Event Industry News Podcast

How Buzznation are helping business meetings go virtual

Ratnesh Singh, head of global business at Buzznation Event Technologies, and author/keynote speaker/futurist/strategic technical advisor Bernard Marr are prime examples of tech supply and demand.

 

As an influencer, Bernard works with companies including Microsoft, Cisco and IBM to help them “amplify their voice” while ‘Nes’ has seen extraordinary demand for solutions to support the global switch to online business interaction.

 

In this episode we discuss what virtual events look like, how tech is supporting an industry that can’t meet, and the role they will play as a marketing strategy going forward. How COVID-19 has triggered new ways of thinking, how Marr pivoted to find fertile new pastures live streaming content on LinkedIn and YouTube, to the tune of 20,000-strong audiences. Still greater reach for his ideas, his brand, and no airports, no hotels and no time away from home.

 

As Nes explains, people did their education through lockdown. Now they’re asking more technical questions, using tech to keep their businesses afloat through the pandemic,

because, like Bernard, they’re ready for the virtual world order.

 

And how hybrid events, online reach coupled to a physical event, will be the new/better than normal.

Putting a new era in experiential

Spawned from the UK’s first guerrilla marketing agency Buddha’s experience with/onus on projections, disruption and PR stunts and his military background, Mark Evans launched Kommando Experiential Marketing in 2000.

Committed to pushing against the traditional advertising/marketing tide, Kommando moved into the digital space and saw the tide change with social media.

The group of companies that sit under its umbrella, including Nomadix Media, research and develop tech for brand development and for rethinking/adapting the experiential space.

In this episode Mark talks about setting the company up, his Buddha background and beyond, going on to highlight Halo, a new product incorporating facial detection, which can be added to any screen/camera set up to provide public or personalised messaging to key locations in a venue or event.

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Perfect Conversion

Ed Tranter, Managing Director at 73 Media/industry spokesperson, had to wholly rethink a launch event, the grassroots’ focused Rugby Show, in the eye of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In this episode, Ed takes on an odds-defying journey - from the theory of Ricoh Arena, Coventry, where the show floor would have featured half a rugby pitch, to the reality of the virtual world.

Back to the drawing board, Ed and team focused on the nascent Rugby Show’s strengths: mission, brand, reach, influencers et al.

With 95 per cent of the content delivered live, realising 73 Media’s strengths and working with Silverstream TV to produce/deliver the live streams, 100 per cent to time and high quality, was a crucial element in the event’s success.

While it has a weight of backing from the British and Irish game, stepping across to the virtual world brought speakers to the podium a physical Rugby Show never dreamed of.

73 Media is an event organiser and agency hybrid. Delivering consumer, B2B and corporate events, company highlights include The One Earth Show as well as The Rugby Show.

With management roles at Miller Freeman, Centaur, Informa and Mark Allen Group on his CV Ed Tranter is also a member of the AEO board.

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Putting the 'you" in inclusivity

Ashanti Bentil-Dhue, who heads up virtual production company EventMind, founded  Diversity Ally with Gabrielle Austen – Browne to help foster diversity and inclusion in companies, from recruitment to the boardroom.

 

In this episode Ashanti talks about how the events model should stop simply talking about diversity and start implementing changes, highlighting issues that can creep in as early as the interview process to prevent a business from being diverse.

 

Ashanti also discusses the challenges facing the industry and the myths 

that need demystifying… 

 

Diversity Ally provides a platform of discussion, a safe place for individuals to discuss diversity without prejudice and a framework that organisations can follow in order to create change. 

 

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Agency for change

George P. Johnson started as a flag maker/sail repair business in Detroit, providing for automotive events in the city. One hundred and eighty-six years on, GPJ is synonymous with brand experiences all around the world. 

 

In this episode, Jason Megson, managing director at George P. Johnson Experience Marketing, discusses the company’s reach, its mission, client objectives and more besides.

 

We talk about the pandemic challenges too of course, the growth in hybrid/virtual events, technologies, platforms and solutions.  

 

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The future is here

With offices across the world, SpotMe provides enterprise solutions to more than 250 global brands via the web, iOS and Android, as well as a no-code building platform and full support services.

 

Pierre Metrailler started with SpotMe as a software engineer. Eighteen years later he’s the company’s CEO.

 

We talk about that journey in this edition, how SpotMe arguably created the first event ‘app’ in the shape of a hardware tool, going on to discuss the burgeoning hybrid market and how the industry is crying out for investment in digital skills.

 

Looking at the coronavirus effect that continues to shake the boundaries of human interaction, Pierre highlights the pre-COVID 19 virtual events numbers - just 7 per cent of SpotMe’s turnover - and how the pandemic has spun the wheel on that statistic.

 

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From organisation to event tech

Founder and CEO at Washington-based Hubb, the virtual/hybrid/physical event platform, Allie Maygar launched her first company, Impulse Productions, age 21. Stepping across to event technology five years ago, that sprit of ingenuity, entrepreneurism, burns just as fiercely.

 

In this episode Allie discusses how the event industry Stateside, and Hubb in particular, has changed, or adapted, under the COVID-19 shadow, new partnerships, what the rest of 2020 looks like and more besides.

 

We also talk about Allie’s virtual conference, Untethered, ‘created by and for the event industry’ early in lockdown with all proceeds, some $17,500 and counting, going to the Meeting Industry Fund.

 

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A tech provider’s take on virtual & hybrid events in 2020

This week’s episode features Kevin Lorch, managing director at Eventscase, a white label software business focused on providing the perfect integrated platform for conference organisers, speakers, sponsors and attendees.   

In enterprise and SaaS sales for 20 years, Lorch discusses the new tech behind virtual events, the elements he thinks will endure on the other side of the coronavirus window and the ones that won’t. 

We also look at COVID-19’s impact on particular types of event and where, when and how the corporate/conference sector will find its feet again, in terms of situation and revenue, through the new normal and beyond. 

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The significance of Human interaction

This week’s episode welcomes James Tucker, COO at GovNet, a well-established UK event supplier that delivers public sector conferences, expos and training courses, from local government and housing to the NHS and higher education sector.
 
A self-proclaimed “tech geek”, James joined the family-run business around 18 months ago to oversee the day-to-day operations.
 
This edition of the Event Industry News Podcast explores the significance of human interaction and networking, engagement metrics of virtual events compared to live events, and the importance of post-event customer engagement.
 
Also, we talked about the impact of new technologies across the sector and using data to make strategic and informed business decisions.
 
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The Importance of Human Connection with Matt Culverhouse, TEN6 Creative

This week’s guest CEO of TEN6 Creative, Matt Culverhouse. In a more relaxed format than normal, Matt and I chew the fat about the importance of human connection at events.
 
The two elements that Matt identifies as a “worry” are the exhibition environment and networking as they are difficult to replicate online.
 
Matt’s background working for some of Europe’s largest venues coupled with his creative arts education gives him a unique understanding of live event management - from both the agency and hospitality perspectives.
 
Matt oversees live events of all sizes and levels of complexity, including managing production, creative and logistics for shows as large as 85,000 attendees. An expert in project management and negotiating contracts, Matt has worked all over the world, always delivering a commitment to personal service to surpass the expectations of clients and attendees. 
 
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