The Conversation
Everyone wondered where it left ITM in the UK and it’s 1,000 members. No-one’s guessing anymore. Hindhaugh’s relentless energy has been paying off, intent as he is to make the ITM into something more than a networking organisation. “It’s not just about, ‘Hello, how are you, let’s have a quick drink’,“ he says emphatically, admitting that “it did have some reputation for that in the past.” Hindhaugh is particularly passionate about
parity. True to his word, he drove through invest- ment in the secretariat, made Paul Tilstone’s UK position as chief executive permanent and invested in the right people. The annual ITM conference was organised differently too: one day less last year at the Chelsea Football Club venue and with less lavish entertainment. The sight of Paul Tilstone in Lycra for his Strictly Come Dancing style debut (ITM’s Liverpool event, 2009) is one we’re unlikely to see again. What’s replaced the party atmosphere of ITM is
an organisation working harder for its member- ship. It’s had its best financial year ever and now the next conference, in Oxford in April, will have numbers capped to 300 (split evenly between buyers and suppliers) to make it more selective, and to achieve a better balance. “There’s something about having something exclusive; big isn’t always beautiful,” he reckons. The conference for him is another resource tool, and not about attending the gala and meeting friends. Hindhaugh wants more audience participation. “Don’t just sit there but contribute!” he urges. “It needs more buyers to actively engage.” There will be bingo machines that decide who sits next to who at the dinner, while the overall theme is ’Intelligence’. It’s all about business support, something that Hindhaugh wants as a permanent ethos. Clearly, this year’s conference is a pivotal one for him, being his last too. “It’s a call to arms. At the end I want to feel together,“ he says. “We’ll have sessions about benchmarking, about data, about right now, not the future. We have one session on how to identify buyer/supplier benefits; it’s called The Elephant in the Room. We have a session on KPIs and how to identify them. “It’s very easy for ITM to go to
the big buck boys but we must address all markets and with informed debates. I want to see parity in relationships and to challenge each other.” It’s for this reason that ITM sponsorships will be a thing of the past. One way that push for parity has manifested
to the tools such as benchmarking, free membership to the NBTA and so on, and supplier and buyer members will have parity. What will unite both membership levels will be
a code of conduct – “basic good manners” says Hindhaugh – to help counteract any bad buyers out there. Hindhaugh is hoping that, when everything is in place – all the positive changes and new resources in particular – it will encourage members to engage. “If you feel you’re getting something you tend to give,” is his belief. “The Board give up an awful lot of time and people need to be aware of it.” New resources for members now include ‘How
to’ toolkits (see page 12 in this issue for the first example), a working party for SME and new entrants (with the awful acronym of SMENE, that has already produced papers, tools and templates), more regional forums, board meetings in different locations and annual conferences held anywhere but London. “Chelsea was difficult as so many buyers disappeared,” Hindhaugh reflects. Moving on, ITM tendered and found the right industry partner in Advantage Travel Business Centres to power the ITM’s Phoenix Group for the next five years. Borne out of the ash crisis, Phoenix will be a micro site on the main ITM website, powered by Advantage, outlining best practice for such circumstances. “It will be an information exchange and it’s an extension of what we do for our own members already,” explains Norman Gage, director of business travel at Advantage. Hindhaugh calls it an operational support group. A dummy run will check whether plans are robust enough. Hindhaugh is clear on what his legacy will be
”It’s very easy for ITM to go to the big buck boys, but we must address all markets and with informed debates. I want to see parity in relationships”
when he steps down, citing the new member- ships schemes, a conference that actually was different and worthwhile, regional drives and joining events together. “The membership bit was key for me,” he says. “I’ve done all the things I’d committed to at the start. I love the ITM, I think it’s brilliant. The feedback is refreshing, our resources are really good stuff and the benchmarking piece will be really exciting. What I’ve done will bring in more members.” Hindhaugh stands down in January 2012, but he remains on the board for another two years and retains responsibility for Phoenix too. Already along- side him is new vice chair and
itself is in new levels of membership. From April, ITM introduces a new free membership level called Connect. “It’s my baby,” says Hindhaugh, “and my whole drive for parity.” Connect members will have access to online and regional forums as an easy way in for those new to travel. The second tier, ITM Business, will have access
ultimate successor, Nicola Lomas, of Omnicom. “I’d like to feel that I was allowed to make a difference, then move on quietly, so that it’s business as usual,” he says. It will hardly be business as usual for Hindhaugh in the year that the London Olympics hits us, not forgetting the next module of his MBA looming, more school policies to review in his role as Parent Governor and, oh yes, his day job.
JAMIE HINDHAUGH HEAD OF SOURCING - LOGISTICS, BBC, AND CHAIR OF ITM
Jamie Hindhaugh is head of sourcing – logistics, responsible for the strategy, procurement and management of the pan-BBC transport and travel services. He joined the L2012 project as the head of production in September 2009. His responsibilities include identifying and mana- ging the BBC-wide production plans and delivery across all platforms of the major events which make up the L2012 season, including the 2012 Olympic Games. Jamie is also Chair of the ITM (Institute of Travel and Meetings), a Parent Governor at the Strand on the Green Infants school and, to relax, says he’s completing a Masters course in Production Manage- ment and is currently on the third module. Prior to joining the BBC he used to buy and sell leather around the world.
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