Last month, Lime Venue Portfolio supported the latest in a series of events run by the Association of British Professional Conference Organisers (ABPCO) for its membership.
The theme of the meeting was Legacy; however, we spurred a degree of antagonism in the form of James Lancaster, Editor of Association Meetings International (AMI) magazine, who has taken a specific view on legacy and all the ‘going’s on’ around it.
Considering legacy
Legacy is, at the same time, a well-worn subject, and one that is gaining a huge amount of contemporary column inches at the moment. Around the world, destinations and venues are looking to explore the value of events to communities outside of the main room, and to look at grand acts of generosity that resonate long after the end of the meeting.
This specific ABPCO event took place not long after IMEX, one of the biggest meetings and event exhibitions on the planet, where legacy was top of many agendas; a plethora of promises, reports, studies, and predictions have all been covered by AMI and continue to be widely discussed at events like these. These initiatives are all laudable, they elevate the act of meeting to something which has immense power and influence, and underlines the day-to-day act of meetings, events professionals, the venues they work with, and the destinations that host them, in doing good for the world.
It’s also true that Lime Venue Portfolio have proudly joined this particular band wagon. We have long seen ourselves as cheerleaders for ‘better’ meetings and events and have been particularly noisy (for some time now) on the social, environmental, and governmental benefits of what we do as an industry. We’re also increasingly interested in what the future of meetings and events looks like. It’s no surprise we’d be like moths to the flame on something so intoxicating as long-term positive legacy from events.
However, the deeper into the rabbit hole we travelled with respect to legacy, the more we confused ourselves, and others, into what it actually was, what it represented, who was driving it, and what ‘good’ legacy actually looked like.
Are we making legacy a thing?
It was around this time we saw James’ blog, entitled ‘Are We Making Legacy A Thing?’, and everything he said resonated with us. It was also having the same effect on many others within the meetings industry.
The blog, which is still available and well, well worth reading, clearly articulates the challenges posed by our collective excitement around legacy, and how it is confusing and intimidating everyday event professionals from actually taking the subject on. We asked James to come and speak at the ABPCO event, and in front of this audience, as a way of setting up an honest and open discussion about legacy.
James kicked off the meeting by revisiting his blog and updating the room on his present thoughts. Here he recanted the main themes of his writing, and challenged the room to consider these points as they consider a discussion about legacy.
He concluded with a rather profound conclusion; that the vast majority of discussion around legacy was driven by everyone except those who organise meetings. He wanted to hear from professional conference organisers, like the 30 or so in front of him at the time.
This was a rather important point and one that both Lime Venue Portfolio, ABPCO and AMI should all be proud of our collective selves in addressing. Really, the meeting represented one of the few occasions where legacy was discussed by those who need to make the main decisions on these matters.
Here’s what we discussed.
It's all about language
First of all, lets discuss the word itself. Legacy. It sounds big doesn’t it? It has grandeur, it speaks of vast ambition over time, of masterful thinking. Think about all the things you have seen leave a legacy over time, not least those in the events industry. Everything from Arthurian legend to the legacy of the 2012 Olympics; this is big thinking.
It’s also scary, intimidating, and, at times, a little pompous. This is meetings we’re organising and if our base level expectation is to fundamentally change the world for millions, we really are taking on some serious weight. It’s unfair and presumptuous to those whose living it is to organise these kinds of meetings.
In research running up to the event, we spoke to a number of key opinion leaders around legacy and they agreed. Preferring to use lighter, more forgiving, language; ‘community’, ‘impact’, or ‘public’ programmes for instance. They often mean the same things, but have a ‘smaller’ perspective, with scope for ambition, but they focus on the immediacy of the projects they wish to embark on, not the scale.
That’s not to say that event organisers are unwilling to do good, far from it, this intimidation is driven from a desire to do the best, but not to be harshly judged for what this looks like. As our own Jo Austin, Sales Director, Lime Venue Portfolio, said, “Event professionals are, by their very nature, good people, who want to do good”. Jo also nailed the first ‘ah-ha’ moment of the day, with the phrase ‘Betterment’; who doesn’t want to do better every day? Let’s not make perfection the enemy of progress.
This language just sounds better. Warmer, more inviting, more achievable, less stuffy, more honest.
Let's bring it back to the event
The other area of discussion referred to exactly what James was saying at the beginning of the meeting. The idea that, while there is so much incredible (like, really incredible) work being done across major destinations and venues, the dialogue hasn’t had a huge amount of comparative input from professional conference organisers.
We were lucky to have one destination in the room, and a few venues, and here it was interesting to hear their opinion. Paul Swain is from Visit Flanders and is just one example of a destination with major ambitions around legacy. He set into context exactly why this is, and a lot of it was around value.
The reality is that destinations want events to come to their countries, regions, and cities, not just because they love lots of professionals spending lots of money and growing their economy. They want to build something more long term; taking on the enthusiasm of these communities, their expertise, and their knowledge, and passing it onto local people, universities, and specialists. Having some doctors spend money in quality restaurants is one thing, having them coming up with new ideas and experiments that lead to new industries in the city is something else.
