Meetings Industry Association’s Post

I look forward to our discussion about the power demands from AI.

Conference speech: “There is no point in pretending to be an ostrich…” It’s Party Conference season. It is a very exciting time when party members, MPs and Councillors get together in somewhere “exotic” like Manchester (Greens), Liverpool (Labour), Birmingham (Tories) or Brighton (LibDems). This is fertile ground for exchanging ideas and talking to like minded Party members. Three of the conferences this year are quite festive; Labour for winning a majority one more than Tony Blair, the LibDems for their best election result in a century and the Greens the biggest they have ever been despite our political system that is stacked against smaller parties. A hot topic at all these conferences is of course housing. I can resist everything except temptation, so naturally I have to make my conference speech to all of them (and you… nothing like a captive audience, eh?). Dear conference delegates, comrades, friends, Romans, countrymen etc. etc, I have a simple message for you at this here conference tide. One: The new Government and more importantly the Treasury is after the lolly from housebuilding. They are not going to compromise and no matter how much posturing and crying foul or arguments about “precious green belt” is going to get you slipped. Two: There is now a very powerful caucus in the Labour Parliamentary Party (well over 100 MPs) who are pro housebuilding. One of them said: “I can’t afford a home in my constituency on my £92k MP salary and that needs sorting out. Now. “ Three: Housing targets are back, so is 5YHLS and you WILL be making a Local Plan or else Ms Rayner will put you in detention and make you do lines of your Local Plan. Four: Housing is coming… like paying taxes and dying… it is now going to be one of those inevitabilities in life, so you had better start getting used to it mate. Pretending to be an ostrich and burying your head in the sand is only going to make the housing need bigger.  Five:  Regional planning is coming back so if you have beef with your neighbour, Cllr Smith in Shire East District Council you had better lay down your sword, kiss and make up because you are going to have to work together and the quicker you do that, the better you are going to serve your electorate. Six: Planning can be done WITH you and your community, or it can be done TO you and your community. Your job as a Councillor is to engage with the developers and with Planning Officers and your community in a MEANINGFUL WAY and shape the developments. Developers will listen and will work with you. Why? Because if they get it wrong, the homes won’t sell and they will get fired or go bankrupt. They need your local knowledge as much as you need them to provide the infrastructure that will make it work. Seven: It works two ways -  If a developer wants to build homes in your ward and they didn’t bother to talk to you, call me. I will track them down for you and roast their toes at the fire.  Until Next week, Henry  07736121014

Why does Labour love Liverpool? aka how does the Party choose which city hosts is Conferences 📌 As we rapidly wave goodbye to the 2024 political calendar, so the 2025 Party Conference season comes into sight! For public affairs professionals, it’s time to: ✅ Add the dates 🗓️ ✅ Book those hotels 🏨 ✅ Plan your events 🎤 ✅ Brace for the dreaded fee increases 💳 📌 In this context, this LabourList article on Conference venue selection is a great, background read, https://lnkd.in/egaEzCJG 📌 TD; LR - number of venues that tick all the boxes that Labour in particular now look for in a potential host is extremely limited, with the event having simply outgrown many cities (thanks Google for handy map below). Indeed, there were at least 20,000 Conference-goers in Liverpool in autumn 2024, that's a fair additional percentage of the near 500,000 locals, providing an economic boost of at least £30m. 📌 From my own, long experience, each host city comes with its own quirks – and the inevitable threat of rain 🌧️ (hello, autumn in the UK!). The smaller parties and their spring fora (or equivalent), however, offer wonderful opportunities, as I can attest, to explore other cities like Cardiff, Sheffield, Harrogate, Perth, and Inverness. Always a treat! 📌 For ease of planning, here are the main 2025 dates to remember: 🔹 Lib Dems: Bournemouth, 20–23 September 🔹 Labour: Liverpool, 28 September – 1 October 🔹 Tories: Manchester, 5–8 October 📌 Did anyone say political tourism? And who's to say what the political situation will look like by the autumn. But I can't see a Reform UK national conference scheduled yet. #publicaffairs #governmentrelations #PartyConferences #socialgeography #Conferencevenues #PoliticalEngagement #eventplanning #UKpolitics #Liverpool

