Tucked away within a comfortable set-up were several decision-making salaried event planners who assessed the event planning standards as drafted by the MICE Academy.
The third event industry conference at Hackle Brooke was the outcome of in-depth research as drafted and facilitated by the MICE industry.
There were a multitude of highlights amongst which the event planning standards will be progressed in early 2017.
*Human Resources Management in the Loop
The Head of Standards at the SA Board of People Practices spelt out the industry-led parameters which has set standards within the complex human resources industry. Dr Shamila Singh delighted the audience by clearly explaining how – from a limited group of determined HR individuals similar to the ‘Setting Standards’ gathering – the HR Standards had commenced in 2013.
*Foreign Certification Programmes Probed
The MICE Academy were at the forefront in ensuring a successful roll-out of a foreign certification programme in 2006. Helen Brewer made it clear that the experiences and in particular the facts of the highly experienced South African event planners were laid bare. A cautionary note was given of the potential misinformation and assumptions which should be carefully heeded.
*Service Level Agreements Simplified
A template of the inclusions within a precise series of SLA requirements was explained by Advocate Nel as an essential component of all aspects of the event planning standards. There was also an elaboration on the possibilities of progress payments to alleviate the high financial outlays being experienced by a number of independent planners.
*Complexity of Event Safety
The Event Safety Alliance headed by Mike Lord provided the background as well as examples of various provincial differences within the event safety regulations. There was agreement that event safety should be a part of the event planning standards.
*Duty of Service Explained
As the basic foundation of the entire Event Planning Standards, there was no hesitation by the event planning decision makers that the duty of care for the many events under their control would ensure a more positive attitude in their endeavour for more successful events.
The next steps will be to transcribe the recorded proceedings and distribute the outcomes to the participants as well as human resource management for the contents to be filtered through to the many departments of all organisations.
The facilitation process was ably undertaken by (the other) Michael Jackson and mentalist Gilan Gork both these outstanding professionals are within the Unique Speaker Bureau portfolio.
The ‘Setting Standards in Event Planning’ strategic partners: Hackle Brooke Centre, Food Inc, Matrix Bars Scan Display, KJM Projects and Slido all played their part in the successful Event Planning Standards being taken to the next level in early 2017.
*Helen Brewer from The MICE Academy is an independent contributor and articles do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of The Planner.
