Latest / Event Industry News Podcast / beam Unites: How Venues, Agents and Suppliers Are Shaping the Events Industry
Transcript
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- 0:27Hello everybody, welcome along to the Event Industry News Podcast
- 0:32with me, James Dixon, wishing you all a very good morning, afternoon, or evening whenever
- 0:35or wherever you join today's podcast from. And on
- 0:39the Event Industry News Podcast, we often talk about trade associations.
- 0:42We've spoken to all manner of associations on the podcast
- 0:46over the years, and it always gives us a great opportunity to find out what's
- 0:50happening behind the scenes among the companies, the organizers,
- 0:54the venues that are making the industry tick. And that's certainly
- 0:58going to be the case today with not one but two guests who are joining
- 1:01the podcast today from the BEAM Association, who many
- 1:04of our podcast followers will be aware of, but inevitably
- 1:09there will be people listening and watching today who haven't heard of them.
- 1:12So as usual, we're going to frame exactly what the organization is and meet our
- 1:17guests. I'm delighted to say that joining the Event Industry News podcast today,
- 1:20first of all, is David Tremell and also Louisa Watson.
- 1:24Good morning to you both, David and Louisa. Good morning. Good morning.
- 1:28And yeah, unlike sort of a usual episode of the podcast where I
- 1:32would give a little bit of an intro to the guest, who they are,
- 1:35the company that they work for, both of my guests today have their,
- 1:38I suppose, quote-unquote day jobs and organizations and places that they
- 1:42work at whilst also being involved in representing the Beam organization.
- 1:47So Louisa, let's start with you first of all. Good morning to you
- 1:50and tell us a little bit about yourself and First of all, day job,
- 1:54and then your link into Beam. Yeah,
- 1:57so my day job is Marketing Director and
- 2:01Sustainability Lead for Wight Boston Lakes Resort in Bedfordshire,
- 2:06Cambridgeshire. I say both shires because the
- 2:10land actually sits in both places, bizarrely.
- 2:13And yeah, it's a fairly full-on
- 2:16day job. But I'm also very
- 2:20well connected with Beam in that I've been working
- 2:24with Beam since 2014, and I've been a
- 2:29director for Beam since 2021. I was
- 2:33chair last year, accompanied by David,
- 2:37who was then my vice chair last year as well, and I've
- 2:41continued supporting David in his year of chair this year,
- 2:45and it's been, it's been a brilliant couple of years, I have to say,
- 2:48a really brilliant couple of years. And my year
- 2:53as chair last year was quite significant in that it was the first time
- 2:58in the Association, in the kind of 28 years of
- 3:02the Association, that a venue had been chair
- 3:06of the Association because it is an agent
- 3:10association set up by agents for agents, so that's quite
- 3:14critical. The agents still have casting vote
- 3:18on the board, there's 60% of agents
- 3:22that sit around the board table, and that's written into the governance
- 3:26rules, so that's quite key that that is still
- 3:30upheld. And just before we move on to David then,
- 3:34having mentioned that it was the first time that a venue had been chair
- 3:39of the association. Could you just, just expand a little bit for people who
- 3:43are not aware of what Wye Boston Lakes is as a venue and what,
- 3:46what it is you've actually got there on site? Yeah,
- 3:49we're— Wye Boston Lakes is a, it's a privately owned venue, it's still
- 3:52family owned, um, 380 acres, um,
- 3:57and we've got 3 main venues on site,
- 4:01um, that's the Woodlands Event Centre, the Willows Training Center and
- 4:05the Drift Inn. They're all residential. We have around 430-ish
- 4:10bedrooms. I say that because we, we've just added a few more and I haven't
- 4:13done the, the recent calculation. Um,
- 4:17and, um, it— we've also got serviced offices
- 4:20on site. We've got golf, got a beautiful 18-hole golf course.
- 4:24Um, and we've got a beautiful spa as well.
- 4:27Um, a health club and a nature reserve
- 4:31as well on site, along with a great big, um,
- 4:34water sports centre and, and lakes as well.
