23 minute read
Conferences & Events
Benefit from getting back to live events
After enduring the shutdown of the events industry through COVID, GB looks at the up-and-coming conferences & exhibitions of interest to the public sector
After grinding to a halt during lockdown, more than 440,000 conferences and meetings worth £4.9bn took place across the UK from May last year, according to the annual UK Conference and Meeting Survey (UKCAMS).
The UK entered lockdown on 23 March 2020 to curb the spread of Covid-19, but small business events for up to 30 were permitted to run between late July and October of that year, before the second wave took hold. This prompted the Government to apply its ‘Step’ system in January 2021, which enabled restricted capacity events to run from May before a full unlocking took place in July - cut short at the end of November as the ‘Omicron’ variant spread, writing off December for many organisers and venues.
Live events reinsurance
The Government’s Live Events Reinsurance Scheme, which closes in September, has paved the way for a busy summer events season, giving event organisers the ability to insure against the most severe coronavirus-related risk. The Government acted as a reinsurer to support names such as Munich Re, Beazley, Arch, Dale Underwriting Partners, Hiscox and Ark.
The scheme has already provided over £100 million worth of cover. Events supported across the UK include Wimbledon, The BRIT Awards, Birmingham’s Spring Fair and the London Art Fair. It has also supported important community events such as the Shaftesbury Book Fair, the Cardiff Half Marathon and the Gloucester Quays Christmas Outdoor Ice Rink.
In the West Midlands, events totalling £13 million have been covered, including the National Running Show and MACH 2022 at Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre. More than £3 million has been spent towards events in the North West, including Virgin Radio’s Big Thank You Tour and the Federation of Small Businesses Awards. The reinsurance scheme is scheduled to end as planned on 30 September in line with the Government’s Living with Covid plan.
Events strategy in Wales
A new strategy to help create jobs and spread economic prosperity has been launched today by Wales’ economy minister, Vaughan Gething. The National Events Strategy for Wales 2022-2030 builds on the unprecedented growth of events in Wales over the past two decades. During that time, Wales has supported major international events such as the Ryder Cup in 2010, Womex 2013, the NATO summit in 2014, Ashes Tests, the UEFA Champions League Final in 2017, and stopover of the Volvo Ocean Race in 2018.
The new strategy has been developed in partnership with the events industry and is designed to encourage outstanding, crossWales events that support the economic, social, cultural and environmental well-being of people, places and the planet. It is aimed at ensuring that events expand on the contribution they make to the seven goals of the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act.
The strategy recommends identifying and promoting Wales’ natural assets, such as coastlines and landscape, so they can be built into the delivery and promotion of events in Wales.
Gething, said:“Wales is well known for our warm Welsh welcome and outstanding hospitality. What has been achieved in the last twenty years in terms of hosting and delivering events in Wales is nothing short of remarkable. From being a new and relatively unknown host and generator of events – we’ve now reached a stage of maturity with extensive experience and an impressive list of successes as part of our reputation as an events host.
“Covid, of course, interrupted this growth,
and the impact of the pandemic cannot be underestimated. The events sector was one The Live Events Reinsurance Scheme, which closes in September, has paved the way for a busy summer events season of the first to close, and last to open. The importance of events to the visitor economy and the well-being of the nation was recognised by the support the Welsh Government provided to the sector under the Cultural Recovery Fund and the close, open and robust engagement we had with stakeholders during the pandemic. “That level of engagement and vital cooperative working between the sector and Government was one of the few positives that came from the pandemic. Our work will now continue to draw on the partnerships forged over the last two years – this is a strategy for the whole sector – for us to deliver together – and make amazing things happen in unusual and unlikely places.”
Sustainable future
Meanwhile, events industry sustainability body isla is seeking nominations to expand its advisory board, ensuring it is as representative as possible of all industry stakeholder groups. The advisory board was created to contribute to isla’s primary aim of supporting the events sector’s transition to a more sustainable future. The expansion aims to provide insights and sentiments from across a variety of sector and stakeholder groups and organisations, driving increased collaboration. Anna Abdelnoor, CEO and co-founder, commented: “Collaboration is fundamental to ensure a common vision as we advance our industry. We want to create an inclusive, representative, and committed advisory board to enable us to better inform, and accelerate, the work we’ve achieved since our launch in September 2020.”
