Kai Hattendorf, UFI managing director/CEO, discovers the benefits of going the distance
Many of you know that I enjoy going for runs, having joined in on many of the outings of the UFI Running Club over the past years. I enjoy my jogs that are usually just between five and ten kilometres – they feel good, and they help me to stay fit.
I admire the colleagues who do marathons, or even longer distances regularly, and I applaud those who have found their way into sports just now, celebrating every run they do and every improvement they experience.
Going your distance. Perseverance. Improvements. Consistency…
I was thinking about all of this recently as I sat in a conference room in Paris, at the headquarters of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and world trade.
During the pandemic, the OECD became aware of UFI’s work through our advocacy-related activities and our ‘Global Framework for Reopening Business Events’. This has led to UFI’s involvement in the work of the OECD as it has embarked on a multi-year project to develop a framework for measuring the impact of Global Events.
Governments fund the OECD, and in turn build their strategies on guidance from organisations like these. So, it is encouraging to see that business events, especially trade shows and conferences, are now on the OECD’s radar when measuring the positive impacts of various types of events.
This is advocacy in action, and it is another ‘seat at the table’ for our industry. UFI, as the global association of our industry, is pleased to provide data and insights on the economic, social, and environmental impacts of business events in our continual advocacy for the industry.
Another such ‘seat at the table’ is at the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO). A network of national standards bodies from more than 160 countries, based in Switzerland, it manages standardisation projects for industries and sectors. Recently, a new working group was established within ISO, and the organisation has tasked it with a review of an existing standard about vocabulary used in the exhibitions and conferences industry (known as ISO 25639-1).
Also under discussion is whether or not the working group should revise a standard (ISO 25639-2) about ‘Measurement procedures for statistical purposes’. Within the ISO membership, other discussions are under way that may impact our industry as well.
It is important to understand that ISO is run by and for national standards bodies. The organisation in and of itself has no expertise in the industries and sectors for which it defines rules and standards. Therefore, ISO nominates and selects leading representatives of industries to serve as ‘Liaison Organisations’ in their committees and working groups.
As the global association for our sector, UFI has been regularly involved in this role in the past. Now, ISO has again registered UFI as a liaison for this new working group.
Both engagements, at the OECD as well as at ISO, are ‘marathons, not sprints’, where UFI will stay engaged to ensure that we bring our industry’s expertise and expectations to policy and standards work. But – just like in running, perseverance and consistency will allow us to go the distance – for our industry.
