Event Industry News Podcast

Joining James on this week’s podcast was first-time guest, Louise Findlay-Wilson, MD of Energy PR. Louise boasts a career that spans over 20 years, in which time she has worked with the likes of the BBC, TSB, Schwartz and NatWest. Today, she talked to us about her experiences working with event professionals. Louise believes that working with many sectors, not just events, gives her a unique edge to her work as she is open to new ideas, sees various perspectives and discovers trends in multiple industries. During the podcast, Louise took us back to the beginning of her career where technology and restrictions confined her to doing things very differently. Nowadays, technology allows us to communicate, track data and create work instantly, infinitely changing the disciplines of every industry. PR has become more reactive to people due to the instantaneous nature of today’s technology. Social media posts and digital content has added another layer to work responsibilities in PR and other sectors. “There’s a

On this week’s podcast, Event Industry News was joined by not one, but two guests to discuss whether trade associations are doing enough for the industry. Granting us time out of their days to talk to our journalist, James Dickson, was Nick Dugdale Moor, the regional manager for Europe at UFI, and Lou Kiwanuka, the MD at EventShaper. UFI is a global association for the exhibition industry with nearly 800 members that consists of international exhibition organisers, venues, national/regional associations and service providers. EventShaper is an operational management company that manages B2B and B2C events. Associations are needed to help raise the standards of the industry as a collective, as opposed to one company advancing over others and not communicating its successes to other organisations. Nick compared being part of an association as having a gym membership: “Just because you paid the money and got the card, that doesn’t get you fit. You actually have to take advantage of it.” He continued to stat

Talking to Event Industry News on our weekly podcast was Banzai co-founder and chairman, Joe Davy.  Banzai, an event marketing automation platform, was created when Joe discovered a recurring pattern demonstrated by marketers when creating events.  The “lifecycle” of most event marketers typically lasts a month. This involves designing a new registration website, setting up email templates and having the relevant coding put in place among all the other tasks faced by marketers. After the event has passed, all that work is “blown away” and marketers have to start all over again for the next event. Calling this a “waste of time”, Joe wanted to eradicate some of this unnecessary workload. Banzai, therefore, provides solutions for event registration, reminders, outreach and attendance to help organisations grow their events. Additionally, Joe described marketers as “overloaded” and so wanted to create a platform onto which marketers could delegate some of their duties. “If we can build a great product, and

On today’s episode of Event Industry News’ weekly podcast, our journalist, James Dickson, spoke to Universal Live’s Neil Clappison. Neil is the commercial manager for the live event production company and used this time to discuss what he described as the “growing trend” of interactive content. Running since 1990, Universal Live knows a thing or two about producing a successful live event. However, Neil admits the team was “slightly behind the curve” when it realised there was an increasing requirement for interactive content 18 months ago. Traditionally, it was seen as an expensive add-on. Neil described interactivity as a great method for drawing people in as it is novel, often new to a lot of people, and can look great. Neil described the production process for events that require this type of interactivity, stating that there was little difference in way of planning an event with or without interactive content. Interactivity is not a ‘one-size-fits-all’ – it can be easily scaled down or up depending o

This week, Event Industry News’ journalist, James Dickson, welcomed first-time guest, Martijn Timmermans, to join our weekly podcast. Martijn is the co-founder and creative director at the Amsterdam-based, event experience design agency, The Red Line Project. Martijn described his process of creating events as “storyboarding” – just as with creating films, he can use this technique to create a sequence of events that follow a timeline. Each ‘scene’ in his storyboard can be designed to create a mood/experience for the audience. This process also allows organisers to easily understand and participate in the design and creation of the events. This “co-creating” process is vital for designing an event that is creative and effective for the overall outcome. Proved effective across many industries, storyboarding allows designs and plans to be laid out in a visual manner, allowing different people to see and remark on them. Commenting on the benefits of this, Martijn stated: “We need different minds because that

