ISES (International Special Events Society) had plenty to celebrate at their recent Annual Update, with more members than ever and a new UK office!

ISES Board members were brimming over with good news for a full house of members and guests (a capacity audience of 160 attended) at the recent ‘Annual Update’ (AGM), held at the Groucho Club, Soho, London. The society has now secured a wide-ranging membership presence in Britain, representing a significant number of the UK’s leading event professionals.

The Update opened to the reassurance of healthy finances by the ever-charismatic UK ISES President, Arthur Somerset. It was also announced that, (rather than being run from the US, as has been the case up to now) a new office has been established to manage all aspects of the ISES UK administration, which will be run by Claire Graham.
Arthur announced that:
“The new office will respond to the needs of the ever growing number of British ISES members, promoting efficiency and enabling ISES UK to better serve their members on this side of the Atlantic.

Vice President of Events, Richard Groves reported that:
“Recent ISES events have proven to be the perfect networking ground for the special events industry, with hundreds of members attending each event, to the point of them being over subscribed. We intend to continue to bring in exceptional speakers offering talks on subjects, which are both educational, and fun to attend followed by ISES’s own style of networking drinks reception afterwards.”

It was also announced by Director at large, Richard Beggs, that:
“The British arm of ISES is strengthening its ties with the US, having forged a link with the New York ISES Chapter. It is hoped that this twinning partnership will allow event professionals on both sides of the Atlantic to learn new ways of approaching old challenges.”

They were also pleased to introduce some of their new board members, including Peter Pallai, as Vice President of Membership, and Oliver Medill taking over as Vice President of marketing, both of who were keen to express their intentions for the coming year. Peter is particularly interested in expanding the range of large corporate suppliers, in order to help the industry as a whole grow, through the contacts and support that ISES promotes. Photographer David Thompson will capture the images for ISES UK, with Resource PR and media partners Square Meal working to communicate the societies aims and achievements.

ISES President Arthur Somerset was as engaging as ever whilst giving the closing speech. He announced that:
“One of this year’s goals will be to focus on the purchasing practices employed by corporate clients and create an ‘industry standard purchasing brief’, reinforcing the right for event managers to charge for preparing quotes for prospective clients.

He continued:
“This would mean that companies wanting to hire a professional event management company would focus more carefully on the brief and the objectives of the event and what criteria they were going to award the contract.”

“This follows on from the ISES Regional Education Conference, held in March, during which many of the speakers also commented on the expense of putting together a proposal with no return if the client changes the brief, organises the event in house or decides not to go ahead.”

This idea exemplifies one of the aims of ISES, to bring together the events industry to improve its reputation and to set industry standards, for the benefit of all.

Guest speaker Jeremy Lee, of JLA, concluded the business from the podium with an enlightening and entertaining insight into the world of booking public speakers. He gave advice, not shy to include his own opinions and ethics that have served him well in building a successful agency and illustrated his points with tales from the after-dinner speech circuit incorporating many famous names, including Bill Clinton, John Major and dubiously Jeffery Archer.

The Groucho Club, represented by Helen Eck, was an impeccable host, serving guests with a specially created cocktail and a variety homemade canapés. For details on joining ISES, or their next event please visit www.isesuk.org.