Industry charities are set to benefit from association’s initiative, the Big Site Visit.
Members of the HBAA will visit as many venues as possible in five days in September to raise funds for the sector’s charity Meetings Industry Meeting Needs and the HBAA Foundation.
Taking place across the UK from 3-7 September, the HBAA Big Site Visit will encourage all 80 of its agency member organisations to visit all participating properties. To raise funds member venues will submit prize donations for auction, resulting in one lot per site visit, each raising an anticipated amount of £100.
The lots will be available for online bids from 5 October and will run until Christmas. Money raised will be split between Meeting Needs and the Foundation, which supports the future and professional development of employees in the hospitality and meetings sector.
Jacqui Kavanagh, chair of the HBAA, said: “The Big Site Visit is a huge undertaking and one of the largest association activities of the year. The event will reinforce our ethos of ‘doing better business, and doing business better together’ and will help us meet our 2015 objective to retain and encourage the next generation within the industry.”
It’s hoped the initiative will also allow members to engage with each other and share product knowledge.
Juliet Price, consultant executive director of the HBAA added: “This initiative will benefit our members and allow them to build networks with respective venues and agents. It will not only raise a lot of money for charity, but open the doors to new business relationships, which has always been one of the major benefits of membership at the HBAA.”
The Big Site Visit will be celebrated at the HBAA Annual Dinner on 14 January 2016 at the Royal Armouries in Leeds, where awards will also be presented to members, including the agency achieving the most site visits and the most innovative site visit.
Pictured: HBAA chair Jacqui Kavanagh