However, Paul also reflected on the point that venues and destinations need to not bypass the event completely. It’s almost certain that Visit Flanders get the balance right in this respect, but others don’t, and this is when grand thinking becomes intimidating or just unrealistic.
Where the event professionals in the room landed on this particular discussion is that event legacy should not be ‘inflicted’ on local communities but done in partnership with them. But also, that the delegate would need to buy into the process. Every event has a purpose, and delegates buy heavily into these values. Like the organisers, they want to do ‘good’, but they also want relevance when doing so. Legacy should mean something to delegates, not because of its scale, but because of its relevance.
At the same time, the recipient, be it a school with a new painted wall, a forest with a newly planted tree, or a city with a new research and development centre, should have actually asked for it. Otherwise, it’s not a gift, it’s an infliction of the events values onto the recipient without a conversation.
We were once again fortunate to have Chris Weavers in the room. Chris is the National Official (Campaigns and Communications), NASUWT, The Teachers Union, who regularly hold major conferences for their association members. Chris speaks articulately about this need for event organisers to serve the needs of their delegates through legacy, but not at the expense of the recipients of these acts of good will.
Working with Chris is Sammy Connell, the event organiser behind NASUWT’s events. Her insight is always welcome in these discussions, and she articulated passionately the association’s plans for their coming event. Again, collaboration is key when Sammy speaks. She spoke intelligently about how they are collaborating with local communities in Liverpool, the destination of their next conference, to leave a legacy for the local community.
Sammy again bought this to life, in an alarming way, when again addressing the needs of her own delegates, who are predominantly teachers. Life isn’t easy for them at the moment and the cost-of-living crisis has led to many of her members now needing food banks. Here legacy meets the causes and content around the event itself, and transcends just a feel good factor outside of the meeting. The team explored this theme, learning more about how acute the issue is. It followed that, modern day teachers needing foodbanks earned its way onto the agenda of the meeting, and spurred further action from the association to represent it’s members.
This wasn’t just about legacy for the event, it was about how what was happening in the room could be reflected and represented outside of it. It had relevance, urgency, purpose, and focus. Another subject bought to life within Sammy’s association community was period poverty, both in students, but regrettably, teachers as well. The easy access to sanitary products by crucial parts of our society – our young, our educators – is a massive issue which NASUWT are now tackling. Again, this gave clear focus and aim to the event’s ambitions around legacy.
This epitomised what legacy really means to professional conference organisers, seeing legacy through the eyes of their delegate. That’s what event professionals do, and their perspective is welcome in adjusting the locomotive of enthusiasm this subject has received.
Communication is key
Lastly, the group enthusiastically endorsed the idea of communication, both as a community of event professionals, but also throughout everyone involved in the event. Maybe it was part of listening to experts like Sammy, Chris, Paul, Jo and James speak, but it bought out so many good examples of legacy, both on grand and humble scales.
It also helped to land the subject and expand the understanding that legacy can mean so many different things to different people. Maybe, just by ignoring the word and looking at the activity, a better understanding can be gained.
Legacy also requires buy in at every level, and the idea of gaining closer communication with delegates was felt to be equally important. The event has the ideas, but they ask the audience to implement it, do the work, become involved and engaged. It’s vital to bring them into the process if they are to benefit from the feel-good factor that it brings. Events are there to inspire; by getting legacy right, they can create fans in delegates, people that go out beyond the subject matter to do more.
Lime Venue Portfolio created a guide to legacy which seems apt given the conversations had at the ABPCO event. A simple piece of literature which tries to nail legacy to the floor, explain and understand it. However, the best explanations happen as groups like this talk.
Our own legacy
The meeting itself took place in the Imperial War Museum London, a place which has its own legacy story to tell. It’s a reminder of how war devastates and tells a story of humanity that event professionals will always be receptive to. By having meetings in the venue, funds can be raised for the museum to continue to tell these stories.
Like legacy we can gauge these effects in different ways. Maybe one day, someone will be inspired by the museum to create something inspirational that saves lives, intervenes to stop war and suffering. On a more humble level, thousands of people will be educated every day just by visiting the museum.
At Lime Venue Portfolio, we’re really proud to offer a carefully curated selection of venues that make it easy for organisers to leave behind an impact after every event, these events almost have legacy ‘built in’. The reality is that holding an event in a unique venue can not only support the theme of the event and raise delegates interest in attending, but play a crucial role in preserving the cultural, historical, and social impact of the event.
Beyond this though, the values of the host venue ensure your event not only makes an immediate positive impact, but contributes to futureproofing the events industry by leaving a unique legacy long after the final curtain falls.
This is the very essence of legacy. To see that the small has value, as well as the big and bold. To see it from lots of perspectives, not least the people that organise, the people that experience, and the people that benefit.
The question is, just by bringing 30 event professionals into a room to discuss Legacy, were we making it ‘a thing’? Well, yes, we were. But we’re glad we did. There could be real legacy from doing so.
If you’re looking for a venue that can support your next event legacy, or if you’d simply like to carry on the legacy conversation, Lime Venue Portfolio would love to hear from you.
