Taking some of our own medicine!

Last week and this, in the UK event industry, there will be conferences, trade shows, awards ceremonies, networking events, more conferences, AGM's and somewhere in between sales meetings to attend, enquiries to work on and judging of award ceremonies to be done.

So when somebody says to the fabulous group of professionals attending the above events (which, believe me, if I have ￡5 for everyone who will say it to me) "I'm snowed..."; "When will I have time to do my "real" work...” how will we respond?

We are in the business of meetings. When we meet we change the world is the strapline of the industry. We know the value of meetings and their impact on society and the economy. So why do we, the meeting professionals feel so guilty when we are doing exactly what we organise or sell? Us more than any other industry should understand the power of immersing ourselves in these events. In fact, this was key content at the EvComference last week!

This is the argument for residential conferences and multi day exhibitions. They give us the opportunity – yes opportunity – to pack a day with meetings, appointments, education, networking and even … fun. These events work for our delegates every day, we tell them to spend focused and intensive time getting stuff done, we should be the same. Should we be panicking about missing ‘work’ or confidently communicating to our clients that we are educating ourselves to improve their experiences?

With a really important couple of weeks coming our way in the UK event industry calendar with events that will develop relationships, educate and innovate as well as build business and drive revenues, shall we all remember that it's not just ok to be out of the office for a day or two, but its good business practice. Let’s make this a call for great events that give us time as a community together, not just to dip in and out of but immerse ourselves in; this is why they work.