Event Industry News Podcast

Nicola Underhill is general manager at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole – a venue built in step with the NEC, where it sits. The biggest UK hotel outside London. Nicola came to the job from six plus years in a similar role at the Hilton St George’s Park - home to all 24 England football teams and a centre for coach education. In this episode, host James Dickson asks Nicola Underhill about the Hilton Birmingham Metropole’s multi-million-pound refurbishment; due to complete in April it includes all the hotel’s event spaces along with a new bar, a new restaurant and a new executive lounge. Nicola talks digital technology too, staying competitive – with a spotlight on the Hilton Metropole’s event relations managers – as well as looking back on her career to date.

Emma Tietze, director of sales and events at Brooklyn Bowl, has a 10-year history in live events, turns at the Manhattan Center and at CBS Radio reflecting her passions. Emma joined the team at Brooklyn Bowl, a former iron foundry in ‘hip’ Williamsburg, three years ago. A sought-after mix of live music, award winning food and bowling, since its 2009 launch Brooklyn Bowl has spawned three other venues in the group, one in Vegas, one in Nashville and one in Philadelphia. In this episode, Emma Tietze talks through her background before emphasising the Importance of venues like the Bowl post-pandemic, not least the flexibility of the room and how much that helps in responding to client wants. Emma goes on to discuss leadership roles for women in events, business development and targeted marketing, networking at the Bowl, working with other venues, partnering with local hotels and watching the neighbourhood grow. To keep up to date with all the news, subscribe for free here. If you would like to take part in

Carlo Zoccali joined Farnborough International Ltd in 2016. Responsible for venue sales, operations and customer service he also oversees relationships between the venue and the wider events industry. Involved with trade associations throughout his career, Carlo was president of the ILEA from 2017 to 2018 and continues to be an active board member of the Europe chapter. In this episode Carlo Zoccali’s focus is beyond the airshow (FIA) which, cancelled in 2020, comes back to the site in July this year. It’s on newer heights instead, the 12,500sq m exhibition hall opened in 2018 and the similar size space outside among them – and how that combination delivered as live events slowly came back to life from mid-2021. Carlo Zoccali talks about the Farnborough footprint facilitating everything from exhibitions and experiential events through to conferences and product launches in its new meeting room portfolio, re-connecting people in 2022, audience-driven demand, niche events, elevating experiences and contempor

Since 2011 Chicago-based Ink Factory has been delivering visual note-taking, physically and virtually. Creating pictures that summarise key takeaways for conferences, meetings, brainstorming sessions, show content and much more, Ink Factory clients include Adobe, Amazon, CAT, Deloitte, Ford, Unilever, Whole Foods Market and the YMCA, In this episode, Ryan Robinson, the company’s co-founder and CMO, discusses the business before digging into the immediate gratification audiences get from visuals and its benefits in retaining information and recalling it. Ryan Robinson goes on to talks bookmarks in the brain, using keywords, colours, the focus on training, listening and adapting, videos, illustrations and preventing distraction. 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.

Verbose, in the best Los Angeles tradition, Marley Majcher is CEO of The Party Goddess, an A-list full-service event planning and catering company in LA,, and author of acclaimed business guide for entrepreneurs, But Are You Making Any Money? In this episode, Marley details her background, from cooking school in Paris and egotistical chefs right through to standing out in the event planner crowd. The conversation with host James Dickson covers celebrity endorsement/the publicity machine, organising events in LA, big budget clients, contracts, confidentiality agreements, young starters’ expectations and much more.    

Launched at the threshold of the pandemic, March 2020, Vendoir is a platform for sole traders, freelancers, start-ups and existing suppliers to showcase their service to customers without paying for marketing. Vendoir also allows clients to book vendors based on their reputation, budget, location, event type etc., with just a few taps. In this episode, co-founders Oshoma Zekeri (CEO) and Yoma James Kukor (COO), discuss the personal and professional experiences that got them thinking. They highlight the app’s focus on quality, ratings and reviews, local talent – everywhere - calendar/geography/budget functionality, payment protection, getting the best out of everybody and opening doors for freelancers.      Music: Wish Background by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4633-wish-background License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

