“We need to focus on what we do well in business events - and that is changing lives.”

M&IT editor Paul Harvey sat down with Martin Fullard, associate director of news and content at The Business of Events and davies tanner, to discuss his new role and The Business of Events’ planned activity for 2023, as it works towards building a policy agenda ahead of the next UK general election.

They explored the independent think tank’s aims to build a stronger UK events sector and realise its economic potential through a combination of policy, advocacy, content and engagement.

On why the sector needs a plan to take to government:

“What we're doing at The Business of Events is critical. You can't talk to government unless you have a clear idea in your own mind about what it is you do, and one of the inherent problems of the events industry is our fragmentation makes it incredibly difficult to articulate what we do.

“A government doesn't have the energy to do our work for us. Essentially, we have to go to the government and say ‘This is us, this is what we can do for UK PLC. Here is the objective, here is the strategy, here are the tactics, here are the numbers.’ If you can present that case solidly, any government will listen and go ‘OK, let's explore this’.

“Without a plan, a government can't listen. It hasn't got the capacity to listen. So having a plan is fundamental. So it doesn't matter who's in power, if you present them with a proper plan, then it stands to reason that they would listen.”

On the power of business events:

“We should stop trying to compare consumer events to business events because I don't really see the point. I don't think it gets anywhere. Conferences, exhibitions, trade shows, meetings, the whole rest of it, that will never be a vote winner in the same way as festivals, sporting events and the whole rest of it.

“It does have, however, is an intrinsic value that it can grow not only economy, but it can change society. It can improve lives legitimately, and we're talking about social mobility, making people healthier, making people hopefully richer. We're talking about economic influx to a destination.

“That's a value consumption argument - but then what are the intrinsic benefits of a healthcare conference or a medical conference coming to a city? There are countless examples of conferences who have taken a social legacy to destinations.

“Remember the story of the diabetes conference in Glasgow a few years ago where they set up testing stations around the city and detected people on the street who were a risk of diabetes. That was an intrinsic value. We have to focus on that narrative and we have to not get distracted by all the bright lights of the other side of the industry. We need to focus on what we do well in business events - and that is changing lives.”

Listen now.