Venues , we ’ re now well into a busy and productive 2023 . Venues are expecting Martyn ’ s Law to come into sharp focus this year , and together with wider security and safeguarding issues under its consideration , the Multi Association Security Awareness ( MASA ) group met in January . It ’ s now in the process of cascading the latest Counter Terror Business Information Exchange briefing and security intelligence , via our strategic risk mitigation partners CHC Global , to venues , organisers , suppliers , festivals and arenas all over the UK .

On the academic front in 2023 , we ’ ll be expanding our academic network through our newly created Academic Associate membership stream . Created last year through a collaboration with founder academic partner Greenwich University , this initiative has now grown to include Manchester Metropolitan University ( MMU ) and Leeds Beckett University .

Students benefit enormously from placements at venues , attending working group meetings , experiencing our annual conference , and building networks in the event industry . The whole industry gains value from the fresh thinking and new

Rachel Parker

ideas that students bring , and this stream opens pathways into the industry for this new influx of talent .

2023 is going to be a big year for the Working Groups too , including our crossassociation groups like the Event Industry HR working group , MASA , Sustainability , DEI and others . We ’ ve succeeded in ‘ baking in ’ the incredible boost in engagement that the working groups experienced during

covid , and we have over 70 dates for meetings already booked into the calendar this year .

Carrying this momentum forward in 2023 , our ambition is to gradually increase the number of face-to-face meetings . Member venues are supporting us by offering more than mere meeting spaces to our working groups , extending their hospitality to include behind-the-scenes looks at events , tours of venue facilities and grounds , food , drink and even evening entertainment .

As part of the Event Industry Alliance ( EIA ), we will continue to ensure that the interests of UK business events are effectively represented , understood and communicated to the Government across the five pillars . This year will feature

the annual update to the eGuide in August , member input into our Salary Survey and the Size and Scale Index for Events ( SaSIE ) as well as continuing our work surrounding measuring the environmental impact of events and quantifying the value of the venue sector through measuring our collective economic impact .

We predict growth in membership this year , as more multi-purpose venues , smaller venues , and non-traditional venues see the advantages of sharing knowledge and gaining access to expertise and an industry voice that supports them . Now that all membership levels have access to all working groups from 1 January , there have never been more opportunities to learn , share and grow .

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