Pressure in the events industry

The events industry has been cited as the 5th most stressful career, with pitches, looming deadlines, client expectations and relations all contributing to this fact. However, it doesn't have to be - it can be the rewarding, exciting and motivating career that it is if we learn how to effectively manage the pressure that is placed on ourselves and guard how it affects our overall wellbeing, mental and physical health.

 

About Event Wellbeing Week

Event Wellbeing Week ran from 16th - 20th September 2019, a campaign that first began in 2017 and that aspires to build values of empathy, culture and self-care among event professionals to make tangible change to the event industry's relationship with wellbeing.

This year's campaign message is #itsoktonotbeok. It aims to influence the understanding and appreciation of external and internal pressures and importantly aims to make event professionals feel more comfortable and relaxed with issues such as asking for help, taking a break and coping with imperfection.

View highlights of #EventWell19

Timebased's Wellbeing Initiatives

Wellbeing is an important matter to us. Timebased has several methods to safeguard the health and happiness of our staff, here's a few:

• We use an alternative working hours scheme to give employees more flexibility with their time and schedules. This means working an extra hour in the normal working week in order to gain every other Friday off. It gives us more time to enjoy extended weekends away, take local cultural trips, sort through personal admin and just get some well-deserved rest!
• The team takes part in group social activities from time to time to release stress and strengthen bonds, from learning how to paint a masterpiece on canvas to a competitive game of bowling or rounders in the park.
• We're proactive about learning more about how we can improve the overall wellbeing of the office - for example our Studio Manager, Sarah Hillyer, is going to undertake a Mental Health and Wellbeing course in November:

"Mental health within the workplace is an important subject in 2019, becoming less and less of a taboo subject. I am taking a 5 day course in November, 'Mental Health and Wellbeing in the Workplace', to enable me to help my colleagues deal with any mental health issues they may face. The events industry is made up of long hours and lots of pressure - taking this course will give me an in-depth understanding of mental health and the factors that have an effect on an individual’s ability to work. I care about the people I work with, and with this training course, I will be able to spot the triggers and signs and have the knowledge to truly help someone recover their health with the right support and guidance."

World Mental Health Day

World Mental Health Day is observed annually every year on the 10th October. This year's theme set by the World Federation for Mental Health is suicide prevention, an issue of considerable and growing weight. There were 6,507 suicides registered in the UK in 2018, significantly higher than that of 2017.

So what can you do to get involved with WMH Day?

There are numerous ways to contribute and take part, from buying a green ribbon pin - the international symbol of mental health awareness - to getting together for a 'Tea & Talk', a scheme celebrating its 10th year in 2019.

You could even proactively create your own wellbeing event to share your thoughts about the subject or to demonstrate how your brand and products can aid your customers' general health and mental state. There were a whole range of popular wellness events taking place over the past year and we expect these will grow even more in years to come.

In fact, the industry has been experiencing a healthy boom, to put it mildly, growing roughly twice as fast as the global economy between 2015-2017. The retail value of the health and wellness market in the UK alone is currently valued at over 24 million euros. Not only is this incredibly positive for businesses, but also all of the consumers that it is benefiting.

 

Do you want to know more about the topics in this article, or perhaps you're interested in creating your own wellness activation? Get in touch.