Event Industry News Podcast

Truly Event Genius

Reshad Hossenally found his inspiration in a part-time job; selling tickets, by hand, while at university. He went on to found Event Genius, and the related Ticket Arena consumer brand. In 2019, Hossenally and the Event Genius, Ticket Arena company joined forces with Festicket, becoming one of Europe’s leading primary ticketing and event tech providers.

 

Trusted by the likes of Coachella, Afro Nation, Amnesia Ibiza and Rolling Loud, the Event Genius Group provides services to 35 different countries generating sales of more than £650m.

Throughout, Event Genius has stayed in step with Hossenally’s original ambition – and the company name - to provide promoters with a better means to sell tickets and to manage all aspects of the business.

In this episode, Reshad Hossenally details his role in the recent flurry of Liverpool test events, which, with clinical tests for audiences either side, required no social distancing and no face masks. He talks about Event Genius’ cashless payment system as well. Crucially, post-Covid, it facilitates speed in event transactions and prevents congregation in typical pinch points, reducing risk of contamination and the potential for identifying contacts via RFID bands.

Look out for Hossenally detailing the system’s new functionality too.

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Gower on growth at The Game Fair

With a background in big events, from London and Southampton Boat Shows to the International Festival for Business, James Gower was a perfect fit with The Game Fair when he was appointed managing director in 2015, and still is.  

In this episode, James Gower talks about the Fair’s considerable history – the late Prince Philip famously branded it the ‘shop window of the countryside’ - before digging into fallow 2020 and the positive impact that had on the 2021 show. How build time was cut from 12 weeks to four, adjustments to the site layout, new elements to the audience – a product of the lockdown reconnection with the great outdoors - and much more besides.

Event Design for live…

A self-confessed ‘tech nerd’ at heart, Anthony Vade worked in AV and event production Down Under before moving to Canada in 2010, initially for more of the same. Over the last few years though Vade has stepped across to the design field, joining Swiss-based Event Design Collective in its Toronto office as director for North America 12 months ago.

In this episode, Anthony Vade digs into his background, and details the CED in his current job title, before detailing exactly what Event Design Collective does for organisers. With plenty of hand gestures, he talks bringing about change, facing the challenge of the events and tech mindset collision, digital dexterity, partnership relationships and why it’s worth budgeting for some tech redundancy.

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Hosting government and much more at Manchester Central

Manchester Central, formerly GMEX, has been home to, among many other things, festivals, standalone concerts, consumer shows, trade shows and conferences, not least those by the Labour Party and the Conservative Party.

Tellingly, CEO Shaun Hinds, who is also director/vice chair of the Association of Event Venues, featured on the EIN podcast pre-pandemic, in October 2019.

This episode, in a wholly different world, sees Hinds talking about Manchester Central events before, during and after lockdown. How staff and suppliers to the venue worked right through the installation of NHS Nightingale North West at the site, how the event industry was “absolutely fundamental” in establishing the chain of those facilities across the country and the lack of understanding in the corridors of power about the planning and delivery that goes into live events nevertheless.

Hinds also discusses the resurgent appetite for the live model and how that will stimulate new event genres, making better use of outdoor spaces, vaccine passports, mitigation measures and personal responsibility.

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Tune in to M&C Saatchi Talk

Sophie Bannister, head of creative development at communications agency M&C Saatchi Talk, is responsible for delivery of all campaign implementation, including social, content and experiential activations.

In this episode, Sophie Bannister gives host James Dickson her take on everything from lockdown media days via Zoom, and other platforms, understanding the consumer journey, and rethinking content, through to planning live events again post ‘freedom day’.

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JUNO Live in July

Josh Hotsenpiller launched ‘hybrid events and 365 engagement software’ business JUNO Live in March 2020, at the top of the Covid-19 storm, responding to demand from clients of his other businesses, CrowdHub and Wisdom Capture.

In this episode, Josh Hotsenpiller discusses, among other things, the thinking behind JUNO publication ‘All events are hybrid: a planning workbook’.

Rife with sporting analogy and self-help missives the conversation touches on variables, the power of empathy, making challenges smaller, the benefits of a pen and paper approach, user generated content and how removing boundaries is the future of the world…  

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Time for Recess...

Jack Shannon is CEO and co-founder at California-based experiential growth marketing platform Recess.

Launched in 2010, Recess is tech designed to marry brands with perfect match live events and venues efficiently – without all the searching/emailing and calling. Crucially, there are 100s of brands and agencies signed up, so Recess is a balanced equation.

Jack Shannon explains the switch he and his business partner made 11 years ago, from event organisers to facilitators, and the attendant value in truly understanding the challenge prior to rolling out Recess.

This episode goes on to look at the difference between ‘unfair advantage’ and seizing opportunities, the behemoth of the US collegiate system, the pandemic impact, creative thinking and, because Shannon thinks and talks quickly, much, much more….

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New market for InEvent

Pedro Góes is CEO at InEvent, an integrated end-to-end events platform which has customers in 67 countries and the likes of Facebook, Coca Cola, KPMG, Bosch, Santander among its users.

The July 2021 launch of subsidiary platform EventMarket is at the core of this episode, Góes detailing its capacity to hook clients up with proven local agencies around the world, giving InEvent a new level of global reach.

Host James Dickson asks about the impact, the spoils, of joining the Y Combinator seed accelerator program in 2019, just ahead of the Covid 19 crush, and how much it helped InEvent adapt and deliver through the pandemic.

Pedro Góes also highlights how consumer tech companies are waking up to the value in event tech and much more besides.

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Bournemouth 7s talks July 19 and tackling government indecision

Dodge Woodall and Craig Mathie, owner/founder and managing director respectively, design and deliver Bournemouth 7s, a sport and music festival that’s established itself as a sell-out fixture attracting 30,000 fans over a May weekend, typically, and 400 teams playing a variety of competitive/social sports.

In this episode, Woodall and Mathie discuss the impact of the government’s stop, start, stop again approach to live events – or most of them. They highlight the lack of understanding, the myriad flaws in Westminster’s approach to financial support for the sector, how Dodge Woodall has dug deep to keep the Bournemouth 7s team together, the value of relationships through the festival’s 14 years and much more besides.

 

Now hear this – Raccoon Events’ CEO hits back over Johnson’s delaying tactics

Mike Seaman, CEO at Raccoon Events and chair of the AEO UK Organiser Group, wrote a passionate response to the Prime Minister extending restrictions through to July 19.

Published on www.raccoonevents.com – under the News tab – Seaman asks ‘Why are exhibitions being discriminated against?’

In this episode, referencing his post, Mike Seamon talks about the value of the sector, coping with moving shows, getting freelancers and the rest of the supply chain back to work, the built in ‘track and trace’ at live events, why big businesses/big personalities have stayed quiet and whole lot more.

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