Although it may feel like a long time ago I do hope you and your teams are rested after the festive break and are well refreshed and ready for 2023.
Perhaps we should first reflect on how we’ve arrived at this point, based on the year that saw our association achieving its 25th Anniversary.
2022 was yet another year that brought its own set of challenges. Can you believe that just this time last year we were mostly back in lockdown? It seems a lifetime ago and yet here we are, very much still facing those same challenges from last year today. From Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, to inflation, to soaring energy prices, to Brexit and labour shortages, culminating in a very real cost of living crisis. All this while our industry and the wider world was still recovering from the lingering impact of the pandemic.
Despite everything once again thrown at us, as an industry we rose up and met those challenges head on. The themes of collaboration and support were and are still intrinsic to everything we aim to achieve and you will see beam again focusing on these values this year, as we continue to work with other industry bodies to achieve our common goals and provide support at the highest levels for all of our members.
2023 for beam will be very very busy! We have a packed events calendar to look forward to, with some events fast approaching, please see our events calendar here and register for upcoming events here
Alongside our association and wider industry events, the board and our action groups are all continuing the hard work started during the pandemic to fully realise our association Vision, which as you may have seen previously is “To be recognised as The Association for the Business Events, Accommodation and Meetings Industry. beam seeks to promote professionalism, ethical and sustainable practices, diversity, education, innovation and thought leadership, whilst also acting as a unified and powerful voice for our members.” This is no small target but one I am 100% confident we will achieve with the current team of dedicated volunteers working on behalf of us all.
Our four association pillars – Resilience, Ethics, Innovation and Quality are as significant as ever. We remain fully committed to supporting, guiding and championing best practice across the industry on your behalf and I look forward to working with you during this year and beyond. Thank you once again for your valued support.
As I said back at our gala dinner in October, there is no doubt we have more challenges coming our way this year. If we work together, unite in our goals and above all remember to be kind to each other, we can ensure this industry remains relevant, sustainable and future fit”.
Sian