TMI President Tom Pridmore FTMI Christmas Address

Season’s greetings to you!

It continues to be a privilege to be President of TMI, an organisation that has greatly benefited me throughout my career. I value the friendships made, and the learning experienced over the years, opportunities which have been further enhanced for me during my first year as President.   

It has been another busy year for TMI, during which we have enjoyed a series of informative webinars, with speakers from across the globe satisfying our appetite to learn and continually improve the services we provide. The willingness to share knowledge and provide mutual support within our sector never ceases to amaze me.

As an organisation we have forged new relationships this year, including with the Institute of Event Management, with whom we are looking forward to working with on joint events. We have also developed a good relationship with the Local Government Association, for whom we delivered a series of leadership training sessions for their members. This was a new and valuable area of work for TMI, and I would like to thank everyone involved in organising or speaking at these events.

It was great to meet up with so many members at Lincoln for an excellent convention. We enjoyed some great site visits along with some good Lincolnshire hospitality. I have been attending conventions for many years, and I must say I felt the quality of speakers this year was particularly good and the feedback we received from participants echoed this view.   

TMI members have a variety of challenges to face and right now, many are dealing with the contrasting worlds of delivering budgetary efficiencies whilst spending new grants within ridiculously tight timescales. Others are grappling with the implications of the structural changes of our organisations. Our aim as TMI board is to provide a forum for members to learn from each other in order to find creative solutions, whatever the challenge. It is also to voice your concerns and speak up for the membership.

In 2024 we have an exciting range of virtual meetings planned, providing members with first class case studies and good speakers.  You can expect an early announcement of the location for the 2024 Convention, as the events team have been working extremely hard behind the scenes to secure an excellent venue. We are keen to hear what topics you wish us to help you with, what is the knowledge you need, what are the issues you need help to address? Your feedback will help us select speakers and issues for future events.

If you are anything like me, you are ready for the true break that only Christmas provides when our part of the public sector closes and we can escape a while from those unrealistic deadlines of funding bids, print and advertising deadlines. Weather wise it is certainly not looking like the crisp sunny Christmas many yearn for, but hopefully the festive break will enable you to escape a while, ready to return refreshed and ready to hit the ground running, something which tourism officers and destination managers are so good at doing.

Happy Christmas!

Tom Pridmore FTMI