- 4:37So it's quite expensive. Yeah, it's quite extensive. I,
- 4:41I've, I've been there a couple of times, but I, I, as I said,
- 4:44I— it was important that you frame that first of all because it is,
- 4:47it is, you know, your bread and butter is, is, you know, good conferencing events.
- 4:52As you said, you've got the, the, the residential facilities on site.
- 4:55So, you know, the events that I've, I've attended there and worked
- 4:59at there on a couple of occasions, have very much been around companies who've
- 5:03been there for sort of team building, 2-3 days on site.
- 5:07So yeah, it's important that we frame that before we move on to you,
- 5:10David, and just ask the same question, a little bit about yourself, what the day
- 5:14job is, and your role within Beam. Mine's not as glamorous
- 5:18as Louise's. What are you talking about?
- 5:21I can't believe a word of it, James. So I
- 5:26run a business called In Loco Events, and we're a venue
- 5:30finder predominantly, but we do event management as well. So we do— we
- 5:34have clients from all different sectors. So we do, like I said, venue finding,
- 5:38which is just finding venues and sorting contracts out for clients. Then we've got
- 5:42the full-on, full-circle event management that we do as well.
- 5:45We've just done a recent one in Amsterdam which went well,
- 5:48and we do events that
- 5:52across the globe, really. I mean, we say across the globe, a few in Australia,
- 5:54Chicago. Um, but yeah, that's what we do as a
- 5:57day job. So I'm director, we've got 5 of us in the team.
- 6:01Um, it's a great little small, small business. Um, the glamorous
- 6:05side of that, I know that Louisa touched on her venue and everything, is that
- 6:08we get to go and see lovely venues like Louisa's, uh,
- 6:11and get to experience that, whether it be the venue itself
- 6:16or the accommodation, the, the the, the entertainment they put on for us.
- 6:20Um, you know, we, we're lucky in that respect that we can go
- 6:24and see some wonderful venues around it, not just worldwide but the UK,
- 6:29you know, whether it be Scotland, Ireland, Wales, or England. Um, so as
- 6:33that's my day job, which is full-time and
- 6:37pressurized, and then we go into Beam. Um, so if you're talking about
- 6:41Beam, I have been in Beam now for coming up,
- 6:45well, once this is done, 3 years, Lou, I think it is. I basically
- 6:49did what I suppose we'd like all sort of boards to do,
- 6:53is I came in and then did my first
- 6:57year, then went in with Louisa and had
- 7:01my vice chair with Louisa, which sort of gave me the stepping stone to
- 7:05then go into chair. So watching Louisa do what she
- 7:09did and then thinking, okay, I've got going into chair, how do we change that
- 7:12up slightly and bring me into that? And with
- 7:16Louisa's guidance and the board as well, I've now come in and now we've got
- 7:20a year and I'm with Lyndon Beattie from Down Hall.
- 7:24He's a great vice chair, so now I've got a
- 7:28vice chair but also got Louisa sort of there as well as past chair helping.
- 7:32And our year, this year has been different,
- 7:35hasn't it, Lou? It's been more about predominantly advocacy, which is
- 7:39my role in BEE. And we wanted to make sure that we
- 7:43gave BEAM a bigger voice than
- 7:46we'd had before. We'd worked really hard to make sure
- 7:51we'd got into what I would say was in a position where we could go
- 7:54out and shout. We just wanted to strengthen that, and this
- 7:58year we've all worked very hard to make sure that BEAM has a
- 8:03voice but also stands out, which I think we are achieving.
