Event Industry News Podcast

emc3: Events as a force for good

Award-winning creative agency EMC3 recently published a white paper, ‘Events as a force for good’, is focused on holistic sustainability in the industry.

This episode features the company’s events strategist, Emily Maule, and Saskya Liney, EMC3’s head of sustainability.

Host James Dickson does some background, not least finding out about From Now, the environmental services specialist Saskya co-founded during the pandemic, before digging into the document itself.

Emily and Saskya discuss the thinking and process behind the white paper, how event organisers need to think about their locations - about leaving these people, these places, these communities better off - the risks we face, timeframes, atmospheric data, human resources and investing in people, fostering interest in the next generation right through to greenwashing and the truth behind tote bags…

One key takeaway – do something different!

 

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The Valuable 500: Working to end disability exclusion

With 10 years’ event industry experience in the locker, Ryan Curtis-Johnson is director of communications for Valuable 500, the largest CEO network after the United Nations.

 

With 15 global chief executives at its core, from the likes of the London Stock Exchange, Apple, the BBC, Sky, Sony and Microsoft, together with 485 equally important others, the Valuable 500 is working to end disability exclusion.

 

In this episode, Ryan Curtis-Johnson details the group’s makeup and motivation, highlighting the 1.3bn people around the world who have a disability and means to better include them, not least through steps Valuable 500 companies have made.

 

Ryan tells host James Dickson how inclusion means action, talks advice and guidelines, hidden disabilities, making events open to everybody without waiting for a prompt, budgets, technology, all the time emphasising best practice.

 

Insightful, practical steps, supported by switched on businesses, to making event world a more inclusive place.

The Events Club: A members’ club for events people

Andrew Morrow is founder/managing director of venues the Belgravia and the Block but he’s here to highlight a new venture, the Events Club.

With 25-years’ experience in the industry, primarily venue side, Andrew noted how the teams coming in to put events together under those roofs didn’t have a place to go between jobs/shifts/times.

After providing host James Dickson with a weight of background information, this episode sees Andrew discussing his Event Club process, from finding an investor during the pandemic to seeking out founding members to working out what these venues – and there could be as many as six – should provide.

Andrew Morrow talks creches, rest pods, commuting, comparisons with other members’ clubs, in terms of facilities and costs, sharing memberships in a company, food and drink quality – how to compete with the Pret/Starbucks models - and much more.

 

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Accessibility, diversity and sustainability

Former Mobile Promotions and Star Live man Robin Carlisle launched RC Consultants in November 2021 to help young people with special needs find a foothold events-world.

In this episode, Robin talks host James Dickson through volunteering as a governor at a new local SEN school and the impact that’s had. He discusses sustainability in some of its myriad shapes and the notion of accessibility at events, applauding its growth and questioning its depth.

With more than 35 years in events Robin Carlisle is a voice of true experience and these 30 next generation minutes are well worth listening to.

 

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Touchdreams: Shaping websites for 2023

Since 2011, using content management systems including Drupal and Webflow, Touchdreams has been building websites for ‘e-commerce, product businesses, service businesses, agencies, accounting, law, anything you can think of’ from its offices in Cape Town and London.

After giving host James Dickson some background on the company, this episode sees Touchdreams founder Dane Rossenrode talk about bringing his broad experience to bear, specialising in sites for the events industry.

Rossenrode discusses complacency – how much people are looking beyond traditional websites – what the practical alternatives are, adjusting mindsets, presentation, engagement, competing with ‘drag and drop’ solutions, budgets and integrating with other platforms.  

 

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Budget or Bust: How new event budgeting tools can save the bottom line

Rob Vass ran his own event agency, 30 staff delivering up to 30 roadshows a month, and spent far too much time with spreadsheets. “Keeping an eye on the budget and exactly what your margin was at any time was a nightmare”. And Founding event planning software Joi is a product of that frustration.

Joining the podcast from Sydney, Australia, Rob Vass digs into Joi, a “productivity tool for events”, detailing its capacity for truly joined up thinking. He details how the system makes it easy to put an agenda together, sending a schedule to people via URL so any changes made are visible to all. Move a performer, their programme updates automatically. No more running around giving people update notes.

Later on, Joi’s budgeting tool is dissected and discussed; think multipliers and currencies. A revolution then, in quite a technical 45 minutes

 

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What’s happening at EMEC 2023

Five and half years with Meeting Professionals International (MPI), the last six months as chief brand officer, Drew Holmgreen knows what’s expected from the association, in theory and in practice.

Joining the podcast from Dallas, Texas, Holmgreen talks host James Dickson through MPI’s method behind its live events ahead of the European Meetings & Events Conference (EMEC), which comes to Brighton, Sussex later this month. The first ‘live’ iteration since post-pandemic.

He looks back at the learnings, how MPI’s North American show, World Education Congress, in November 2020, was the first industry event to take place under the COVID shadow - 600 people gathered together at a venue in North Texas. And how a “dramatic focus” on safety for attendees and staff/crew resulted in zero news cases of the virus.

Going on to discuss EMEC 2023, Drew Holmgreen highlights its “primary pillars”, the focus on innovation, taking design risks with the event to lead by example, and the influence of the local environment – how Brighton fortes like the arts, sustainability, and pubs, will help to shape the agenda.   

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Tag Digital: New Model Marketing & the benefits of an integrated approach

Nicola Shaw, head of growth at Tag Digital, has been in/around digital marketing for most of her career.

In this episode, having detailed Tag’s mission - how it works exclusively with organisers around the world helping to grow their events - with host James Dickson putting the questions, Nicola looks at new model marketing.

Across an energised, educational 40 minutes, they talk data blindness, cookies, AI, the astonishing breadth of data capture, touchpoints, audience extension, digital packages, privacy laws, tracking, the trials of a marketing manager, the value of an integrated approach and Google advertising.

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Visual Architects: Exploring visual identity

Creative director at IllumiNaughty offshoot Visual Architects, which he founded in 2013, Lefteris Angelidis knows the value in offering audiences original experiences.

 

To that end he has invested in new machinery, brought in more people and grown the company to what it is today, delivering projects for Kendal Calling and Boomtown Fair through to Cirque du Soleil and Puma in the process.

In this episode, Manchester-based Lefteris Angelidis and host James Dickson discuss 

how social media has driven/is driving change in events’ visual identity, the likely impact of the Metaverse, creativity and the structure/longevity of set items.

The sustainability question spawns conversation about branding solutions for ‘off the shelf’ products, bean bags and recycling polystyrene, transport – vehicle cost and emissions – and electric vans’ reach limitations.

They go on to talk LED screen technology, 3D mapping, creativity v budgets, planning, Beyonce and beyond.  

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How hybrid workforces are becoming more efficient

Muhammed Younas founded vFairs in 2014 after 12 years in a variety of roles at Bayt.com, ‘the Middle East’s #1 job site’.

A remote-first company, none of the now 250 plus employees at vFairs work in a specific office, they’re at home or a location close-by of their choosing. Quite sensibly, that model prioritises right people over right location, amplified by the way Younas talks “regions” in the shape of America and Europe rather than Boston, Massachusetts or Slough, Berkshire. And vFairs has a stronger workforce as a result.

In this episode, taking questions from host James Dickson, Muhammed Younas discusses how working, and being productive, from home can facilitate a better return from hybrid and virtual events.

He talks online job fairs, rethinking the excitement of ‘onboarding’ for remote environments, technology development – making the most of more sophisticated platforms - capturing the office experience and how companies on the other hill, vehemently against ‘home working’ pre-pandemic, have, or haven’t, taken to the new dynamic.  

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