2018 has been a big year for EVCOM, seeing more strategic moves to support our members throughout the year. With a new employer-led Board in place, EVCOM has created an ambitious plan for the Association moving forward. As before, plans put a continued emphasis on creating more business opportunities – and referrals – for members. We are hugely proud of what EVCOM has been achieved in 2018, all of which would not have been possible without the support from our members and partners.
We’ve welcomed 38 new members into our membership, registered over 700 attendees at our events and visited over 50 of our member agencies in person all over the UK.
In a moment of reflection, let’s take a trip down memory lane to see what happened in 2018 and what EVCOM got up to!
January and February
- Successful member renewal process which saw a strong agency and client commissioner membership retention rate.
- We launched our member only referral process via our LinkedIn forum.
- Top of everyone’s lists, we brought you the GDPR Campfire session led by Briffa.
- After the success of the London based GDPR Campfire session we took the session to Manchester’s Dock 10 for our members.
March and April
- During the arrival of “the mini beast from the east” we launched the EVCOM Industry Awards by opening entries with a new judging platform on our new micro site.
- We brought our members the next in the Talking Pictures series in collaboration with the BFI, focusing on Corporate Film for the Public Sector with guest speakers from The Edge Picture Company, Tinderflint and Chris Godwin Films.
- We visited Bournemouth University to talk about careers within the Corporate Screen industry, a talk which saw five students then join us at Talking Pictures and EVCOMference for free.
- In the space of a month we then saw many EVCOM members running the hottest London Marathon in history. Well done to our Association Manager Sophie who raised over £2k for the RNLI.
- With the arrival of a Royal baby, we opened ticket sales for EVCOMference via our new micro site.
May and June
- 25th May saw GDPR finally coming in to full force, with EVCOM members fully prepared from attending our earlier GDPR Campfire session.
- With the excitement of a Royal Wedding we were busy delivering EVCOMference18: Mind The Gap. EVCOMference presented a mini-festival of stories from the front line of business – from thought-leaders, agency-leaders and industry-leaders alike. The big debate came down to Technology verses Creativity in the fight to win new business, with Creativity coming out on top. Photos here.
- The Industry Awards entry deadline came around and we began the judging process, headed up by our client led judging panel from over 10 multinational corporate brands.
July and August
- In a summer of celebration for England’s progression through the World Cup, the 5th July saw the first in a series of events dedicated to showcasing the best of the best for the EVCOM Industry Awards. The Summer Shortlist Party was held at the ICA with over 100 attending to find out who had made it on to the shortlist. Photos here.
- The new EVCOM website was launched with visuals from the Event Photography Awards.
- We welcomed our new employer-led Board at the AGM and strategy day. As a result of the strategy day, EVCOM created a new business plan for 2018-2021, dividing roles within the board to support chosen areas.
September and October
- EVCOM collaborated with Jigsaw24, Rewind and HP to deliver “Virtual Meets Reality”. Held at the HP Customer Centre, EVCOM members were invited to explore the possibilities of VR and AR with demonstrations of new tech.
- The final Campfire Session of the year was an invite only event based on consolidation in the marketplace. Delivered in partnership with Integro and BCMS the session was such a success we will see a repeat session in 2019.
November and December
- We completed our Talking Pictures series with the BFI by studying Brands with Purpose. The session, which has built a strong following over the past year, was led by Unilever’s Chris Ktorides and Plastic Picture’s Sara Cooper.
- Building on the excitement throughout the year, on the 30th November we held the EVCOM Industry Awards for over 300 people at Tobacco Dock London. We showcased our 80 winners, with entertainment from Events Are Talented in our new lunchtime format. Photos here.
- Finally we ended our year by returning to the House of Lords to celebrate our Patrons and Fellows for the Fellowship Lunch. Sponsored by drp and hosted by Lord Watson of Richmond CBE, EVCOM Fellowship Awards saw prizes presented to Dr Linda Papadopoulos, Rob Allen and Justin Webb.
As an EVCOM member you can book now for events in 2019 by clicking here. Don’t forget to follow us @EVCOMUK and sign up to our newsletter to keep up to date in 2019.