The five relevant associations of the event industry, Federal Association of the Concert and Event Industry eV (BDKV), European Association of Event Centers eV (EVVC), ISDV - interest group of independent service providers in the event industry eV, LiveMusikCommission eV and VPLT - the association for media and Event Technology eV, have joined forces as the 'Event Management Forum'. They are now continuing their cooperation, which has grown successfully over the past few months, under one roof.
(Hannover, December 7th, 2020) - The event management forum is pooling its interests, networks, skills and resources in the new alliance in order to be even more powerful with this and through a joint appearance in political lobbying. The merger expressly does not see itself as an umbrella organization. Each partner will continue to directly represent the specific interests of the industry it represents. However, the intersections of the political expectations of the various sectors, such as the cultural, trade fair, congress and conference organizers, event locations, event service providers and fairground companies as well as manufacturers and dealers of event technology, are large and all sub-sectors are closely interwoven. Therefore, the solidarity of the associations will significantly increase the perception of the economic sector by politicians and the public.
The five associations represent over 2000 companies of all sizes - from the self-employed to sole proprietorships to large public limited companies and event venues. Over 1.3 million people work in the country's sixth-largest economic sector, generating annual sales of over 130 billion euros.
Successful teamwork
In the past few months, the associations of the event management forum have already cooperated closely in the current rescue dialogue. The result was, among other things, joint briefings, guidelines and concept papers for politicians in order to obtain more precisely tailored aid programs for the events industry. But the associations also managed to close ranks in the countless cross-party talks with political decision-makers. The Events Industry Forum now wants to expand and deepen these established contacts with politicians, parties and the ministries.
Extended sphere of action
"For too long, the events industry has been in the second row," says Timo Feuerbach, Managing Director of the European Association of Event Centers eV in the forum. “That has changed thanks to the close cooperation between the associations and the outstanding activities of the initiatives, especially the #Red Alert Level. The past few months have shown that politicians see us as a central and legitimate point of contact. We want to reflect this in the long term by founding the event management forum and communicate it more effectively to the outside world.”
Legitimate advocacy
"As business associations, we have the task of bringing the interests of our members into the political decision-making process and working to optimize the legal framework," says Prof. Jens Michow, Executive President of the Federal Association of the Concert and Event Industry. "The joint appearance as a forum for events management will give this work more clout in the future and thus give all members of our associations a better voice in politics".
More agile and professional
In addition to the representation of interests, the agenda of the new alliance in the coming years will also include topics that concern the entire event industry in an increasingly dynamic environment. These include: Perspectives on reopening after Corona, digitization, sustainability and environmental protection or internationalization. "Now is the time to make our industry more agile and professional and to give it a face that the public perceives better," says Linda Residovic, Managing Director of VPLT - The Association for Media and Event Technology eV in the forum. “For this we need strong associations in the future. The new event management forum gives us significantly more effective and creative power.”
Supplementing the work of the IGVW
The interest group event management e. V. (IGVW) remains the central platform for cooperation for many other associations. However, the IGVW tends to promote “internal” communication between the associations and focuses on elementary issues such as technology, standardization and training and further education. The event management forum will expand this important work by bundling political interest groups and thus contribute to strengthening the entire industry.
Prof. Jens Michow, Executive President BDKV
Timo Feuerbach, Managing Director EVVC
Marcus Pohl, Chairman of the Board ISDV
Karsten Schölermann, Managing Director LiveKomm
Linda Residovic, Managing Director VPLT
On 10.12. Marcus Pohl presents the event management forum in the Mothergrid Talk:
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