PROFESSIONALISM, SKILLS AND QUALITY
DO WE NEED PROFESSIONALISING?
Caroline Jackson Vice Chair- BVEP Chair- AEME
In my role as vice chair of the BVEP I have undertaken the challenge of reviewing the current activity relating to the event industry’ s professionalisation. We are now part of the GREAT campaign and Nick de Bois, chair of the Events Industry Board, calls for us to‘ step onto the [ world ] stage’ and be counted. We could argue that we have already done this with events such as the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012, the Rugby World Cup 2015, Glastonbury Festival of Performing Arts and the Farnborough International Airshow. However, these are celebrated for their sporting, cultural or trading successes but less so for their event management strengths. Our own industry awards, for how well we have performed, are hidden in the pages of our event magazines and websites. How do we get recognised and rewarded for the contributions we make to successful events, however large or small?
One of the proposals has been for the development of a professional body specifically for the event sector. If this is the solution, then there are a number of initiatives that need our support and utilisation, such as the nascent Institute of Event Management, the National Occupational Standards for Events, the Trailblazer Event Apprenticeships and the revised Higher Education Subject Benchmark Statements for Events. Any professional institute needs the industry to fully support it in a number of ways and not just financially. In the first instance different parts of the industry need to come together to contribute to and give feedback on what they would expect of each level of certification and membership. Qualification frameworks do exist globally as well as in the UK, which can be used as a basis for agreement. These then need to be adopted as a benchmark for employment and progression within the industry. Membership recruitment and support for accreditation will be difficult to acquire if the industry itself does not demonstrate that this is something that they value. This has not proven to be an easy task in other allied sectors such as Tourism, Hospitality and Sport and Physical Activity.
Alternatively, people are also reluctant to say publicly that they do not agree with the creation of a professional institute. After all, why would anyone say that they would not want events to be a profession nor themselves a professional? We however need to understand what professionalisation means to us and whether we are already professionalised. Being the academic that I am, I have turned this into a research project to better understand the motivations and future aspirations of those that make up our diverse industry. The history of professionalisation shows us that the path to professional status is not an easy or a short one. So, what is it that we want or need as an industry? The traditional model of professionalisation, of a single professional institute with a common body of knowledge and set of qualifications, has been questioned because it is not necessarily suitable for contemporary or future environments that are more globally connected and responsive. We are aware in the Association sector, as in our own organisations, of the challenge to maintain and engage members and to justify the pro-bono activities that we undertake for
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