POINT OF VIEW
Chris Pateman
Director, IEM
https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrispateman/
As part of our commitment to championing the industry, we are talking to people about their careers and what IEM means to them.
Chris Pateman has been serving the needs of business-to-business managers for over 40 years, as a trade journalist, buying group director, training provider and trade association manager. In his current role, apart from pro-bono work for the IEM, he provides strategic management direction to two business associations: Engineered Panels In Construction and the Worktop Fabricators Federation.
Q What does the IEM mean to you?
A Professionalisation, which is essential, and an equal standing for event managers amongst their peers.
Q Why did you decide it was important for you to get involved?
A I’ve been responsible for delivering exhibitions, conferences, trade days and awards ceremonies. The difference between a good or a bad event lies with the individuals who organise it. But how do you recognise, benchmark and encourage those individuals’ skills when ‘events’ is something they just do as part of the day job? The IEM is the crucial means to recognise and develop the professionalism of people who don’t think of themselves as events ‘professionals’.
Q Where do you hope to see the IEM in 20 years time?
A I don’t think it’s unreasonable to hope the IEM might be where organisations like CIPS or CIM are today: internationally recognised and respected networks of professional members championing and defending the events sector as a whole, rather than playing exclusively in its various vertical silos.
Q What is your favourite event related memory?
A I took a comparatively small one-day trade-show-plus-golf-plus-dinner builders merchants event to the Celtic Manor. Sandwiched in between two multi-day big-budget book-outs, I found it hard to believe the events manager when she told me how much she valued my business. “No”, she said. “We really do: your members spend a load of money at the bar, but we don’t mind serving until late when they are always so well behaved and polite. You manage the event properly, you never run over time, and our team loves working with you.” You forget, sometimes, how much the little things you take for granted matter.