- 8:07And that's great. I think
- 8:11it was— it's— I don't think it was when you started
- 8:16this, David, correct me if I'm wrong, I don't think it was necessarily
- 8:20about making sure that BEAM had a voice. I think you are very
- 8:24passionate about the industry and I think you wanted to make sure
- 8:28that the industry had a voice and I think that this year David's been very
- 8:31good about collaborating with other associations
- 8:36this year, because collaboration has been a big, a big part of my year
- 8:40last year. Um, and David has, has kind of followed that through
- 8:44this year and, and taken that, you know, in, into his
- 8:48heart with the advocacy piece and bringing in, you know, the MIA
- 8:52and BTA and ABTO,
- 8:54AEIA, to make sure that the industry has a
- 8:59voice. And is being heard. I agree,
- 9:02yeah, I absolutely agree. I mean, you know,
- 9:06you spent certainly your year making sure
- 9:09you vocalise that as well, and I think we've just pushed this year and strengthened
- 9:13it. And you're right, I do have a passion for it. It isn't just about
- 9:16BIM, it is about the industry, because without an industry there is no BIM,
- 9:20there is no MIA, there is no BTA. And that's really important that
- 9:24we go out and showcase us together. I think we
- 9:27spent so much time over the years being quite
- 9:32disconnected as associations, and I sort of get that. I understood
- 9:36that because I understand that everybody has their own memberships,
- 9:40they have their own voices, they have their— you know, the members come up and
- 9:43they'll tell you things that they want to talk about and they want you to
- 9:46go and shout about. But actually, actually, when you talk to all the associations,
- 9:50the crossover is is, is very much the same.
- 9:54And actually, if you come together in, in a collaborative format,
- 9:58your voice is so much stronger. Um, and there's, there's so much more
- 10:01happening in the background now, obviously, which we can't say here.
- 10:05But I think, you know, it's like everything— watch this space. You know, we are,
- 10:09we are making changes, and they're changes that will be very
- 10:13good for us as an industry. Um, and it's bringing back
- 10:16power to us. Rather than it being diluted and government
- 10:20sort of taking us for, you know, being that disjointed.
- 10:25They can see that, and that's why they do the things they do.
- 10:28Could I ask, and this might seem like a really obvious question, but I think
- 10:32it's again another important one, similar to why I asked Louisa about
- 10:35what, you know, to frame exactly what your venue is and what you do,
- 10:39David, um, who are the, the,
- 10:43the members? Is there a niche sector? Is there a specific sector
- 10:47of the events industry that, you know, BEAM members come from?
- 10:51What does your membership comprise? Who are those people? Again, just to give some clarity
- 10:55to people listening today. We're very much going back in the day,
- 10:59and correct me if I'm wrong, Lou, with the HBA, it was very much venues
- 11:03and agencies. That's what it was. The nature
- 11:07of obviously BEAM changing, that changed as
- 11:11in terms of membership. Because we were trying to open it
- 11:15up to make sure we, we involved the whole of our industry.
- 11:18So that now has creative agencies, it has AV companies,
- 11:22it has tech companies, it has the venues, it has the agencies,
- 11:28and that brings all of those together under our
- 11:31memberships. So actually, when we're talking about the problems,
- 11:35everybody has a voice within the membership that then feeds into the board,
- 11:39and then we can go out and then go, actually, these are the different areas,
- 11:41this is where the problem is, and it's actually easier for us
- 11:45to talk about our industry because we've got that underneath it. You've got the
- 11:49members voicing that. So we, we are very open as an association
- 11:53now to bringing everybody under the one roof of BEAP.
- 11:57Um, yeah, I think the association is a lot more inclusive,
- 12:02um, than it used to be back in the day. You know, I remember,
- 12:06I remember conversations thinking about, well, that person can't join because
- 12:09they're XYZ, and, you know, that agency doesn't fit
- 12:13in because they're not a, you know, they're not a booking agent,
- 12:17you know, they're a creative, you know. Now it's, it is much more inclusive.
