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It ’ s quite an aggressive and unerring phrase insofar that the recipient is left under no illusion that they are being ‘ called out ’. The Government is often asked to pick up this gauntlet , especially over the last year or so . A burning topic over the last year has been tackling racism and addressing diversity and inclusion in the workplace which is , rightly in my opinion , being treated as a priority . Communities accelerate in their development with better and fuller programmes of diversity . This has been demonstrated in society over the centuries and while it ’ s not an instant fix , which is what everyone wants to buy of course , it ’ s not so slow as to be indiscernible to those that make the investment . It ’ s a straightforward equation , in

fact . A diverse community produces far more desirable outcomes such as efficiency , harmony , equality , education and therefore better lifestyles , progression in problem solving and so on . From personal experience , as someone from a family from over the water myself , and as an employer , I ’ ve always thought that immigrants bring a lot to any party ; if they are welcomed , but perhaps I would say that ! I had a feeling of needing to prove oneself ; being under pressure to earn every opportunity . No entitlement : that ’ s not a bad thing . It certainly helped me and my wider family . In every sense , diversity elevates the community in each direction , so why wouldn ’ t it be the number one investment ? Can we apply that to our very own community of events ?

Certainly , we have talked about this topic for years ; about the need to ensure equity ( it ’ s not equality , it ’ s about equity ) to those from Black , Asian and ethnic minority communities to level the playing field , but what have we actually done about this ? It ’ s been mainly just talking , if we ’ re honest . Despite some fantastic work from a handful of industry professionals , and with the exception of one or two prominent individuals , if we cast a glance around the teams right up to the boardrooms of our industry , has much changed ? Are we in any way representative of the population ? Doubtful . Perhaps it all needs a bit of an overhaul and that means investment . In an ideal world , the events industry would be a shining example of diversity and inclusion ; a model for other sectors to follow but that simply isn ’ t the case . Can we change this ? Here ’ s what I ’ m doing : Mash Media is involved in setting up a scholarship for students from diverse backgrounds : an event management degree in partnership with Manchester Metropolitan University . The taskforce is being steered by industry recruitment expert Robert Kenward . I asked him to contribute a comment to this blog to explain a bit more about it : “ Diversity and inclusion have been spoken about a lot in our industry recently . However , I ’ ve always questioned exactly what companies think they can do about it . With only 3.5 % of # eventprofs being black or brown , it ’ s a marathon not a sprint . “ That ’ s where the idea of a scholarship came from and why I ’ m

56 — September