What does social responsibility mean at events?

Stefan Lohmann - expert for sustainability in the event industry interviews Onsite Manager Sara Pamina Bartsch about social responsibility at events

What is corporate social responsibility (CSR)? The social aspects of sustainability are often pushed into the background or completely forgotten. The topic is addressed in the free Sustainability Rider and Checklist. What does social responsibility mean for organisers? This includes topics such as equal rights, barrier-free access, dealing with employees, trades and customers. But it also includes compliance with working time laws, burn-out prevention, fair pay, compliance with occupational health and safety laws and long-term cooperation. Sustainable Event Solutions is therefore very pleased about the interview with Sara Pamina Bartsch - an experienced expert in the field.

About Sara Pamina Bartsch

Sara has been active in the event industry for over ten years. She has always been committed to the economic and human development of this sector. She also advocates that companies become aware of their social responsibility. In the course of her career, the onsite event manager has noticed that really good employees or colleagues have left the profession. In part, this was due to changes in life circumstances, such as the birth of their own children or relatives in need of care. The job could no longer be reconciled with these rather unusual circumstances. However, leaving the job was often also unavoidable due to burnout, a lack of perspective or low esteem.

Sara is committed to changing the social responsibility of events in the event sector!

Stefan Lohmann:

You are an on-site manager - what exactly do you do at events?

Sara Pamina Bartsch: I take over the coordination of the trades on site and ensure that everything runs smoothly. As a contact person I am available for my customers. In the end, my job is not much different from that of a "normal" event manager or project manager on site. On-Site management is about the implementation on site and not the organisation and planning in advance. Therefore I personally would not differentiate between event management on-site.

My goal is to make companies aware of their social responsibility. Among other things, this means creating fair working hours at an event for all those involved. For such an implementation, companies need more skilled workers whom they can access flexibly and whom they trust. My kind of on-site support is therefore not about using completely different people on-site than in the office. For employees, the on-site event is the reward and highlight for the hard work before. This motivation should not be taken away. I would like to relieve event managers with my support, because they deserve to actively participate in the event. The employer should see it as a duty and appreciation to make this possible for his employees. In order to continue to make the industry attractive for young people, a balance must be struck between leisure and work. 

In terms of sustainable management, this is about the long-term social and societal responsibility of companies. 

Stefan Lohmann:

How do you see the difficulties but also possibilities for improvement in your area in terms of the implementation of events?

Sara Pamina Bartsch: If we manage to set up a shift system at an event, the rate of illness after the event can be significantly reduced. The exhaustion rate is lowered and the employees are more motivated, productive and satisfied in the long term. To achieve this result, however, we have to build trust so that control can be handed over at the event. We event managers must also learn to switch off and listen to our own needs.

Stefan Lohmann:

As mentioned at the beginning of our interview, you are strongly committed to social responsibility and issues such as equal rights and burn-out prevention. But also for compliance with laws such as working time laws and dealing with employees. Areas that all belong to the topic of sustainability. Why are you involved in this area in particular?

Sara Pamina Bartsch: My commitment to precisely these areas of sustainability probably grew out of my experience. Both through my own professional career and that of my mother. I never wanted to work as much as my mother did in my childhood. Conversely, however, I did exactly that. When I decided to work in the event sector, it seemed that the die was cast for the future. But from the beginning, I asked myself why we think we have to work so much?

But my experiences have made me the person I am today. They have strengthened me in my belief that we can all create the life we wish for ourselves. It consists of many areas of life that all want to be lived. 

Stefan Lohmann:

Are there any positive developments?

Sara Pamina Bartsch: Yes, because there are more and more companies that recognize social responsibility and seek support during peak periods and communicate openly and honestly internally. Initially still project-related, but more and more situation-related or in personnel planning at events.

Stefan Lohmann:

What changes should be made and how can these be achieved?

Sara Pamina Bartsch: In my opinion, it requires an awareness of oneself and one's own goals in life. And that applies not only to the self-employed but also to employees, managers and superiors. The questions everyone should ask themselves should be: How do I want to shape my life? Which role model do I want to create? What do I want in life? For whom do I do business: my own well-being or the well-being of the whole? With this we are again talking about the duty of care and social responsibility of every employer.

Stefan Lohmann:

What effects do you see from the Corona crisis and the development towards online events?

Sara Pamina Bartsch: One of the biggest challenges of this fast-moving and performance-oriented industry is standstill. Personally, however, I see the Corona crisis as a great opportunity. It gives us the opportunity to reinvent ourselves, to try out new ways of thinking and to turn everything around. We can question everything we have done so far. Above all, we can also give ourselves the space and time to do so. We are currently learning how important rest periods, reflection space and relaxation are. At the same time, the industry can hardly shake off its old patterns: blind activism, lightning-fast organisation of online events, the associated high workload and even greater fatigue. And how do we pay for this? With our own health. But it is precisely because of the Corona Pandemic that we should be protecting our own health.

Stefan Lohmann:

How is the crisis changing your area of responsibility?

Sara Pamina Bartsch: A change in my areas can definitely be observed with the switch from live to virtual. I provide on-site support for online events as a team and participant support. In doing so, I supervise the participant chat and welcome the guests. I also provide support in carrying out the technical checks with the participants and am thus completely digitally represented at an event. From this I have been able to see that the digital exhaustion is even greater than the usual post-event depression. The workload we have put on ourselves at live events is almost impossible to implement digitally. At least not without this again being at the expense of our health.

Stefan Lohmann:

What do event managers* basically have to prepare themselves for now? And how can they further educate themselves to meet the new requirements?

Sara Pamina Bartsch: Right now we are allowed to take the time to listen to and pay attention to ourselves. This should help us to shape our own daily routine and life afterwards. There will always be things that happen in between. But for that, freedom is needed: in the head, in the calendar and at home. 

We should learn to communicate openly and honestly. Furthermore, we should know and develop our strengths, which is individual for every event manager*. This will enable us to adapt to the new requirements.

Thank you very much for the interview!

You want to learn more about Sara and her podcast? Click here to visit her website: https://www.sarapamina.com/

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