Over 30 event industry professionals gathered at BMA House in London, 8 July, to review and debate the next levels of the Event Management Apprenticeship Programme (EMAP).
Having successfully established the entry Level 3 with more than 100 apprentices now in employment and training programmes, the meeting was convened by the EMAP Board to enable wider direct input from the industry into the content for the anticipated next levels in the programme.
The meeting provided an update on the work completed and the latest developments being led by EMAP.
Sarah Wright, Chair of the EMAP Board, opened the meeting, explaining the establishment of working parties to support specific work streams such as comms and diversity, and the pending formal announcement of the first commercial sponsorship deal for EMAP, which will be used to refresh and improve the website.
Simon Hughes, Vice-Chair of the EMAP Board, was then joined by Joshua Owolabi, who is about to start his apprenticeship journey at Level 3 as an event management assistant, to discuss his choice of an apprenticeship to kick-start his career in events.
Joshua was with Saskia Summerhill, from Big Creative Education, where she works supporting young people as a Creative Apprenticeship Co-ordinator.
Joshua shared his passion for wanting to create more community events to provide safe spaces for young people in his neighbourhood in Hackney.
Board member Asi Panditharatna shared a short review of Level 3 then Adam Proto, also a Board member, gave an introduction of content for Level 4.
Delegates also discussed how Level 5 and Level 6 might be constructed to provide relevant access points for the range of skills and experience found across the event sector.
The workshop session was followed by a short presentation from Radhika Chhatwal on the work in hand around diversity and inclusion – one of the key objectives established by the EMAP Board.
Wright commented: “Getting time and commitment from so many people today is a fantastic result – this programme is designed by the industry for the industry, so the ideas and thoughts we’ve captured are invaluable in that process. We will of course be extending the development of the standards to all those that have expressed interest in the work being undertaken by EMAP but were unable to attend today.
“All of our EMAP volunteers working on the board and working parties really appreciate the support from the industry but need more support through the employment of apprentices, sponsorship of the programme and joining the vital working parties. The sharing of great ideas and really useful expert insights make the work required to drive the recruitment of apprentices in order to broaden the talent pool really worthwhile.”
