The meetings industry’s trade associations need to promote the profile and value of the events business rather than looking inward, according to David Campbell, owner of one of the UK’s leading event management companies.
Campbell’s company, Banks Sadler, is a member of several of the leading associations and he is ex-chairman of the Association of British Professional Conference Organisers (ABPCO), but he believes the time has come for a united approach to putting the meetings business on the map.
“The trade associations are great at organising awards dinners and conferences but that’s not what we need right now. We need the equivalent of the Joint Meetings Industry Council (JMIC) here in the UK, lobbying government and industry to persuade them of the value we add to business results.”
Campbell suggests one project that all associations can work together to complete is an industry standard for success measurement.
“We are all busy trying to come up with a measurement tool but the associations should do this and define best practice for us. We can all collect it differently but we should be collecting the same data so it is comparable and when clients benchmark their activities, they can do so coherently.
"The trade associations are too focused on the interests of their membership when we need a broader representation that creates a higher profile for our industry. They are invaluable to their industry sectors but we need someone to take our message to a higher level. By working together they have a chance to do so and it would save all of us working to invent the same wheel.”
Image: David Campbell, Shareholding Director, Banks Sadler
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