Event Industry News Podcast

Exploring the future of RFID with Event Genius

In this week’s Event Industry News podcast, host James Dickson talks to Lauren Lytle from Event Genius about the future of RFID.

The subject has featured previously on the podcast, but having established itself as a valuable tool for event organisers, Lauren discusses the ways in which it could be further deployed.

With consumers now in the habit of making contactless payments thanks to both cards and smartphones, using RFID for payments at events is less of an unknown entity.

However, the process is still yet to reach the adoption levels see in America. Being a native of the USA, Lauren can draw on first hand on her experiences and compare them to the current state of play in the UK.

Podcast: DB Systems unveils major rebrand

This week’s Event Industry News podcast welcomes three guests to the show. Joining host James Dickson is David Bulley, James Barnett and Ali Reece.

All three guests hail from the company formerly known as DB Systems, which has now rebranded to DBpixelhouse. During this episode of the podcast, Managing Director David talks about the reasons for the rebrand, and how the ability to offer content creation in addition to renting the hardware that it is delivered on has shaped the company’s direction.

Sales Manager James and Creative Director Ali also talk about how the various facets of the business, and how the new brand will offer clients a turnkey solution when looking to develop and deliver bespoke content.

Podcast: Exploring the events delivered by Time Out Group

Joining James Dickson on the Event Industry News podcast this week is Abi Dakin.

As the Events Director EMEA for Time Out Group, Abi’s job is to plan and execute events that capitalise on the audience reach available to this global brand.

Time Out has built a reputation as the go-to brand for ‘what’s on’ information in the world’s major cities. Starting life as a printed magazine, it has embraced the digital age by evolving and developing its online guides, travel advice, and event listings. 

During the podcast, Abi talks about some of the events that Time Out has delivered, as well as why the events now lay such a major part of the Time Out operations worldwide.

Podcast: Guinness and Rugby Union - a match made in heaven

Guinness and the Six Nations are two brands that have long had an association with one another. The presence of the legendary Irish stout at the annual rugby tournament is ubiquitous, but that doesn’t stop them from continuing to evolve the partnership and find new ways to deliver engagement.

Joining the Event Industry News podcast this week is Olivia Collier from Verve Agency, the organisation tasked with delivering the Guinness brand activation zones during the tournament. The agency has a long working relationship with Diageo, the parent company of Guinness that also owns many of the world’s other iconic drinks brands.

During the podcast, Olivia talks about the ideas that were new for 2018 and the way the brand refuses to become complacent about the relationship.

Easyfairs talk B2C expansion via pop culture events

This week’s Event Industry News podcast welcomes Nil Sonmez from Easyfairs to the show.

 

Nil joined host James Dickson to talk about the development of the company’s pop culture events, a venture that allowed the company to tap into previously unexplored B2C marketplaces.

 

During the podcast, Nil explains what led to the acquisition of their first Comic Con style event, and why their ownership of venues in Europe was a major factor in the decision to expand its pop culture portfolio.

Podcast: Delivering events at ExCel’s CentrEd conference facility

On this week’s episode of the Event Industry News podcast, host James Dickson welcomes not one but two guests to the show.

Zaynab Zubair was tasked with delivering a business conference for the Arriva transport organisation, and James Rees is the Executive Director for conferences and events at ExCeL London.

The guests came on the podcast to discuss CentrEd, the dedicated conference facility within the ExCeL Exhibition Centre. Although the venue has always had conferencing facilities available, a major revamp saw them branded with a standalone identity to open new avenues of business.

During the episode, Zaynab and James discuss the facilities, the support that is available to organisers, and some of the technical infrastructure that was installed to assist with modern day conference requirements.

Podcast: Measuring the success of your event

In this week’s Event Industry News podcast, host James Dickson welcomes Rob Murdoch to the show. 

Rob is the founder of Exposure Analytics, a company that has developed accurate means to measure the interaction and dwell time of attendees at events. In an increasingly digital world where

marketing managers can measure likes, clicks, shares, time spent on websites, email open rates, and so much more, the technology offered by the company is now helping to bridge the analytical data gap at physical events. 

Using discreet receivers that are able to pick up on the constant ‘pings’ that are sent out by mobile devices when searching for a network, Exposure Analytics is able to identify how many devices are within the range of the receiver unit. Once they have been detected, the system then measures how long that device – and thus the person – remain in that location. The resulting information provides footfall data, movement flows around a stand, event, or festival, as well as dwell time and engagement rates for experiential activity. All the data that is generated is completely anonymous, with no personal information captured.

Explaining why he feels the system is so valuable to events, Rob told EIN:

“Brands and agencies are looking to get people’s attention and capture their interest. Put simply, we can now tell you how well you did. Having worked on over 1,000 events, we’ve seen the power of experiential activity and the impact it can have.  Marketing is changing rapidly, budgets for experiential activity are increasing, and we love being part of this evolving world.” 

Exposure Analytics has undergone big changes since it was first set up four years ago. Then - as Forge SP - the company offered a range of different tech services to events and festivals. Having undergone a rebrand, the company is now concentrating on what is of most value to clients: useful, reliable data that can be used to analyse exhibitions, events, activations, and more.

Exposure Analytics has recently introduced new services including 4G sensors and weather data to its platform, enabling clients to evaluate their work wherever it is happening, and allowing them to analyse the impact of the weather on their event outcomes.  Since the start of 2018 the company has been all around Europe, UAE and in North America supporting events and clients that include conferences, exhibitions, motor shows, and shopping centres.

Podcast: Multilingual events made easier

Joining the podcast this week is founder of Open Audience and Open Meet Leslie Robertson. Leslie joined host James Dickson to look at how technology is allowing event organisers to deliver multi-lingual events.

With so many events catering for international visitors, the ability to translate content quickly and efficiently into multiple languages offers huge potential for organisers.

During the episode, Leslie identifies the actual process of how content is translated during a live event, and the resulting benefits to both the organiser and the attendees.

Is societal change driving events to the centre of marketing strategies?

Joining James Dickson on the Event Industry News podcast this week is DRP Group’s Head of Insight & Innovation Callum Gill. 

The podcast focused on the societal change that has been driven by millennials and Generation Z, and how events now represent levels of social acceptance among young people.

As Callum explains at the very start of the episode, in a climate where many young people don’t own cars and may never own a property, social status is now defined by the events they attend and the experience they can reference. Callum highlights how – by realising the situation we find ourselves in – brands can be harnessing the power of events and placing them at the epicentre of their communication strategies.

Using influencers to support event marketing

In the latest Event Industry News podcast, James Dickson talks to Mariska Kesteloo about the evolving benefit of utilising social media influencers as a marketing tool for events.

Over the last couple of years, Mariska has been building a network of influencers from across the world. These influencers include Instagrammers, YouTubers and bloggers who may be able to provide a positive impact on an event or destination.

As Mariska explains during the podcast, it’s not just the amount of people that an influencer has access to, it’s the type of people and their relevance to any given campaign.