Written on 27^th July 2020 by Alex Kington

Putting inclusivity centre stage at events

Over the past few months, we have seen an uprising in public consciousness around global humanitarian issues such as race, poverty, sexuality, gender identification and equality. For the main part, these issues have sat squarely in the consumer zone, with many of the businesses and brands who have engaged and taken a stand being in the B2C sector. 

Much of the commentary has focused around tangible actions. Simply posting a black square on Instagram as a show of solidarity for the Black Lives Matters movement is not enough. Society is calling for commitment and tangible, continuous action.  

Events can play a huge role in this – both positive and negative. As event management specialists we’re here to produce events for our clients, in line with their brief. We’re here to give creative ideas and new suggestions to keep things fresh and exciting. But we’re also here to guide and educate our clients and to ensure their events have a positive impact on all attendees and the wider sectors in which they operate. And now, this must involve consciously demonstrating our alliance with underrepresented groups.  

Here are some steps to take to ensure your event puts inclusivity centre stage: 

1. Listen 

For most events there will be a working group or committee, both internally and within your events management company. Ensure diversity within this group. Do you have people actively representing Black delegates? Delegates with disabilities? Non-binary delegates? If not, do you have a group or a resource you could draw upon to seek feedback on ideas? Listening to these communities and respecting the differences of opinion is the first step to creating truly inclusive events 

2. Seek out equality 

For some years there has been an active outcry against “man-els” - all male panels. There will be female speakers out there who will be as competent and willing to sit on the panel, but you may have to work harder to find them. This goes for ethnic diversity too. Work harder to ensure a representative split of speakers, panellists, hosts, judges etc. Working with an events management company can assist with this, and if they don’t, it may be time to find another supplier. 

3. Devil is in the detail 

Using the right language is essential. Putting in additional time and effort to ensure you include every member of your event will have a big impact on those you could have otherwise caused hurt to. Small changes such as “Distinguished guests” rather than “Ladies and Gentlemen” shows an active acknowledgement of non-binary attendees, as does saying “person in the red coat” instead of “lady / man in the red coat”.  

4. Consider the wider eco-system 

As we all know, putting on an event has multiple moving parts which can involve a whole host of suppliers.  Actively seek out diversity in your supply chain. Are you working with female owned businesses? Do you have businesses owned by people of colour on your suppliers’ roster? Are you considering disabled entrepreneurs within your supply chain? These are just some of the steps you can take to ensure that businesses and people of all backgrounds are included. 

There are so many changes we can all make, big and small to increase the inclusivity of the events we run. This should not just be a ‘hot topic’ or a zeitgeist bandwagon to jump on, but a commitment to doing things better, fairer and more equally. That’s our commitment at TAG and we hope you’ll join us.