Event Industry News’ journalist, James Dickson, spoke to Deal Room Events’ co-founder and CEO, Erdal Kilinc, about the techniques, advantages and values of networking at live events. Networking is a crucial element of live events for creating valuable business connections, engaging with like-minded industry people and gaining insightful information. Networking apps and platforms ease the process of making these connections with people who are often strangers. Deal Room is an online platform created to enhance networking at live events. Over a year of academic research, workshops, surveys and feedback from event professionals went in to designing it to ensure it could provide organisers with all the features and benefits suitable for business networking. Discussing the uptake of networking apps and platforms by the event industry, Kilinc said: “At tech events, almost all of them have to have a networking application because the demand from start-ups, investors, et cetera, is high. “If your networking appli

Joining Event Industry News’ journalist, James Dickson, for this week’s podcast, was Michael Weiss, founder of the Ai4 conferences. Speaking from across the pond, New Yorker, Michael, founded Ai4 to follow his passion and dedication for artificial intelligence. Michael uses the Ai4 conferences to assemble business leaders to encourage and facilitate the adoption of AI in various sectors including, finance, healthcare, cybersecurity and retail. Claiming AI is becoming increasingly integral to businesses and events, Michael compared the technology to that of the Internet: “Any company, big or small, over the next 20 years, if you don’t become an AI company, you’re going to go bankrupt. The same way, as over the last 10 to 20 years, if you didn’t become an internet-first, digital company, you’re out of business now.” AI has the ability to create synergies between companies from various sectors: creating content showcasing how AI is benefitting one industry can catapult other industries into following suit.

On today’s podcast, Jez Paxman, Live Union’s content director, spoke to Event Industry News about the business of creating live events and his recent report, ‘Anatomy of a Delegate’. Today, audiences are very experience-rich and therefore “spoilt by live interactions”. This makes building a memorable and effective event increasingly difficult for agencies like Live Union. Though the team at Live Union mainly deal with B2B events, the difference between B2B and B2C isn’t always that different. No matter what the event is, audiences don’t want to be “bored rigid”. People may be giving up an entire day, if not more, to attend an event, therefore, the organisers must arrange something worthwhile.  Talking about his report, ‘Anatomy of a Delegate’, Jez touched upon what audience members really value with the aim to help event professionals understand how to create meaningful events. Jez touched upon five key areas that make an event audience-friendly: “Brain-friendly” – healthy environments and compelling eve

Dan Mason, managing director, and Andy Sexton, creative director from 2LK, joined Event Industry News for this week’s podcast to discuss the company’s 25-year history. First and foremost a brand experiential agency, 2LK creates memorable live events for trade shows, brand activations, launches and conferences, and boasts a client pool that includes Canon, HSBC, Wiko, Dell and the Royal Bank of Canada. Currently celebrating its 25thyear of “independence”, as described on the website, 2LK focuses on creating memorable live events to increase clients’ engagement, revenue and reach. Touching on the history of marketing, Dan and Andy took us back to the economic crash of 2008 during which traditional marketing strategies such as print journalism took a substantial hit. Not only affected by the dipping marketing budgets, print also suffered from the development of certain technologies. The two colleagues agreed that “print went from being themethod of communication to just being a method,” alluding to the rise

Mandy Mahil, founding director of Mango Pie, an event planning company, joined James for this week’s podcast to discuss attitudes in the event management sector. Having worked for event companies that peddle one event after another in a very “mechanical” fashion, Mandy stated she wanted to distance herself from that type of procedure when planning her events. Reflecting on the “factory wheel” of creating events, Mandy said she prefers to take time nurturing relationships with her clients and building each and every event from the ground up. She believes spending more time on each event gives clients better value for money. “Events are very expensive,” she said, stressing that clients who spend money on an event deserve something more than the bog-standard party. Starting her company as a sole-trader, Mandy admitted that she had to learn the technical side very quickly, e.g. the logistics behind setting up the company, the website and the I.T technicalities. However, clients were eager to follow Mandy in