FURTHER INFORMATION
Live Events Reinsurance tinyurl.com/5adshck6
Wales Event Strategy tinyurl.com/2kmmkchj
IMHX 2022 Logistics Solutions Show
6-8 September NEC, Birmingham
As supply chains continue to deal with unforeseen challenges, IMHX offers an opportunity to see the latest equipment in action, form strong industry connections and discover next-generation technology. New for 2022 is The Sustainability Zone, which will provide insights into how to enhance the sustainability of logistics operations. This year, the conference is themed ‘Sustainability – People, Innovation & Infrastructure and Technology’.
FURTHER INFORMATION
www.imhx.net
RWM / Letsrecycle Live
14-15 September NEC Birmingham
Waste and recycling services are among the most visible services councils run. RWM and Letsrecycle Live give local authority environmental and waste management professionals a chance to talk directly with suppliers, service providers, manufacturers, retailers, Government officials and other local authorities. Six zones will each feature dedicated seminar theatres and exhibitors with the latest recycling & waste management solutions. Also taking place is Contamination & Geotechnical Expo, which gives environmental professionals the opportunity to further the diagnosis, management and remediation of contaminated land. Flood Expo serves as a platform to improve flood management, flood prediction, prevention and response, sustainable urban drainage, natural flood management, civil engineering and water preservation.
FURTHER INFORMATION
www.rwmexhibition.com www.contaminationexpo.com www.thefloodexpo.co.uk
Connected Britain
20-21 September Business Design Centre, London
Connected Britain explores how next generation broadband technologies are enabling new opportunities for industry verticals, businesses, communities, and individuals. It covers the technology, regulation and investment environment for the rollout of next generation networks in the UK. Speaking is Jon Burt, Lead Enterprise Architect, Greater Manchester Combined Authority.
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Big Data LDN
21-22 September Olympia London
The programme at data & analytics conference and exhibition Big Data LDN has been curated with the entire data team in mind, from AI to Data Ops. Attendees have access to free onsite data consultancy and interactive evening community meetups, with the event featuring over 100 leading technology vendors, 200 expert speakers in 12 conference theatres and real-world use-cases.
FURTHER INFORMATION
www.bigdataldn.com
Emergency Services Show
21-22 September NEC Birmingham
The Emergency Services Show is the UK’s annual showcase for the blue light sector, featuring over 450 exhibitors, live demonstrations, earning opportunities and networking opportunities. The two-day event brings together all disciplines from the emergency services sector and features over 90 CPD accredited seminar sessions across five theatres – Emerging Technologies, First Responder, Health & Wellbeing, Lessons Learnt and The Future Policing Theatre.
FURTHER INFORMATION
www.emergencyuk.com UK Construction Week Birmingham
4-6 October NEC Birmingham
A dedicated Net Zero area at UK Construction Week will showcase the latest innovations to help make the built environment become more sustainable. The ZERO Workshop Hub will focus on digital tools, methods and skills that improve the performance of projects and lead to lower emissions. The hub will also explore material selection, construction plant, equipment, transport and the role of technology and digitalisation in these areas.
FURTHER INFORMATION
www.ukconstructionweek.com
Employee Benefits Live
5 October ExCeL London
For all HR professionals, Employee Benefits Live is a two day event which offers an extensive editorially-driven conference and exhibition, providing insight to the HR industry. Speakers include Dr Antonia Dietmann, head of employee engagement at the Ministry of Justice and former special forces operative Ollie Ollerton.
FURTHER INFORMATION
www.employeebenefitslive.co.uk
International Cyber Expo
27-28 September NEC Birmingham
Taking place alongside International Security Expo, this year International Cyber Expo expands into a dedicated hall, creating a meeting place for CISOs, CTOs, government officials and cyber security specialists to connect and source products from the thriving cyber security market. The seminar programme features experts focused on protecting multinational businesses, government and critical national infrastructure.
FURTHER INFORMATION
The Care Show
12-13 October NEC Birmingham
The Care Show brings together the key thought leaders and suppliers in the care sector. Over two days, the comprehensive programme educates, inspires and provides an opportunity to meet other influential professionals across different social care offerings. The conference programme delivers accredited CPD education with the exhibition space featuring over 200 suppliers and places for networking.
FURTHER INFORMATION
The Events Industry Council Centre for Sustainability and Social Impact has released new Sustainable Event Standards with the aim of improving environmental and social responsibility in the events industry
The global events industry has the ability and responsibility to drive meaningful change, create welcoming communities and improve society through actions. The Events Industry Council’s (EIC) Centre for Sustainability and Social Impact, dedicated to providing globally relevant resources that champion the adoption of sustainable and socially impactful practices, has launched an enhanced version of its Sustainable Event Standards, a set of eight standards designed to assess events and industry suppliers in support of environmental and social responsibility.
