3 Stimulating Speakers, 2 Entertaining & Engaging Debates and 1 Incomparable Conference

An account of the MIA's "Raising the Bar" event by Velvet Software's Chris Gibbs

I set off from Swindon to battle through the storms and bad whether on Monday 10th March and defy the public transport system (wrong kind of wind for the level crossing apparently!) to attend the MIA's "Raising The Bar" Annual Conference at The Churchill,  Hyatt Regency, London - and I was certainly rewarded for their efforts.

The conference was opened with the refreshing energy of the newly elected MIA Chair, Nick Milne and the morning’s speakers exceeded all expectations. We heard first from John Pearson, former CEO and Co Founder of Virgin Radio. He captured not just my attention but also the whole audience and gave us an insight into the "un-bottle-able" values that have made Virgin what it is today and how these may be applied to many businesses.

Liverpool, the capital of culture in 2008, was represented by Jacqueline Rogers and John Barry of the city's newest venue, the ACC. Jacqueline and John described how they built a team at the ACC and raised the bar within customer facing roles by putting in place a induction and training programme for everyone at the at the venue. Their hard work was rewarded when, prior to opening, ACC Liverpool was ranked 2nd in Meetings and Incentive Travel Magazine's survey of UK convention centres. I hope and expect that all eyes to be on ACC Liverpool this year to see if they can maintain these high standards and whether they continue to "raise the bar" once they are fully operational.

Paul Nisbett, Commercial Director, Malmaison explained how the little extras really do make the difference. By involving staff of all levels, adapting training to make clients' experiences memorable and enjoyable, whilst promoting internal team members, really does make a difference to the guest experience and helps to retain highly skilled, happy staff.

The focus of the morning’s speakers was on staff and how to develop a culture that pulls people to your organisation, making them proud of their roles and happy in their work. I thought this was particularly refreshing to hear as Velvet Software has worked hard to create the “pull factor” and have been successful in doing so, with voices heard across the company. Having worked in different organisations, I know how damaging the "push" factor can be and how easily a negative culture spreads. I sincerely hope that more organisations across the conference industry adopt the "pull" approach to their staff – people are worth the time and investment, they really can make or break a business.

The afternoon session was broken down in to a series of seminars that we could chose from - I couldn’t resist the debates - they proved to be every bit as lively and entertaining as I expected! The first motion was "This house believes that in the age of on-line booking, agents add no value". Speaking for the motion was John Gallery, Director LateMeetings.com. Speaking against the motion was Peter Rand MBE FIH, Director of Industry Relations, Zibrant. The chamber consisted of delegates the majority of whom were from venues reluctant to show their live availability on-line and prefer to retain control of their business. It was, therefore, no surprise that the result was 71.4% against the motion.

When Richard John stepped up in favour of the second motion, "This house believes that business tourism would have been better off if the Olympics 2012 had gone to Paris", I knew that we were in for an enlightening debate. The debate began with Joss Croft, Head of Business Visits and Events, Visit Britain,  standing against the motion with Rob Davidson of the University of Westminster facilitating. With three interactive voting points throughout the debate, the voting swung both ways demonstrating that the floor was wide open to persuasion. Despite the image of “Dope smoking back packers” sitting in empty, disused Olympic venues in 2013, the final vote showed that only a cynical minority of 23.1% were for the motion with against 75.1% backing Joss and the "2012 Olympics for Business Tourism".

The final workshop I attended was hosted by People 1st, the Sector Skills Council for the Hospitality, Leisure, Travel and Tourism industries. People 1st are currently working towards a National Occupation Standard for the Events industry which due for completion in spring 2008. Together with my fellow delegates, we were given the opportunity to review the proposed course, provide them with feedback and generate new ideas. The work they have done so far is incredible, particularly when you consider of the vast areas that they have covered. I think that it's something the industry has long been crying out for and will certainly help "Raise The Bar" in recruiting qualified, experienced staff.

With the day coming to a close I genuinely felt that it had been well worth braving the elements to attend. A great deal of though and planning went into the conference; everyone from whichever sector of the industry went away with something valuable to think about.

The MIA really is “Raising The Bar” within the meeting industry with their new AIM accreditation scheme. For venues and suppliers that are not already members, I would strongly recommend considering getting involved or you may find the “Bar” out of your reach!