Caroline Jackson
Event Consultant and Educator, caroline4events
Vice Chair, Business Visits & Events Partnership (BVEP)
Executive Committee Member, Association for Events Management Education (AEME)
Former Head of Department for Events & Leisure at Bournemouth University.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/caroline-jackson-56666112/

The Directors of IEM met with Caroline Jackson via Zoom following the launch of ‘The UK Events Report’ by the Business Visits & Events Partnership (BVEP) in May.

Originally written in 2019, the report aimed to raise the profile of the events industry.  However, in light of Covid 19, Caroline recognises that it is now more a question of needing to safeguard what was a £70bn industry employing 700,000 people.

The conversation focused on three topics; recovery, people and education:

Recovery

The BVEP is now working with government departments on a recovery strategy, which includes making workplaces safe again, but already predictions are that live events will be changed until physical distancing is part of our COVID-19 memories.  It is no doubt going to be a painful journey.  However, it is not all doom and gloom.  Caroline feels that the conversations being had are helping to raise the profile of events, so they do not get lost in hospitality and tourism, and position them as a key factor in the UKs ability to enhance international trade in the wake of Brexit.  Positive things, such as specific SIC and SOC codes for the industry, as identified in the report, are more likely to be achieved and it is hoped that the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG), which had been suspended, would be resurrected.  Caroline said, “I am convinced that the Institute of Event Management has a key part to play in the industry and even more so in the recovery, so long as employers and people working in events get behind it”.

People

Caroline is the author of Chapter 6 of the BVEP Report on People, which aligns itself with one of the Government’s Industrial Strategy Pillars.  Claimed to be one of the top ten most stressful professions in the US, because of its fast pace and intensity, those in the worldwide events industry are now experiencing a very different kind of stress.  Many people in the UK have been furloughed or lost their jobs, with event management companies and event venues wondering if they have a future at all.  So, how many people will be left in the industry?  But perhaps more importantly, what do they need to survive and thrive?

Key findings of the report are the ‘gig economy’ phenomenon, skills gaps and the individuals attitude to work.  No doubt these will be even more significant as the recovery unfolds.  “Most people being furloughed or out of work will be looking to address skills gaps to enhance their chances of returning to work as quickly as possible,” said Caroline.  Portfolio careers and short term contracts are going to be the order of the day for the events industry as it fights to re-establish itself.  This means the responsibility will lie with the individual for their own skills development.  Access to education and training, Continuous Professional Development (CPD) and mentoring are critical to upskilling and ultimate survival.

Education

A significant part of Caroline’s chapter looks at the existing education structure of the UK events industry and she now stresses its importance in the recovery strategy.  Some 90 UK Higher Education institutions have been educating event managers from around the world for 30 years.  It is multi-faceted, highly regulated and highly regarded.  However with a recent, and predicted continued, decline of student numbers studying event management, and HE in general being squeezed internally and externally, this is now under threat.  “People have been critical about event management degrees in the past,” said Caroline, “Which could result in people either choosing to ‘learn on the job’ instead or even study something else at university.”  A more recent development has been the Level 3 Event Assistant Apprenticeship, which has had limited success so far.  Perhaps this is not the appropriate level and plans have been discussed  for Levels 4, 6 and 7.  The industry needs to get behin these potential pipelines before it loses them.

Caroline is keen to point out that the events industry experts do support education because “Everything needs to be applied to practice”.   Guest lectures, volunteering, part time work experience and collaborative working on live projects is a strength of event management education that is not celebrated enough.

That said, people right now are turning to online, bite size learning and there is a lot of free content available, but few structured courses or accreditation/recognition by a professional body. 

In conclusion, Caroline said, “COVID-19 has actually helped to get the government’s attention,” and it is the “Ideal time to launch”, so she urged the IEM Directors to “Get on and do it”.    Responding to this, Chris Pateman, IEM Director, said, “It was a delight listening to Caroline and we agree that it really is now or never for us to launch and serve the industry in its hour of need.”  Accepting the challenge, Susan Spibey, IEM Director, said, “We are committed to seeing this through for our industry.”  As a result the IEM has today invited all 700 enquirers to the IEM to join their LinkedIn group, as a platform to empower the event management community and is convening an Event Educators Summit.  The intention is to have membership and accreditations/recognitions in place by the end of the year.

BVEP Report