Blog posts

Kicking off the year by seeing some familiar faces at the AEO UK Ops Group is always a nice way to see in January.
 

People came armed with questions and solutions to help one another, reminding me that working in such a collaborative sector is how we have managed to survive the last two years.

In the ‘Focus on Future Growth’ session at the AEO CEO Forum in January 2022, Mark Parsons of Events Intelligence shared his perspectives on how organisers should think about data (and especially big data) to understand their communities. This article summarises his main points and responds to questions raised in the room, concluding with a set of actionable next steps for organisers.

We are delighted to get back to our pre-pandemic tradition of kicking off the New Year with the AEO International CEO Summit in January. Last week, the AEO International Group welcomed a select group of our member CEOs to join us at Coworth Park, to physically re-connect, discuss global issues affecting our industry, and share knowledge and insight for 2022 and beyond.

This morning I was privileged to be asked to chair a session for the AEO cross association working group on the subject of Diversity and Inclusion.

The working group has produced a raft of resources available to members and non-members that I think are incredibly valuable especially if you’re unsure of the subject and want to further your own learning about how we can make our industry more inclusive. Have a look here – it’s all free.

There are a few thoughts that I had from the session as well as some of the questions asked that I thought would be worth sharing.

Events are still considered the most important marketing tool for a company, and the COVID-19 pandemic has brought a solidarity to the events industry in a way which we’ve never seen before. As we discuss and champion the importance of what we bring to the economy, we must acknowledge the pivotal role we play in our society. As a body that represents companies that conceive, create, develop or manage trade and consumer events, the AEO is well positioned to make a difference to society, and lead the way for Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) within the events industry.

A year ago almost to the day, the AEO team set out its objectives for the year ahead, which focussed on engagement both internally within the membership and externally with government. We’d built up the team; welcoming our first apprentice, Zahra, and a new role looking at data in Carly. So, we had a new team, new office, and a full programme of working groups and events, supported by research projects, sponsors and partners to look forward to.