The Association of British Professional Conference Organisers (ABPCO) has launched its 2026 Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Survey, calling on event professionals across the associations and not-for-profit sector to share their views on the future of learning and professional development.
Open to both ABPCO members and non-members, the survey is designed to identify the skills, knowledge and professional development priorities that matter most to today’s events community. The insights gathered will help shape ABPCO’s CPD programme for 2026 and 2027, ensuring its learning opportunities remain relevant, practical and responsive to the changing demands of the events industry.
ABPCO CPD Survey to Identify Key Learning Priorities
The events industry continues to evolve rapidly, creating new challenges and opportunities for conference organisers and event professionals. ABPCO’s 2026 CPD Survey aims to understand where professionals want additional support, knowledge and skills to strengthen their careers and deliver successful events.
The survey will explore the topics that event professionals would most like to learn about, helping ABPCO identify emerging areas of interest and professional development needs across the sector.
The findings will also provide insight into the preferred ways professionals want to access learning, allowing ABPCO to develop a CPD programme that better reflects how the events community learns and engages.
Learning Formats to Shape ABPCO’s CPD Programme
As part of the survey, respondents are being asked to share their views on different learning formats. These include webinars, workshops, conferences and peer-to-peer learning, among other professional development opportunities.
Understanding which formats provide the greatest value will allow ABPCO to create more engaging and accessible learning experiences for its community.
The survey forms part of the association’s ongoing development strategy and will help guide decisions around future educational content, professional development activities and learning opportunities.
Matt Stalker Highlights Importance of Professional Development
Matt Stalker, Executive Director of ABPCO, said professional development has become increasingly important as the events sector continues to change.
He explained that the association wants to ensure its learning programme reflects the real-world challenges and opportunities facing event professionals. The survey therefore provides an opportunity for both ABPCO members and the wider events industry to have a direct influence on the future direction of the association’s CPD programme.
According to Stalker, the goal is to deliver professional development that is practical, relevant and impactful for the events community.
Survey Open to ABPCO Members and Non-Members
One of the key features of the ABPCO 2026 CPD Survey is that participation is not limited to association members. Event professionals working across the associations and not-for-profit sector are encouraged to contribute their views.
By opening the survey to a wider professional audience, ABPCO aims to gather a broad range of perspectives on the skills and knowledge required by today’s events workforce.
The wider participation can also help the association identify common challenges and emerging learning requirements across different areas of the sector.
Five-Minute Survey Offers Prize Draw Opportunity
The survey has been designed to be quick and accessible, taking less than five minutes to complete. Responses are completely anonymous, allowing participants to provide honest feedback about their professional development priorities.
Participants will also have the opportunity to enter a prize draw, with four £25 Amazon vouchers available to be won.
The combination of a short survey format and anonymous responses is intended to make it easy for busy event professionals to contribute their views without a significant time commitment.
Findings to Support Future Events Industry Learning
The information gathered through the survey will play an important role in ABPCO’s future CPD planning. By understanding what professionals want to learn and how they prefer to learn it, the association can develop programmes that are more closely aligned with the needs of the modern events industry.
The findings are expected to provide valuable insight into areas where event professionals require additional knowledge, skills or support. They can also help identify broader trends in professional development across the associations and not-for-profit events sector.
Results to Be Shared Later This Year
ABPCO plans to share a summary of the survey findings with its members later in 2026. The results will provide an overview of the key learning priorities identified by the events community and offer insight into the professional development needs of association event professionals.
The findings will also help establish the direction of ABPCO’s continuing professional development strategy for the coming years.
Event Professionals Encouraged to Take Part
ABPCO is encouraging professionals involved in delivering events for associations and not-for-profit organisations to participate in the 2026 CPD Survey.
With the events industry facing continuous changes in technology, audience expectations, event formats and professional requirements, understanding the skills that event professionals need is increasingly important.
The survey gives the industry an opportunity to contribute directly to the development of future learning programmes. The feedback will help ABPCO ensure its CPD activities remain connected to the practical realities of working in the events sector.
ABPCO Strengthens Focus on Continuing Professional Development
The launch of the ABPCO 2026 CPD Survey underlines the association’s continued focus on professional development and industry-led learning. By gathering feedback directly from event professionals, ABPCO aims to create a CPD programme that supports both current priorities and emerging needs.
As the events industry continues to develop, accessible and relevant professional development will remain an important part of helping event professionals build their knowledge, adapt to change and deliver high-quality experiences.
