January 8, 2024 4 minutes reading

ECA ‘laser-focused’ on championing events with DC lawmakers

Our first weekly event news roundup for 2024 is here – with a focus on policy initiatives by industry groups and a new report on the online social habits of event organisers.

Here are the headlines:

ECA commits to work with DC lawmakers to grow business events
Nearly 25% of eventprofs feel addicted to social media: report
11 exhibition organisers partner to promote reusable stands

This all comes as time runs out for the Event Tech Survey 2024. Tell us now how digital tools are impact your live shows.

Read on for your full Week in Events roundup ⤵️

ECA to work with DC lawmakers for business events growth

The Exhibitions and Conference Alliance has pledged to be “laser-focused” on promoting business events with Washington DC lawmakers.

ECA’s statement put this central to its public policy agenda for 2024, saying it would be advocating policies which promote the role of live shows with elected officials in the Capitol and state legislatures.

Enhanced advocacy features are to be introduced by the alliance this year, with the aim of allowing industry leaders to share stories and influence policymaking.

Hervé Sedky, chair of the ECA board of directors, said: “In 2024, ECA will be laser-focused on advocating for policies to uphold the role of the business events industry in propelling economic growth, fostering job creation and empowering small businesses nationwide and globally.”

?ECA has released its 2024 public policy agenda!?https://t.co/N5pi47sZJj
— Exhibitions & Conferences Alliance (@ECAadvocacy) January 3, 2024

The five key focus areas outlined in its policy agenda are:

Securing a favourable industry environment
Facilitating international travel and commerce
Fostering industry-friendly states and cities
Leading decarbonisation initiatives
Nurturing the industry’s future workforce

Six top priorities were highlighted:

Reviving visa operations to pre-pandemic levels while modernising processing.
Backing government policies to attract and train the industry’s future workforce.
Reintroducing communicable disease coverage to event cancellation insurance.
Enhancing music licensing transparency and preventing anti-competitive behaviour.
Advancing industry-led sustainability and decarbonisation to achieve Net Zero.
Increasing awareness of the business events industry among potential future talent.

ECA co-president Marsha Flanagan added: “ECA has had a very successful 2023, but its work on behalf of our industry is just beginning.

“In the weeks and months ahead, ECA will continue to amplify the advocacy voice of the business events industry including show organisers, exhibitors, suppliers, venue, and hard-working men and women that deliver powerful events every day from coast to coast.”

More than one-fifth of eventprofs ‘mildly addicted’ to social media

More than a fifth of eventprofs feel they are addicted to social media, according to a new survey.

Northstar Meetings Group’s latest report shows 21% felt they have a “mild addiction”, while 4% of believe their usage is out of control.

Mobile devices like smartphones were attributed as a major factor in increased social media usage, with 66% mentioning using their phones to check accounts.

Other findings include:

A third (33%) of the respondents said they checked their social media accounts more than six times a day
Around 40% said they spend at least a quarter of their online time on social platforms like LinkedIn and Instagram
Only 26% of those surveyed felt they were “always in control”
A total of 63% said they spent too much time on social media
Around 19% said social media use is negatively impacting their mental health

Employer policies were also partly responsible – 46% of the respondents said they have been asked to use their personal social media account for work purposes, with one in six saying it made them ‘feel uncomfortable’.

Marketing activities to drive registrations, sponsors and exhibitors were the most cited reasons for social media use by event professionals at 64%, followed by post-event content sharing at 60%.

The report, created in collaboration with IHG Hotels and Resorts, was conducted among 176 meeting professionals across 32 countries from November to December 2023.

Group of organisers partner for reusable stands programme

A group of 11 exhibition organisers are launching a pilot programme to replace single-use stands with reusable structures.

Better Stand intends to find ways to make adopting more sustainable options for different organisations easier, which would reduce the need for disposable booths.

The organisers are Clarion Events, Hyve, IMEX, Informa, AMP Events, Montgomery Group, Raccoon Media Group, Reset Connect, ReThink, Terrapin and Faversham House.

Each will select one or more events from their portfolio to implement Better Stands.

Better Stands will categorise based on the extent of stand or booth reuse/recycling.

Organisers can achieve Bronze, Silver or Gold status by incorporating recycled elements into their stand design.

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