| EIA | 27 Mar 2007 |
Foley faces ‘the future’ - CEO presents to event management students!
It was ‘back to school’ for the Events Industry Alliance (EIA), as Trevor Foley travelled to Birmingham to deliver a presentation to the inaugural group of students undertaking the University of Central England’s (UCE) new MA in Event and Exhibition Management.
Creating stronger links between the events/exhibition industry and UK academic institutions represents a key objective for EIA, and the visit proved a great success. The course’s students enjoyed a specifically designed EIA academic presentation, which included an introduction to EIA (the concept, owner associations and their member companies), a look into the current UK event/exhibition scene (current trends, event success stories) and an open Q&A session.
Dutch-born Course Director and Senior Lecturer Mathilde Stein was delighted with EIA’s contribution to the day’s teaching. Stein noted the, “Excellent content, the students went home really inspired. All in all, a great example of how education and the industry can move forward hand in hand.”
In welcome contrast to previous experiences EIA has endured from representatives at educational establishments, Stein was adamant that the UCE course gained the approval of, and developed close ties with EIA and its associated bodies. EIA, in turn, recognises its responsibility to communicate the rewards of working within the exciting, challenging and ever-developing environment that is the events/exhibitions arena, and to support any course that seeks to adequately qualify a new generation of industry employees.
A brief glance at the course modules confirm that the MA, which was initiated by Andrew Morris, former CEO at the NEC and Earls Court Olympia, is in-line with current industry developments; the relevance of the subjects bode well for the students enrolled, and the industry to which they intend to join. Modules include ‘Creative Enterprise’, ‘Concepts and Themes in Event Production’, ‘Exhibition Production’, ‘Creative Marketing’ and ‘Management of Live Events’. The focus of the modules is equally impressive, with core themes of competition, research, understanding current trends and the perspectives all industry stakeholders (venues, organisers, exhibitors, suppliers and consumers) running through all academic activity.
“With this course, we aim at excellence”, comments Stein, “We recruit only highly motivated students, whom are taught the ins and outs of Event and Exhibition Management by a panel of top lecturers from both the industry and the academic world. Our objective is to deliver highly competent professionals, who can handle any type of event, on any level of responsibility.”
EIA shares Stein’s objective, and will be sure to monitor the progress of UCE’s Event Management ‘class of 2007’! On his return to EIA HQ, Foley was upbeat about the course set-up, stating, “It is exciting for EIA and its members to develop positive relations with a course so clearly relevant to the industry it represents. I congratulate Mathilde and her team at UCE for their work to date. It will be intriguing to review how this year’s students develop, and forge their own imminent careers in our market. Indeed, EIA plans to provide a link between graduation and employment within member companies. ”
Foley went on to stress his desire for EIA to build on the academic ties with educational institutions; “with a presentation at the Student Events Conference at the University of Derby in the diary for March, 2007 could be an important year for our academic mission! This event alone will allow us to reach students from universities in Manchester, Sheffield, Derby and Hull, so watch this space!”- ends -
To view the press release in pdf format, please click here.
The EIA is supported by marketing partners Dubai World Trade Centre, IELA and getmemedia.com
To access further details on UCE’s MA in Event and Exhibition Management visit the department website at www.mediacourses.com, or contact Mathilde Stein directly at mathilde.stein@uce.ac.uk.
For more information, visit the website at www.eventsindustryalliance.com.
Contact
Events Industry Alliance (EIA)
Declan Gane, EIA PR Manager
Email: declan@eventsindustryalliance.com
Events Industry Alliance (EIA)
119 High Street
Berkhamsted
Hertfordshire
HP4 2DJ
Telephone: (01442) 873331
Facsimile: (01442) 875551
