Insight: Issue 82 (09 March)

Greetings to our fellow Event Profs everywhere.

In this week’s bulletin: A statement from the Events Industry Council; UK Culture Secretary calls for a blanket ban of Russian event participation; International Confex kicks off at ExCel London; and a place where we can all catch our breath – a quiet room planned for the EVENTIT conference in Edinburgh.

Events Industry Council: Statement on the Crisis

The Events Industry Council has released a powerful statement on the war in Ukraine. The statement correctly highlights how events do not discriminate between, race, ethnicity, gender, social class, cultural identity or borders. Additionally, it articulates a strong opposition to any form of violence and aggression which negatively impacts the safety and security of those that work in the events industry across Ukraine, their families, colleagues and indeed all Ukrainians.

The statement continues:

“All of us at the Events Industry Council, and our global EIC family, have been deeply moved by the bravery, courage and resolve of the Ukrainian people and the incredible show of support from our own community and across the world.

We stand firmly with Ukraine and urge all parties to work towards a peaceful resolution.”

Amen to that.

UK calls for Russian ban on event participation

UK Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries has called for Russian participation to be banned at all UK events.

Speaking in Commons, Dorries stated that Russia should be banned from attending or competing in sporting events and called for events organisers to block Russian involvement in any global performances.

She also called for the cancellation of the UNESCO World Heritage Conference due to be held in Kazan, Russia, in July.

Dorries said: “Culture is the third front in the Ukrainian war.

“Across sport, across the arts and entertainment, we’re ostracising Putin on the global stage.

“Putin is now suffering a sporting and cultural Siberia of his own making, and it will be causing the Russian leader real pain.

“Putin needs the kudos of these global events to conceal his illegitimacy and the hideous acts he is perpetrating in Ukraine. The Russian despot is desperately trying to hide the grim extent of his invasion from his own people.”

I think we can safely say that we don’t tend to agree with Nadine Dorries that much….on anything…..but we certainly agree with her stance on Russia, despite the harm social and cultural exclusion this will cause for normal Russian citizens. Putin must be stopped by using any and every lever necessary to diminish his influence on the world stage.

International Confex kicks off today (well yesterday)

In other (better) news, the mighty International Confex event is currently being held at ExCel London.

Since its inception, Confex has delivered ideas, inspiration and provided a meeting ground for the events industry. Packed full of amazing tech, inspirational ideas and inspiring keynote speakers, Confex UK provided the largest single gathering of UK event organisers in one room. Hope they’re well stocked up on Prosecco…..

And finally – A quiet place to catch a breath

EVENTIT have announced a partnership with EventWell to create a quiet room at their flagship show in the Edinburgh International Conference Centre on 13 September.

As we know all too well, conferences and events are full of opportunities to learn and experience new things, but with the constant outward facing and switched on nature they can also be overwhelming, exhausting and triggering, both mentally and physically.

The idea of a quiet room is not to stimulate but to provide a gentle mental escape in a safe and accessible space.

Once previous Exhibitor commented, “I’d really like to thank the EventWell team for this wonderful service at the DSEI conference. It was great to be able to go to a quiet space and do what I needed to be able to go back out to the conference and give my best to it. It was a very supportive, calm and friendly environment. I hope you will be there next time!”

Don’t know about you, but to us the idea of a quiet room sounds like absolute bliss…although we might just be showing our age.

Have a good week Event Profs!