rooms in London, saw the election of a new Chair to lead the association over the next 12 months.

Mark Saxby, Sales and Marketing Director at events agency World Events, takes over from Mark Taylor as the new Chair of Eventia. Commenting on his election, Mark said:

“I am delighted to have been elected as Chair of Eventia.  Eventia continues to be more and more respected as a body that promotes and supports the needs of the whole industry and I very much look forward to leading the Board in championing these causes during my time in office.

Our membership continues to go from strength to strength and I am fortunate to be supported by a dedicated Board and team who live and breathe our values for the benefit of our members. The challenges of the current economic climate dictate that it is imperative that Eventia offers a visibility as well as a voice for the industry and we will continue to raise and encourage the importance of live events and face-to-face communication.  We want to achieve many things such as: diversify membership; continue to target the corporate and association markets for membership; offer greater networking and education opportunities; collaborate with other organisations in areas such as CPD and lobbying and continue to offer best advice in any new legislation that is planned.  Eventia will be looking at initiatives that can be put in place in the short term but will also work with our members in various forums to maximise the long-term benefits as well.”

The AGM witnessed several further changes to the Eventia Board. Standing down from the Board were:

• Patrick Collins, Touch Associates
• Cath Cousins, Perception Sales & Marketing
• Peter Jackson, The Concerto Group
• Leigh Jagger, Banks Sadler
• Hamish Reid, Jersey Conference Bureau
• Aileen Reuter, Grass Roots

Newly-elected to the Board were:

• Simon Hughes, COI
• Mike Jackson, Stage Electrics
• Alan Newton, Grass Roots
• Rick Stainton, Smyle
• Karen Rice, Banks Sadler
• Ruth Robinson, Lancashire & Blackpool Conferences & Meetings

The following continue to serve on the Board:

• Alison Ayling, DeVere Venues
• Brian Kirsch, Event Assured
• Andrew Latta, Eventia Corporate Ambassador
• Stephan Roberge, Monaco Tourist Authority
• Mark Sale, Air Partner
• Matt Storey, Gallowglass
• Andrew Wright, FAB!

Finally the Executive Team:

• Mark Saxby, World Events – Chairman
• Mark Taylor, BI Worldwide – Immediate Past Chairman
• Rob Allen, TRO – Treasurer
• Izania Downie – CEO

Mark Taylor now assumes the position of Immediate Past Chairman and sums up his time on the Board as follows:

“My time as Chairman has been a challenging but rewarding experience, made far easier by the consistency of a competent, proactive team and an enthusiastic Board who have taken their roles very seriously and in some cases have achieved quite significant benefits to the overall industry. Clearly the economic climate has hit most industries including Events and, whilst some of our members continue to face challenging times, I am pleased that we met our realistic expectation for Eventia to break even this year with a modest surplus.  We have continued our growth in membership and as long as we ensure we deliver usable benefits to the members and support their businesses then we are doing our job as the industry association.”