T he link between companies’ words and actions are under greater scrutiny these days, than ever before. According to a Mori poll on the public’s view of corporate responsibility, a third of people in the UK say companies’ responsibility is very important to their purchasing decisions. It is in this area that Business in the Community (BITC), a charity comprising more than 800 member companies, representing one in five of the UK private sector workforce, uses live events to promote and reinforce its core messages. Event manager Helen Crumley says that events are crucial to the strategy of the company. “My role is to organise the big three - our annual conference, our awards dinner and our annual general meeting. Alongside that, I give advice to our other departments on their individual conferences, seminars and workshops. I advise on venue search, catering, audiovisual and making sure the quotes for services are accurate and they are getting what they want.” Crumley says that BITC’s values commit her, and all the staff, to ‘act with integrity’ and that central to this is practicing what they preach by demonstrating to internal and external audiences their commitment to responsible business practices. BITC exists, she explains, to inspire companies by sharing knowledge and experience, and to develop innovative and challenging ways to be a catalyst for change. The charity supports and challenges companies to integrate responsible business through their operations in order to have a positive impact on society and be of 'public benefit'. She says: “When you go to one of our events, you will know it is one of our events. It involves a lot of internal communication and event management. For example, at the annual general conference, which took place at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre earlier this year, we moved away from what you might term the traditional conference format – the big keynote, the break out sessions and so on and linked the event to the corporate responsibility index. We built a programme based around future issues and split delegates into teams. It was very interactive. You know what usually happens – you have your carbohydrates for lunch and fall asleep in the afternoon. This time the conference was structured to make sure that didn’t happen. The QEII is, of course, a well- established, centrally located and very familiar venue. Wilton’s Music Hall, nestled in London’s east side is a different proposition – idiosyncratic and emblematic of an area in the throes of regeneration. For these reasons, Crumley says, it was used as the venue for The Prince's Seeing is Believing event. These events aim to recognise responsible business as integral to successful business behaviour. Each event involves visits to community projects, schools or prisons, hosted by a senior business leader on behalf of HRH The Prince of Wales. The programme introduces participants to places and people they would otherwise be very unlikely to visit and provides a valuable insight and a new understanding of the role of business in society. “The location is part of the profile As event manager at Business in the Community, Helen Crumley makes sure the charity’s practice is in line with its policies. John Keenan reports 'If you go to one of our events, you will know it is one of our events' Helen Crumley Business in the Community 45 April 2008 Continued on page 47 Walk the talk Helen Crumley: recognising responsible business practice
Welcome message from author
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
The link between companies’ words and actions are under greater scrutiny these days, than ever before. According to a Mori
poll on the public’s view of corporate responsibility, a third of people in the UK say companies’ responsibility is very important to their purchasing decisions.
It is in this area that Business in the Community (BITC), a charity comprising more than 800 member companies, representing one in five of the UK private sector workforce, uses live events to promote and reinforce its core messages.
Event manager Helen Crumley says that events are crucial to the strategy of the company.
“My role is to organise the big three - our annual conference, our awards dinner and our annual general meeting. Alongside that, I give advice to our other departments on their individual conferences, seminars and workshops. I advise on venue search, catering, audiovisual and making sure the quotes for services are accurate and they are getting what they want.”
Crumley says that BITC’s values commit her, and all the staff, to ‘act with integrity’ and that central to this is practicing what they preach by demonstrating to internal and external audiences their commitment to responsible business practices.
BITC exists, she explains, to inspire companies by sharing knowledge and experience, and to develop innovative and challenging ways to be a catalyst for change. The charity supports and challenges companies to integrate
responsible business through their operations in order to have a positive impact on society and be of 'public benefit'.
She says: “When you go to one of our events, you will know it is one of our events. It involves a lot of internal communication and event management. For example, at the annual general conference, which took place at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre earlier this year, we moved away from what you might term the traditional conference format – the big keynote, the break out sessions and so on and linked the event to the corporate responsibility index. We built a programme based around future issues and split delegates into teams. It was very interactive. You know what usually happens – you have your carbohydrates for lunch and fall asleep in the afternoon. This time the conference was structured to make
sure that didn’t happen.The QEII is, of course, a well-
established, centrally located and very familiar venue. Wilton’s Music Hall, nestled in London’s east side is a different proposition – idiosyncratic and emblematic of an area in the throes of regeneration. For these reasons, Crumley says, it was used as the venue for The Prince's Seeing is Believing event.
These events aim to recognise responsible business as integral to successful business behaviour. Each event involves visits to community projects, schools or prisons, hosted by a senior business leader on behalf of HRH The Prince of Wales. The programme introduces participants to places and people they would otherwise be very unlikely to visit and provides a valuable insight and a new understanding of the role of business in society.
“The location is part of the
profile
As event manager at Business in the Community, Helen Crumley makes sure the charity’s practice is in line with its policies. John Keenan reports
'If you go to one of our events, you will know it is one of our
events'Helen Crumley
Business in the Community
45A p r i l 2 0 0 8
Continued on page 47
Continued from page 45
Walk the talkHelen Crumley: recognising responsible business practice
PROFILE new.indd 2 20/3/08 09:10:31
experience,” she says.And this is also true for the
gala dinner of BITC’s Awards for Excellence, held at the Royal Albert Hall. The awards are peer-assessed and independently assured, Crumley says, and the Big Tick (their top award) is a most valued approval of responsible business practice.
“We have very good relationship with the events team at the Albert Hall,” says Crumley “We need 120 tables for 10, and we use all the boxes. We have nine regional awards which use creative venues around the country and the gala dinner is a celebration of best practice in that field.”
Crumley says that another major event will take place at the beginning of May when BITC organises the Prince of Wales’s May Day Business Summit on Climate Change. The May Day Summit 2008 will be the largest gathering of companies committed to taking positive action on climate change. As well as attending summit events across the UK, companies can
profile
Continued from page 45
Crumley: May Day event will focus on climate change
INSPIRING PEOPLE
Dean’s Yard, Westminster, London SW1P 3NZTel : 020 7390 1590 Fax 020 7390 1591
CMCH48 M&IT Quarter page ad 85x130 7/11/07 09:01 Page 1
47A p r i l 2 0 0 8
Helen Crumley: recognising responsible business practice
choose to watch on-line, and mobilise their stakeholders on climate change through in-house events.
Crumley says: “All events are linked to climate change. Every venue we use has to be close to transport links, all food will be locally sourced and each venue will be compliant with the disability discrimination act.”
Events cost money, as Crumley acknowledges, and sometimes the real value can be difficult to pinpoint in arithmetical terms. But Crumley remains adamant that they are central to the work of an organisation such as BITC. They remain the best method of demonstrating how your actions reflect your aspirations.
'The location is part of the experience'
Helen Crumley
PROFILE new.indd 3 25/3/08 13:18:11
Related Documents
