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By Barbara Connell, CMP, CAE | Chair of the CMP Governance Commission
There’s been a lot in the news recently about coronavirus. As it continues to spread around the world, it’s becoming apparent this situation requires our ongoing attention. It reminds me of similar issues from the past. From natural disasters to illnesses, many things affect our events and our attendees. As meeting and event professionals, we have to ask ourselves: How do we respond when there’s misinformation and fear?
Earlier this month, EIC hosted a webinar asking industry experts to weigh in on the situation. I urge you to watch it for yourself. There was great information in it about how to approach times of uncertainty with empathy, both for our attendees and the communities affected. On 6 March, we hosted a second webinar focused on critical insurance and legal considerations for event professionals. When looking at events impacted, we need to approach it with a levelheadedness that allows us to do right by everyone involved.
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We share the concern about the coronavirus and the questions this challenge presents. The health and wellbeing of the public is always paramount. The goal, of course, in any moment of public health concern is to be guided by expert information, grounded in scientific and medical data, and sourced from public health and government authorities.
As numerous organizations determine plans related to conducting meetings, conferences, conventions and trade shows—where people gather in sizable groups to conduct business—we strongly encourage decisions to be based in facts rather than fear, given the enormity of the impact to the workforce that supports the events industry.
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When facing uncertainty or crisis, identifying reliable and timely sources of information is critical to making responsible decisions. The recent outbreak of COVID-19 has raised global concerns that will have both short-term and long-term impacts.
The Events Industry Council has compiled a list of industry-related resources to help guide event and meeting planners through this time. Please take the time to review these. Also, be sure to view EIC's webinar from February on best practices when dealing with COVID-19.
For those effected by the COVID-19, please consider taking EIC's survey on the impact of the outbreak. EIC is also looking to conduct more in-depth interviews with event professionals affected by COVID-19. If interested, please fill out your contact information at the end of the survey.
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COVID-19 continues to impact our global community worldwide and EIC continues to serve as a resource to the global community as the situation evolves day-to-day. We know that many people will need to make adjustments to support their businesses and families over the coming weeks. EIC wants to support our CMPs who have been actively adapting events during this situation by offering an extension to CMPs who had renewal deadlines of 31 December 2019.
If your CMP lapsed on 31 December 2019, EIC will be offering an additional two-month window, until 31 May 2020 for you to reinstate your CMP without retaking the exam. Additional communications will be going out to all CMPs who missed their 31 December 2019 deadline with all the details.
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Tuesday, 24 March | 11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. EST/UTC-05:00
Join us for an interview with Mark Cooper, CEO of IACC and incoming chair of the Events Industry Council Board, to learn how the IACC European Knowledge Festival embedded sustainability into all aspects of the event's design and earned a gold-level in the EIC Sustainable Event Standards. This case study includes a mid-course reset, when IACC decided to reposition the entire event toward sustainable education and practices well into the planning stages for the programme. Hear about how they engaged key partners, redesigned the education content and examined all event-related decisions through a sustainability lens.
Learning objectives:
- Learn how to successfully redesign an event to incorporate sustainable practices, even if you are in advanced planning stages for your programme. It's never too late to start!
- Learn how associations can inspire and enlist support for sustainable initiatives from stakeholders including board members, supplier partners, speakers, and participants.
- Hear about IACC's gold-level achievement of the EIC sustainable event standards, including innovative practices that can be implemented in your next event.
Speaker:
Mark Cooper, CEO, IACC and incoming board chair, Events Industry Council
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Registration is now open for the Sustainable Event Professional Certificate course from 18-20 June in Berlin, Germany.
Combining active learning and experiential elements, this programme is designed to enable participants to implement their own sustainable events. Topics will include understanding the business value of sustainability for the events industry; practical solutions for improving your environmental performance in areas such as food and beverage, transportation and supply chain management; and effective methods for achieving corporate social responsibility goals. As part of the programme, the participants will customise a roadmap for their own sustainable event.
Learning outcomes:
- Understand how to communicate the business value of sustainable events, including improving brand reputation and cost savings.
