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The Event Industry News Podcast interviewing event planners, event organizers, brands, and agencies from around the globe.
Episodes
Thursday Sep 12, 2019
Thursday Sep 12, 2019
On this week’s podcast, we discussed how podcasts can benefit live events. Offering their expertise on the subject was Cvent’s marketing manager, Brooke Gracey, and team lead, Cody Liskh from their offices in Portland, Oregon.
As hosts of the How Great Events Happen podcasts, Brooke and Cody were able to offer our podcast host, James Dickson, invaluable advice on how to use podcasts for events.
Podcasts are useful for event professionals to broaden their scope of expertise and knowledge. They are also convenient, accessible and not restricted by time or location – they can be listened to anytime, anywhere!
Technological advancements have been such that digital content can be created easily and inexpensively. Easily produced, Podcasts are beneficial for creating or expanding the topics of conversation out in the industry, offering professionals otherwise inaccessible information/education.
Additionally, podcasts are an added platform to market events: professionals can easily use them to “tease” content out of plug their events. Post-event, podcasts can keep the momentum of engagement going, offering guests a platform to express their comments, keep updated with event information and find content from the event itself.
Offering her advice to professionals who may seem hesitant to launching a podcast, Brooke said, “Go for it. See what the audience likes and use those learnings for when you do your next season.”
Cody agreed: “It’s really interesting to analyse what we think our audience wants to listen to and what our audience actually wants to listen to.”
If you would like to feature on one of our weekly podcasts, please email editor@eventindustrynews.com.
Thursday Sep 05, 2019
Thursday Sep 05, 2019
Joining James on our weekly podcast was Event Resources Group’s director, Kevin Waters. Kevin entered the event industry in 1992 when he started his own agency and has since been a board member for the International Live Events Association (ILEA). He is now the director of event consultancy firm, Event Resources Group.
Here, he discussed the various training and qualifications we can now receive within the event industry.
“Never dry”, the event industry is constantly evolving, with new techniques, practices and technologies being introduced all the time. Various training courses within the industry may help professionals from being left behind.
However, is there such a thing as ‘over-education’? Should those hoping to gain entry into the event industry focus on work-based education rather than classroom-based?
The event industry is no longer focused on hosting a repetition of conferences or parties; it endeavours to move audiences’ emotions to create memorable experiences. Professionals hosting the same, tired events each year fail to understand the value of “spectacular” events and will, therefore, be overshadowed by “specialists”.
Kevin believes that event professionals, especially those just starting out, should “cherry-pick” courses and training sessions and follow a specific line of education to give themselves an edge over their colleagues. Broad-scale event training courses may produce a conveyer belt of generic event professionals with no distinctive knowledge, experience or ability.
If you would like to feature on one of our weekly podcasts, please email editor@eventindustrynews.com.
Thursday Aug 29, 2019
Thursday Aug 29, 2019
Joining James on this week’s podcast was first-time guest, Louise Findlay-Wilson, MD of Energy PR. Louise boasts a career that spans over 20 years, in which time she has worked with the likes of the BBC, TSB, Schwartz and NatWest. Today, she talked to us about her experiences working with event professionals.
Louise believes that working with many sectors, not just events, gives her a unique edge to her work as she is open to new ideas, sees various perspectives and discovers trends in multiple industries.
During the podcast, Louise took us back to the beginning of her career where technology and restrictions confined her to doing things very differently. Nowadays, technology allows us to communicate, track data and create work instantly, infinitely changing the disciplines of every industry.
PR has become more reactive to people due to the instantaneous nature of today’s technology. Social media posts and digital content has added another layer to work responsibilities in PR and other sectors.
“There’s a lot of scope to be incredibly engaged with your audience which I think is fantastic for show organisers.”
She also describes the difference between working on a B2B and B2C show regarding press coverage and interview opportunities. “With B2B, you’ve got a more focus niche of media that’s going to be interested.
“With B2B, there’s still a really solid incentive for businesses to attend shows.”
Listen on to hear Louise discuss different aspects of working with event organisers, covering topics regarding creating ideas, negotiations and show coverage.
To feature on one of our weekly podcasts, please email editor@eventindustrynews.com.
Thursday Aug 22, 2019
Thursday Aug 22, 2019
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.
Thursday Aug 15, 2019
Thursday Aug 15, 2019
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.
Thursday Aug 08, 2019
Thursday Aug 08, 2019
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.
Thursday Aug 01, 2019
Thursday Aug 01, 2019
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.
Thursday Jul 25, 2019
Thursday Jul 25, 2019
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.
Thursday Jul 18, 2019
Thursday Jul 18, 2019
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.
Wednesday Jul 10, 2019
Wednesday Jul 10, 2019
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