MARCH | ME, MYSELF & I
Simon
Hughes
After more than ten years
spearheading government events
at the COI, under three PMs,
Hughes – now a consultant – has
seen it all
“Bliss it was in that dawn to be alive.”
It wouldn’t be accurate to add the next
bit about being young, as I was in my
mid-forties when I started working at
the Central Office of Information (COI).
But the decade that followed, with Blair,
Brown and the Cameron/Clegg coalition
as our taskmasters was an extraordinary
period in my career.
The range and variety of live events
delivered by both my team and the
brilliant event production agencies and suppliers that worked with
us was quite staggering. There was an amazing commitment to
live communications as part of the marcomms mix to engage UK
citizens in policy development and delivery.
Those days are long gone now, but I don’t think that anyone can
easily track the current expenditure on government marketing
communications. There are certainly far fewer marketing
campaigns, but major events delivered for the UK government still
utilise some of our leading event production companies who bring
their expertise and creativity to ensure VFM from the public purse.
In short – there are fewer events, with more tightly controlled
budgets.
I think that the event industry now has a much better relationship
with government in terms of policy development and support since
those halcyon days. The current negotiations on a sector deal for
66
tourism, with business events as a core
productivity component, would be just
one example.
Nowadays, there is now a much
better understanding of the need
for soft power support from across
government departments in support
of major bids. We have an Event
Industry Board to advise government
and we are engaging with leaders from
across our diverse sector to assist in
this critical dialogue.
Of course, Brexit hangs over all of us like poor old Eeyore. There is
some evidence of both major associations and corporate clients not
selecting the UK as a destination at the moment. Our response – we
are still open for business.
As an industry we are pragmatic, flexible, creative and always
prepared to identify the needs of our clients in order to devise,
design and then deliver solutions that meet those needs – it’s part
of our DNA. Our diversity remains both a strength and a weakness,
so presenting ourselves in a consistent fashion to all our key
stakeholders remains an ongoing challenge.
Our biggest challenge? Skills and talent development and retention.
We need to be competing for the best new talent – but are we
attracting them in the best ways possible?