Event Industry News Podcast

10 Years of The Purple Guide Grant Scheme

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 future funding projects. A truly insightful 30 minutes.

 

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Micro-Events - The future of marketing

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…

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Sustainable branded apparel/merch - TeamTogs’ create, supply and ‘take the pain away’ process

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.  

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Tariffs – now what for trade shows

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.

 

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The Evolving Role of Photographers in Today's Event Landscape

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 creativity, providing for clients’ social media alongside traditional picture/video wants, changes in the editing process, match cuts, turnaround times, meaningful content, Billy on the Street-style, and much more.     

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In Person, a journey through the unstoppable evolution of events

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 fires in the Stone Age to the avatars of the 21^st Century, this is a fascinating 50 minutes.

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The Evolution of MEGA Events - From Local to Global

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 Orchestra, and success. This episode has it all.

 

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Accelerating Growth and Impact at RainFocus

Brian Gates, SVP of Industry Strategy 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.

Greenwashing: How it manifests in the events industry

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 21^st, 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 at ExCeL London between 20th-21st November and is free to attend, click here to register

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MJ Unpacked: A different kind of 'green' event

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 on to dig into the makeup of MJ Unpacked, how it adapts for different cities/states, the benefit of controlling audiences and protecting exhibitors/suppliers. A real education in 30 minutes.

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