IAPCO Launches a Global Wellbeing and Connection Survey

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Global Meetings Industry Wellbeing and Connection Survey

IAPCO and the 14 National PCO Association members of the IAPCO Strategic Association Task Force have combined forces to create a team of academic and scientific researchers, a first of its kind in our global congress and events industry, to gather data on employee and team member wellbeing and feelings towards work, connections to others and perceived belonging to the meetings industry. The research team is backed by academics at Manchester Metropolitan University in the UK and expert social scientists from across the globe.

This unique research team, not seen before in our industry, combines specialised experience and training in adult mental health, team dynamics and academic research.

Martin Boyle, CEO of IAPCO stated: "This team of researchers and academics has been in the making for several months and is a result of sentiments relayed to IAPCO to carry out such study both from the IAPCO member community and also from the wider global meetings and events industry.

"We have heard how workplace and team dynamics have shifted over the past couple of years as people returned to offices and to delivering in-person events, but we are lacking significant and accurate data on it from a global perspective. Without such data and specialist analysis of the data, we cannot begin to provide solutions.

"The analysis of responses gathered from the survey will not only help to form a clearer picture of factors influencing our workforce and what they are looking for from their employers and connections, but it will also, more importantly, help IAPCO and others in the industry to create educational, personal and professional programmes to support workforce development globally."

This is a milestone project that ties into our ongoing support for talent in the global meetings industry and will drive a better understanding of what we can all do to generate a greater sense of belonging within the workforce and in turn help to shape the recruitment and retention of talent for years to come.

Link to the survey can be found here:
https://mmu.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9nx3j1GsfikDH8i

IAPCO aims to publish the results of the survey in Q1 2023.

The IAPCO Research Team includes:

We have assembled a research team like no other in our industry. They include experts in psychology, research, sports psychology and team dynamics, adult mental health and, of course, meetings and events industry professionals.

Professor Marc Jones BSc, PhD, C.Psychol

Department of Psychology | Manchester Metropolitan University

Marc is a Professor of Psychology at Manchester Metropolitan University. His work is focused on understanding the impact of stress on health, wellbeing and performance and effective group interactions.

Dr Lucy Walker

Research Associate at Manchester Metropolitan University

Lucy was awarded her PhD in 2021 which focused on behaviour change techniques and the influence of stress. Since then, Lucy joined the stress health and performance research cluster at Manchester Metropolitan University working on a range of research and consultancy projects, including investigating wellbeing and stress in the workplace and performance in stressful environments.

Sarah Cecil

Chartered Sport Psychologist

Sarah Cecil is a Chartered Sport Psychologist and has worked in Olympic and Paralympic sports for over 20 years. She has extensive experience in helping athletes reach their ultimate goals. She was the sport psychologist for the British Athletics team in London 2012. Post-2012 she worked at the Team GB Intensive Rehabilitation Unit and delivered coach education programmes for UK Sport. Sarah was the sport psychologist for Team UK at 4 Invictus Games from London to Sydney. More recently, she was the Team GB Sport Psychologist in Beijing 2022. She has also created an Emotional Decompression tool to support adjustment post major events which have been successfully implemented post the Olympics. Sarah uses the expertise she has to enable athletes to deliver under pressure and to support coaches and performance staff to fulfil their potential.

Dr Fiona Wright

Consultant Clinical Psychologist

With 17 years of experience post-qualification in Adult Mental Health and Clinical Health in both NHS and private settings, Fiona maintains her NHS practice, with joint operational line management responsibility for a locality Psychological Therapies Team. The teamwork with clients presenting with mild through to severe and enduring mental health difficulties.

Ikeda Yukari

IAPCO Ambassador and Senior Consultant, Japan Convention Services

In her more than 30 years career at Japan Convention Services, Yukari has been engaged in sales and project management of international/domestic conferences in medical, dental, and pharmacological fields. She also participated in the establishment of an international medical association and has successfully attracted many international conferences to Japan. Yukari shares her knowledge and experience with local governments and the industry by lecturing how to improve their skills in attracting international conferences.

Renata Pozza

IAPCO Ambassador and Consulting and Community Solutions Director at MCI Group

Renata is passionate about Live Marketing and Communities, with vast experience in meeting management and strategic planning. She is an expert in associations and non-profits, providing strategy, solutions, and results that generate impact and leads the Consulting and Community Solutions area at MCI Brazil / LATAM.

IAPCO's Strategic Global Task Force of National PCO Associations includes:

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