To record this week’s podcast, the Event Industry News team was invited down to the home of Origin, by Crucial FX, in London to talk to the founder of EIGHT PR, Alistair Turner, and the commercial director at GL events UK, David Tunnicliffe. Here, they chatted to us about their brainchild – The Good Event Guide. Giving us a little overview of what this guide is, David described it as a document put together to offer advice and knowledge to others in the events industry on making sustainable decisions. He advised us that being sustainable goes further than making green choices in terms of waste and power, but also means creating a safe and healthy environment for employers. The word ‘sustainable’ is an ever-growing umbrella to cover lots of topics from carbon footprints to mental health. David and Alistair created the guide to inform organisers and suppliers on how to become more sustainable and mentally healthier. Using examples such as festivals becoming vegan and events scrapping plastic cups, David clai

For this week’s podcast, our host, James Dickson, invited Geoff Revill, co-founder and managing director at Krowdthink Ltd, to discuss his new app, KrowdSafe. Based in Devon, Krowdthink Ltd is a safety firm that aims to alter the way in which social media platforms deliver value in a mobile age. In response to the terror attacks that took place in 2017, the Home Office launched the Improving Crowd Resilience competition in order to find solutions to improving security across the private sector.  The idea for KrowdSafe won the team at Krowdthink almost £250,000 of government funding to develop it to improve security at large events. Transforming the crowd into a “participatory threat sensor”, Geoff explained that the app allows members of the public to draw security’s attention to possible threats, e.g., an abandoned backpack, a dropped knife, pick-pocketing, etc. Creating a direct line of communication between the crowd and security, the app allows users to upload images and specific locations of anythin

For the latest edition of the Event Industry News podcast, we welcomed Mark Rivkin, managing director at Crucial FX, to discuss his latest venture: Origin Crucial FX is an experience company that utilises technology such as projection mapping, lasers and sound to create stunning live events. Product launches, dinner shows, and seasonal celebrations are just a few examples of where Crucial FX are commissioned with creating memorable experiences that later become a talking point. Mark explained that describing to customers what Crucial FX can do proved difficult at times because of the range of services they can offer. Origin was therefore created as a means of demonstrating just what the company can achieve. It is described on the Crucial FX website as an “interactive playground”. Describing Origin as a “bombardment” of the senses, Mark explained that Origin uses vibrations, smells, sounds and visuals to really showcase what Crucial FX deliver. Origin was also a reason to attain a London base and, therefore

Joining James for this week’s podcast was Ravi Chalaka. Ravi is a marketing and business development expert and is currently the chief marketing officer for Jifflenow, a meeting automation platform. Ravi has spent the last 25 years working in the events industry, 15 of which he spent as a vice president. This has allowed him to participate in events as a marketer, attendee and sponsor for more than two decades. Drawing upon his vast experience, Ravi discussed ROI when exhibiting at live events and how it can possibly be measured and turned into value for companies. Gone are the days where company bosses are satisfied with event feedback in the form of statistics on attendees. Exhibitors are now expected to produce information on how well an event panned out in relation to how much revenue it generated.  However, meetings, business connections and new contacts that are generated as a result of exhibiting cannot be defined straight away in terms of pounds and pence: they may lead to revenue later down the l

For the latest edition of our weekly podcast, James Dickson, travelled down to the home of Crucial FX’s Origin experience. Here, he spoke to Edward Kitson, match director at the Ryder Cup and David Tunnicliffe, commercial director at GL events UK. Throughout the podcast, David and Edward explained the working relationship between the two companies and described the process of planning and building the famous golf tournament. In 2018, the 42nd Ryder Cup was held in France at Le Golf National. Edward described his role as managing the operation and delivery of the matches, whilst David and his team provided and built the temporary structures. Edward began working with the French golf federation in 2012 to start plans on improving the golf course. This involved new drainage, new irrigation and small “tinkers” to improve the spectator experience. David explained the long process involved in planning where to place the structures and how best to erect them. Sightlines, structure integrity, safety, camera angle