The message ‘One in three event professionals will experience poor mental health every year, in the form of stress, anxiety, depression and burn out’ is spelled out loud and clear on the EventWell site - https://eventwell.org/about/ Helen Moon founded the not-for-profit CCLG social enterprise in 2017 to serve as the mental health and voice of the event industry. Talking to host James Dickson at the Association of Event Venues (AEV) annual conference in the Business Design Centre, Helen Moon discusses mental health first aid, the impact of increased workloads post-‘freedom day’, the potential for burnout, the spoils of proper planning, on site EventWell hubs/quiet rooms, working memory, the benefits of repetition and much, much, more…   Music: Wish Background by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4633-wish-background License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Host James Dickson attended the AEV (Association of Event Venues) Conference at the Business Design Centre (BDC) last month, a fertile ground for podcast content. In these four rapid-fire Q&A sets, James talks to management from some key locations, north and south. We kick off with Kate Simpson, marketing and comms director at the BDC, together with Paddy Lynn, head of events management at P&J Live, a conference and events venue in Scotland. Both venues have served as vaccination centres and the focus here is, post ‘freedom day’’/pre-Omicron, on getting the event needle back on the record - dealing with diaries, delays and postponements, managing turnarounds, the sanitising everything process, concessions from organisers, branding and beyond. Max Ball, executive director at the Business Design Centre, is in the second podcast with Sean Hinds, Manchester Central ‘s chief exec, and Simon Mill, chief commercial officer at Excel.  Beyond the AEV 2021 success story, they discuss their lockdown learning

Launched in 1999, in a different guise, Berlin-based MEETYOO is the digital events business behind a customisable platform providing large-scale virtual events to audiences with up to 50,000 members. More than ‘simply’ software, MEETYOO guides clients through their virtual/hybrid event life-cycle. In this episode, Tony Kula, founder & CEO at MEETYOO, and Product Management Lead Tim Gutsche talk about starting the company and its evolution – organic and through acquisition - over the last nearly 12 years. Kula and Gutsche detail background knowledge about digital platforms ahead of the pandemic push on the sector, product development, and customer service since March 2020. Additionally to flexibility, conveying a unique experience, developing engagement, support, managing expectations, data, and much more…  

Former head of computer vision key initiatives at Amazon, Humphrey Chen, co-founded video analysis and management platform CLIPr 14 months ago, in the thick of the hybrid event revolution, Working out of Seattle, CLIPr, uses machine learning to index every minute of a video and generates an automated table of contents by identifying topics and sub-topics. In this episode, Humphrey Chen highlights the CLIPr revolution,, from personalising the video experience, fostering interaction and reaction, adding bookmarks, finding key content across a whole event to making 365 a reality. Chen talks new revenue streams, advanced analytics, the network effect, synchronous and asynchronous modes, and much more.

Conference Compass, the Dutch next generation event platform specialist, has produced a telling, timely document ‘How to run the most engaging hybrid events’. In this episode, CEO Jelmer van Ast, who founded the company more than 11 years ago, discusses the thinking behind the publication and what its ambitions are before going on to look at the trends, or steps, towards hybrid, the strength in smaller/more local events and rethinking the reach for a larger audience. Jelmer van Ast also highlights the value in learning from repetition and engagement, developing the Conference Compass platform over the last 12 months, targeting the technical wants of the hybrid model, the crucial relationship with AV partners and much more. 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.

Owner/CEO of Eventistry by Alecia and host of the 6 Figure Event Podcast, Alecia May is an award-winning certified strategist and coach. In this episode, Alecia May talks about using 87 – EIGHTY SEVEN - virtual event platforms over the past three and half years and the key takeaways from that extraordinary weight of experience. May goes on to discuss different clients/different requirements, being at the forefront of technology, the benefits of familiarising yourself with a platform, ‘test it, test it, test it’, workarounds, tech stacks and much more.

Having worked in events for 15-years, Lauralee Whyte moved from experiential marketing towards the content construct, focused on sourcing speakers and talent. Having seen, and drawn from, the shallow waters of practiced options, in July 2021 Lauralee launched Spectrum Speakers & Entertainers, the UK’s first diversity focused content bureau. In this episode, she discusses the motivation behind that move and why speakers at events from different backgrounds are invariably asked to talk about their experience as a minority more than anything else. Lauralee Whyte looks at learnings from lockdown, inspiration, representation and opportunity, tapping into micro-communities and working with Brixton Finishing School.   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.