Originally created in 2019 to replace the APEX/ASTM Environmentally Sustainable Meeting Standards, the Sustainable Event Standards provide guidance and metrics for event professionals at all stages of their sustainability journey. They also contain the necessary support to implement and measure sustainable practices.
EIC began a consultation process in 2019 to review the standards, including surveys, webinars and sessions with key contributors. In total, more than 300 individuals from over 20 countries provided feedback, including members from more than 20 industry associations.
Education, tools and resources
The updates include a new Foundations Level, which replaces the ‘Industry Wide Criteria’ and has a greater emphasis on education, tools and resources to support adoption. Criteria, assessment and guidance have been updated for greater flexibility for regional adaptation, and have been expanded in areas of diversity, equity and inclusion, accessibility and climate action. Points values were also adjusted to reflect materiality and investment. A new integrated property standard has been introduced to incorporate elements of the accommodation, venue and food and beverage standard for properties that offer all three services. A new certification model for industry suppliers that now includes a comprehensive audit in the first and fourth years and surveillance audits for
a smaller number of criteria for the second and third years was introduced for suppliers. A streamlined process for events using the same suppliers was also added. The Event Standard now clearly indicates the responsibilities for the event organiser and for their suppliers in meeting the standard’s criteria.
First Steps
Mariela McIlwraith, chief sustainability officer at the Events Industry Council’s Centre for Sustainability and Social Impact, said: “As an industry, we are making some progress in the areas of environmental action and social impact, but the reality is we need to do much more. The standards form a comprehensive framework and provide specific guidance in the areas of organisational management, marketing, communication and engagement, climate action, materials and circularity, supply chain management and social impact.” “We know that for many organisations, getting started in sustainability and social impact can seem daunting. To address this, we’ve introduced a new Foundations Level certificate that provides the guidance needed The Sustainable Event Standards provide guidance and metrics for event professionals at all stages of their journey to develop the policies, plans needed to start the journey. The EIC Sustainable Event Standards are the next step, and through thirdparty auditing, they provide credibility and transparency for our industry’s stakeholders.” Stephanie Glanzer, CMP, Senior Vice President & Chief Sales Officer of MGM Resorts International said: “MGM Resorts International is proud to support the Events Industry Council Centre for Sustainability and Social Impact and the launch of the standards. As MGM Resorts is focused on what matters: embracing humanity and protecting the planet, we are deeply committed to the continued education of sustainability standards within the meetings and event industry. We fully align with EIC on this important initiative and celebrate the future of this partnership.”
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The Destination office
While the office remains the place for collaboration and decision-making, a working space that encourages people to attend strengthens the value of the office real estate. Visavvi has a track record in creating environments that employees love to use
Over the last two years the Covid pandemic has affected and influenced working cultures on a huge scale. Initially organisations scrambled to equip their employees with technology that enabled them to be productive whilst working from home thus helping drive a video-enabled meeting revolution. Many individuals embraced the improved work life balance, enjoyed more comfortable and attractive surroundings, and gained instant, unrestricted access to tools that improved their productivity and job satisfaction. The lifting of restrictions and an ability to gradually return to the workplace saw the emergence of hybrid working, where employees divided their time between working at home and the office.
The traditional office
As employers struggle with the challenges of retaining and recruiting talent into their business, ensuring employees are comfortable in their workplace is going to become more and more important, with many UK employees confident that they could easily find a new role if they decided to move company. The challenge is to create workplaces that employees want to go to rather than need to go. Providing attractive, comfortable, informal, flexible and highly effective workplaces will be critical to employee retention, recruitment and morale for the future.
Work patterns may have changed but the office remains a centre point for key decision making, collaboration and crucially for building a corporate identity and maintaining team moral.
The Destination office
In simple terms a Destination office is a location people want to go to, not one they have to. By creating an environment that encourages people to attend a physical workplace, it strengthens the value of the office real estate.
The look and feel of the office space should create a relaxed feeling, one that puts staff wellbeing at the centre of workplace design. The spaces need to reflect modern collaborative workflows and styles including collaboration, meeting, huddle, project, agile, scrum, group and personal video collaboration. Each space needs to be equipped with suitable furniture, decoration, lighting, acoustic conditioning and of course technology that empowers users.
Environments need to be comfortable, inspiring, productive, effective, and available. Technology needs to be intuitive, flexible and provide enhanced communication and collaboration capabilities beyond those available when working from home.
Key technologies driving Destination workplaces are likely to include:
Microsoft Team Rooms and Zoom Rooms
Employees returning to the workplace are looking for ways to use the same collaboration tools they have so successfully used at home, within the office environment. Powered by Microsoft and Zoom platforms, any meeting space can be transformed into a professional, feature-rich, video-enabled collaboration environment experience for all participants.
