Access All AreasAs the Power of Events reaches its two-year anniversary its founder Rick Stainton (pictured) reflects on how it has been shaped by the industry for the benefit of the industry, and outlines its ongoing purpose
Launched in February 2023, The Power of Events [POE] is a not for profit organisation that aims to better showcase, respect and value the power of the UK events industry –defining the seven core sectors as well as the partner organisations at its foundations.
The more than 350 supporters thanked on the platform for their essential help in advocating the organisation’s work including the biggest to the smallest event organisers, agencies and rights holders, the huge supply chain across hundreds of service areas, the essential freelance network as well an array of venues.
The 200+ showcased partners include online communities, associations, media publications and support organisations also showcased on the platform, offering new connections, insights and best practice – this is supported by the Events Calendar, the most comprehensive showcase of industry events.
The organisation is not an association, it is completely impartial to all sectors, regions and does not lobby government, leaving that to the associations on behalf of their specific members. It is designed to uniquely answer the question: Where’s the one place to go to learn, explore and discover all about the UK Events Industry? It is in an unrivalled position to leverage this unprecedented collective community to collaborate and deliver on key aligned projects for the benefit of the whole industry.
Future Talent
One of the few key challenges all sectors share, is to inspire and secure the best talent – so the industry suggested the launch of a UK-wide schools engagement programme which aims to engage with as many young people as possible in secondary schools education over the next five years.
Initially, the Events Industry Forum (EIF) funded a pilot in the East of England, which lead to four new regions being launched in 2024 – Birmingham, South Coast, Hertfordshire and Edinburgh, with a range of supportive sponsors enabling this to happen.
Several new regions are also being proposed to launch in 2025, including London, the South West and North West regions among others.
The POE interactive presentation with its unique content, is delivered by anyone who is passionate about the industry and so can volunteer as a schools ambassadors. It is forecast to engage 75-100,000 young people across 500-600 school visits by the end of 2025.
Having engaged 20,000+ young people as of January 2025, at the start of the presentation only 1% say they know what the events industry is or are considering a career in it – compared to an average of 65% post presentation.
The Power of Events is not a research organisation, but it can help the industry by leveraging its unique cross sectors community and profile. Hence the Events Industry Insight app was suggested by the industry and launched in 2024 – it is designed to be a more engaging 21st century digital tool, available to help associations and academia maximise their engagement with their data and insight collation projects.
Together we can evolve the multiple projects proposed by the industry to better communicate its benefits to society and the economy. with the clear vision of being the most representative, effective and collaborative showcase of the UK events industry.