The Power of Events’ Schools Engagement Programme Pilot, initiated in January with grant support from the Event Industry Forum (EIF) has been completed, with a UK-wide rollout set for the Autumn.
The pilot aimed to deliver career information about the event industry to schools in the East of England. The programme achieved the following:
- Engaged 6,500 students across 35 schools.
- Delivered consistent and compelling career opportunity messages across seven core sectors of the event industry.
- Increased student understanding of the UK events industry from 1% to 65% post-presentation.
- Received positive feedback from students, teachers, and industry ambassadors.
The pilot also helped develop robust systems and processes for a nationwide rollout. This included creating presentation materials compliant with Provider Access Legislation (PAL). Additionally, the pilot’s PR and marketing efforts have attracted 250 more School Ambassador industry volunteers across the UK, ready to support the programme in their regions.
The UK rollout is scheduled from Autumn 2024 to Summer 2025, beginning with three regions and their associated sponsors:
- Hertfordshire: Event Academy, Absolute Production Group, emc3, Smyle, weIMPLEMENT
- South Coast (Portsmouth, Brighton, Eastbourne): Identity, asembl group
- Birmingham: NEC Group, DRPG, Neon Arena Services
Rick Stainton, founder of The Power of Events, said: “I’d like to thank the EIF for helping us deliver such a productive pilot programme. The learnings from it have helped us refine and improve the experience for young people, the schools, and our brilliant industry Ambassadors. The content-driven showcase has worked well, and we are excited about taking it into more schools and colleges in these first three regional deployments, thanks to the collaborative support of the sponsors.”
Simon Hughes, director of The Power of Events, added: “The industry asked us to boost awareness of the broad range of event careers and the multiple routes into our industry in the face of stiff competition from other sectors. We invite our partners and supporters to get involved in the programme by sponsoring the rollout into their local region or joining the growing number of Ambassadors helping us deliver this innovative showcase to attract the talent of tomorrow.”
