AEV ChairManaging Director - NEC

As my first year as AEV Chair draws toa close, what a year it has been. We haveall had to navigate our way through someaustere times, which I hope have beenmade somewhat easier thanks to thesupport provided by your association, theAEV.

I have thoroughly enjoyed meeting so many of you face toface at your venues during my various road trips andattendance at working group meetings. Member engagementis such a critical part of any association as this, in partnershipwith our ever increasing number of working groups, allows usto swiftly and successfully deal with the challenges we face,and help us to deliver effective and consistent approaches andsolutions to our customers.

It has been heartening to see more participation in all of ourworking groups and our reworked AGM+ in September andpleasing to see the AEV Board grow,with the addition of new membersadding additional perspectives fromthe meetings, conference andmusic sectors.

I’d like to thank you all for yoursupport, especially members of theworking groups, the AEV Board,and AEV secretariat, and very muchlook forward to my second year andseeing AEV continue to grow anddeliver for every member.

Inside the 2012 review...

Page 2-AEV Director Chris Skeith's2012 round-up.-Annual review of WorkingGroups.

Page 4-Event Industry Golf Day- In the Rough

This year's AGM was given a slight tweakwhen you compare it to previous years' AGMs.

Previously the AGM had been the domain ofthe Board, senior figures and Working GroupChairs. This was great, but for 2012 weevolved the event to try and create a moreinclusive feel to the afternoon. Almost likeone giant working group. Not forgetting weadded an all important '+' to proceedings.

We succeeded in enticing 45 of you away

from your venues for what was an afternoon of peer to peernetworking, a splendid lunch followed by the activities of theAGM.

The formalities of the AGM started with an address by ourChair, Kathryn James, in what was a very positive andupbeat review of her first year as Chair and an associationthat had continued to prosper, continued to challenge andcontinued to share best practice under the guise of the manyworking groups AEV facilitates. Kathryn's address alsoclearly articulated the passion that members of AEV have forthe industry and their respective venues, something she hadwitnessed first hand from attending various working groupsand travelling the country with AEV Director Chris Skeith onnumerous member site visits.

AEV Treasurer Kevin Murphy took us through the formalitiesof the association's financial performance which in summaryremains strong and continues to track forecast.

Finally, it was the turn ofthe Chairs and Vice Chairsof the various working groupsto give us an annual review ofwhat their particular grouphad achieved in 2012 andtheir group's plans for 2013.These brief presentationsonce more remindedattendees of the importanceof these groups not only tomember venues but to theindividuals who take partand the effect these groupshave on the wider industry.

Page 3-More Working Groupupdates-How to get socialwith AEV

- Dates/News

Annual Review 2012

Connectivity Technical Committee

Formed in October 2011, the group has met three times in2012. In addition a venue sub group was formed which hasinputted into the main group who have also met 3 times. Itis officially the largest cross association working group inhistory with over 40 registering an interest for the firstmeeting which swamped Reed Exhibition's Board Room. Itwas initially formed to bring all stakeholders together to gainan understanding of the issues surrounding Wi-Fi but quicklyextended its remit to cover all connectivity issues including3G. Basic research was undertaken by all stakeholdergroups to try and identify the issues, possible solutions andthe way forward.

The group agreed there was no silver bullet in the form of atechnological solution at present, however with educationand careful planning a robust infrastructure can be created.As a result, the group has committed to create content tohelp with education and planning which will eventually beplugged into the eGuide. From a venue perspective it hasbeen really useful to share experiences, technology and bestpractice and to tackle them together as a venue community.

eGuide Working Group

The eGuide committee has met twice in 2012 and has updated the detail of 20-30 sections each time, as well as incorporatingthe new Electrics section. It has also adopted a new working protocol, splitting into a Technical Committee to maintain thecore text and a full Strategic Committee to discuss the development of the document in broader terms. The eGuidecommittee has undertaken more out-of-group consultation, for example with other association working groups and externally,such as the disability action group, Attitude is Everything. There are now 14 adopting venues – ACC Liverpool, AECC, BDC,EC&O, Event City, ExCeL, FIVE, HIC, Manchester Central, NEC, Twickenham, YEC, SECC, and RICOH.

AEV Director

2012 was certainly a year to remember,and I don’t just mean the civic pride ofthe Jubilee, Olympic and ParalympicGames. AEV smashed some records aswell, more attendees to the AGM+ inSeptember, more working groups andmeetings than ever before, moreparticipants for the annual SalaryBenchmarking Survey and moreadopting venues to the eGuide.

