Event Industry News Podcast

A part of the event industry for as long as he can remember, in some form or other, latterly Chris Carver is co-founder and CEO at Florida-based content/speaker management platform Sessionboard.   Beyond the traditional background detail, Chris’s work with non-profits, the Covid tipping point et al, this episode is a fascinating focus on Sessionboard’s latest element, AI Evaluations.   With questions from host Adam Parry, Chris highlights the artificial intelligence impact on evaluating content workflow and indexing, why he’s introducing AI Evaluations now and how it will/can/is saving organisers’ time.   AI is a revolution in efficiency and accuracy, and in the context of such a finite element of the live event model this conversation combats conspiracists too, Chris stressing, ‘It’s about supporting people not replacing them’. He goes on to highlight safeguards and checks in the Evaluations template, input from the customer advisory group and feedback from the testing phase - getting the views of the many n

In among the event tech-world for 20 years, working with the likes of Cvent and SwapCard, Kevin Singh launched data integration platform RunMerge little over four months ago. Prompted by host Adam Parry, Kevin, who’s picked a luxuriant backdrop, details his career history before focusing on the here and now. This episode is about the triggers that spurred Kevin and company to develop a solution to the industry’s ‘biggest pain point’, data integration. Getting systems, which can be rooted in their own language, to talk to each other via RunMerge, a behind the scenes translation model. The conversation pushes the platform’s bridge between people/relationships and tech. It details multi-tenant architecture, and how RunMerge can migrate to client clouds for super security, custom connectors, and who are the early adopters… To keep up to date with all the news, subscribe for free here. If you would like to take part in a podcast, then please complete our submission form.

With 40 per cent of an organiser’s time spent ‘chasing exhibitors’ according to a recent Bizzabo study, this episode is about what’s broken, what exhibitors want, and the impact/potential impact of smart technology.    Client director at Ascender Design, Christian Skelton, went on to co-found exhibitor management platform Eventflow in 2022, winning Best Technology Startup at the Event Tech Awards 12 months later. Adam Parry puts the questions, so there is a whole lot of apt experience on both side of the Teams table   In a non-stop 50 minutes the conversation looks at flaws in the onboarding process and the ensuing challenges for exhibitors, why some organisers neglect the problem, black holes, and ways to better management.   Adam and Christian go on to discuss insurance, AI, a world without forms, the Eventflow solution, and much more besides…   To keep up to date with all the news, subscribe for free here. If you would like to take part in a podcast, then please complete our submission form.

Mark Hamilton, strategic, tactical and operational advisor with over 50 years’ experience in security, Paul McCartney among his long-term clients, and equally independent crowd, security, event and fire safety consultant, Steve Allen, have teamed up to develop and deliver the new Showstop Procedure course. Principal consultant with Crowdsafety.org since 2014, Steve toured with any number of big acts, Led Zeppelin, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Beastie Boys among them, and came up with a formal showstop procedure while working with Oasis in the 1990s. It’s something he’s instigated 32 times around the world, “Never a problem. No injuries, no deaths, no problems with the promoters, the artists, and happy fans who go home safely”. In this episode, host Adam Parry steers the guests through a discussion thick with their experiences and expertise, encompassing reasons for a showstop, preparation for that potential on an event site, training/getting the procedure right, and the dangers of indecision. An inspiring 20 min

In and around events since the 1970s Steve Heap needs little introduction. Saying that, there’s a whole lot of it in the shape of his forthcoming book: You Call That a Career? The Memoirs of a Festival Organiser…   In the context of this episode, Steve is a founder member and current Chair of the Events Industry Forum (EIF), which took over The Purple Guide from the HSE some 12 years ago. Steve talks host Adam Parry through its evolution from ‘The Guide to Health & Safety at Pop Concerts and Similar Events’ to its current digital incarnation, before the conversation moves on to the Grant Scheme.   Raising money via subscriptions to the Guide, The Purple Grant Scheme has funded 24 diverse outdoor projects with more than £318k.   The EIF doesn’t let the pot get too big, putting the money to use quickly and Steve details the types of events it backs, extolling the virtues of transparency and how attitude is everything.   The conversation goes on to take in mental health, sustainability, young people, and fut

