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The PoE team marked the anniversary at International Confex at the end of February, keen to shout about the main pillars of its work.

There is a good story to tell and smart new tools to tell it: The Event Industry Insight App, the Careers Hub on the main platform, and a UK-wide Schools Engagement Programme are all rolled out and building momentum. PoE founder Rick Stainton says all these initiatives were created based on suggestions from supporters and partners from across the events industry.

The Schools Engagement Programme is set to reach out for a further 250 + engagements in 2025, while the Insight app has been downloaded by over 600 organisations and over 2,000 individuals, who have been able to participate in six Pulse survey checks. The app now includes Dissertation Showcases – a collaboration with Northampton University, Greenwich University, and Manchester Metropolitan University – designed to shine a light on the research being conducted by the 2025 graduating class entering the workforce this summer.

Looking back on the two years of hard work, Stainton praises the commitment of time put in by the hundreds of volunteers, many of whom have also joined the Advisory Board and / or become‘ ambassadors’ to deliver the presentation showcase in schools and colleges.

He also gives thanks to partners who have invited the PoE to their industry events to help spread the word.“ It is refreshing to see competitive advantage put aside by so many partners who contributed to the initial success of the growth of The Power of Events,” he says.

“ If you’ re promoting the event industry and sitting behind a screen and never go out to events, then you’ re not practising what you preach. Our team has made a great effort from day one to go to as many industry live events as possible as we advocate the power of events.”

Stainton also underlines he is keen that everyone feels‘ invited’ to the project, which he stresses is“ by the industry for the industry”.“ We have an advisory board with 35 industry

Left: Rick Stainton

leaders across seven sectors. We also have a regular Task Force meeting open to any supporter.” This he claims helps foster a sense of community and ownership for all passionate about the UK events industry.

The Open Task Force is about what is current, he explains, whereas the Advisory Board is about sense checking the future plans and looking at long term strategy.

In terms of industry feedback over the two years, Stainton says one bit of advice acted on was the recommendation to concentrate on doing two or three things very well, rather than trying to tackle too many proposed projects at the same time.

This March, Edinburgh became the fourth UK region to join the Schools Engagement Programme, alongside Birmingham, South Coast and Hertfordshire, with Liverpool / Manchester / Cheshire, London and Bristol / Bath regions set to be part of it this year. Stainton says another 100 schools and 50,000 young people could be engaged by the advocacy campaign this year. EW

n You can find out more and get involved at: www. thepowerofevents. org