My inbox has been overflowing recently with missives from various people as they canvass votes to stake a claim that they are one of the 100 most influential people in the events industry.  

As the great Keith Richards once lamented, “If you’ve gotta think about being cool, you ain’t cool.” And as the increasing desperate emails and LinkedIn posts burn my retinas in a clamour for my vote in supporting their supposed influence, it makes me think that maybe Keith has a point. All these people who think they are influential: well, they probably ain’t. I know they are of little consequence and the events industry will carry on regardless of their level of influence or not.  

In fact, carrying on regardless is what our industry tends to do. I recently looked back at the nearly 100 columns I have now written for this esteemed organ and frankly, very little changes. I was going to make them into a book, but too many of the chapters would say the same thing, as the same topics dominate.  

Agencies asking for free rooms, agencies not turning up for events, agencies not letting suppliers sell to them but wanting commission paid before the client has even paid us. Agencies saying venues should pay commission on cancellations, and that there are too many industry associations (I actually wrote about that back in 2010). 

A particular favourite has been a continued lack of government recognition for the industry - who remembers the One Industry One Voice initiative in the pandemic? - and the various characters in that space too busy raising their influence and client list than actually achieving any proper traction with government.  

If you do feel compelled to vote for people of influence in the events industry then may I humbly suggest that your vote would be more meaningfully cast if you choose those that control budgets. You know, the people that actually decide if products will get launched, if sponsorship activations will happen, and if live events will actually take place as part of the marketing mix. For it is those people that have real influence, and those people that will shape this industry’s future. So, vote for the CMOs of the top 100 corporations. Vote instead for people like Lisa Materazzo, Greg Joswiak, Frank Cooper III, and Mark Pritchard. 

This article is taken from the Autumn/Winter 2024 issue of M&IT - to read the full magazine online, click here