You said, we did – ABPCO listens to members

Following research across its membership, ABPCO has responded to requests to be clearer than ever about its values and position in the market.

“Each year we like to be able to turn to our members and say – you said, so we did.  2017 is no different,” comments Rose Padmore, joint chair of ABPCO.  “Our annual membership engagement survey always provides plenty of ideas to be more innovative and responsive to our members.  Over the past few years it has seen us become more efficient, more profitable, deliver greater education opportunities and add new events to the calendar.  However, this year’s message included a clear need to be more holistic and consider our purpose and core values.”

During its annual executive strategy day, the ABPCO board embarked on a process that considered the current and future goals of the association and how best to describe it to the market, resulting in the following purpose statement:

• Proud to enable human enrichment through face to face gatherings:

This is supported by the following values:

• Excellence – leading industry best practice with passion, professionalism and integrity
• Learning – encouraging knowledge sharing
• Belonging – supporting and connecting our member community through collaboration

Therese Dolan, joint chair of ABPCO, concludes: “We haven’t gone back to the drawing board and completely reinvented the association.  Instead we have developed a way of clearly communicating what we are about.  These values express who we are to both our current and future members.  They also provide credibility and trust for those individuals who look to ABPCO members to deliver their events.  We are all incredibly excited by this refinement of our direction and delighted by the overwhelming support it has received from the membership.”

ABPCO, celebrating its 30^th anniversary this year,  offers membership to UK conference and event organisers, those studying for or pursuing a career in the meetings and event industry, and individuals and organisations working across all spectrums of the industry. For more information visit www.abpco.org/membership.