5 minute read
KNOWLEDGE SHARING
Time for healthy debate
StandOut reveals another tranche of amazing speakers who will share insight and best practice at Event Buyers Live 2022
Jonny Benjamin MBE has struggled with his mental health since the age of 10. As a teenager, he was diagnosed with depression. When he was 20, he was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, a combination of schizophrenia and bipolar.
Throughout his life, Benjamin spent spells in hospital; and was driven to suicidal thoughts. On one occasion, he escaped from the hospital with the intention of ending his life on London’s Waterloo Bridge. However, he was stopped by a man named Neil Laybourn, who was later found after a viral campaign. Benjamin was desperate to find and thank the man who essentially saved his life.
In 2014, Benjamin was reunited with Laybourn and the pair have remained friends ever since, sharing their story across the world and promoting the importance of wellbeing, and spreading messages about mental health awareness, understanding, and acceptance.
Mental health awareness and staff welfare are incredibly important topics, which is why Event Buyers Live (EBL) is delighted to welcome Benjamin and Laybourn to EBL this November.
Together, they will not only share their story, but will also address mental health challenges in the workplace and share practical advice on how to support co-workers and recognise the first signs of anxiety and stress.
CHARITY SUPPORT
Both Benjamin and Laybourn are ambassadors for Mental Health UK, which provides organisations with tools and support to improve mental health in the workplace. Again, EBL is delighted to reveal that Mental Health UK will support the event’s dedicated staff welfare and mental health workshop.
Claire Neal, head of workplace mental health at Mental Health UK, will join the workshop, which consists of both inspiring debate and interaction. She said of her involvement: “Supporting the mental health of your employees makes good business sense as well as being the right thing to do.
CRAIG MATHIE HELEN THACKERAY
We understand that different sectors face different challenges and Mental Health UK is delighted to be partnering with Event Buyers Live to shine a light on what good mental health looks like in the events industry and what can be done to support individual and team mental health.”
LOOK AFTER OUR PEOPLE
The dedicated workshop will invite events professionals to discuss the pressures of the events industry, the importance of staff welfare, and some of the imaginative ways that they have alleviated stress and addressed welfare at their events and within their own organisations.
Craig Mathie, managing director of Bournemouth 7s is one of several speakers to take part in this session.
Mathie said: “For many, working in events offers the most amazing exhilarating, engaging, and fun career path. However, the reality is that the pressures associated with working in our sector can push us close to the edge and it’s our absolute obligation, as an industry, to look after our people better.
“I’m incredibly passionate about improving the care and support we offer to our full-time teams, our event staff, freelancers, and volunteers. We work so hard to ensure safe and secure environments for our audiences but it’s time now to focus on the mental and emotional wellbeing of those wonderful eventprofs who make our events come to life!”
Caroline Clift, content manager of Event Buyers Live, said: “From talking to event professionals this season, it’s clear that events professionals are feeling overwhelmed. But what support is out there, and what can organisers do on-site to make life a little easier? Businesses look at the support measures that can be provided whilst in a ‘normal’ office environment, but what happens when #eventprofs step into a field? How can we as an industry create supportive environments in a field? And does an organiser’s duty of care extend to the freelancers they hire too?”
She continued: “We are proud that the workshop has the support of the charity. Furthermore, if you sign up for the event, and Tell a Friend about EBL, we’ll donate* £150 to Mental Health UK.”
ROUNDTABLES
Details of the mental health/ staff welfare workshop are some of the latest to be announced. Event Buyers Live will return in 2022, bringing together event organisers and suppliers in a structured business and networking environment at Carden Park Hotel, Chester, on November 28-30.
The industry event facilitates prearranged meetings between event organisers and suppliers. The 2022 edition of the event will continue to deliver for live events professionals that are looking to procure event services for future projects but will also provide opportunities for #eventprofs to take part in structured networking and insightful education sessions.
Last month, this magazine revealed that Professor Keith Still, Gary Beestone Associates’ Zoe Snow, and Claire Drakeley, senior lecturer, and programme leader of the BA (Hons) Events Management degree at the University of Northampton, would facilitate roundtable discussions on crowd science, large-scale event production, and events mismanagement.
This month, StandOut can reveal that Rob Wilkinson, founder and managing director of My Cause UK, will host a roundtable on volunteer management, and Helen Thackeray, chair of the Local Authority Event Organisers Group (LAEOG) and head of events at Hull City Council, will facilitate a special roundtable on working effectively with local authorities. Also joining Wilkinson and Thackeray is Josh King, VP of growth at EMC3, who will deliver a TEDx-style talk on the future of event technology, including the impact of Web3 and events in the metaverse.
Clift concluded: “We have a packed content programme, but we’ve only just scratched the surface on what’s to come. There are lots more announcements in the coming weeks, so stay tuned. Check out www.standoutmagazine.co.uk for updates and if you do one thing this week, sign up for the event – it will make a whole world of difference to the work you produce and your professional development.”
If you would like to attend Event Buyers Live 2022, visit www.eventbuyerslive.com or call the team on 01795 509113.
*Event organiser must sign up to the event, meet EBL criteria, and attend Event Buyers Live from November 28-30.
