"It's just the name of the shop, love"
Keith S. Taber
An invitation
This week I received an invitation to chair an event (well, as most weeks, I received several of those, but this one seemed to be actually on a topic I knew a little about…).
Dear Keith,
"It is my pleasure to invite you to chair at Government Events' upcoming event The Delivering Excellence in Teaching STEM in Schools Conference 2023, taking place online on 29th of March 2023.
Chairing would involve giving a short opening and closing address, chairing the Q&A and panel discussions, and providing insights throughout the day.
Invited Speakers Include:
- Kiera Newmark, Deputy Director for STEM, Digital and EdTech, Department for Education
- Maria Rossini, Head of Education, British Science Association
- Sam Parrett, Chief Executive, London South East Colleges
I feel you would add great value and insight to the day and I would be delighted to confirm your involvement in this event! …"
(Well, I claim to know a bit about teaching science, not so much about teaching technology or mathematics, or engineering {that I was not aware was really part of the National Curriculum}.)
So, at face value this would be a government-sponsored event, including a senior representative from the ministry of education – so perhaps another chance for me to lobby to have the embarrassing errors in the English National Curriculum for science corrected – as well as a leading executive from the 'British Ass'. 1
My initial reaction was mixed. This was clearly an important topic, and one where I probably was qualified to act as chair and might be able to make a useful contribution. And it was on-line, so I would not have to travel. Then again, I retired from teaching because I suffer from regular bouts of fatigue, and find I have to limit my high intensity inputs as I tire very easily and quickly these days. Chairing a session might not completely drain me, but a whole conference?
Due diligence
Finding myself tempted, I felt the need to do some due diligence. Was this really what it seemed? What would be involved?
The invitation seemed genuine enough, even if it included one of those dodgy legalese footers sometimes used by scam artists to put people off sharing dubious messages. (The 'you must not tell anyone' trope reminds me of what fictional blackmailers say about not contacting the police.)
It seems from the wording, presumably carefully chosen by the legal department, that this disclaimer only applies to "email (which included any attachment)" – whereas mine did not.
This one suggested that if I had received the message in error I should
- permanently delete it from my computer without making a copy
- then reply to say I had done so
I will leave the reader to spot the obvious problem there.
However, this lack of clear logic did remind me of the similarly bizarre statement about the conservation of energy in the National Curriculum which perhaps gave some credence to this being a government event.
Luckily, I was the intended recipient, but in any case I take the view that if someone sends me an unsolicited email, then they have no right to tell me what to do with it, and as in this case I discovered they had already announced the invitation on their website (see image above), I could not see how any court would uphold their claim that the message was confidential.
Government events?
I was clearly aware that just because an event was organised by an entity called "Government Events" was not assurance this really was a government event. So I checked out the website. (The lack of any link in the invitation email to the event webpage, or indeed the organisation more generally, might have been an oversight, but seemed odd.)
As you will have likely guessed, this was not a government event.
In situations such as this I am always put in mind of the 'song' 'Shirt' by the dadaist-inspired Bonzo Dog Doo-dah Band which included a joke about a man who takes his shirt to a dry cleaner for 'express cleaning' and was then told it would be ready for collection in three weeks. 1
Three weeks!? But, the sign outside says '59 minute cleaning'
Yes, that's just the name of the shop, love.
On searching out the website I found that "Government events" claims to be "Supporting UK Public Sector Teams to Deliver World Class Public Services" and to be "the UK's No. 1 provider of public sector conferences, training courses and case study focused insights and intelligence". By "public sector conferences" they presumably mean conferences for the public sector, not conferences in the pubic sector.
It transpired that "Government Events" is one brand of an organisation called "Professional Development Group". That organisation has a webpage featuring members of its "Advisory Board [which] is made up of senior executives and academics from both corporate and public-sector background" but its website did not seem to provide any information about its governance or who its executives or owners were. (Professional Development Group does have a listing in the Companies House registry showing two current directors.)
Possibly the senior leadership team at Professional Development Group? But probably not.
A bias against the private sector?
Perhaps I am simply displaying my personal bias towards the public sector? I've worked in state schools, a state college, and a state university. I have worked in the private sector if we include after-school, and holiday, jobs (mainly for Boots the Chemist or Boots the Pharmacist as they should be known), but my career is very much public sector. And I've not liked what I've seen as the inappropriate and misguided attempts to make the health and education service behave like a series of competing units in a free market. (And do not 'get me going' on the state of utilities in England now – the selling off of state assets at discounted rates to profit-making concerns (seemingly to fund temporary tax cuts for electoral advantage), and so replacing unitary authorities (with no need to budget for continuously needing to advertise and to try to poach each others' customers) by dozens of competing and, recently, often failing, profit-making companies that often own each other or are owned overseas.)
So, although I have no problem with the private sector, which no doubts does some things better, I am suspicious of core 'public sector' activities being moved into the commercial sphere.
Perhaps "Government Events" does a good job despite the misleading name. After all they are kite-marked by an organisation called the CPD Certification Service (a trademark of The CPD Certification Service Ltd, so another privately owned company. Again, the website did not give any information about governance or The CPD Certification Service Ltd's executives. But four directors are named in the public listing at Company's House). This all seems alien to someone from the public sector where organisations go out of their way to provide such information, and value transparency in such matters. (Three of the four directors share the same family name, 'Savage', which might raise some questions in a publicly governed organisation.)
A bit pricey for an on-line meeting?
But even if Professional Development Group do a wonderful job, do they offer value for money?
