At ReEvention we like to keep abreast of latest news and developments in the event sector, so our Coffee Break Catch Ups are a look at interesting articles, blogs and podcasts we want to share with you with our own industry insight added.
Today's topic is a recommendation for a short podcast – only 15 minutes, so a perfect coffee break listen – by M&IT Magazine.
Editor Paul Harvey talks to Martin Fullard, director of News and content at The Business of Events to discuss the ‘2023 International Planner Sentiment Report’.
The report analyses the thinking of event buyers in terms of priorities when selecting a destination of venue.
One thing that stands out to us, and is something we were keen to highlight as we are in Black History Month, is that diversity is tracking much higher in the considerations of event planners. Martin explains he has seen this issue come much more to the fore since the pandemic and tangible differences are now being seen in the workplace. He believes the new generation of young event managers coming into the industry are a driving force behind these expectations.
Another significant area that stands out in the report is around sustainability, although this does seem to be more pronounced in the UK and Europe than in North America. Sustainability is an important and, increasingly, mainstream issue across all industries and society as a whole.
Within our company, we have recently been deciding upon the location for the major academic conference we run each year. Our primary consideration was cost as we found prices had increased dramatically across the board, even in unexpected locations. We researched a range of destinations including Romania, Bratislava, Seville and The Hague. Our second consideration was the local culture and environment, so the place is an enjoyable and culturally rich place for our delegates to visit. Another key consideration is the accessibility via transport links. Some of our delegates travelled for over 30 hours to get to our recent conference in Athens so the last thing we wanted was for delegates being required to take a long coach journey from the airport.
We did enjoy the comment that has been used for the article “give us £1 and we’ll give £5 back”. We believe it is so important to ensure our economic impact and important is being communicated effectively to the government.
We recommend having a listen to the podcast and others that M&IT have produced.
Read the M&IT article and listen to the podcast here.
If you're looking for event planning or venue finding we at ReEvention are keen to hear from you - get in touch with us today for an informal chat about your plans.