HBAA, the trade association for the Meetings, Events, and Accommodation Industry, has introduced its new identity at a Members & Partners Meeting.
beam represents the business events, accommodation, and meetings sector. This new name begins a new chapter for the association that is based on the solid foundations of the last 24 years. Underpinned by the Association’s four pillars, Resilience, Innovation, Ethics, and Quality, it will ensure that the association remains relevant and sustainable for the future.
The board has, through member and peer engagement, for some time recognised the need for change and the need to have an identity that truly represents the span of membership today and tomorrow, as well as continuing to be at the forefront of the industry in future. The new identity and plans for extensive changes are the result of extensive research.
Members of beam will benefit from being part of a wider community with tools and content accessible to members, as well as strategic partnerships developed to aid members’ business growth. With membership being for both agencies and venues, this change ensures that both sides of the sector are truly represented, respected and encouraged to do business together, for the benefit of the end customer.
beam represents an industry in need of shared learning, best practice and behaviours and a louder voice in government; the association creates a meeting place and a network for all members to unite as a community, for the ongoing development of our sector and to address these needs.
To fulfil beam’s mission, the association will be launching three new board positions: Industry Relations Director, Next Generation Director, and Content Delivery Director. The Industry Relations Director will serve as a primary face of the Association to attract and retain members and garner support for events, and special initiatives.
The Next Generation Director will serve as a primary face of the Association to attract, retain and recruit next-gen talent as the emerging faces of the industry and future leaders, and will provide a new outlook on industry matters and the direction of the association, from different angles.
The Content Delivery Director will serve as a primary role to ensure that the Association curates authoritative, knowledgeable and forward-thinking content across all channels,
Beckie Towle, HBAA Marketing Director and Founder of Events Raccoon commented: “beam will shine a light on our industry and on its members. It will be outward facing into the industry and to government, collaborating and striving for a united voice.
“beam will continue to champion change and lead the debate on key issues that will impact our industry, with macro-environmental issues at the forefront, with clear collaboration pathways across the sector, while creating the industry leaders of tomorrow.
“Our new identity gives us real purpose and true representation of our membership.
“Our members remain the core of our success and like all businesses we have had to change to ensure we survive and have a prosperous future. We have big ambitious plans and need an identity that represents us, to showcase our vision.
Angie Mason, founding member of HBAA added: “As a founder member of HBAA, and having enjoyed the opportunity to contribute to its long-term development, I am delighted that the Association continues to go from strength to strength with the transformation to beam.
“All good things evolve to become their best and this is a perfect example. Our industry thrives on best practise, learning and networking and these are the areas in which beam will lead. It will continue to be the voice of its members on a wider stage and lead the way for the continuing transformation of the business events, accommodation and meetings sector into the future.”
Over the coming months beam will unveil further details of the strategy and vision, as well as the membership benefits that it will offer and provide.
Sian Sayward, HBAA Governance Director and Director of Commercial Partnerships & Projects at Inntel, said: “Today is just the start of many changes, the start of the journey of transformation as we continue our work to widen the membership, to deliver the benefits of membership to our members’ businesses and make our voice louder.
“beam is the new shining light of the industry”.