- 12:21Any, anybody that is in that supply chain basically to,
- 12:25to mice and events and accommodation,
- 12:29um, will fit in. Well, I guess if you're hosting an event,
- 12:32and what this sort of leads us on to talking about the forum, um,
- 12:35that, that, that that are being run, it is if you run an
- 12:39association that's only made up of, of organizations who all do
- 12:43the same thing effectively, then when you bring them together in one
- 12:46space to talk to each other, they're competing. So really all they
- 12:50end up doing is whinging about the, you know, all the same issues that they
- 12:53face rather than actually developing relationships that they can take away from there to actually
- 12:57work together collaboratively. Whereas if your association actually encompasses
- 13:01a lot of different people in the supply chain the events that you operate,
- 13:04I guess, are opening up more opportunities for collaboration,
- 13:07for people to work together rather than just getting together and having a bit of
- 13:11a moan under one roof. Yeah, I think you're right. Yeah, I think you're right
- 13:14there. And it also feeds into a code of practice as well,
- 13:18because actually I think everybody underneath as well, creating relationships
- 13:22is best practice in business as well. So actually pulling people
- 13:26in that wouldn't normally sit in our association, means that
- 13:30we can all work together and do best business, and that's really
- 13:34important. That's, you know, ethical business and just the way we work together,
- 13:38making sure that we are looking after each other, I suppose.
- 13:42You know, whether it comes to education, collaboration, whatever it might be,
- 13:46actually having them in the fold under that as well
- 13:49means that we can work together better. I think
- 13:54as well with the Forum, James, when If
- 13:58you go back to last year, to the forum last year, which was held at
- 14:02London Novotel West and was a fantastic
- 14:06event, the whole kind of
- 14:11Relationships 2.0 and human connection
- 14:16was how we led with that to kind of bring
- 14:19everything back down to what was important and what matters.
- 14:24And I think that because we'd had the pandemic years before that,
- 14:28it was probably, um, still in everybody's
- 14:32mind that human connection is, you know, what makes everybody tick.
- 14:36Um, in business, in personal lives, it's what makes
- 14:40us all tick. And part of the reason, a big part
- 14:44of the reason why people join Beam is always for
- 14:49networking. It's always, you know, What people— why did you join
- 14:52BEAM? For the networking. And networking is really just the
- 14:56start of the story. Networking, in my mind, is just the introduction.
- 14:59Hello, my name is so-and-so, pleased to meet you. That's networking.
- 15:04Relationships is what comes after that. And I think that that
- 15:08was what I wanted to try and get out of it, better relationships
- 15:12for us all, whether we compete, whether we do business together,
- 15:16whether it's just a good to know you because I might you know,
- 15:20need to speak to you in the future, it doesn't really matter. Some of
- 15:24the best relationships I've got are with my competitors,
- 15:28and I think that that respect
- 15:33within that community is what makes it so special.
- 15:37Yeah, but, and I guess when it comes to— I've always thought
- 15:42of this, you know, when you're working with a competitor in a competitive marketplace,
- 15:46you know, you're all about promoting, and this is exactly what Beam does, you know,
- 15:50promoting relationships, promoting better events, promoting more events.
- 15:54And Louise, you touched on the pandemic, you know, and it's,
- 15:58I guess it's almost like a buzzword now in the industry to
- 16:01sort of reference back to the pandemic, but we have seen significant
- 16:06growth in the events industry since then. It's been sort of
- 16:10somewhat of a purple patch. Companies are seeing the value in it more than ever.
- 16:14And so if you have got a collaborative approach, approach to working even alongside competitors.
- 16:18You know, there is business for everybody, isn't there? If everybody's standards are being raised,
- 16:22if associations like BEAM are actually helping everybody to raise standards,
- 16:25educate, create relationships— you learn from other people, don't you,
- 16:29David? Yeah, you absolutely do. And I think it's important to recognize that
- 16:33there's business for everybody, there's a place for everybody, you know. And Louisa's right,
- 16:37you do need to talk to your competitors, you know. And BEAM is
- 16:40a prime example of that. And it shines a spotlight on it. And then
- 16:44we talk about shining a spotlight, but actually you've got agents and venues talking together.
- 16:48They're competitive, actually believe it, at the heart they are competitive because that's what
- 16:52we do. You know, we've got to get them business, but they're also searching for
- 16:56business themselves. And actually getting people around the table to talk and
- 17:00realize actually we're not, we're not here to fight, we're here to work together.