The culture of sharing information and knowledge has alsoreached record levels; and the conversations pre and post allthe various working group and Board meetings are reallyspecial to hear, where commercial barriers fall away andmembers discuss better ways in which they can run their partof the business to deliver the best possible common solutionsto customers.

I’d like to thank all the members of the working groups andAEV Board for their input, interaction and support over theyear, as well as the team here at AEV HQ for allowing us togrow and develop within the backdrop of some tougheconomic times. I’m also looking forward to working with youall next year so we can beat our personal bests; and alreadyanother working group is in formation and outputs fromvarious others are in progress which will stand us all in goodstead for what will no doubt be another challenging year in2013.

Working Group News...

Working Groups provide employees at member companieswith opportunities to meet regularly with contacts at otherorganisations who share similar job roles. This createsexcellent networking and information sharing platformssaving member companies time and money, across areasthat include security, communications, catering, sustainability,HR and venue regulative policy.

The last year has seen a flurry of activity with numerousmeetings taking place across the full spectrum of associationgroups. This section of the event standard features the mainhighlights and updates.

Sustainability Working GroupThe sustainability working group met three times in 2012,launching its new “cross association” format to capture abroader picture and facilitate collaboration betweenstakeholder groups. There was a presentation on sustainability design at the new HICC facility by Andrew Ellis (the localauthority project leader), engagement with the WRAP zero-waste-to-landfill event roadmap, guest presentations from WRAP,BRE and EcoEvents on their respective initiatives and lots of sustainability information and initiatives shared including AEV’s“universal management system” guidance, electric car points at ExCeL, Carbon Voyage at EC&O, UBM’s “ResponsibleBusiness” show, Coca Cola funded recycling bins at the SECC, food sustainability, BS8901 to ISO 20121 transition and auditingcosts. The group’s immediate areas of focus are high-cost issues: waste and energy.

Catering Working Group

The group has met three times in 2012 and has definedtwo areas of focus:

(a) informal discussion and lesson learning and(b) formal discussion on existing and emerging regulationand development of relevant eGuide sections

Subsequently, the group has already revised Food andAlcohol sections of the eGuide, inserting Scottish lawvariations and has tabled work on a subsection on allergenand gluten free, following a detailed training/presentationcovering existing and new 2014 legislation. The groupweighs up both the importance of protecting theirrespective organisations from a liability point of view withthe negative commercial impact of detailed rules andregulations.

HR Working Group

The HR Working Group usually meets twice a year.The group’s first meeting of 2012 was held on 04July at the NEC. We were delighted to welcometwo new members to the group in July’s meetingand we are pleased to announce representation from 9member venues: Alexandra Palace, Business Design Centre,EC&O Venues, ExCeL London, Farnborough InternationalLimited (FIVE), Manchester Central, SECC, The NEC and TheO2.

The main discussion surrounded the annual AEV SalarySurvey which was launched on 23 July. The group madesome minor tweaks to this year’s survey to make it clearer forthose completing it. Also, questions regarding total rewardsstatements were added this year. We extended the deadlinefor submissions due to the Olympics and were happy toannounce that we had 13 submissions this year. Other topicsof discussion included salary sacrifice/holiday buy backschemes, occupational health, management developmentprogrammes, 360 reviews and more.

Security Working Group

The security working group has met three times in 2012 andLee and Chair, Gary Masters, held an additional two meetingswith NACTSO in relation to CTSA Surveys. The group's outputdocument on CTSA Surveys was completed and research isunder way on developing an exhibition themed “Project Argus”event for 2013. A new security section for the eGuide is alsounder way and some other exciting initiatives to help membervenues collaborate on deterring and tackling crime areplanned for 2013.

Electrics Technical Committee

The technical committee for Electrics mettwice in 2012 and has seen the completion ofthe new electrical rules for testing at venuesincorporated into the eGuide and launched fromJuly 1st. The group is now involved in creatingcommunication pieces on the new rules, toensure industry colleagues are armed with theright answers when faced with difficult questionsfrom exhibitors. The group will own the ongoingrevision of the rules in light of emerging legal andtechnological change and will also broaden itsremit to consider categorisation and ownershipover all electrical hazards on the hall floor.

