Change Starts Here: BESydney’s bold vision for social impact through business events

In a world where purpose drives participation, Business Events Sydney (BESydney) is leading with impact. Its Social Impact Strategy is a bold move to shift the value proposition of global meetings from economic yield alone to measurable social and environmental outcomes.

Rooted in the belief that impact must be intentional, not incidental, BESydney is charting a new course for the global business events industry.

Amanda Lampe, Chief Executive Officer at BESydney shares her thoughts on social impact within the global business events industry.

What does the launch of BESydney’s Social Impact Strategy represent for the organisation - and for the future role of business events in society?

The impact of business events to a city has traditionally been viewed through the lens of economic activity and its associated number of bed nights and dollars spent. An addditional way of looking at the impact is to look at the longer-term contribution to the city’s knowledge, cultural and policy priorities of business events.

At Business Events Sydney we have spent the last year looking at how we can develop a strategy and framework that associations, who are holding their conferences in Sydney, can use to begin to understand, implement and measure the impact of their conferences on our great city.

The global launch of BESydney’s Social Impact Strategy marks the next important stage in the evolution of establishing the long-term value of the business events industry to society.

The strategy allows conferences to measure their impact across seven domains that are important to Sydney and more broadly, Australia, including:

o   research, development and innovation

o   talent attraction

o   First Nations engagement

o   women

o   policy change

o   Pacific engagement

o   Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI).

The strategy asserts that impact must be intentional, not incidental. How is BESydney embedding this thinking across its bidding, delivery and legacy processes?

To embed the concept of the social impact of business events, BESydney has started building the internal understanding and capabilities of our people on the strategy and framework. We are equipping every one of our bid team members with the knowledge and skills they need to work with international and local associations to define what impact the conference can have on the seven domains.

The strategy explicitly links to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. How is BESydney ensuring these global ambitions translate into meaningful local outcomes for Sydney and New South Wales?

The seven domains that are contained in BESydney’s Social Impact Strategy ladder up to the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals. They have been chosen because they are prioirties for the city and the State.

For example, if a conference is looking at women in STEM and may have developed an initiative with the local Australian association to have a group of school girls from Sydney attend part of the conference, that would ladder up to SDG number 4 and 5 – Quality Education and Gender Equality.

You’ve introduced Social Impact expertise across your business and partnered with #MEET4IMPACT. What role does social impact expertise play in shaping social impact strategy and the legacies you create with your clients?

BESydney has employed a Social Impact Specialist to help develop our strategy and a playbook that can be used by our bid team to embed it in BESydney’s operational model.

This is a specialist skill set that we needed to help us develop our capability across the business.

Measuring what matters is a central theme of the strategy. How will BESydney track, evaluate and communicate the impact of events over time?

BESydney’s Social Impact Measurement Framework enables consistent tracking of outcomes across time, sectors and events.

The framework integrates feedback from clients, partners and community stakeholders to assess progress and refine future efforts. By aligning with universal indicators and government reporting standards, BESydney can communicate the value of events in ways that resonate across policy, industry and community.

Ultimately, it allows us to report not just what happened but also what changed, and why it matters.

Finally, as you step into this role, what is your personal ambition for how BESydney leads – and redefines – destination value in the years ahead?

I believe that leadership and purpose are critical parts of any organisation’s social licence.

Just like any other industry, business events needs to contribute to the community in which it operates.

My ambition is that when Sydneysiders think about business events they understand the importance that our delegates, participants and visitors play in stimulating economic activity and all the associated jobs that go with that activity.

Just as importantly, I hope Sydneysiders see the value of global gatherings, how research and knowledge is shared and how in many cases it can add to human endeavour, innovation, investment and commercialisation, so it can be used by many, many people.