Association Voice
We’re getting
engaged!
Austen Hawkins, AEO chairman, proposes that event
profs should get more involved in the wide range of events
and services provided by the association
W
“Whatever role you
have, at whatever
level, the AEO has
something that will
help you”
68 — March
hat did the big telephone say to the
little telephone? You’re too young to be
engaged.
Yes, I know, a terrible, awful, dreadful,
unforgivable, dad joke; what was I thinking?
Well, I was thinking about engagement. In the
20 years or so that I have been involved in the
AEO, I have observed that the incredibly talented
and brilliant leaders of our industry have built
their careers and businesses by networking,
engaging and working with their peers.
And so much of this engagement has happened
around the AEO.
Now I want you, yes you, to do the same.
Engage, take part, turn up, join, network with
the AEO.
Use the AEO to build and grow your career
and help the AEO to build and grow the industry.
The AEO has transformed over the last couple
of years with Chris Skeith at the helm and we can
now genuinely say that whatever role you have, at
whatever level, there is something that will help
you. Over the last four years, for example, the
number of Working Groups has grown from two
to 12. These are now the engine room of the AEO
– where 254 industry professionals like you come
together to share problems and find solutions
to make their events, career and customer
relationships a success.
There are also opportunities to learn, with the
recent annual AEO Forums proving to be a great
success and the Leaders of Tomorrow online
training hitting the spot for marketing, ops and
sales teams across membership. If you’re the shy,
retiring type, if there are any in the industry, you
don’t even have to leave your desk for this.
Most of us also like to have fun while we
work, and why not? We’re at the office or onsite
for a long time and work hard so we deserve
to let our hair down. The AEO runs some
amazing events where you can get together with
likeminded colleagues and peers from other
event organisers.
The AEO Excellence Awards is an obvious
one but the AEO also supports The Exhibition
Network, which is a social get-together three or
four times a year.
The most recent one was just after the AEO
Forums in January but keep an eye out for the
next one towards the summer.
AEO has always been a catalyst for building
careers, growing your network, making friends
and growing hugely successful businesses. The
industry is buzzing, we are flying, it’s our time
and it’s your time to make a difference.
So, what can you do? Look around you. Who
do you admire in the industry? What are they
doing that you’re not? Who do they know that
you don’t?
If the company you work for is an AEO
member, you’ve got a fantastic chance to get
ahead. If it’s important to your business, it offers
an opportunity for you.
Speak to the AEO to see how you can get
involved and help grow this wonderful industry
of ours.
We make a living by what we get, but we make
a life by what we give.
That’s why you should get engaged.
Don’t forget to enter the AEO Excellence Awards –
the deadline is Friday 15 March.