Communications Working Group

The newest of all the working groups has met twice in 2012 in whathas been a very positive start to its life. Key themes to meetings inthe last 12 months have been the sharing of communications insight,new technologies and best practices, Wi-Fi (update in every meetingwith regard to progress of connectivity group) – helping in thedevelopment of an FAQ for the e-guide ‘managing connectivity issuesfor exhibitors’. Olympic economic impact, post event management,managing success legacy and the communication thereof and finallymeasurement vs ROI.

The group also decided to invest time in a communicationsbenchmarking project. In the mould of the current salary survey,this benchmarking tool will enable member venues the ability to gaininsight and analysis of the current levels of communications sent outand the levels of engagement with various communications platformswe have as venues. The group hopes this will be a great addition forall marcomms teams with regard to planning and budgeting.

The first report will hopefully be completed and distributed in early2013.

AEV Sub Group

A new informal sub group met three times in 2012 tocontribute towards the discussions on Wi-Fi in the TechnicalCommittee – Connectivity. The group met at Olympia, ExCeLLondon, and travelled up to the SECC for a site visit anddemonstration of their new Wi-Fi infrastructure. Conversationslatterly have moved onto other technical areas such as currenttechnology needs and its future aspirations for visitors,exhibitors and organisers, sharing information on current andfuture infrastructure, emerging technology and managementpractices. The current sub group members from EC&OVenues, ExCeL London, FIVE, The NEC Group, Royal DublinSociety, Royal Highland Centre, and SECC are consideringhow best these conversations can be delivered in 2013 – sowatch this space.

Working group meetings in 2012*8 groups *20 meetings *263 attendees

Come and join us on eitherLinkedIn, Twitter or both. Search@AEVnews on twitter and search Association of Event Venues on LinkedIn.

Archie GlendinningHCL Director

Royal Highland Centre

Simon KentHead of Operations

Harrogate International Centre

Grahame JonesOperations Director

FIVE (Farnborough Int. Ltd)

?

The rest of your AEV team!The rest of yo

Catherine GreenMembership ExecT: 01442 285 816

e: catherine@aev.org.uk

Lee HollowayTechnical AdvisorT: 01442 285 805M: 07969 637672

e: lee@essa.aev.org.uk

Andrew HarrisonAccount & Comms

ManagerT: 01442 285 808M: 07522 745580

e: andrew@aev.org.uk

Above, needing very little introduction, Chris Hughes and his BrandEvents team and Andrew Evans of Centaur. For more images andinformation about this year's event visit www.essa.uk.com/events

THEEV

ENTINDUSTRYCHARITYGOLFDAY

2012

I N T H E ROUGH

New websiteIt has served us valiantly for a number of years, butultimately our needs change and you just drift apart. So,early 2013 will see a facelift and a re-launch with greatermember functionality with new sections for technicalinformation, marketing support and a more logical searchfunctionality for those wanting to find a supplier.

Basically, we have asked our friends at ASP to makefinding what visitors to the site want to find, easier.

The AEO Conference 2013will take place on 31 Januaryat Olympia ConferenceCentre.

www.aeo.org.uk/conferencefor more information/booking.

*NEW this year! A two-stream Conference:

- Executive Directors,- Senior Directors and Managers

Dates for your 2013 diary

AEV members have long supported theBECA and ESSA Golf days, which evolvedfurther in 2012 to be ‘In the rough’, theevent industry golf team challenge!Whether Golf was your bag, or justnetworking with organiser and suppliers,the event provided plenty of time to catch

up with old friends and customers, as well as challenge yourself ona very soggy and hilly course at Hellidon Lakes. In addition theevent supported two charities raising £4k for Hospitality Action andEvents for Namuwongo.

We are delighted to report AEV, along with its sister associations,AEO & ESSA are now represented on an all new Steering Group,looking to further put this event on the map for 2013. GrahamStephenson from the BDC along with Paul MacDonald from CentaurExhibitions, and Luke Facey from Alfa Display, will provide guidanceand direction to next year’s event on the 23rd July at the Forest ofArden in Warwickshire.

In the Rough

Kathryn James(Chair)

Managing DirectorNational Exhibition Centre

Kevin Murphy(Treasurer)

CEOExCeL London

Graz KalenikGeneral ManagerBarbican Centre

Nigel Nathan(Vice Chair)

Group Managing DirectorEarls Court & Olympia

Tim BanfieldCommercial Director

ACC Liverpool

Anna CloverEvents and Leisure Director

Alexandra Palace

Graham StephensonChief Operating OfficerBusiness Design Centre

Rebecca KaneGeneral Manager

The O2

AEV Board