#PineRiversChamber #Networking #BusinessCommunity #EconomicInsights Early start this morning as I attended another fantastic Pine Rivers Chamber of Commerce Breakfast. Bendigo and Adelaide Bank’s Chief Economist David Robertson shared valuable economic insights for this financial year. I’ll be honest and say some information went over my head (I passed economics at uni but that was a long time ago) which is why I surround myself with experts for things which aren’t my strength. However, the message for me was the interconnectedness of global, national and local issues ; and the impact on small businesses. So I’m keeping an eye on the results of the upcoming elections: Qld State on Saturday, Federal next year and US in November and what that will mean for all of us. Cheers Tamara #BobtheBuilderforSmallBusiness #PracticalProblemSolver #workshopspecialist #speaker #businesscoach #author #5littlebusinesspigs #navigatecomplexity #navigatechallengingtimes #growyourbusiness #growyoursmallbusiness #businessgrowth #businesscoaching #smallbusiness #smallbiz

The global events industry market size was valued at $438.8 billion in 2023 and is projected to reach $819.1 billion by 2035, growing at a CAGR of 5.4% from 2024 to 2035. The purpose of staging an event can be to increase business profitability, celebratory, entertainment, and community causes. The key stakeholders within the events industry are corporate organizations, public organizations & NGOs, and similar others.

Read any good books lately? If you're in the field of #wealthadvising #financialplanning, this should be on your list!

Recognize any of these faces? 🤩 These lovely people will be your speakers at the LMA Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference on Tuesday, October 1 at the J.W. Marriott in Washington, DC! Show some support for your favorite familiar faces in the comments and check out our NEW conference website in the link below! You will find more information on our speakers, sponsors, a full agenda, and more. https://lnkd.in/giYSwGuK Also, let us know us know in the comments if you're going! #legalmarketing #businessdevelopment

Great insights from Ian Talbot, Chief Executive of Chambers Ireland, discussing the key challenges for Irish businesses in 2025, as highlighted in our #EES2025 report. The top concerns for businesses in Ireland—and across Europe—are clear:  1️⃣ Skyrocketing labour costs 2️⃣ Severe skills shortages 3️⃣ Crushing regulatory burdens   These issues are impacting businesses across Europe, and it's essential that we collaborate to address them and foster competitiveness in the global market. 🎧 Listen to the full interview: https://bit.ly/3O4IZ67 📖 Read the full report: https://lnkd.in/dEffBX-S

Our country is very divided politically, close to dangerous levels. Changing this starts with talking to each other. Many of my family and friends have very different political views, yet we have civil, meaningful conversations without destroying relationships. Here are some guidelines I follow: - Everyone is entitled to their own values and their values are not dependent on my agreement. - Understanding that as strongly as I believe in my values they believe in theirs. - Discussions are meant to understand each other and not to convert them. - Be open and listen objectively. If they make a good point acknowledge it. - Do not raise your voice or talk over others. - Do not use derogatory terms. Calling someone’s values stupid or evil is counterproductive. - If the discussion gets heated, end it. The one thing we almost all agree on is the echo chamber on both sides, cable news and socially media, are making matters worse. We all need to recognize the echo chamber's goals are more viewers and higher revenue, not honest, objective reporting of events. Hopefully we can start to lower the temperature and return to happy family holiday dinners.

Do you prefer IRL or online? I've got both lined up for you First up is the Jan Get Your Sh*t Together! I've noticed that one of the biggest things that gets in the way of us achieving what we set out to do is self doubt. So in this GYST we're going to be putting in simple systems to help beat the inner critic. Then, as always, we'll plan our month and take ONE step towards our goals together Monday 27th Jan, 18.00-20.00, online, tickets are and always will be free! Sign up here: https://lu.ma/zf4k4f2b ⭐️ THEN (and this is a big one!) On 15th Feb Nicole Marguerite Gray and I are hosting TwentyTwentyThrive in London It's a full day experience aimed at women building something special, be that your career, your business or your personal brand. We have unreal speakers on thriving in personal finance, self love, personal branding, mindfulness, self development and sustainable productivity (obvs). There's also going to be incredible grub from Kirstie Eden's baby, Gma's Community Kitchen 🔥 Tickets are going live SOON and we're already 15% over capacity on the waitlist so make sure your name is on it! Sign up here: https://lnkd.in/e73zD-Tb ⭐️ Ps. LinkedIn really doesn't like when I put links in my posts, but it hides them when I put them in the comments so I've lumped for the post. I'd love if you could give this a like and a comment for reach to help beat the algo!!