Styling out Co-chairing

Those of you who keep an eye on our company updates will have seen that, back in June, I was honoured to become the Co-Chair of ABPCO. Being fully transparent, this was a role that I didn’t know much about, wasn’t sure I had the time to do justice for and, all in all, was uncertain that I would be able to make a difference to the association and its membership with.

However, for me to fully explain the reasons behind my self doubt, let me first give you a little context of who ABPCO are and why this mattered to me.

The Association of British Professional Conference Organisers is the UK's leading professional body for event organisers in the association and not-for-profit sector. They are a welcoming place for members at every stage of their career, as well as venues, suppliers and service providers as industry members and partners. When you become an ABPCO member, you demonstrate your commitment to quality, professionalism and ethical standards in the industry.

The role of Co-Chair is essentially to oversee the smooth running, growth and development of ABPCO.  The role works in conjunction with the other Co-Chair (Jess Letters) and the Executive Director (Matt Stalker) to constantly improve ABPCO for its members, to raise its profile within the wider events industry and, on a personal important note, acquire new skills.

So, as you can see, there’s a lot of pressure to get it right when the cause is such a good one! Now we’re four months in, I feel much more settled and secure in what I’m doing and, crucially, I’m very much enjoying myself! Here’s a quick summary of what I’ve been up to with the team:

• Getting to know the Executive Board - the board is filled with ABPCO members from all parts of the industry who bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to meetings, committees and the general direction of ABPCO.

• Getting to know my fellow Co-Chair, Jess - most people think that we knew each other prior to our appointments but we didn’t!  We have spent time on calls, in meetings and at events representing ABPCO and, thankfully, I can safely say the two Brummie girls get on well!

• Getting to know our Executive Director, Matt - Matt has a very full and varied role to carry out and, as Co-Chairs, we are here to support and advise him.

• ‘Fixing the plumbing’ - by this I mean work with Matt and Jess to tighten up processes, then create new policies and terms of reference. Basically getting all the behind-the-scenes stuff right to enhance the offering for our membership.

• Promoting the work that ABPCO does  - a very important Co-Chair role is to be visible and approachable at events, to encourage members to join committees, use the Knowledge Hub, attend events and look for new ways to grow the reach of ABPCO.

• Building on the fantastic work that our predecessors (Sammy Connnell and Pauline Beattie) have done.

• Reviewing and approving the annual budget.

• Supporting virtual and in-person events.

• Most importantly, to being a friendly face for ABPCO!

The next few months are going to be busy, I’ll be attending and hosting events, getting to know the members more to help spread the word about ABPCO and what benefits it brings and supporting with the recruitment and appointment of our Marketing Manager. I’m loving getting fully stuck in and see my role as an opportunity for growth - not just for me, but for ABPCO and our membership too.