Agenda item

The Chairman invited Ian Leete, Senior Adviser, to introduce the report.

Ian stated that a total of 704 people attended the virtual events. In addition to the virtual events being so well-attended, there was a much wider variety of audience, in terms of both councillors and officers, particularly a much wider geographical spread of delegates. Ian said that officers were particularly pleased with how the Hearts for the Arts Awards ceremony was carried out, the enhanced experience virtually and general celebration. Ian encouraged the Chairs of the events to provide feedback to officers in relation to how the events were operated, and the possibility of the events being held virtually in the future.

The Chairs of the events made the following comments:

• Cllr Coghill, Chair - Hearts for the Arts Awards:
  The format of the virtual Hearts for the Arts event was excellent, so many people attended and were accompanied by family members. We should continue to host these events virtually or perhaps in a blended/hybrid format to ensure that as many people as possible can attend and don’t have the make really expensive journeys. Samuel West, Actor, Director, and Chair of the National Campaign for the Arts, was great and really understood our sector and the financial contribution that we make as Councils to the sectors, but also the leadership that we show in terms of the Arts.

• Cllr German, Chair – Culture Conference:
  I echo Cllr Coghill’s comments with regards to the format of the conferences. We need to consider the networking element and ensure that it is not lost through hosting the events virtually. It would be great to make the conferences hybrid in the future so that the option to attend in person is available.

• Cllr Golds, Chair – Sports Conference:
  188 people attended the virtual Sports conference which was excellent. There were two very valuable contributions from individuals from the Youth Sport Trust who were fantastic ambassadors for young people in sport. In future, we should look into the option of hosting these events as hybrid events. We can’t ignore the fact that we have had a far higher turnout than we would have had by doing the events virtually.

• Cllr Vernon-Jackson, Chair – Tourism Conference:
  We could continue to run virtual conferences for Culture, Tourism and Sport sectors on a continuing basis and then we could also run physical face-to-face conferences at a different point in the year, or, we could host hybrid events.

It was generally agreed that the future events should be hosted in a blended/hybrid format Many Members of the Board agreed that

• A blended format is the way forward, I find visiting new places is also really valuable, as well as going on tours, meeting new people and networking.

• The standard of the speakers at each of the conferences was superb, as was the chairmanship of each of the sessions. The message regarding the revitalisation the economy and the importance of the role that culture, and tourism can play in getting the economy moving quickly came across very well.

• By visiting new areas, the decision-making process is brought to life, it is also good to have those conversations with organisations that are undertaking work with communities.

• There are many virtual platforms now where networking is achievable.

• It is likely that individuals will be so desperate to get out next year after spending so much time in lockdown as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic that they will want to get out and visit places.

• As the Commonwealth games are due to take place next year, we need to start planning future sport-related conferences as soon as possible.

Decision:

• Members noted the report.

Action:

• Officers to arrange a meeting between the CTS Board Chair and the Chairs of each political party to devise a sensible way forward with regards to future conferences.