Power of Events school engagement program announced

The Schools Engagement Programme, which launches in January 2024 in the East of England region by The Power of Events and is funded by the EIF, is delighted to announce that the Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC) has been confirmed as the exclusive sponsor for the Edinburgh region. This means the programme is now live in 5 regions across the UK, in addition to the recently announced new regions of Birmingham, Hertfordshire and the South Coast of England.

Supported by the EICC, The Power of Events will work with local events professionals who volunteer as School Ambassadors to provide a unique showcase of the events industry and overview of career opportunities to secondary schools and colleges in the Edinburgh area from Spring 2025.

The school programme has attracted over 200 school ambassador industry volunteers from across the four countries who are willing to support the programme as it is implemented in their region or city.

Other new regions confirmed for launch on October 24 include:

Hertfordshire, sponsors: Event Academy, Absolute Production Group, emc3, Smyle, weIMPLEMENT

South Coast (Portsmouth, Brighton, Eastbourne) – sponsored by Identity, asembl Group

Birmingham – sponsored by NEC Group, DRPG, Neon Arena Services

The EICC is supporting the programme alongside these regional sponsors to help raise widespread awareness and enthusiasm for careers in the events industry – the first five regions are set to visit over 250 schools, engaging approximately 40,000-60,000 young people, depending on the number of repeat visits to schools across multiple year groups.

The pilot programme enabled The Power of Events to refine its consistent and compelling messaging around career opportunities in seven core sectors, increasing awareness of the UK events industry from 1% before the visit to 65% after the presentation. Importantly, it also received a lot of positive feedback about the experience from teachers and industry school ambassadors.

Marshall Dallas, Chief Executive of EICC, said: “We look forward to working with the team at The Power of Events to sponsor the Schools Engagement Programme and to achieving positive outcomes together. Over the past decade, EICC has actively promoted careers in our dynamic sector through initiatives such as Student Open Days and welcoming school groups to EICC. This initiative is particularly attractive as it will allow us to engage with young people across the city on an unprecedented scale. We are also delighted to be making this announcement in September as we begin preparations for our 30th year of operation. Throughout the year we will be celebrating our impact on Scotland’s capital in a variety of ways and starting with the goal of raising the aspirations of future talent seems a fitting way to kick off this special milestone in EICC’s history.”

Power of Events founder Rick Stanton is amazed at the support the scheme has received. “I would like to thank the EICC for helping us bring the scheme to Scotland and for fulfilling our aspirations to ensure the scheme is rolled out across the Four Nations – The team can’t wait to work closely with the EICC team and their network of peer event professionals, volunteering as school ambassadors to inspire young people in the Edinburgh area to consider the events industry as a career.