As a retrofit to an existing AV system or as a new installation, these certified solutions transform meeting spaces into highly effective collaboration and natural communication hubs.
Occupancy management systems
Crucially when employees attend the office, they need to know they have a space to work. Likewise, employers need to know if these spaces are used effectively, and which spaces are in most demand. Desk and room booking solutions allow staff to quickly reserve hot desks and meeting rooms easily. Centrally managed and monitored, these solutions allow workplace managers to accurately make decisions regarding future workplace design and utilisation.
Interactive collaboration screens
One of the biggest frustrations for home workers is the lack of interactive collaboration between colleagues. Touch screen collaboration devices such as the Microsoft Surface Hub, Avocor and Clevertouch provide a large powerful canvas where colleagues work on content, plans and projects together. They provide an experience that cannot be replicated in the home office and actively create the opportunity for professional team interaction.
Content collaboration
Many users will want to use their own device in the meeting room, so spaces need to be designed to facilitate this. Solutions based around bring your own device (BYOD) and bring your own meeting (BYOM) enable laptops to be used as effective, productive collaboration hubs in the meeting room. With solutions such as the Barco clickshare conference, meeting participants simply click and connect wirelessly to in-room displays and videocollaboration devices. Using wireless content sharing positively transforms the user experience and productivity of any meeting space.
Immersive collaboration rooms
Using immersive, virtual reality technologies creates stimulating and visually stunning environments where users exist within their content as it is displayed around the entire room. Any content can be displayed with ease in these immersive space, creating an environment where meetings become more productive, training sessions become more stimulating, and ideas and designs come to life.
Visavvi - an SCC business
Visavvi are multi award-winning workplace technology experts and have over five decades of experience designing and implementing ingenious business collaboration environments. With global businesses and large public sector clients, Visavvi harness technology to create intuitive, agile meeting and collaboration environments that people love to use. L
FURTHER INFORMATION
www.visavvi.com 0370 606 1100
Advertisement Feature Supporting the public sector with hardship payments
Last year, the coronavirus pandemic impacted many families across the country. Throughout these unprecedented times, we supported local authorities and educational establishments across the UK in providing much needed support to vulnerable members of their communities. Since March 2020, we’ve worked in partnership with over 150 clients and distributed over 1.3 million free school meal vouchers and over £120 million in funds from public sector bodies in the shape of hardship funds and customer payments.
As one of 13 suppliers on Crown Commercial Service’s Voucher Schemes framework, we’re able to continue to support public sector organisations via the provision of food vouchers, hardship payments, free school meal vouchers, local voucher schemes, consumer reward and survey completion incentives. We pride ourselves on our ability to bring people and organisations together in a way that makes a real difference to people’s lives and being on the framework ensures that support continues for our public sector partners.
We provide public sector bodies with access to an end-to-end voucher delivery system which is not only secure, but simple to use! All our customers benefit from a fully managed service with dedicated scheme management and customer care support. But don’t just take our word for it, here’s what our customers, North Aryshire and Highland Councils, had to say about working with Sodexo:
North Ayrshire Council - provision of free school meal vouchers:
Alongside North Ayrshire, we developed a multi-store voucher solution allowing recipients to select from the main supermarket retailers depending on which was local to them.
A voucher ordering form was created so the council could easily place orders every two weeks. Once the order was received, parents would receive the vouchers within a 48-hour window or less.
To help parents and carers understand the scheme, we created a demonstration video alongside a step-by-step guide on how to redeem their voucher. Our Customer Care team was also on hand to help any parent that had questions.
Here’s what Neil McAleese, Business Planning Team Manager for North Ayrshire Council, had to say about working with us: “Our requirement for the services of Sodexo came on the back of the Covid-19 Pandemic. We had to implement a solution quickly which was flexible in terms of frequency of the vouchers, continuing to provide a workable solution for parents, and meeting our own budgetary pressures. Sodexo have been excellent throughout, with fantastic client service managers who provide continuous support.
“From the outset, Sodexo were transparent in how they charged for the service which allowed for a streamlined procurement process for both parties. From a parent’s perspective, the choice of retailers has been warmly received and this has undoubtedly contributed to the overall success of our pandemic food voucher programme. Sodexo have provided a flexible, practical and easy system which has been of huge benefit to North Ayrshire families.”
Highland Council - free school meal voucher programme:
Due to the closure of schools last year, the Highland Council needed to ensure that they could continue to support local families across their county. We worked with them to provide a multi-store digital voucher scheme that would allow vouches to be issued to eligible families to purchase food at their selected supermarket.
