EVCOM are excited to be sharing our new commitments to diversity and inclusion. Following the Black Lives Matter movement this year, and calls for greater diversity and inclusion across the industry, we wanted to commit to actively improving. We have been part of several workshops that BVEP and Diversity Ally have been running recently. These further highlighted the need for change, and allowed us to collate and confirm some of the ideas we have been constructing into a concrete commitment.
We know this is just the beginning, and we are absolutely open to all feedback on the work we are trying to do. If you have any suggestions or thoughts, please get in touch with Amelia on coordinator@evcom.org.uk. We hope these commitments will allow us to work towards greater diversity and inclusion in our industry, and to be held accountable for our active participation in this goal.
Our Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion
We will offer free membership to agencies that are led by Black individuals or teams, and to Black freelancers until the end of 2021.
From 2021 onwards, we will hold two workshops a year for young diverse people – one for people who are interested in getting into the event industry, and one for people who are interested in getting into the corporate film industry. These workshops will be free to attend and we will partner with local networks to ensure that we are able to engage as many young people as possible.
We will aim to hold our live events in venues that are entirely accessible. Where this is not possible, we will specify all access details on each event listing.
We will use image descriptions when posting images on Instagram to ensure that people who are visually impaired can still engage with our content.
We will commit to inviting a sign language interpreter to our annual EVCOMference so that people who are deaf or hard of hearing can make the most of the knowledge sharing forums that EVCOMference has to offer.
We will only work with venues and suppliers that have strong CSR credentials and that share a commitment to sustainable events.
We will commit to putting together a board that is representative of UK creative talent. This means we will actively work to find Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic board members and to ensure that men and women are equally represented. We will also look to include more representatives of minority groups, including disabled individuals and LGBTQIA+ individuals by 2022.
This year for the first time we are running the FOCUS Award, which seeks to find and nurture young Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic filmmakers by offering them a chance to meet professionals from the corporate sector and receive mentoring. In 2021 we will launch a similar award for the events sector and work to make sure both are reaching the audience who will benefit most from this scheme.
As signatories of the Race At Work Charter, we will work to ensure that our workplace is both diverse and inclusive at all levels. This means we are committing to:
- Appointing an Executive Sponsor for race
- Capturing data and publicising progress
- Ensuring zero tolerance of harassment and bullying
- Making equality in the workplace the responsibility of all leaders and managers
- Taking action that supports ethnic minority career progression
As members of the BVEP we will work with Diversity Ally to meet the industry benchmarks they have created specifically for the events sector.
We have developed our Code of Ethics for EVCOM Members to give it a renewed and active focus on Diversity and Inclusion. You can find our Code of Ethics here.