With a background in managing 10,000 plus events, for the last three and a half years Utah-based Rodney Hart has been at next generation marketing platform RainFocus, where he’s vice president, events. Experienced in mechanics/checks and balances across the trade show model, and beyond, Rodney is the perfect guest. Hosted by Adam Parry, this episode starts quickly and keeps the pace. From answers to the post-COVID ‘what’s in it for me’ mindset the conversation goes on to look at shaping content for smaller audiences, ‘micro-strategies’. With first-hand experience, Adam and Rodney look at ROI and economies of scale, efficiency comparisons - the price per head for micro-events can be expensive – the spoils of in-person shows, easy to make mistakes when you’re organising micro-events, and will they become the new norm? Or remain a niche?   It’s all here… To keep up to date with all the news, subscribe for free here. If you would like to take part in a podcast, then please complete our submission form.

Karen Saragoussi, owner of branded apparel/merch company TeamTogs, follows up her 2024 appearance on the podcast, accompanied by business development and sustainability manager Katie Noonan.   Karen reiterates the impact of her time as an event producer, how it shapes TeamTogs’ create, supply and ‘take the pain away’ process. She goes on to highlight the power of face-to-face events and the role branding/uniforms can play in creating a lasting impression. Sustainability is the hook to this episode, and Katie talks host James Dickson through the drivers behind the BPMA’s StepForward Pledge, which TeamTogs subscribes to, fostering similar ambitions across the supply chain, balancing the cost/quality/sustainability equation, and much more besides.   To keep up to date with all the news, subscribe for free here. If you would like to take part in a podcast, then please complete our submission form.

Behind the recently published article: Tariffs – now what for trade shows, this episode’s guest, media and events entrepreneur Dr Baris Onay, is a bit of a coup. Referencing the impact of international sanctions on Russia in 2014 from first-hand experience, Baris looks at what to expect, and what might actually happen, as a result of the restless canon of US tariffs.  Hosted by Adam Parry, Baris moves from the “cataclysmic potential” for people selling goods to the States, and the China question, to strategy advice for US and non-US organisers. While these sanctions are clearly not nailed on, Baris highlights the crucial role for one-to-one buyers’ programmes, content, and technology, meantime. Dr Baris Onay’s take on the tariff’s is clued up, on point, and this is an invaluable conversation for the events industry.   To keep up to date with all the news, subscribe for free here. If you would like to take part in a podcast, then please complete our submission form.

Ten years ago, recognising the narrow horizons of his sales job, Big Event Media founder Vincent Roazzi Jr started exploring New York City through the lens of a new camera, going on to take gig pictures for music events startup Sofar Sounds.   Accepting an offer to serve as photographer for a friend’s project in Bhutan, Vincent found his chops, or his shots, on that eastern edge of the Himalayas. So much so that, returning to the States some 12 months later, he launched Big Event Media.   Talking from the company’s headquarters in Austin, Texas, this episode sees Vincent detailing the modern world of professional photography, how he and his team shoot conference/trade show/live event pictures and videos beyond the reach of the madding iPhoners.   With questions from host James Dickson, Vincent discusses the DSLR generation, how camera phones mean everyone knows more about photography, and how understanding, and getting, the angles is the great separator.   An engaging interviewee, Vincent gives his take on cr

This special edition of the Event Industry News podcast sees editor Adam Parry in conversation with Enrico Gallorini, co-founder and CEO of GRS – a global research and strategy company based in Dubai. Alongside the business, Enrico has written a book: ‘In Person, a journey through the unstoppable evolution of events’, and that’s the topic here.  Asked about his inspirations, Enrico highlights chats he’s had with people across the industry and how the perennial ‘future of the sector’ question is rooted in the past and the present. Adam and Enrico talk about the forgetting curve, the broad benefits of a book over scrolling for information, and what core historical elements of events have been lost to time. Could they, should they, come back? Asked for his most impactful event ‘moment’, Enrico details the gamut of emotion he felt watching U2 at The Sphere in Las Vegas, going on to amplify the value of shared experience, the ritual and spirituality, the sense of belonging, in events. From gatherings around open f