They placed bulk voucher requests with our team, which were then released to them to be distributed locally to their families by email. Once notified, parents could then log on to our platform to redeem their voucher code for an e-voucher to spend at their chosen major supermarket chain.
To ensure that the parents and carers understood how to access the scheme we created a tailored communications campaign which included an e-book, factsheet, and an information sheet for parents. Our Customer Care Team was also available to assist with any queries from the Council’s Welfare Resilience Team and parents and carers.
Shelia McKandie, head of Revenue and Business Support for The Highland Council, said: “We knew that we needed to implement a fast-paced solution to support thousands of families in Highland, with minimal disruption for parents and carers. Sodexo have been wonderful to work with throughout the whole process!
“The availability of the helpline and how quickly any issues were resolved was a big plus for us. We’ve had really positive feedback from the families we support, across a diverse and vast geographical area, in what has been a really challenging health and economic crisis.”
If you’re looking to provide vouchers to specific customer groups - we can help! We provide flexible voucher choices to suit your requirements, a choice of over 100 retailer brands, an easy-to-use platform backed by award-winning customer support.
Get in touch today to see how we can support you. You can learn more below L
FURTHER INFORMATION
Tel: 01908 303477 sodexoengage.com/voucher-schemes ccs.framework@sodexo.com.
Levelling up with digital
The pandemic forced the government to work more quickly to meet policy objectives through the use of digital technologies. In June, the government announced its Transforming for a digital future: 2022 to 2025 roadmap for digital and data policy. Through the use of digital and data, the policy aims to improve government efficiency and help level up the regions
The roadmap was produced by the Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO) in collaboration with central government departments and digital experts inside and outside of government. It sets out a common cross-government vision for 2025 and includes specific actions that need to be taken to achieve this vision.
The minister responsible for the implementation of the policy is Heather Wheeler MP, Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office – the 12th minister to oversee digital government in less than seven years. She was appointed to this role in February, in addition to her role as an Assistant Government Whip, having previously held positions as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. She has been Conservative MP for South Derbyshire since May 2010.
Wheeler’s joy
Self-proclaimed as being “one up from a Luddite”, Wheeler told Public Technology: “I will struggle to work out where the bit at the back of the computer goes in that does the bit at the front of the computer.” “And I really like using a mouse! I don’t like using that square thing in the middle, with your finger moving it around. So, this has been… [not just about] about transforming civil service: it has been about transforming minister Wheeler! But it’s been a joy – it’s been an absolute joy.”
The roadmap is for central government departments and at this stage, is not directly applicable to local government or devolved administrations. The CDDO and the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities are working with local government to help create alignment with these plans by supporting reform of local services and, where appropriate, encouraging join up with central government services. Looking at the policy, there are areas that could be rolled out to local government, but with the recent wave of resignations, with the Levelling Up department particularly hard hit, it is not clear when this will happen.
As the policy itself notes, previous strategies have been lacking in specificity, crossgovernment endorsement, clear lines of accountability and business ownership. As a result, previous programmes have not delivered results and have been shut down.
Policy goals
The policy explains that government ambitions such as Net Zero and Levelling up could be delivered more effectively through wider use of digital and data. In this context, “digital” refers to a technology-enabled way of working using modern tools, techniques and capabilities, whilst “data” refers to digital information about people, things and systems.
According to the policy, improving the use of digital and data will enable government to operate more efficiently. As the use of digital and data has improved greatly in many fields over the last two years due to the pandemic,
we can see this progress of efficiency in organisations in the public and private sector which have become more productive after digital transformation, with the digital services and technology they use running more efficiently and at lower cost. Improving digitally enabled ways of working is part of the government’s A new Digital Skills Council will be created, bringing together tech leaders to address the current digital skills gap levelling up strategy, as it will enable Civil Service jobs to move to different locations across the UK, and not just be focussed in London and the South East. The policy claims that a smarter, more efficient digital government will help grow Britain’s digital economy and attract talent from around the world and digital services will enable people in the UK to access the information and services they need, allowing the UK to reclaim its position as a world leader in digital government.
Environmental benefits
The policy also claims that improving digitisation of government will have a positive environmental impact and lead to lower carbon footprints with more efficient services, less need for face-to-face meetings and less use of paper. Another listed benefit of the policy is improved cyber security, as government organisations are a prime target for cyber attacks. Successful attacks on government departments can disrupt services, steal data or spread misinformation. Some government departments have already started investing in digital technology. E
