ITM WORKS TO CREATE MICE UNDER SECTOR INNOVATOR
Meetings and Events Working Party under leadership of Fay Sharpe
Fay Sharpe has been appointed by the Institute of Travel & Meetings UK & Ireland (ITM) board as the chairman of the newly created Meetings & Events Working Party. Sharpe, an existing ITM board director, is tasked with managing a cross section of meetings & events stakeholders to drive content and membership from the sector into the association to fulfil the requirements of MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences & Events) buyers and suppliers.
The move coincides with the ITM board's unanimous decision to change the association's name at the AGM in 2009 to reflect the consolidation of the travel and meetings sectors and the pledge made by the association's chairman, Caroline Strachan, at the 2008 conference to begin to introduce a strong meetings & events element to the association's work.
Sharpe, the joint managing director of Zibrant and a recognised leader in the sector, was bought into the ITM board to provide a perspective to Meetings & Events and will lead the working party to create a Meetings & Events Toolkit with definitions of different parts of the MICE process, information on measuring spend and indentifying stakeholders within organisations. The working party will also seek to bring together under one roof the work done by other associations representing different elements of the sector and to create better links with these organisations.
Commenting on the role Sharpe said "I'm delighted to take this position. We want drive innovation and provide focus to meetings & events buyers and suppliers. Our aim is to provide them with the tools, assistance, unique insight and expertise that can only be gained with access to some of the industry's leading lights from both suppliers and corporates. We have a great team and we aim to launch the MICE toolkit by the end of quarter one and are confident this will deliver real value to all ITM members".
The output from the group will be targeted across three member levels. Those new to procuring meetings & events, established buyers who have been dealing with the sector for a few years but want to ensure best practice and those considered pioneers. The association also intends to recreate its Meetings & Events Breakfast Forums, established for the first time in November, for buyers of different levels to discuss issues and solutions.