Based in Boston, Massachusetts, Devin Cleary is the VP of global events at award-winning digital platform Bizzabo – multiple-winner of the Event Tech Awards’ coveted People’s Choice gong. With more than 16 years’ experience designing and delivering diverse experiential marketing programmes for b2b, non-profit and consumer markets, Devin has an enviable track record in strategising and executing in-person, virtual and hybrid events. In this episode, Devin Cleary discusses budget cuts, which began pre-pandemic, and how chief marketing officers (CMOs) can prepare for this era of redefined events, what the impact of Covid-19’s delta variant on in-person events is likely to be and how event professionals and CMOs can effectively collaborate through that window. Cleary also looks at in-person sponsorships and how the event marketing landscape has changed over the longer term – from 2010 on. 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 c

Dr. Baris Onayis an entrepreneurial executive with 15 plus years’ experience in b2b media, events, exhibitions and conferences. He launched Precision Communities six months ago, on a mission to build virtual events that ‘catalyse’ companies outside the traditional loop. In this episode, Baris Onay discusses his learnings from the Covid-19 pandemic, the story behind the company name, cost efficiency, mitigating risk with event series, moving away from the make or break mentality, the untapped value in the virtual world and much more. 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.

Reshad Hossenally found his inspiration in a part-time job; selling tickets, by hand, while at university. He went on to found Event Genius, and the related Ticket Arena consumer brand. In 2019, Hossenally and the Event Genius, Ticket Arena company joined forces with Festicket, becoming one of Europe’s leading primary ticketing and event tech providers.   Trusted by the likes of Coachella, Afro Nation, Amnesia Ibiza and Rolling Loud, the Event Genius Group provides services to 35 different countries generating sales of more than £650m. Throughout, Event Genius has stayed in step with Hossenally’s original ambition – and the company name - to provide promoters with a better means to sell tickets and to manage all aspects of the business. In this episode, Reshad Hossenally details his role in the recent flurry of Liverpool test events, which, with clinical tests for audiences either side, required no social distancing and no face masks. He talks about Event Genius’ cashless payment system as well. Crucially,

With a background in big events, from London and Southampton Boat Shows to the International Festival for Business, James Gower was a perfect fit with The Game Fair when he was appointed managing director in 2015, and still is.   In this episode, James Gower talks about the Fair’s considerable history – the late Prince Philip famously branded it the ‘shop window of the countryside’ - before digging into fallow 2020 and the positive impact that had on the 2021 show. How build time was cut from 12 weeks to four, adjustments to the site layout, new elements to the audience – a product of the lockdown reconnection with the great outdoors - and much more besides.

A self-confessed ‘tech nerd’ at heart, Anthony Vade worked in AV and event production Down Under before moving to Canada in 2010, initially for more of the same. Over the last few years though Vade has stepped across to the design field, joining Swiss-based Event Design Collective in its Toronto office as director for North America 12 months ago. In this episode, Anthony Vade digs into his background, and details the CED in his current job title, before detailing exactly what Event Design Collective does for organisers. With plenty of hand gestures, he talks bringing about change, facing the challenge of the events and tech mindset collision, digital dexterity, partnership relationships and why it’s worth budgeting for some tech redundancy. 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.

Manchester Central, formerly GMEX, has been home to, among many other things, festivals, standalone concerts, consumer shows, trade shows and conferences, not least those by the Labour Party and the Conservative Party. Tellingly, CEO Shaun Hinds, who is also director/vice chair of the Association of Event Venues, featured on the EIN podcast pre-pandemic, in October 2019. This episode, in a wholly different world, sees Hinds talking about Manchester Central events before, during and after lockdown. How staff and suppliers to the venue worked right through the installation of NHS Nightingale North West at the site, how the event industry was “absolutely fundamental” in establishing the chain of those facilities across the country and the lack of understanding in the corridors of power about the planning and delivery that goes into live events nevertheless. Hinds also discusses the resurgent appetite for the live model and how that will stimulate new event genres, making better use of outdoor spaces, vaccine

Sophie Bannister, head of creative development at communications agency M&C Saatchi Talk, is responsible for delivery of all campaign implementation, including social, content and experiential activations. In this episode, Sophie Bannister gives host James Dickson her take on everything from lockdown media days via Zoom, and other platforms, understanding the consumer journey, and rethinking content, through to planning live events again post ‘freedom day’. 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.