- Learn how to design elements of your events to be more environmentally and socially responsible. This includes reducing energy and water usage, improving accessibility and selecting suppliers in areas such as food and beverage, venues and accommodation, audio visual, transportation, materials resource management, marketing and exhibitions.
- Learn how to develop effective community service projects that support organisational objectives.
- Learn about international sustainable event standards and measurement and reporting methodologies that can provide guidance in implementing your next sustainable event.
Paris based UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, and Atlanta based SISO, the Society of Independent Show Organizers, have launched a new campaign, called “This Show Is Open.” It supports exhibition and event organisers around the world as they put the industry’s full experience to the task of keeping events going wherever possible, in line with the guidance of health authorities and the interests of their customers.
The campaign launches as the global outbreak of the Novel Coronavirus is challenging societies around the world. As health systems and governments deal with the outbreak, exhibitions and events
around the world are being postponed or cancelled where deemed necessary.
At the same time, exhibitions and events are one of the core elements to both keep industries and
economies going – they are both among the most responsive and resilient economical tools.
“Exhibitions and events are essential to millions of businesses around the world. They exist to provide
platforms for people and industries to meet, to trade, and to collaborate. Small and medium businesses in all industries in particular depend on exhibitions. And, like all types of events, they support the economy worldwide“, says Mary Larkin, UFI President.
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Calling all musicians and music enthusiasts! Looking for your moment to shine in the meetings and events industry, as well as unleash your inner rock star? The Events Industry Council, in partnership with SongDivision — the industry leader in uniting teams using music — is inviting students to create their very own cover version of the GMID Anthem, a song that has represented the energy and purpose of GMID since 2017. Songs will be evaluated based on originality and performance, and the winner will have their version included in the official GMID Toolkit, exposing their talent to thousands of industry leaders worldwide!
If you're seeking a creative way to break into the meetings and events industry, this is your chance to stand out from the crowd and step into the limelight, and in front of leading organizations who are looking for creative individuals just like you to carry them into the next decade and beyond!
Choose a musical style you love. Pop, rock, folk, EDM, a cappella—it's completely up to you. Go solo or form a band—your choice, too! Not a musician? Not a problem. Just grab your closest musician friends to help you out. After all, the GMID anthem is all about bringing people together using music—the more the merrier!
Once you have your recording, please share a .mp3 version to russell@songdivision.com. Submissions are due by 20 March 2020.
Check out the GMID anthem songsheet and the original anthem for reference.
“As a professor, I see the enthusiasm that students have for our industry," said Tyra Warner, Esq, PhD, CMP, speaker, attorney and professor. "This opportunity to create a cover version of the GMID anthem helps us all to remember that what we do matters.”
"I'm inspired by the opportunity to collaborate with our next generation of events industry professionals in sharing the message of the importance of face-to-face meetings," said Amy Calvert, CEO and President of Events Industry Council. "The GMID anthem, created by SongDivision, is a celebration of our industry, and I'm excited to hear the covers created by our student community."
There's some amazing musical talent in our student body. We're looking to reveal that creativity and show industry leaders worldwide what you've got. Take your shot at being a star and join us as we celebrate GMID 2020!
The Events Industry Council is pleased to welcome 191 individuals to our CMP community, following the January 2020 examination. Please join us in welcoming these individuals to our community! We encourage you to reach out to newly minted CMPs you know and send personal congratulations on their incredible accomplishment.
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Beth Surmont, CMP, CAE, director of experience design for 360 Live Media, recently spoke about the role empathy plays in event user-experience design at the PCMA 2020 Convening Leaders conference.
“It’s really about analysing and understanding attendee needs so that you can anticipate, deliver, and surprise and delight them,” Surmont told Northstar Meetings Group in an article. “It’s about creating a UX design that attendees didn’t even realize they needed.”
To read the full interview, go here.
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Have you been quoted in an article? Do you have some exciting news to share? Contact us at insights@eventscouncil.org and we can share it with the leading individuals and companies involved in the events industry!
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