Nathan Reed runs experiential events company MEGA, which he founded 15 years ago. Behind rolling successes like The Rock Orchestra, Illuminated Orchestra and Incredible Silent Discos, his story is equal parts passion, conviction, commitment and delivery.   Bitten by the events bug in his youth, Nathan switched away from drumming to found a small festival in his home town. From there, things went MEGA.   Nathan explains the journey from raves to his first touring brand, Big Freshers Icebeaker, and how MEGA moved onto food and drink shows, like the Great British Gin Festival and Rum & Reggae. Those, in turn, were stepping stones to bigger gigs across the country and internationally.   Nathan Reed highlights the strength in volume, the company went from 20 events a year to 200, and in managing as much as possible in-house, arrangements to production to marketing, and the value of a rigorous ‘testing phase’.   From the spoils of rolling tours to staying focused and staying on time, to shaping the Rock Orchest

Brian Gates, senior vice president of market strategy and GTM at next-generation event platform RainFocus, is James Dickson’s guest for the first Event Industry News podcast of 2025.   Founded in 2013, RainFocus made a fast mark on heavyweight shows like Oracle CloudWorld, VMworld, Cisco Live, and it’s gone on to have similar impact for the smallest events.   Speaking live from Utah, Brian, who joined RainFocus nearly 10 years ago, details the company’s journey from a data focus to all-encompassing event management.   Brian looks at the platform’s effect on marketing, highlighting key points in the customer journey, who’s engaging and how, and refining the pathways/campaigns as a result. He goes on to discuss evolving the onboarding process, accommodating shrinking budgets, best practices, integrating tech stacks, leveraging data and, particularly poignantly, the AI potential.

Sustainability strategy experts Sam Wilson, managing director at Syntiro Associates, and Dr Dominic Tantram, partner at Terrafiniti, present a podcast precursor to the ‘Unmasking Greenwashing in the Events Industry: Understanding, Identifying, and Avoiding Misleading Practices’ panel at Event Sustainability Live (ESL). Succinctly titled ‘Greenwashing’, this episode sees Sam and Dominic do some background, their two companies having worked together, before defining the term and inadvertent incarnations. Steered by host James Dickson, they go on to talk/to explain materiality and double materiality, comms traps and much more. Clued-up contributors, real insight, and some telling hand gestures, this is a great use of time. It’s equally powerful as background to the ESL session on November 21st, where Tara Blackburn, environmental sustainability manager at Hearst Lab Scout, and executive director at Evcom, Claire Fennelow, will join Sam and Dominic for the session. Event Sustainability Live takes place a

In and around events-world for years, Seattle-based CEO and co-founder of MJ Unpacked, George Jage, sowed the seeds for a show committed to the cannabis sector back in 2014. MJ Unpacked, the biggest trade event in a now burgeoning business, hits St Louis, Missouri, this month and Atlantic City, New Jersey, next spring. Aimed exclusively at retail and brand executives on a national scale, it promises quality collaborations, product innovation and cutting-edge scientific advancements as well as access to deal flow and capital. In this episode, George talks about starting a national cannabis CPG (consumer packaged goods) show before there was a national cannabis CPG market, the legalisation process, from Colorado to California and beyond – every state has its own regulatory structure, politics, tax, and infrastructure. With questions from host James Dickson, George discusses the cannabis spoils, ‘This is some really powerful medicine from nature that’s been with us since we crawled out of our caves’, going o

Founder and CEO at Eventwise, Chris Carter, and company set out to transform financial management in the sector for ‘greater efficiency and control’. Formerly a promoter in Bristol, Chris wanted to get into accounting. This episode, his first appearance on any sort of podcast, incidentally, serves to normalise that leap. Starting with some background, and the focused switch from artist to event ‘whole’, Chris discusses the triggers and ambitions behind developing and launching the Eventwise platform, ‘replacing’ the spreadsheet. Designed specifically for creatives, Eventwise isn’t complicated but it’s robust and structured. Prompted by host James Dickson, Chris goes on to talk about integrating with ticketing and other platforms, scenario planning, cost control and more besides. To keep up to date with all the news, subscribe for free here. If you would like to take part in a podcast, then please complete our submission for

