CHAIRMAN of the Jamaica Reggae Industry Association board Ewan Simpson is calling for more formal partnerships between the education system and private event planners and producers.

“It helps both because it will give the Sumfest, Rebel Salute, all these events a little bit more teeth to be able say to policymakers, ‘We are providing a stream of employment, we are providing a space for greater technical capacity building,’ ” he said while speaking during a session hosted by Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts titled: Creative Conversations — Festival Economy: Jobs & Opportunities.

Simpson explained that if education from the high school level to the university level were formalised more, it would assist the entertainment industry and change the nation’s perspective on entertainment as co-curricular into a “core curricular”.

“We will have more support for the teaching of artiste management; entertainment or production or event management for media in entertainment, for IT in entertainment, for law, for safety and security; occupational health and safety with respect to entertainment,” he added.

Agreeing with Simpson, director at Touchstone Productions Maxine McDonnough shared that a partnership could also help to keep the entertainment sector going in the event of another crisis. “We saw what happened when COVID hit us and the entertainment industry folded. It was abysmal and so, we need to ensure that we find the way, no matter what the crisis is…to facilitate — even if not the grave big events — there must be a way to ensure that the entertainment industry is never paralysed in the way it was for COVID,” said McDonnough.

In the meantime, students pursuing a career in event planning are being encouraged to volunteer within the entertainment industry to develop their skills.

“I started as a volunteer at Jazz and Blues until I worked my way to assistant to the executive director, and there are many events. Rebel Salute, I volunteered the first year, too, until I worked my way in. So sometimes you have to start honing your skills and then work your way up into a position,” shared Tracey Hamilton, event planner and owner of Tracey Hamilton & Associates.

Hamilton has over 20 years’ experience in event planning and warned that event planning is not for the faint hearted, adding that if someone is not willing to be on the ground doing the work then they should not pursue event planning.

Similar sentiments were also shared by Simpson.

“You may not volunteer in an area that you are necessarily being trained directly in. So, for example, you may be trained in media but you may volunteer in production; that is useful because it gives you a kind of insight that a lot of people in media don’t have and it can open your eyes to other professional possibilities,” he said.

Other issues raised by Hamilton during the discussion were the lack of established venues, which puts Jamaica at a disadvantage to compete with worldwide festivals. To this end she called for more investments in proper infrastructure to facilitate large-scale events, which can boost the economy even further.