The conference is aimed at "teachers who work in STEM and senior leadership representatives from schools". If they work in state schools the cost per delegate is £399.00 (plus V.A.T., but schools should be able to reclaim that). For that they get a one-day on line conference. The chair (currently listed as" "Keith Taber, Professor of Science Education, University of Cambridge (invited)", but that will need to be changed*) is due to open the event at 09.50, and to wind it up with some closing remarks at 16.20. The £399 will presumably not include accommodation, refreshments, lunch, a notepad, a branded pen, a tote bag for the goodies, or any of the other features of face-to-face events.
It will include a chance to hear a range of speakers. Currently listed (caveat emptor: "programme subject to change without notice") are ten specified presentations as well as two Key Supporter Sessions (!) The advertised topics seem valuable:
- National Trends and Updates on Boosting the Profile of STEM Subjects in Schools
- Best Practice for Implementing Flexible Working to Help Recruit and Retain STEM Teachers
- Providing an Inclusive and Accessible STEM Curriculum for Pupils with SEND
- Driving Increased Interest and Participation in STEM Among Female Students
- Encouraging Students from Disadvantaged Backgrounds to Study STEM Subjects
- Taking Action to Boost Extracurricular Engagement with STEM Subjects
| • Primary: Implementing a Whole School Approach to Boost the Profile of STEM Subjects | • Secondary: Supporting Students to Succeed and Improve Outcomes in STEM Examinations |
| • Primary: Partnership Working to Promote STEM Education in Primary Schools | • Secondary: Working with Employers and Universities to Encourage Post-Secondary STEM |
However, anyone looking to book should notice that at this point only one of the ten mooted speakers has confirmed – the rest are 'invited'.
I was also intrigued by the two slots reserved for 'Key Supporter Session's. You, dear reader, could buy ('sponsor') one of these slots to talk at the conference.
You can sponsor the conference
Professional Development Group offer "sponsorship and exhibition packages" for their events. This would allow a sponsor to meet their "target audience", to "demonstrate your products or services" and even to "speak alongside industry [sic] leading experts".
Someone wishing to invest as a Key Supporter (pricing not disclosed) gets branding on the Website and Event Guide and a "20-minute speaking slot followed by Q&A". (For this specific conference it seems you could buy time to sell your wares in the 10.40 slot or the 13.55 slot.)
- Perhaps you have invented a new type of perpetual motion kit for use in the classroom and are seeking an opportunity to demonstrate and market your wares? ["demonstrate your products or services"]
- Perhaps you think that evolution is not really science because it is only a theory, and you want to subject delegates to a diatribe on why impressionable young people should not be indoctrinated with such dangerous speculations? ["speak alongside industry [sic] leading experts"]
- Perhaps your company mines and refines uranium ore, and is looking to find a market for the vast amounts of fine slag produced, and think it might make an excellent modelling material for use in design and technology classes? [meet "your target audience"]
A Strategic Headline Sponsor at a Professional Development Group event can also purchase other features such as a "pre show marketing email to all registered delegates". I guess the terms and conditions of signing up to a Professional Development Group event mean delegates agree to receive such sponsored advertising.
What's wrong with selling conference slots?
There is nothing inherently immoral about selling slots at a commercial conference – after all, it is a commercial event – so, it is primarily about 'the bottom line' of the balance sheet. But that's my point. This would be unacceptable at an academic conference, where some speakers are invited because they are considered to have something relevant to say, and others wishing to present have to submit their proposals to peer review.
What I find, if not immoral, certainly distasteful here, is that an on-line conference of the kind that would likely be arranged for free or for a nominal fee in an academic context, is being priced at £399 for state school teachers at a time when public services are under immense pressures and budgets need to be very wisely spent. How can this price be justified?
Perhaps the speaker fees are a significant cost. But I doubt that: I was not offered any fee to give up a day of my time to chair the meeting, and so I expect the other speakers are also being expected to speak for free as well. That's how things usually work in academia and the state sector. (But if this is a commercial activity, then the professional speakers SHOULD ask for a fee. If they are taking time out of school, and so already being paid, then perhaps the fee could be used to buy school books or pay for supply teachers?) Indeed, there are two slots for fee-paying speakers who wish to advertise their wares.
So, this is perhaps not actually a scam, but it does not meet the standards of honesty and transparency I would expect in the state sector (because it is only masquerading as state sector), and the event seems to be priced in order to make money for shareholders, not primarily to meet a mission of "Supporting UK Public Sector Teams".
If the COVID pandemic taught us anything, it is that many (probably not all, but surely most) meetings can be held just as well on line, so avoiding all the time, money and carbon footprints of moving people around the country. Oh, and consequently, it showed us that most of these meetings (a) can be offered for free where they are hosted by a public sector organisation that can consider them as meeting part of its core mission; and (b) that even when that does not apply, and so costs have to be covered, they can be arranged for a fraction of the expense of a face-to-face event at a hired venue.
As you may have guessed, I declined.*
* I replied to decline this opportunity on 19th November. Checking on 25th November, I see I am still listed as Chair (invited). See note 1
Notes
1 In the academic world, the term 'invited speaker' is used to designate a conference speaker who was invited by the organisers in contrast to a speaker who applied to speak and proposed a contribution in response to an open call. However, 'invited speaker' here seems to mean someone whom has been invited to speak, in contrast to someone who has agreed to.
2 I have a pretty poor memory, but do recall seeing Bonzo stalwart Neil Innes play at Nottingham University when I was a student. He sang their most successful song, "I'm the urban spaceman" (which reached no. 5 in the UK single charts and led to Innnes getting an Ivor Novello award for his song-writing), then announced, deadpan, "that was a medley of hit".
