Attending the M&IT Editor's lunch

Being the first lunch event organised outside the capital, it needed to be a special venue for the occasion and judging by the gasps and wows when delegates walked through the doors to the main hall at the monastery it was mission accomplished.

Manchester was chosen as the destination for the day’s proceedings as it was editor Paul Harvey’s old stomping ground where he cut his teeth as a rookie journalist at the Manchester Evening News back in the day.

Paul’s visit back up north was a completely different assignment to those days as a journalist as he welcomed the delegates before delivering his State of the Industry Report.

And all the whole, it was pretty positive stuff.

He opened with a nod to a difficult time for the industry and its event professionals:

“thanks to the four years of chaos since Boris and his get Brexit done which meant the best laid plans had been torpedoed”.

But he admitted he is buoyed by the future, even more so after a speech by new Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves who said the industry is full of creatives who will help rejuvenate the economy, which was met from approval from those delegates in attendance.

Admitting it had been an uphill battle for so many in the industry, Paul hoped that the new government would be an advocate for closer ties with the EU which could ease controls over goods and people.

Investing in the talent of tomorrow should play a big part in our futures with significant expenditure needed to educate and empower the education of our sector.

Apprenticeships can play such an important part in this, by unlocking untapped potential in people who had maybe not thought about a career in the industry.

Paul alluded to there being so many misconceptions of the industry, with our work perhaps undervalued, so we must ensure we make the most of any funding going unclaimed for education and growth of the sector.

That’s even more imperative as there are ongoing staff shortages, hammering home the point we must all be proactive to encourage more people to become part of our industry.

Perhaps one of the biggest issues we face is managing the expectations of our clients, some of who ‘want champagne on a beer budget’.

But it’s definitely not just all about cost, however. It’s the value that clients get and the ‘event experience’ of a delegate which is becoming more and more important and needn’t cost a huge sum of money.

Add to that sustainability of events and client demands continually shifting, it’s no wonder we need to remain adaptive as an industry.

AI was also a big talking point in Paul’s industry report.

It would be fair to say the jury is still out for some and mentioned author Joanna Maciejewska’s now-famed quote:

“I want AI to do my laundry and dishes so that I can do art and writing, not for AI to do my art and writing so that I can do my laundry and dishes.”

While we can all agree that AI can play an important part in our industry, it is still early days, plus we don’t want to lose all the fun stuff we do as eventprofs, otherwise what is the point?

That certainly drew some laughter from the audience!

While delegates discussed Paul’s report among themselves over lunch, and with him while he worked the tables, it’s safe to say there is still plenty to be positive about in the industry.

Another thing we could all agree on was that The Monastery is an incredible place for an event.

This particular event, expertly organised by Northstar Travel Group’s Event Manager Liz Coleridge, had been sponsored by ArabianAdventures, Destination Asia and DM Connections and its Sales Director, ChrisJordan, gave delegates an interesting insight into the 11 businesses in his portfolio.

And thanks to Paul Griffiths, Chairman of The Monastery ofSt Francis & Gorton Trust/The Monastery Manchester, we learned some of the venue’s fascinating recent history and the project to rebuild it to its former glory - before the fabulous food and drink arrived at our tables.

‘The Manchester Taj Mahal’ as he affectionately called it, now has a new lease of life after it had fallen into disrepair - a far cry from when Paul was an altar boy – with it now playing an important role in the heart of the community.

It will certainly be something when the 1,000-pieceVictorian Wadsworth organ is in situ, hopefully by this September – with fundraising currently standing at around £100,000, just £20,000 shy of its target.

But with the tenacity and enthusiasm of the front of house staff, and those behind the scenes at The Monastery, I wouldn’t bet against them reaching that fundraising target, and having the organ completed early!

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