Event Industry News Podcast

Joining our podcast host, James Dickson, on this week’s episode of the Event Industry News podcast was Will Curran and Brandt Krueger. Brandt is a technical producer, educator, speaker and consultant for the meeting and events industry who describes himself as a “geek dad and husband”. He is the founder of Event Technology Consulting and is based in Minnesota, USA. Will Curran is the founder of Endless Events, an AV production company that has been running for 12 years.  Both guests are hosts for a weekly podcast dedicated to event technology. Explaining that he believes there is a “time and a place” for all models of AV production, Brandt stated that the occasion dictates whether it is best to use in-house AV, a third party or to buy/hire in your own AV equipment. Over the course of the podcast, Will and Brandt described some of their worst experiences in the AV sector, drawing on these examples to demonstrate where certain situations went wrong. Overpricing proved to be a common “malpractice” in the w

Digital Innovation Director and Co-Founder, Neil Mortimer, joined our podcast host, James Dickson, on this week’s episode to talk about how events can increase value for organisers, clients and sponsors. Wonder is a creative events agency composed of experienced event specialists. It works with companies such as Google, BT, VISA and Deliveroo to design and create events across the B2B, B2C and B2E sectors. Yesterday, it launched Future Live Today – a new agency to fulfil the evolving requirements to build more technology into events’ ecosystems so they increase in value. Stating that event technology and marketing technology are complex facets in the world of events, he believes that clients, event organisers and even event agencies need additional support to make efficient decisions. “Decisions that seem straight forward at the time aren’t always the best decisions financially or effectively,” he said, stating that Future Live aims to educate and inform professionals to make better decisions. “I think w

On this week’s podcast, our host, James Dickson, was joined by the CEO of Manchester Central, Shaun Hinds, to discuss the future of sustainability at the tech-advanced venue. With more than 25 years in the hospitality, property and business service sectors, Shaun was appointed CEO in June 2017 after serving in leadership roles at the Association of Event Venues, YourWelcome and the BridgeStreet Global Hospitality. “We’re proud of our heritage but we need to remain relevant and we need to remain contemporary in a very fast-moving world,” Shaun stated when explaining how Manchester Central facilitates the needs of the modern event organiser. The team at Manchester Central commits itself to provide a flawless infrastructure so that clients can deliver unique and top-of-the-range experiences. The team works with specialists and its existing infrastructure to explore that they, as a venue, can offer their clients. Situated among universities, Media City, hotels, stations and retail areas, the venue lends itsel

On this week’s episode of the Event Industry News podcast, Exposure Analytics’ commercial director, Rob Murdoch, joined us to offer a preview of his forthcoming talk at Event Tech Live on Wednesday 6th November. Here, Rob will engage in a panel discussion on the correlation between design effectiveness and data effectiveness. Returning to the podcast for the third time, Rob explained the role Exposure Analytics plays in live events: “We help brands and agencies determine how effective their events are through the use of data and footfall analytics.” Data, as Rob explained, is only effective when people know how to use it. The data that is presented from experiential analytics companies can accurately demonstrate where footfall was heaviest, the number of entries, the flow of visitors and dwell time, among other things. “What our clients are interested in is the truth. Whether it’s a good number or a bad one; they want to know because then they can act on it,” Rob stated, explaining that receiving high stat

Hellen Beveridge, the data privacy lead from Data Oversight, joined our podcast host, James Dickson, to discuss GDPR within the event industry. Having given a presentation on the subject at the Event Tech Live Exhibitor Masterclass in September, Hellen was invited on our podcast to elaborate. Data protection is not a new concept with the previous data protection act being enforced in 1998. However, within the last 20 years, technology has changed in such a way that laws were struggling to keep up. Particularly within the event industry, professionals use various databases in their day-to-day jobs and handle copious amounts of data. Cautioning event companies that buy data, Hellen said: “Be really careful when buying data. Because buying data is like putting a drop of oil in your water source; the minute you buy dirty data, your entire database is dirty.” She described data as a person’s most important asset, so businesses need to take care when collecting it and ensure they only collect the data that is n

Recording from Universal Live’s base in Bradford, Yorkshire, was commercial director, Neil Clappison. Alongside him was Jason Cardy, the event director at Capita Travel and Events. Universal Live is a technical event production company while Capita Travel and Events is a travel management company. Together, the two professionals were able to use their combined experience to discuss the client-supplier relationship in the event industry. Reviewing the long-standing partnership that Universal Live and Capita Travel and Events have had, the two event professionals explore the supplier chain when planning events. “It’s a ‘one-team-approach’ all the way,” Jason said, describing his opinion on how clients and suppliers should plan the events. He stated that both clients and suppliers alike should be open with each other when discussing the pitch. Agreeing with this, Neil said one company won’t be experts in every facet of planning events: some may be proficient in event management, another in production. It is,

On this week’s podcast, we discussed how podcasts can benefit live events. Offering their expertise on the subject was Cvent’s marketing manager, Brooke Gracey, and team lead, Cody Liskh from their offices in Portland, Oregon. As hosts of the How Great Events Happen podcasts, Brooke and Cody were able to offer our podcast host, James Dickson, invaluable advice on how to use podcasts for events. Podcasts are useful for event professionals to broaden their scope of expertise and knowledge. They are also convenient, accessible and not restricted by time or location – they can be listened to anytime, anywhere! Technological advancements have been such that digital content can be created easily and inexpensively. Easily produced, Podcasts are beneficial for creating or expanding the topics of conversation out in the industry, offering professionals otherwise inaccessible information/education. Additionally, podcasts are an added platform to market events: professionals can easily use them to “tease” content ou

Joining James on our weekly podcast was Event Resources Group’s director, Kevin Waters. Kevin entered the event industry in 1992 when he started his own agency and has since been a board member for the International Live Events Association (ILEA). He is now the director of event consultancy firm, Event Resources Group. Here, he discussed the various training and qualifications we can now receive within the event industry. “Never dry”, the event industry is constantly evolving, with new techniques, practices and technologies being introduced all the time. Various training courses within the industry may help professionals from being left behind. However, is there such a thing as ‘over-education’? Should those hoping to gain entry into the event industry focus on work-based education rather than classroom-based? The event industry is no longer focused on hosting a repetition of conferences or parties; it endeavours to move audiences’ emotions to create memorable experiences. Professionals hosting the same,

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