So what is a PCO? Why might you need one? And how has COVID changed the role?

It is fair to say that if you are reading this magazine and these articles, you are probably a professional in your area of expertise. The very desire to expand your knowledge through personal development, relevant articles, industry publications and their inherent educational content means you are a cut above the rest and should be considered a professional… but a professional what?

When we think “professional”, it is all too easy to focus on the lawyers, doctors and other historic “professions” that have made a name for themselves over the last few centuries. But what about the local government professionals, the policy professionals, the publicity, communications and marketing professions? The list goes on and eventually includes the conference professional.
    
The challenge is not that we don’t necessarily recognise these professions, it is that so often they are done by someone with a different job title or focus for their role. So, we end up with a situation where the HR professional is also the conference professional, or the publicity professional is also the policy professional. Individual roles covering multiple specialisms are not uncommon and often necessary, but in every instance, there comes a time when a specialist focus is needed and in my experience that is often a need for a PCO (professional conference organiser).
    
A PCO tends to take two forms – the in-house person such as myself, who due to the number and nature of the organisation’s events means that a full time individual or team is needed. Or that of the agency PCO – those specialist companies who can parachute in to work on a particular event or portfolio of events.
 
So, what specifically is a PCO? Well, we are slightly different to a typical event organiser because we specialise in conferences for the not-for-profit, association and public sectors. We therefore understand the constraints of governance, working with committees/opposing views, public funds, financial constraints and the myriad other issues that occur when organising a conference or event in our specialist sector. Your need for an in-house or external PCO will depend on your organisation’s individual situation, but we are a powerful resource to consider. However, like everyone else, our role has changed due to the pandemic – so even if you already knew you needed a PCO… you might not be aware of the many changes we, like you, now face.
    
Ultimately, PCOs bring communities together and facilitate the sharing and communication of knowledge. They hold pivotal roles within an organisation as the events and conferences that they produce impact directly on engagement, learning, revenue and the external profile of an organisation to its stakeholders. The PCO therefore sits at the heart of each organisation’s long-term sustainability.
    
Traditionally PCOs might have provided full-service management for conferences, including but not limited to, conference design, registration, site selection, venue selection, platform selection, audio-visuals, IT support, logistics, leisure management, marketing, printing and web services, sourcing speakers, funding and sponsorship, financial management and budget control. As you can see, the list is extensive and some elements might well be covered by a variety of individuals in an organisation lacking a specialist PCO. However, the pandemic and subsequent global changes have accelerated change, not least for the role of the PCO. The macro-environment and external forces have impacted us all, and we need to be prepared. Here are just a few areas where PCOs are continually growing their skillset:

Political and economic: Every day and every single headline impacts us as people and the organisations we work for and engage with. From the fact that events were first to close and last to open during the pandemic, and post Brexit policies - to the cost-of-living crisis and the impact of Trussonomics; PCOs need to be aware of and understand the impact and implications of such challenges at both a micro and macro level. The world is in a constantly changing place, the fields in which we all operate are being constantly re-set, and it’s a PCO’s role to understand and respond to this.

Social: As PCOs we need to have at the forefront of our minds the re-defined social conventions that we are continuing to adjust to. How do we convince people to travel to our conferences and gather with their communities, when so many work from the comfort of their own homes? How can we adjust our conference design to include the need for remote attendees, and what will happen to our networking receptions and the serendipitous ideas that stem from chance conversations if our events are online?

Technological: Who had heard of Zoom in 2019? Yet now we all use it, and other platforms continually. We have all become accustomed to our meetings ranging from a text chat, through ‘virtual’ to a full face-to-face meeting. And often, if we cannot take part as it occurs, then, like television, we can watch it on-demand at a convenient time. How do we bring all this technology together? Eventtech is a field of expertise in its own right – and one the average PCO will know all about.

Environmental: Sustainability and climate change are hardly new topics – but making them a part of our event planning process is now of paramount importance. How can we balance the economic and social objectives that can be maximised by meeting face to face with the unwanted impact it inevitably has on the environment? We must all work harder at all points of the conference design process to mitigate negative impacts, and to share best practice.

Legal: The pandemic added layers of legislation for us to navigate, many of which haven’t left us. When can we be confident about booking, and for how many? What happens if circumstances change and impact on our event? How can we ensure that terms and conditions and insurance policies are fair? How do we know precisely what legislation is in place on any one day and in any particular country? Event organisers must all have broader information sources than ever before if they are to mitigate risk, which is once again why the role of a PCO is so vitally important.

Government events are, to a PCO, a core part of their everyday life. They are our raison d’être and we are here to help. Whether you choose to appoint an in-house individual and team or agency, they will take up the strain and offer expertise you didn’t even know you needed, moving your events and subsequently the whole organisation to the next level.