We were very happy to take part in London’s newest symposium, Soho Green Rooms, which took place from 16-18 July at Soho’s Underbelly Boulevard. Industry leaders and experts gathered to explore and debate the latest trends and concerns in theatre and live entertainment.

 

 

 

 

 

The three-day conference was packed with topics including positive disruption, AI, Artivism, pre-visualisation, the evolving demand of modern events to name but a few.

 

 

 

 

 

As a business, White Light, a d&b solutions company (WL) has for many years championed sustainability, diversity and inclusion and we were happy to share our experience by being be of a couple of panel discussions including Associated Talent and Paths to the Future and Sustainability. Indeed, following rigorous assessments we were proud to be certified B Corporation a couple of years ago and recently re-accredited ISO14001.

 

 

 

 

 

WL’s James Jacques and Bryan Raven report…

 

 

 

 

 

The conference final day was focussed on sustainability, with panels moderated by Bloomberg’s Douglas Wong and featured guest speakers including:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Phoebe Currie – Sustainability & Social Impact | PIEMA REnvP
• Amber Etra – Chritie Lites
• Trevor Nichol – Head of Technical Production and Sustainability Lead at Pixel Artworks
• Tom Piper – Freelance Theatre Designer
• Bryan Raven – Strategic Projects director at WL
• Carol Scott – Principle Advocate for Sustainability at Tait Towers
• Mark Stevenson – CoFounder and Chief Impact Officer, CUR8, ambassador Client Earth, Impact Board Chair, Climate.vc, Author.

 

 

 

 

 

The discussion aimed to address the environment as well as the wider and less discussed topics of ‘sustainability’ including the welfare of employees, pollution and working with the supply chain.  

 

 

 

 

 

Topics of Discussion

 

 

 

 

 

Excerpts from day three event agenda

 

 

 

 

 

Taking Stock:

 

 

 

 

 

“An overview of the industry’s efforts to respond to and define the legislation and guidelines that represent our response to Sustainability.”

 

 

 

 

 

Milestones Ahead:

 

 

 

 

 

“Debating who will become authoritative in this activity, are there too many disparate initiatives and should we unite to produce a new accord that captures the unique nature of our industry, one that prepares us for future legislation and goes further to develop innovation and experimentation going forward.”

 

 

 

 

 

Sustainability United:

 

 

 

 

 

“Seeks to build a consensus regarding our way forward as an industry. Using the unique skills and insights from our expert panel we will look to launch ‘Sustainability United’, a new umbrella voice that combines the vision and ambition described across the morning’s sessions. Committed to creating new pathways and novel interaction to spearhead our desire for standardised and transparent reporting, we will define the key discoveries and outcomes today to create a charter reference that can be shared by all.”

 

 

 

 

 

The following review is a culmination of the day’s three topics drawing on the crossover from the above three sections of the day.

 

 

 

 

 

Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Working Together

 

 

 

 

 

With the events industry being largely made up of small to medium-sized enterprises, we often find ourselves at a loss when it comes to a clear definition of what category we are represented under, frequently getting lumped into something like construction. With Bryan mentioning how the events industry has in the past come together after the fact, maybe we should take a more proactive approach to new legislation.  With the adoption of reporting being likened to the industries successes in health and safety (H&S) in a consensus among the panel members. This more active approach to create clear and easy to understand information should be displayed with pride, allowing us to push forward for change. With steps already being taken in this area, as mentioned by Tom, and his championing of the green book, a topic that was engaging with the audience, questions were raised on how this piece of work could be adapted to cover areas like touring and broadcast.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chipping Away at The Essence of a Show and The Fear Of Saying No

 

 

 

 

 

The topic of health and safety drew a good parallel between the right to say no. Amber’s stance on the subject is that ‘we’ would be more than happy not do something if we believed it breached H&S. However, when it comes to sustainability, we yet haven’t quite got over the fear of saying ‘no’ on moral grounds. Why not present options from existing hire stock rather than flying in specific equipment, as this would not impact the success of a show? This led to a question from the audience on how viable saying no actually is, which split the panel with a sway towards, “if you say no, they’ll just go find someone who’ll say yes”. But a comment made by Carol, where she likened the power of people to that of a LED wall, if one pixel goes out it doesn’t make much of a difference, however if a larger proportion of them start to turn off then it really has an effect providing some focus to a larger movement.

 

 

 

 

 

The topic of a show’s essence was raised at several points during the day and the outcome seemed to be largely the same. Tom shared his experience on the work he’s done on The Tempest as they recycled materials such as flip flops and plastic bags used in the creation of costumes. The ability to use existing stock and material should be championed amongst the creative industry.

 

 

 

 

 

Investments In Time and Money

 

 

 

 

 

Weaving its way into various points throughout the day the topic of cost was hard to escape. Whether it’s the less-than-ideal ability to pay for bad deeds through offsetting, the cost of sustainable travel and transport, or incentivising employees to make better decisions. The cost of sustainability requires investment of both wisely spent time and money.  

 

 

 

 

 

When it came to governance, Mark’s outlook was more of cautious optimism than in previous discussions, including mention of the King’s speech showing interest in the environment. Bryan pointed out that with the mass change in government, we should be reaching out to our local members of parliament inviting them to see our workplaces, talk about our initiatives as we need to reinforce our position in the industry, so they are ‘on board’ before there is an issue we need help with.

 

 

 

 

 

Later in the day, the conversation moved onto sustainability training as the panel shared their own experiences when dealing with the matter. We could spot disparities in the levels of training due to job roles and whether people work for a company or as freelance.

 

 

 

 

 

Legislation Overlap and The Future

 

 

 

 

 

Throughout the day, the recurring topic was about legislation and how it is gaining momentum. There is a need to obtain a more consistent, simplified and accessible documentation for organisations.    

 

 

 

 

 

With both Phoebe and Bryan’s work with PLASA (Professional Lighting and Sound Association) the results from an industry survey were brought up, mentioning that beyond terms such as climate change and carbon footprint there was a huge drop off in understanding. They both then hinted at what is next to come for PLASA and their plans to expand on this work, most likely being a core part of PLASA Show in September 2024.

 

 

 

 

 

Phoebe’s belief is that the legislation will begin to expand to include topics such as welfare, diversity and modern-day slavery.

 

 

 

 

 

It was excellent to see that attending students were actively involved in the conversation, asking for advice, as well as expressing an interest in working within the music and entertainment industry. Carol and Phoebe were in agreement that it is a great time for students who are interested in the environment and live events to get involved.

 

 

 

 

 

These were just a few interesting points made throughout the day and we hope that you found the read interesting.  

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, we all have a responsibility to invest in this topic and whilst we often talk about the negatives, we must not forget to champion the good work along the way and encourage others to do the same. We must continue to raise awareness and work together to achieve our common sustainability goals.

 

 

 

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