- 17:04It's collaborative, it's about relationships, it's about connection,
- 17:07which is everything that we're all about as well. And I think that makes it
- 17:11a better place to work And actually it's a better place to do business.
- 17:14That's really key. You know, like I said, there's business for everybody.
- 17:18I don't sit there and get upset if I'm talking to another agency,
- 17:22you know, or I'm talking to another venue. If you're working collaboratively
- 17:27and you will work together on anything
- 17:31and you realize actually you need us as much as we
- 17:35need you, and that is so important. I always say that, you know,
- 17:39you won't have agencies if you haven't got venues. But we also won't
- 17:42have that if we haven't got clients. So actually, it's— we're all in this circle,
- 17:46and as long as we can work happily in that circle, I think it's the
- 17:49best place to be. I think it's one of the best industries, you know.
- 17:52I, I work with Louisa on lots of stuff, not just on Beam, you know.
- 17:56We work very well. Would we have worked like that beforehand? Probably not,
- 18:00but Beam has allowed that to happen, actually. So there's
- 18:04a prime example of how it works. It's not just because we get on
- 18:08and we, we do get on, but there is that business element, you know what
- 18:12I mean? There is a business side to it. We're all in it for business
- 18:15as well. So yeah, absolutely. And you
- 18:19know, James, I'm, I'm from a marketing and PR background,
- 18:22and I can't— no, yeah, I can't think of
- 18:26a better piece of PR or promotion than one
- 18:30of my competitors, you know, saying some great
- 18:33words about why Boston Lakes For me, that— to me, that's just
- 18:37everything. Yeah. No, can I ask Lou,
- 18:40um, to sort of frame for people how the forum
- 18:44manifests itself? So, so what is actually available to your
- 18:47members and, and how it presents— how the forum presents itself to them? Um,
- 18:51and also to talk a little bit about, I guess, the pressure,
- 18:54if you can call it that, of organizing an event for, for events people.
- 18:58Um, yeah, you know, I always say with stuff like that, everybody walks through the
- 19:02door thinks that they could do it better than you can. Yeah. Um, it's slightly
- 19:06tongue-in-cheek, but there always an element of that, you know. I can't go to
- 19:09a— to see a gig or a show with my wife and, and she's
- 19:13constantly sort of whacking me in the rib saying, stop looking at— stop
- 19:17looking at how they've hung the PAs, stop looking at why that
- 19:20is there, you know. Um, yeah, what's it like? So yeah,
- 19:24how does the Forum present itself and what, what's it like to organize an event
- 19:27for events people? Yeah, well, I mean, first of all, we do— the
- 19:32Forum is always in the summer And then we do the 2 all-members meetings,
- 19:36one in spring, one in autumn. Um, and the forum is the,
- 19:39is the big one, you know, that is our kind of flagship event,
- 19:42um, throughout the year. Um,
- 19:47but it's— and we've actually got a forum planning meeting for next year tomorrow,
- 19:51funnily enough. Um, it starts early, the planning starts
- 19:55early, a lot goes into it, and there's lots of, um,
- 19:59opinions around the table. Um, and we try
- 20:03and do what is current, what the members are asking for, what we've
- 20:08surveyed, what we've got feedback for. Um,
- 20:10and of course the venue is super, super important.
- 20:14And last year the forum was held at Wye Boston Lakes,
- 20:18and I cannot tell you how much pressure that was because,
- 20:23you know, I've got the best of the UK,
- 20:26whether that's agencies or venues, coming on to you know, my home
- 20:30turf. And, and, and you're
- 20:34absolutely right, I do it when I go around, you know. Oh, I wouldn't have
- 20:37done it like that, and I wouldn't have done it— I knew that was,
- 20:40you know, that's just natural, isn't it? That's what we're like. Um,
- 20:44yeah, so yeah, huge, huge pressure.