Louisa O’Connor, managing director of female-led brand experience agency Seen Presents, which represents the likes of Netflix and TikTok, has been in the industry since she joined Grace & Tailor subsidiary We are Vista, formerly Logistik, in 2008.   This episode benefits from Louisa’s experience, nous and personality as it looks at cultural relevance; what it means, how it plays a part in brand events, and beyond.   With host James Dickson putting the questions, Louisa talks education and the power of real-world brand immersion, going on to discuss budgets, timelines, and ‘talkability’.   The conversation covers communities, values and evolving brand activation, before looking at positioning by the likes of Adidas Originals, JD Sports, Microsoft Pride, all of them Seen clients, and, crucially, consistency.     To keep up to date with all the news, subscribe for free here. If you would like to take part in a podcast, then please complete our submission form.

From sales director at Mentor Direct Marketing to vice president, European sales, at software solutions giant Cvent, nearly 30 years later, Jamie Vaughan has been in the thick of event technology.     In this episode, a fast, informative 35 minutes, Jamie takes host James Dickson back to the days, the trials of analogue registration, through the impact of digitising the process, and beyond.   James highlights SaaS, putting data to work, apps, good and bad technology.   An unabashed, eloquent proponent of AI, Jamie talks tracking success, visitor analysis, how physical manifestations of technology are adding to events rather than replacing them, before going on to detail the pandemic’s impact on Cvent, the learnings. And how the company focused on evolution rather than ‘pivoting’.       To keep up to date with all the news, subscribe for free here. If you would like to take part in a podcast, then please complete our submission form.

In and around events since 2002, Kate Holliday brought her considerable sustainability chops to trade show and exhibitions giant GES, where she is head of ESG, some 12 months ago.   In this episode, Kate defines ESG – environment social and governance – emphasising its spoils and how crucial it is to embed those things into the GES psyche.   In discussion with host James Dickson, Kate goes on to compare Defra’s emission factors to GES’s specific calculations and how the two work together.   She talks measuring sustainability in flooring and graphics for organisers, the power of tech, energy, supporting events and their communities, the power of strategic warehouse location, reusing products, colour coding and ensuring ever greater efficiency on site.    To keep up to date with all the news, subscribe for free here. If you would like to take part in a podcast, then please complete our submission form.

Multi-award-winning creative agency Sledge can boast an impressive catalogue of clients, Sage, Aruba and O2 contemporary among them. Managing director Sarah Yeats has been with the company for more than 12 and a half years, so she knows a thing or two about live experiences.   In this episode, after detailing her career trajectory and giving some concise Sledge history, Sarah talks about event planning, looks between the lines of corporate speak, and highlights the value of talking to attendees.   Prompted by host James Dickson, the conversation goes on to inspiration and education at shows before digging into ‘digital’, budgets, creative thinking, sustainability, and how unique events can be, realistically. To keep up to date with all the news, subscribe for free here. If you would like to take part in a podcast, then please complete our submission form.

With a background in graphic design, marketing and web development, commercial manager Sam Pearce joined Exhibit 3sixty from the Dovetail Group in 2023.   This episode sees Sam talking about Exhibit 3sixty’s development from straight-ahead stand builder when it launched sixteen years ago to delivering a full service for exhibitions.   With questions from host James Dickson, Sam goes on to discuss the spoils of the online ordering process and the power of exhibitors’ digital journey, repeat business, and how marketing the company has changed in his 18 months there.   Other subjects include role models, building supplier/client relationships, venues, ergonomic ordering, Ikea’s kitchen builder and augmented reality…   To keep up to date with all the news, subscribe for free here. If you would like to take part in a podcast, then please complete our submission form.