Conference Matters 141

LOBBYING

No, you don’t. You won’t score or achieve your goals that way. You have to inspire your guests. Did they have a good time? Was there a call to action? All essential. A solid strategy and vision are part of organising events.” Good timing “It all starts with good timing, both in the politi cal debate and in a practical sense. The subject 'At Westminster in London, more and more agencies specialise in events and conferences.' must be on the agenda, and people must already be in Brussels during the commission weeks, for example. You should also realise that you won’t immedia tely lead an entire discussion. It’s a start, and an important one at that. During that moment, you have the political and policy attention of impor tant people in Brussels for a while, including civil servants and politicians such as MEPs. With your event, you create attention for your theme in a kind of laboratory, in which you deter mine the ingredients. You get to choose who speaks and which tone to set for your subject. You also provide a good feeling about your event or conference and your subject. What you do before and after is also important. You have to create a sort of buzz around your

Events and traditions Events and traditions are important for succes sful lobbying, explains Labovic. “When I lobbied for Zeeland, I started a Friends of Zeeland drinks event in Brussels. At first, it was very small for a few people from Zeeland who worked in Brussels, but it quickly grew. Also, the people who had something to do with the province or who had been there on holiday came to have a drink because it was very gezellig (fun). We had oysters, bites and a drink. It became a recurring event that gathered even more interest. This helped me connect with new people. I cre ated an atmosphere in which I could also do business, which resulted in new contacts. I once counted 500 business cards. You need that. Lob bying starts with knowing the right people. However, there is a difference between lobbying and networking. Lobbying always involves poli tical and policy impacts. That’s not always the case with networking. An example of my lobbying? I lobbied for flax cul tivation in Zeeland. Flax farmers would no longer receive money from Brussels, which seemed to doom an entire industry. We fought this for years, successfully. The industry still exists.” Important people The importance of European association con ferences and events in Brussels is huge. “There are many events in Brussels. In the commission weeks when the European Parliament meets (10 to 20 weeks a year), there are about 200 events a day,” explains Labovic. “However, they are not all equally effective. In Brussels, we sometimes see long, boring Power Point presentations where people just keep tal king. Do you really want to give them that feeling?

event. A good venue, relevant speakers and media collaboration. If you pull that off, you’ll create important conditions.” European associations What should European associations do to facili tate their lobbying when organising conferences? “Collaborate with professionals in the event and conference industry as well as within the political and policy framework”, advises Labovic. “By invol ving lobbyists in the organisation, you’ll make more of an impact. At Westminster in London, more and more agencies specialise in events and conferences. They know how the political arena works. In the Netherlands and Brussels, you barely see that. I advise organisers to invest in knowledge. You have to know how the EU works or collaborate with people who do. Associations of interest groups could collaborate more with event organi sers. This way, you’ll be on the same page and can organise an authentic conference that can make a difference.” Dutch comedian Jochem Myjer Examples of conferences that turned out to be successful? “For the Randstad conurbation, a conference was once held in Brussels at a beau tiful location where Dutch comedian Jochem Myjer performed. It was a huge success. The message was combined with a crowd pleaser.” And one of the worst events? “An event for event planners. I’m not making this up. A lot of people showed up. I wanted to go there and learn from others. It started way too late. The content wasn’t useful. It was chaos.”

THESIS LED TO EU ADVISOR JOB Milos Labovic once wrote a thesis about the European lobby from a Serbian perspective for his studies at the RWTH Aachen University. It got him a job. “My parents are from Serbia, but I was born in the Netherlands. I wrote a thesis for my studies and was immediately offered a job. For two years, I was an EU advisor to the Serbian government in Brussels. Life can be strange sometimes.”

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