- 20:47But I have to say, um, the team responded to that
- 20:50pressure. We've never done an industry event
- 20:54like the Beam Forum. We've kind of always shied
- 20:58away from it for that reason, actually, for that reason. We didn't ever feel that
- 21:02we were ready to do it, but we did it with
- 21:06absolute pleasure and pride this year, I have to say.
- 21:10And I guess as a venue, you know, I'm in and out of venues,
- 21:13you know, day to day, of all sorts of shapes and
- 21:17sizes, and I've seen the weird and the wonderful and the bad and the good.
- 21:22And there's always a snagging list, isn't there, in a venue?
- 21:24There's always a snag list, and I guess I guess the pressure of that,
- 21:28you must have thought, right, let's clean up this snag list once and for all.
- 21:31We, we cannot have a single thing that is not quite right, or,
- 21:35you know, a glitchy projector or something like, you know. But everything
- 21:40was clean. But then that puts you in a great position going forward, I'd guess,
- 21:42having, having hosted that. Yeah, yeah. I mean,
- 21:45we, we are quite fortunate in that all of the venues have
- 21:50been fairly recently refurbed. So they're all
- 21:54quite glossy and, and do look beautiful.
- 21:57But yeah, there was a full snag list that went on,
- 22:01um, beforehand. Uh, yeah, I promise you,
- 22:04full snag list. David, you were— you alluded to some,
- 22:08I suppose not changes, but, but developments, things that are going to be coming.
- 22:11And you mentioned that, you know, there's stuff that you can't say at
- 22:15the moment, but is this, you know, to the very
- 22:19much going to be to the benefit of your— the members of BEAM? Is,
- 22:22is it stuff that's going to have a positive outcome for them? Is that the
- 22:26intention? Yeah, I think everything that we do as a board is
- 22:30always for the benefit of the members. The members are at the heart of what
- 22:33we do, um, and, um, when we sit there and talk
- 22:37about things that we're going to go out and sort of push, we listen to
- 22:41the members and we can see actually within our own businesses. And again, this goes
- 22:44back to sort of the fact that the board is very diverse in
- 22:48venues, agencies. You've got small agencies, large eventually, small venues,
- 22:51big venues. You've got groups in there as well.
- 22:54It actually is really good because you hear things,
- 22:58and we've always got our ear to the ground with the members,
- 23:02whether we do the members,
- 23:05the 4 or more, we do the all-members meetings. We're always listening,
- 23:09and also we get calls all the time about things that are happening. We can
- 23:12see it, and for us it's very important
- 23:16that we make sure that we go out and sell, or we push
- 23:21the things that the members are talking about. So if that's talking about levies,
- 23:26it's talking about National Insurance, it's talking about business rates,
- 23:30um, it's talking about the fact that we don't get recognized— they
- 23:34are the key issues that are very much at the forefront at the moment,
- 23:37you know. And you can see the news yourself, you can see what's going on,
- 23:40you can see probably where the, the, the, the Autumn Budget's
- 23:44going to go. Where's that going to fall?
- 23:48Well, it will be on our industry and on businesses and stuff like that.
- 23:51I mean, I'm not sort of privy to what they're talking about,
- 23:55but you sort of, you can feel where it's probably going to go.
- 23:59And this is where we need to shout the loudest, and this is what we
- 24:01do within BEAM. And there are some big changes coming,
- 24:05and I think we are at a pivotal point in our industry
- 24:09where actually if we don't take the opportunity now, and myself and Louise,
- 24:13we've talked about it, we've also talked about it with the other board members,
- 24:16that we want to walk away and go, actually,
- 24:20we want to be able to leave our industry in a much healthier place for
- 24:24the generation below us, actually. And I think we all want
- 24:28to walk away and go, actually, we've got the recognition, and actually we're a powerhouse,
- 24:31and we can make the changes that we can make. And that means bringing us
- 24:35all together. So that sort of gives you a teaser of where we're
- 24:38going and what we're going to do. And I would just say, look,
- 24:42just watch this space. You know, and you're a big supporter of
- 24:46us. Event industry news, so you will be party to that when it
- 24:50happens as well, and you'll get that news, which is, you know, it's all about
- 24:53again relationships, but also it's great news for the industry.
