WINTER | NOEA COLUMN
Making caring events
Founder of
Hybred Events
and NOEA
Council Member,
Becky Stevens
addresses
‘respect’
T
his year at the NOEA
Annual Convention, the
association took on the
theme of ‘Who’s Looking After
Who?’ The convention was
another brilliant success and
underlined how well this subject
resonates across the outdoor
events community.
What was especially
interesting however, was how
the subject evolved, not just to
encompass the safety of those
entering events, but for those
working within them. This is
a big subject, and one that is
taking place across multiple
industries, and businesses
across the UK and beyond. It’s
for this reason that, at the end
of the day, I was delighted to
present NOEA’s own initiative
to take on this subject more
proactively; RESPECT.
This is a subject close to my
heart, and those of many of our
members. Over the last few
months we’ve been working
closely with the Equality &
Human Rights Commission
who are undergoing a cross
industry initiative to take on
the subject head on. They have
a real interest in the world
of hospitality, and through
it, our own space in event
management.
NOEA is working closely
54
with the commission to share
learning around the type of
preventative strategies that
work to stop sexual harassment
in the first place. Part of this
work involves contributing to a
new hospitality sector working
group chaired by the Equality
and Human Rights Commission
that will explore how to address
these issues guided by their best
practice.
Alongside these initiatives,
NOEA developed the RESPECT
campaign to encourage better
treatment of staff, volunteers
and attendees of events. As part
of the campaign, the association
will create a Respect Charter
that events-based organisations
can sign up to so they can
demonstrate a zero-tolerance
approach to harassment of any
kind while at an event.
There is also an open
source slogan, for use by any
organisation looking to sign
up to the charter. As part of
signing up to the campaign,
the branding can be supported
by poster templates and also
guidance on staff training and
how to deal with complaints.
Finally, we’re looking at offering
training courses for the industry
that helps us spread best
practice.
The Equalities and Human
Rights Commission are also
delighted with the Respect
campaign and are convening a
working group on the project.
They are working with us to pull
together a simple guidance pack
for organisations signing up to
the charter. There are already
some really great examples of
events who look to address the
respect of its people, massively
reducing the number of reported
incidents. This campaign can be
a real support for those looking
to do more.
Whether we like it or not,
harassment is part and parcel
with working on, and attending,
major events, both as staff
members, volunteers, and often
attendees. It’s something that
happens all too frequently
and just isn’t acceptable. This
campaign is about the industry
coming together to show a zero-
tolerance approach to it, and
hopefully stamp it out.
“Whether we like it or not, harassment is part and parcel
with working on, and attending, major events”