The events industry needs to do more to turn itself into a visible career choice for the next generation, according to Event Industry News podcast host James Dickson, speaking in the opening episode of the new Talking People with Paul Borg podcast.
Dickson joins Paul Borg, General Manager of Crowne Plaza Newcastle, for the first episode of the series when it drops this week (16th September). The series aims to put the people behind events and hospitality at the centre of the conversation.
Having interviewed hundreds of event professionals during more than a decade hosting the Event Industry News podcast, James reflects on his own unconventional route into events and a challenge that continues to face the sector. “We’ve built a multi-billion-pound industry, that is built largely from people who have fallen into (it) by accident,” he says.
For James, the opportunity is to identify relevant skills much earlier and show young people that events can provide a deliberate career pathway rather than something they discover later in life.
He points to young gamers as an example. Many already understand PCs, graphics cards, cameras, live streaming and switching between feeds, without necessarily recognising that those skills could translate directly into careers in event AV and video production. “All the skills are there,” James tells Paul. “Imagine what could happen if we could identify those young people and give them some additional training at a young age.”
The conversation also turns to AI and its implications for employment. Here, James shares the example of a global events agency that has recruited a senior employee specifically to oversee the rollout and application of AI, suggesting that the technology could create new professions as well as change existing ones.
For Paul Borg, these are the conversations Talking People has been created to uncover. The new series looks beyond job titles and businesses to explore careers, experiences and ideas through the people working across events and hospitality.
Episode One sets the tone with a conversation spanning career pathways, technology, AI and the changing skills the industry needs. Appropriately for an opening episode about an industry many people enter unexpectedly, Dickson admits that his own podcast career began almost by accident too. More than a decade and hundreds of conversations later, it has given him a particularly broad view of the people who make the industry tick.
Episode One of Talking People with Paul Borg, featuring James Dickson, is available now. Listen to Episode One / Spotify / apple Podcasts.
