UK - The All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Events has now been re-established as an official group in Parliament following the appointment of a new chair and vice-chair.
Theresa Villiers, MP for Chipping Barnet, will be the chair of the group. Theresa takes over from James Heappey MP, who was chair for four years, until his appointment as Minister for the Armed Forces prevented him from serving in that role. Robert Largan, MP for High Peak, will serve as vice-chair.
The APPG will continue to act as the industry’s voice in Parliament and has been credited with establishing stronger links between the events industry, Parliament and government in recent years. Villiers is an experienced MP having served her constituency since 2005, and having previously held the po

UK - To facilitate BDO’s first ever fully virtual global conference, creative consultancy Fusion Comms produced a new digital delivery format. The BDO Rethink Festival, which is traditionally held as a bi-annual face-to-face leadership event, was instead broadcast to a global audience on 2 and 4 November.
Fusion Comms partnered with White Light (WL) to create a virtual world for the event, within its SmartStage broadcast facility at London’s Science Museum.
WL collaborated with Fusion Comms and their digital creators MalfMedia to design a flexible xR solution to facilita

USA - Elections for the ESTA board of directors concluded at midnight on Saturday, 31 October. An outstanding number of ballots were submitted this year, the organisation reports.
There were four positions up for election to the board. Tracey Cosgrove will fill the office of vice president; Elmer Veith of Reliable Design Services will serve as secretary; Evan Williams of Riverview Systems Group is the new production services director, and Mark Wofford of PC&E was elected to serve as rental company director. All will begin their three-year term of office on 1 January 2021.

UK - Members of the events industry lit up part of Scotland’s Nevis Range – including the summit - on 16 October. Say the organisers, “This is part of our campaign to highlight our presence to the Government and that we need assistance to keep business surviving. Scotland's events artists, technicians and crew are fighting to resurrect the industry.
“We are looking for better grants as opposed to loans and a date to begin working towards reopening our sector safely. The present financial support schemes are limiting and many freelancers in particular are not eligible due t

South Africa - Viral video footage of an African National Congress (ANC) rally held at the Luthuli 9L Sports Grounds in Polokwane on Sunday, 8 November, attended by thousands not adhering to the social distancing regulations, has infuriated the region’s live events industry who have not been able to work for over eight months.
“We as the TPSA, SACIA and SA Events Council have lodged a complaint with the South African Police, in particular with the Provincial Commissioner of Limpopo, Lieutenant General Nneke Ledwaba,” said Sharif Baker, chairman of the TPSA. “We are absolut

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