The Institute of Association Management have a number of seminars, workshops and networking opportunities for people working in the Association Sector: Stickier Marketing – Ensure you don’t get left behind. 22nd October 2014 12:30 – 4:00 Event Management 13th November 2014, 12:30 – 4:00 Christmas networking and drinks reception 16th December 2014 3:00 – 6:00 IofAM seminars and workshops take place at the Academy of Experts, 3 Grays Inn Square, London. You may make bookings at www.iofam.co.uk

Help is at hand for those who wish to ripen their prose or add spice to their reports! Greens Dictionary of Slang has launched its on-line version. Coming more than five years after Jonathon Green published the print edition of his exhaustive three-volume reference work, this is excellent news for lexicographers and those who love the English language. As Ben Zimmer, the language columnist for The Wall Street Journal, wrote in the New York Times Book Review at the time, “It is a never ending challenge to keep up withSEE DETAILS

Not For Profit Business Services Ltd (NFPBS) is pleased to announce that Nicki Alvey took up the post of Chief Executive on 28 July 2014, joining the Association Management Company (AMC) at the organisation’s offices in Ware, Hertfordshire. Having worked for the National Housing Federation, Royal Society for Public Health, Chartered Society of Physiotherapy and Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, Nicki is an experienced management and leadership executive with both trade association and professional membership institute experience spanning 20+ years. Specialising in marketing, and with a business qualification, Nicki has alsoSEE DETAILS </...

We are pleased to be able to assist them with their strategy of continued growth. For more information on the UK Spa Association, please click here.

A failure by insurance software firm SSP in August saw some 300 brokers unable to do business for several weeks. Users of the ‘Pure’ platform are still waiting for full restoration and, last month, SSP admitted that it could take weeks for some to be fully up and running. Brokers have admitted that the outage has cost them money and reputational problems and some said they may seek compensation through legal channels. Now, the British Insurance Brokers Association (BIBA) has stepped into the fray by holding what was described asSEE DETAILS

A GP survey addressing the sustainability of practices in Wales has unearthed serious concerns. The survey, which forms part of a wider campaign to tackle unprecedented pressures facing general practice, saw an overwhelming number of respondents (82.1%) reporting that they are worried about the sustainability of their practice. Launched on 12th October by BMA Cymru Wales’ General Practitioner Committee (GPCW), the campaign – an urgent prescription for general practice in Wales – highlights the challenges faced by GPs, and offers the Welsh Government some urgent solutions to address them. FindingsSEE DETAILS

On 3 September the UK Spa Association held our latest Networking Event at the new Aqua Sana Woburn Forest. As well as the opportunity to meet our peers, there were talks in the evening from Don Camilleri, Center Parcs development director, and Martin Dolby, chief executive officer at Center Parcs. Charlie Thompson, chair of the UK Spa Association launched the new Code of Practice and Alex De Carvalho, vice chair of the UK Spa Association, demonstrated the new Spa Benchmarking tool. In the evening we had the opportunity to tourSEE DETAILS

The Association for Decentralised Energy (ADE) has welcomed the Committee on Climate Change recommendations for a long term strategy on heat to meet UK decarbonisation commitments beyond 2020. The report calls on government to create a credible new strategy and a much stronger policy framework for buildings decarbonisation over the next three decades. Action is required now to reduce emissions and to prepare for future decisions. Deployment of low-carbon heat technologies cannot be left until the 2030s when low-regret opportunities such as heat networks, heat pumps and bio-methane injection alreadySEE DETAILS

CHASE 2015 will take place on 17 & 18 February 2015 at the Business Design Centre, London N1 0QH. CHASE 2015 is a free resource for all charity and membership organisation visitors – with no charge for entry to the event or the seminar programme. Opening times are scheduled to be 0900 to 1600 (subject to confirmation).

The Press Recognition Panel (PRP) has published its first ‘Annual Report on the Recognition System’. It concludes that urgent action is required if the post Leveson system of independent self-regulation is to be given a chance to succeed. The PRP notes that the recognition system envisaged is not yet in place because section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013 has not been instigated and calls for its completion. It also declares that until the recognition system is fully in place it cannot judge its success or failure, pointingSEE DETAILS