During his recent trip down to the Crucial FX Origin experience, James took himself off to a quiet corner to speak to Jenner Carter, the head of marketing at Lime Venue Portfolio and the marketing chair for the industry association, HBAA.   Jenner described her passion for improving mental health within the industry and explained what mental health first aid is all about. Offering examples of her own experience with ill mental health, both in her personal and professional life, Jenner informed James that the HBAA first introduced the course to her.  The mental health first aid course teaches participants how to offer help and support to people experiencing “a crisis”. Describing it as similar to a physical first aid course, Jenner revealed that mental health is different in regard to recognising symptoms: “It’s difficult to spot the signs of [poor mental health] but this course helps you spot the signs then signpost people off to the relevant places to get help.” Having been on the course, Jenner is now a

Our podcast host, James Dickson, recently filmed at the home of Crucial FX and its Origin experience. Here, he was joined by Nils Braude, the director of catering, conferences and events at Twickenham Stadium where the brand-new East Stand opened in Autumn 2018. Twickenham is the largest dedicated rugby union venue in the world and, due to the new “bolt-on”, now seats 8,500 people. Aside from hosting rugby matches, the stadium is also the venue for: music gigs, Christmas parties, corporate events, exhibitions, meetings and summer parties. The new stand was a huge undertaking that covered five floors and took the capacity of the stadium from 4,500 to 8,500. The whole footprint and floor space of the building was extended with the addition of two new floors and the addition of 3,000 hospitality covers. Describing the consultation process, Nils explained the stadium used a “collaborative approach” with its principal sales partners, Compass Group, RFU and Keith Prowse. They drew inspiration from similar-sized

Joining our host, James, for this week’s podcast is director of First Sight Media, Richard Belcher. Posing the question: ‘should I be using live-streaming to increase exposure of my event?’ James and Richard discussed the advantages of live-streaming and if there is ever a time to forget about it. Websites and apps such as Zoom, LinkedIn, Facebook Live and YouTube, allow live-streaming to be accessible, cheap and easy. Though James predicted there is no reason why events shouldn’t live-stream, Richard advised there is no point doing it purely because “everyone else is”. Live-streaming allows events to increase exposure and engage with more people. If people do not wish to attend an event because it doesn’t have a strong enough “hook” to entice them, they will have the option to view it via live-stream and, therefore, the organisers still receive their engagement. Drawing examples of technological advancements, Richard stated that First Sight Media streamed everything in 4k for the first time in 2018. This

With over eight million tonnes of plastic being thrown away each year, single-use plastic is fast becoming one of the world’s most discussed topics. Countless organisations, businesses and events are turning to more sustainable methods and ExCeL London is no exception. To add its weight to the global sustainability movement, ExCeL has taken certain steps to reduce its plastic waste. Our podcast host, James Dickson, invited ExCel London’s senior marketing manager, Julia Galbraith, to discuss the changes made throughout the venue. By its nature, the events industry is very wasteful: supplies and products are brought in only to be discarded when the event is over. ExCeL posed the question, “what little steps can we take to significantly reduce the amount of waste that we generate?” The answer initiated ExCeL’s campaign that publicly stated: “we are 100 per cent committed to reducing the amount of single-use plastic generated by [us].” The campaign involved installing permanent water fountains to allow guests

We invited Paul Woodward, chairman of Paul Woodward Advisory, to discuss his article: Too Big to Succeed. Within the podcast, our host, James Dickson, asked Paul on his professional background, the opinions expressed in his article and the history of trade shows. Having been in the exhibition industry for over 35 years, Paul is justified in having perhaps the controversial opinion that trade shows are suffering a profound blow, drawing examples from Cebit, Baselworld and Interbike. If exhibitions aren’t closing their doors for good, they’re making drastic cuts in order to preserve their presence in the trade show world: Cebit is gone and Baselworld has suffered a 50% reduction in exhibitors. Though Paul commented that trade shows are still useful for smaller companies, he stated that a lot of bigger brands are asking questions regarding the effectiveness of these exhibitions. The development of technology has allowed businesses to invest money in digital marketing and their own events, but trade shows may