SUMMER | NOEA COLUMN
The focal point
for the events
industry …
NOEA CEO Susan Tanner holds up a
light during the industry black out
A
s I write, we’re about to enter the period that
we at NOEA have called ‘going dark’. This is
when pretty much everyone in our community
disappears off the face of the planet (or at least they
are widely dispersed across outdoor events around
the country and beyond). We lose contact with them
for at least the next 12 weeks, and for many a lot
longer. Sure, we get the odd hastily written text,
and from time to time some calls for help amongst
members, but other than that we find its best to leave
them alone.
That’s not to say there is no contact from NOEA
over the next few months, many of our members will
be working hand in hand at some of the most iconic
events on the planet. This is when NOEA takes its
theory and puts it into practice. It’s a great time for
everyone, its achingly busy and often challenging, but
this is what we live for.
So, this column is very much a rallying cry for our
industry as we ‘go dark’, but also as we go and put into
place our expertise, as part of the support structures
that allow these great events to be truly great.
We say it a lot, but it is because of NOEA members
that these festivals can be so visual, creative and
memorable; we are the companies and the individuals
who build the infrastructures, design the ticketing
systems, implement the health and safety, even supply
the car fleets that mean the acts, artists and players
18
can do what they do best, safely and securely.
At NOEA, we also work incredibly closely with the
UK government, to get both support and recognition
for this industry of ours. We do this as part of a wider
group of event professionals who represent events
as diverse as festivals to exhibitions, conferences to
sporting events. To gain support we need to capture
the imagination first, and then show our talents.
What always makes me proud is that these
conversations always start with the outdoor events.
We show them festivals of music and culture, global
sporting occasions, but also local community events.
We show them main stages and stadiums as well as
village greens. We then show them the people and
organisations that make these events happen, and
the expertise that is now being exported around the
world, so great is are our own standards here in the
UK. It’s not a difficult sell!
So, I hope as our members grab some precious down
time during and after the events they are working
on this summer, that they can do so with the pride
that the world is once again watching us, and our
industry, and seeing a best-in-class group of people
do what they do incredibly well. They can then look at
the millions of spectators and audience members who
will have unforgettable experiences across the UK and
bask in the satisfactory glow that only this industry
can give. It’s hard, but its why we do what we do.
“The world is
once again
watching us...”