Dr Rhodri Thomas, Professor of Events Management at Leeds Metropolitan University, talks to H&E North about the prospect of the events sector becoming professionalised.

Dr Rhodri Thomas is a professor at the UK Centre for Events Management at Leeds Metropolitan University, the largest centre in the world dedicated to events management. Dr Thomas has been studying events and related sectors for the past 25 years, with his research focussing on events as a distinct sector of the economy. He was a Non-Executive Director of Welcome to Yorkshire (the regional tourist board) for five years and has worked with a range of organisations, from medium-sized event companies to the European Commission.H H

How has the UK Centre for Events Management developed in line with the events industry?
The UK Centre was set up just over 10 years ago, in 2000, but we have been teaching events management since 1996. Back then we had 36 students. As a result of considerable investment by the university, we now have about 1,000 students and almost 30 staff. Our portfolio now ranges from HND in events management through undergraduate and postgraduate taught degrees to students studying for PhDs. One of the major benefits of our scale is the ability to specialise. Our goal is to be both responsive to industry needs and to offer a degree of leadership to the industry too by showing how others do it, perhaps in other countries, other sectors and so on.  

 
How necessary is it that the role of event organiser is seen as a regulated profession and that training is structured nationwide?  
This is a critical issue if the events sector is to become professionalised. We need to get to a position where there is a common understanding about what a qualified events manager means. That isn’t the same as saying that everyone has to get to it one way or that it is about studying. That would be foolish, divisive and short-sighted. The goal of mapping out what knowledge and skills might be expected is a reasonable one though. I think this is probably best achieved via a single professional institute and I welcome the work that is going on in that respect to bring the various associations together.
 
What does the future hold in terms of the event sector becoming professionalised?
In terms of skills, there are several things that need to be balanced. On the supply side, there is a need to ensure that all providers are sufficiently flexible to meet what are, after all, very diverse needs across the industry and, over time, needs that change. There is also a need to create some recognition of what certain qualifications mean so that employers know what they are faced with. The obvious way of achieving this is through some kind of national accreditation scheme. Experience from elsewhere suggests that there are significant obstacles to be overcome if that is to work, including mapping out levels, skills etc. Although there might be a role for government in this, my preferred route would be for the professional associations to get together to offer leadership.

We shouldn’t forget the demand side of the equation though. There is a fair bit of research to show that too many employers under-value skills. In other words, they fail to recognise connections between skills and competitiveness.  This needs to be challenged too. Again, professional associations might play a very useful role in that.

For further information on the UK Centre for Events Management, visit www.eventsandfestivalsresearch.com