- 24:57So everything we're doing is industry, is for the industry, it's not
- 25:01just for BEAM, it's for all of us, because if we work together
- 25:04we make the change, which is in turn a benefit to the
- 25:08members. Very much. And Lou, before we sort
- 25:12of wrap up today, what is the BEAM calendar like between now and
- 25:16the end of the year? You know, what what's coming up in autumn for members.
- 25:20And I guess that's a way of maybe, you know,
- 25:23enticing, if you want to say that, to people who are listening today who maybe
- 25:27think, actually, this might be worth me exploring or joining. Tell us what's coming
- 25:31up. Well, yeah, we've got
- 25:35the BEAM All Members Meeting,
- 25:39which is always a fantastic event. It's a day
- 25:43event This year it's on the 12th of
- 25:47November and it's at the Oxford Belfry. And one
- 25:51of the things that we do at the All Members Meeting
- 25:55is a piece called Question Time, which David heads
- 25:59up. It's a fantastic, it's a fantastic session. It's usually
- 26:04between an hour and an hour and a half. We do let
- 26:07it run because people do have a lot to say, but it is in the
- 26:10style of the BBC Question Time um,
- 26:14uh, show. And, um, David is
- 26:18Fiona Bruce. And, and we have 3— only at the
- 26:21weekends. Yeah, I'm not good in heels,
- 26:24I'm just going to put it out there.
- 26:27And we have, uh, we have 3 suppliers,
- 26:31um, and we have 3 agents of different
- 26:35types. And we talk about, in that session, we talk about
- 26:39all of the things, like David said, all of the things that are challenging,
- 26:42all of the things that matter, all of the things that are going on that
- 26:45are causing issues, all of the things that we need to collaborate
- 26:50more on, perhaps pieces of legislation
- 26:54that might be causing issues, perhaps things around the code of practice
- 26:58that might be causing issues. So it's a really— that's a
- 27:01really fantastic session, and like I say, it's not just
- 27:05people on the panel that can get involved, it's the audience that get involved as
- 27:07well and dictate how long that session is going to be.
- 27:11The other thing that we've got in the All Members Meeting
- 27:14in the autumn this year is a fantastic keynote speaker,
- 27:18Alexander Bell, who is quite well known within the
- 27:22industry, does a lot with the agents, and he is talking
- 27:26about human interaction with technology and
- 27:30the human experience behind technology. And obviously tech within
- 27:34hospitality is really growing and really doing its
- 27:37thing at the moment. So he's going to be amazing, he's going to be fantastic.
- 27:42We've also got the BEAM and
- 27:46IAC Showcase as well on the 8th of October,
- 27:50which is us teaming up with the International Association
- 27:54of Conference Centres. That's at Warwick Conferences on the 8th
- 27:58of October. I think it almost might be sold out now, I'm not sure.
- 28:01It's not far off. Not far off, yeah, that's a great one.
- 28:05And then if we go into— I'm going to go into January because it
- 28:09would be the end, mark the end of David's chair. He has his
- 28:13gala dinner, Swan Song, um, which is
- 28:17due to open for full registration in a few weeks' time.
- 28:21That's on the 22nd of January, and that's at the Tower Hotel,
- 28:24the lovely Tower Hotel, uh, in London. Um,
- 28:28yeah, I know that is going to be a fantastic—
- 28:32yeah, we've mentioned a couple of big names, haven't we? You know, the Novotel
- 28:36in West London is is, you know, iconic within the, within the sort of business
- 28:40events industry, isn't it? And indeed the Tower Hotel, both of those have been sort
- 28:44of, you know, synonymous and long-standing within the events industry, haven't they, as hotel
- 28:48venues. Well, fantastic. I guess,
- 28:50David, it would be foolish not to say, if people want to
- 28:54sort of dive into some of the stuff that Lou's just mentioned, how do they
- 28:57find out a little bit more about you guys? How can they get in touch?
