Member News
16th September 2011
Making life easier for ministers and public affairs professionals alike – that is the idea behind the Transport Hub, says Luke Pollard, head of public affairs at the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA).
Party conference can be an over-subscribed and arduous affair: after months of planning and great cost, an organisation cannot guarantee that their event does not clash with three others of interest to their audience.
That is why, following a successful run at all three party conferences last year, a group of organisations from the transport sector are coming together again to form the Transport Hub.
"For an organisation like ABTA it means we can afford to hold two fringe events at each party conference for under £6,000," says Pollard.
It is not just the cost saving that makes sense – this format allows ministers and each party's transport spokespeople to attend well-put-together events, in one location, throughout each party conference, without timetable clashes.
Ministers last year welcomed the approach.
"Feedback was especially positive from ministers: rather than a torrent of invites, they said it was nice to receive one invite letter with all of the events for the sector," said Pollard.
He also believes it makes things easier for lobbyists.
"It allows for more time; the time we are not spending in a fringe, we can spend meeting people and making the case that way instead," he said.
The Transport Hub is not about silencing opposition either – it is about encouraging and initiating debate.
"There is nothing worse than going to a fringe event where everyone agrees," he says.
"Last year there were people that fundamentally disagreed. In my sector, on discussions about the design of aviation taxation, we had some people on one side of the argument and some on the other.
"Because we are not looking to put together a policy manifesto, we don't all need to agree. In fact, actually, it is good to disagree because that allows your views to be aired," he said.
After bedding in during the conference season last year, the Hub has expanded this year, taking on five new members including organisations from the maritime, road and rail sectors.
In terms of what the future looks like for the Hub, Pollard says it is just a party conference thing, they are not looking to put together an “all-singing, all-dancing, year-long campaign”. However, the organisations involved are already looking to 2012 and how the Hub can innovate further.
"We would love to one day have a self-contained ‘Health Hotel’ style zone," he says.
For this year, the Transport Hub has a room at each conference, where they will be running transport-themed events in almost every available time slot, covering issues such as the war on the motorist, or whether people are being priced out of flights.
The Hub welcomes new members from the transport industry and further details of the full conference programme can be found here.
You can follow the Transport Hub on Twitter, @TransportHub
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