View from the ACT’s Commercial Director & the ACT's events horizon

For this month’s newsletter I’ve asked Kate Hoyle, the ACT’s Commercial Director, to describe her area of responsibility. She writes:

The Commercial team at the ACT deals with activities that are revenue-producing, typically through a delegate fee, sponsorship or advertising. This encompasses events, publishing and sales/marketing. Although the primary role is to generate a surplus which we will invest in developing the services provided by the ACT, our work also directly promotes the practice of treasury and delivers member benefits.

Last month we held another highly successful Annual Dinner which formed part of the ACT’s 25th anniversary celebrations. With over 1,500 attendees, this is recognised as one of the City’s largest dinners and we were fortunate to be entertained by long-standing ACT member and new Chairman of Reuters, Niall FitzGerald. The dinner also raised £20,000 for CLIC – Cancer and Leukaemia in Childhood – and attendees heard a moving tribute to the charity from former featherweight world champion, Barry McGuigan.

We have restricted attendance at the dinner but each year seek to find the right balance between the comfort of those attending and the high demand for places.

The events team, led by Jane Wicks, is only four in number and runs an extensive number of conferences and functions. Thanks to the contribution of members on the Programme Committee and conference advisory panel, planning is now underway for the annual Treasurers’ Conference to be held from 11-13 May 2005 in the luxurious surroundings of the Celtic Manor Resort. The full programme will be available early in the New Year but includes such illustrious figures as ASB Chairman, Sir David Tweedie and David Varney, Executive Chairman of HM Customs and Revenue, as well as more light-hearted presentations from the likes of FT Columnist Barry Riley.

Significant discounts are available for early booking, so look out for your brochure or click here for more details.

Thanks to our strong relationships with sponsors, an increasing number of free events are offered throughout the year in the form of symposia or Papers enabling members and their guests to hear from high profile speakers and meet colleagues in a relaxed social setting.

For those not currently in a position to commit to our examination process, we also offer a training programme covering key treasury topics catering for various levels of knowledge, from a basic introduction to treasury for support staff to advanced negotiation skills. The 2005 schedule will be landing on your desks in early January and will be available at www.treasurers.org/training.

Two further key benefits of membership are supplied by the editorial team in the form of The Treasurer magazine and The Treasurer’s Handbook, both of which are supplied to members free of charge. Publisher Mike Henigan works with the Editorial and Publications Committee and leads a dedicated in-house team to produce these publications in addition to overseeing collaborations with external publishing houses such as Gee.

Thanks to greater promotion at the Annual Dinner, we have been delighted with the level of votes received for Deals of the Year - the winners of which will be announced in The Treasurer in January. This year we have included a new Overall Winner award which will be selected by a panel of experts. For further details click here.

Christmas is approaching fast but we have plenty for you to look forward to once the festivities are over. January sees the arrival of the training catalogue and further details of The Treasurers' Conference plus the announcement of the winners of Deals of the Year. This will be followed in February by the 2005 Treasurer's Handbook and the updated ACT Directory of members - with much more to come during the rest of the year.

By richard.j.raeburn@gmail.com