- 29:00You can go to our website which is beam-award.uk,
- 29:07or you can come to myself or Louisa. You could always come to
- 29:11us if you want more information, and then we can get that information
- 29:15out to you. But you could also come
- 29:18on board and come to our events where you'll learn far more.
- 29:22So that's probably the best way to do it, is to go onto the website
- 29:26and have a look, and then if you want to get in touch and looking
- 29:28to join, then come and speak to either myself or Louise and we can give—
- 29:31we can put you in touch with the right people. We're both on LinkedIn as
- 29:34well, so LinkedIn, yeah, connect on LinkedIn.
- 29:37Yeah, I've got one critical question to ask before we
- 29:41wrap up. Do people have to be a member to come
- 29:44to the events that you just mentioned? Do they have to join first to give
- 29:47them access to these events, or could they come?
- 29:51The all-members meeting is usually just for members.
- 29:54However, if somebody is seriously thinking of joining, then we
- 29:59would look to invite them on that basis.
- 30:03The forum does have a non-members rate,
- 30:06and I think the gala dinner does have a non-members rate as well.
- 30:10Yes. Okay, so maybe, you know, for anybody who's thinking about
- 30:14it, opportunities there to go in, do some of that networking as a non-member,
- 30:18meet some of the people there, and then you know, test the water, as it
- 30:22were. Yeah, absolutely. Fabulous. Well, listen, it's been
- 30:26a pleasure chatting to you both today. Thanks for telling us a little bit about
- 30:29the, um, the organisation. Um, as David mentioned,
- 30:31beam-org.uk is the website to go
- 30:35to. You can find David and Louisa, uh, on LinkedIn,
- 30:38um, and the website's a really nicely laid out website
- 30:42as well, really easy to navigate, nice clear, um,
- 30:46information on there. So if anybody wants to find out a little bit more and
- 30:49just take today's conversation on the podcast the next step,
- 30:53please do head over to the beam-org.uk website to
- 30:57check out a little bit about what these guys are up to. And before we
- 31:00wrap up today, just a couple of mentions for stuff that's happening in the world
- 31:04of Event Industry News. If you are listening to today's podcast on your podcast
- 31:08platform, thank you very much for doing so. Please make sure that you like and
- 31:11subscribe to the podcast on that platform so that you get the latest episodes.
- 31:14Please do also take a few minutes to head over to Event Industry News to
- 31:19check out the latest, latest news features, special supplements,
- 31:22all the good stuff that's on the website, as well of course as the A
- 31:25to Z supplier directory. If you work in the events industry
- 31:28and you're looking for a product, service, or supplier, the chances are you will find
- 31:32it listed within that supplier directory on eventindustrynews.com.
- 31:37We've got the Unique Venues London showcase that Event Industry News is part
- 31:41of and involved in coming up, so head over
- 31:44to the website to find out a little bit more about that. And if you
- 31:48are an events uh, planner organizer agency. There's also an
- 31:52event coming up at the Allianz Stadium at Twickenham. Again,
- 31:56we did this last year with the Allianz Stadium and the team there,
- 31:59and it's an invite— it's— you can register for that, it's free to attend.
- 32:03You can come and have a little look around all the facilities that are available
- 32:06at the stadium. Again, that's in conjunction with Event Industry News. We're going to be
- 32:09hosting some live recordings of the podcast there during the day as well,
- 32:13and a great opportunity if you're based— well, not even in London,
- 32:16but if you're looking for a venue of that nature, come along
- 32:19to the Allianz Stadium. All the information on the Event Industry News website.
- 32:23My thanks to my guests today, David Tremell and Louisa Watson,
- 32:27for joining the podcast today, talking a little bit about the BEAM organisation.
- 32:30Thanks very much to those guys, and we'll see you all on the next edition
- 32:34of the Event Industry News podcast. Thanks very much, everybody.