Podcast: Are industry associations doing enough?

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 state that the more engagement and effort an organisation puts into an association, the more it gets from it. Lou agreed, explaining that being a member of an association allows organisations to effect positive changes.

The pair continued to discuss the benefits, as well as the disadvantages, of being part of a trade association, drawing upon their experience working in the industry.

If you would like to feature on one of our weekly podcasts, please email editor@eventindustrynews.com.

Podcast: Joe Davy from Banzai discusses marketing for events

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 we can design a great product, people will buy a lot of it,” Joe stated, simply.

Currently, Joe is working towards building Banzai, questioning himself on what other services the company could provide.

Though Banzai does not yet support every country, it is used internationally, which is something the team had worked towards from year one.

To feature on one of our weekly podcasts, please email editor@eventindustrynews.com. 

Podcast: Universal Live’s Neil Clappison discusses “growing trend” of interactive content

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 on the size of an event. Neil stated that interactive projections can be projected onto the floor if there is not a suitable wall available, showing that production is not confined to rigid rules.

Though he described the benefits of having a “digital bolt-on” at an event, he said there is little point in having it for the sake of it. It is much more advantageous to have interactive content that coincides with or delivers a message to make it much more relevant and engaging. 

If you would like to feature on one of our weekly podcasts, please email editor@eventindustrynews.com.

Podcast: Martijn Timmermans reviews storyboarding for planning events

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 is what change and innovation are all about, otherwise we stay on the same road, do the same things and we never question what we’re doing.”

Referring to a project he worked on for a bank that “held the same conference every year”, Martijn suggested involving, not just the marketing managers, but the interns and clients to help produce a completely different concept. This process, he believes, is the best way to create effective events.

Martijn finished by demonstrating his storyboarding toolkit, a reusable pack of wipeable cards that can be used to ease the process of creating a storyboard.

If you would like to feature on one of our weekly podcasts, please email editor@eventindustrynews.com.

Podcast: Erdal Kilinc, Deal Room Events, discusses networking at live events

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 application fails, you are basically ruining the whole event.”

Playing devil’s advocate, James argued that attendees would still be able to network without such event platforms. However, he agreed that the rate for success would be much lower due to there being less information available regarding who certain delegates should approach to make a valuable connection.

If you would like to feature on one of our weekly podcasts, please email editor@eventindustrynews.com.

Podcast: Michael Weiss, from Ai4, explores AI applications

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.

Discussing ROI and “quantifiable experiences”, Michael stated that conferences should offer valuable experiences for everyone involved. He claimed technology is the one entity that can ensure this, provided that the necessary infrastructure is in place.

“I still believe there is a world where you can quantify the learnings that an attendee took away for the company that they are going back to,” Michael stated.

If you would like to feature in one of our upcoming podcasts, please email editor@eventindustrynews.com.

Podcast: Jez Paxman from Live Union on the ‘Anatomy of a Delegate’

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 event agendas that engage their brains
• “Entertaining” – events that surprise, excite and entertain
• “Personalisation” – allow audiences to tailor the experience to themselves
• “Shareable” – allow content to be easily shared to the audience to extend the value of the experience beyond the event itself
• “Connections” – attendees want to make valuable connections so make networking a priority

Jez advised organisers to look at their events from the perspective of their audiences. All too often, event planners start with the logistical, financial or production aspects of their event. “Start with the audience – I think that’s the right thing to go about things,” Jez concluded.

If you would like to feature on one of our weekly podcasts, get in touch at editor@eventindustrynews.com

Podcast: Dan Mason & Andy Sexton from 2LK discuss experiential marketing

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 25^thyear 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 of the Internet, social media platforms, blogs and online influencers.

Brands and organisations need to think outside the box to get their messages heard. Live events have the power to create meaningful impressions on potential clients and encourage more business from existing ones.

Andy commented that, though live events are short-lived, they have the potential to create lasting influences after the event has finished. “There is a hungry appetite for experiential at the moment,” he claimed, drawing upon his own 12 years’ experience at the company.

Technology even allows the success of these events to be measured somewhat, with factors such as dwell time and audience movement now being quantifiable.

If you would like to feature on one of our weekly podcasts, please email editor@eventindustrynews.com.

Podcast: Mandy Mahil joins us from Mango Pie

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 her new venture with some claiming: “We never worked with you because of the company you were in; we worked with you because of you.”

Taking on only 20 events per year on average and only one wedding, Mandy allows herself the time to give 100% to each event, ensuring each one becomes the event her clients want.

Leading onto event sizes, Mandy questioned whether larger events necessarily equalled larger value and stated that some of her clients appreciated the worth of decreasing the size of their events.

James and Mandy agreed that businesses that host events require “meaningful” time with their guests. Smaller, but more frequent, events allow businesses to be more attentive to each guest, increasing the likelihood of engagement and custom retention. 

If you would like to feature on one of our weekly podcasts, please get in touch at editor@eventindustrynews.com.

Podcast: GL events UK & EIGHT PR discuss ‘The Good Event Guide’

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 claimed that the events industry is a leader in ‘being green’, therefore giving us the opportunity to lead consumers down similar routes.

Talking more about the guide itself, Alistair explained that it is the product of a lot of time, energy and research. Realising the publicity advantages of ‘being green’, our host, James, enquired whether audiences may just perceive these changes as a PR stunt. 

To answer this, Alistair said: “Don’t tell them you’re funny, tell them a joke!” He advised us that sustainability needs to be in the culture and DNA of an event. Due to the freedom of information and journalists, audiences will be able to know who is taking it seriously and who is not.