The True Value of Memberships

By Michael Firman

The events, hospitality, and tourism industry has certainly seen many twists and turns over the last few years. It’s left me finding it hard to establish the kind of routine and balance that seemed normal before COVID came along. I’m not talking about work-life balance; looking back it seemed I had the right amount of inputs and stimulation in my work life and work relationships.

Outside of family life, I seemed to have a consistent work routine that enabled plenty of networking, social interactions with industry colleagues, client engagements, and participation in a variety of activations and events. There was always someone to see, something to attend and opportunities to meet, network, engage, learn and develop.

These days there seems to be so much more focus on the day-to-day work as if we are all still catching up on what was lost through the COVID years. We’re all now meeting online. As a result, there doesn’t seem to be the same kind of enthusiasm to meet in person, to expand one’s network or interact at industry events.

When trying to simply stay on top of your day-to-day work, the trade-off is a lack of attention and focus on oneself, let alone on others and your network. Work fatigue leads to a lack of attention to your own development, on building your personal brand, or on engaging with your peers, clients and colleagues. With this frame of mind, it’s hard to make commitments to attend events or those decisions are left until it is too late, making it easier to say no.

Perhaps we are just victims of the rebound effect, but how do you break the trend? We all know where it leads, back to a culture of churn, grind and burn-out. We start to question the value of our relationships, our networks and our place in the eventasphere – yes I just made that word up to try and describe the bubble of a world where we live and breathe events, bouncing from one project to the next without being able to indulge in the pastimes of long lunches, MEA events and corporate or social engagements.

Or, perhaps the long hours of work typically blended into a social pastime. For those of my era, I have memories of long days working and long nights out with industry colleagues, there were plenty of MEA events not to be missed for fear of hearing the stories rather than being part of them.

Of course, ClubMEA events were not for the faint-hearted. Those shared experiences defined our industry, while MEA’s professional development and educational webinars along with formal education through its RTO provided guidance, skill enhancement and education for our future leaders.

It’s like being part of a club. I’m part of the MG Club of Victoria, not only because I drive an MG, but because of the shared comradery, shared interest and it’s my go-to for finding information from other club members who are all too willing to help.

When I hear about decision-makers in event organisations questioning the value of their membership of MEA I think of memberships I hold, like that of the MG club or even a gym membership. We may not be always active as members, but it’s an important connection that individuals have to their community.

For organisations in events, it’s less usually the decision maker receiving the benefit, more often their employees. The reality is because they’re the ones with the greatest need to be connected to their community.

Sometimes, membership of an industry association is like a gym membership - The value of membership is only apparent when you need it, and not so when it isn’t. If business is booming, there is less need to nourish your network. Gathering new business contacts holds less value. Perhaps you feel there is nothing new to learn from others when everything is running smoothly, or you’re just too time-poor to share. Ultimately, you only get out of it what you put into it.

Other times, membership of an industry association is like my membership to the MG Club of Victoria – it serves as a vital hub for knowledge exchange, collaboration, representation, and celebration. The value lies in bringing together industry stakeholders, facilitating growth, and driving the collective success of the industry we represent.

Right now at MEA, our key focus is re-building the state and territory branch committees to ensure a local presence MEA right around the country. The purpose is to fuel the knowledge exchange, collaboration, representation, and celebration of our industry – and to bring back the fun.

If it sounds like I’ve got a hankering for the past, I don’t. It’s more of a passion for the future of our industry and our future leaders to bring the community of MEA back together, to take our industry forward. It’s a chance to create your own value enabled by your industry membership and influence the decision makers concerned with ROI that return on individual is a return on investment. Convince your boss that not every asset to their business is listed on the balance sheet.

So, if you, or someone from your team, is looking to connect, engage and be empowered, MEA is looking for enthusiastic people in our membership community to join its local branch committees nationwide. Like a gym membership, you’ll only get out of MEA what you personally put into it.

For more information about joining a MEA committee, contact Claire Watson at MEA HQ via admin@mea.org.au.