Event Industry News Podcast

Discussing swag with Printfection

In this week’s Event Industry News podcast, we’re talking all things swag! Host James Dickson welcomes Casey Schorr and Ryan Campion from Printfection, a company that have tried to reinvigorate branded merchandise for events.

During this week’s episode, the guys look at some of the traditional mistakes made by marketers when sourcing swag, and some of the current trends and innovations that are helping to shake up this marketing strategy.

The guests also discuss their full-service approach, and the input that they like their team to have when it comes to the design of client’s end-products.

Black Deer Festival

This week’s podcast takes a turn into deepest Kent to look at the Black Deer Festival. The Americana & Country Music festival was launched in 2018 and received critical acclaim for its lineup and atmosphere.

Founder and promoter Gill Tee joins host James Dickson to talk about why and how the festival was created, and the inspiration behind the atmosphere that she and her team wanted to create.

Gill also talks about her experiences within the live events industry, as well as the difficulties of juggling the creative and operational roles that she has within the festival.

Arena Scaffolding at the Ryder Cup

The EIN Podcast takes a sporting turn this week as host James Dickson talks about the Ryder Cup. Joining him on the podcast is the Managing Director of Arena Scaffolding Willy Irish.

Arena Scaffolding worked extensively on the 2018 Ryder Cup, which took place just outside Paris. The company was responsible for creating vast amounts of the base work that supported the hundreds of temporary structures that dotted the vast site.

During the podcast, Willy talks through some of the pre-production work that went into researching the site, and about the contingency planning that must be factored into a project of this size.

Event data to create immersive experiences

Joining the podcast this week is Chris Elmitt from Surrey base Crystal Interactive. Chris speaks to host James Dickson about a new product that they have brought over to the UK from America.

The product – klik – is a smart wearable that Chris and his team first spotted around 18 months ago. The product itself is worn by a delegate in the form of a smart badge. The badge itself contains a device that can be clicked, which activates it and allows the delegate to interact with other participants.

During the episode, Chris explains how the data exchange takes place when the devices are in use, and why the process creates a more immersive experience for users.

Podcast: How platforms such as Spotify, Vine and YouTube have changed audience engagement forever

On this week’s podcast, host James Dickson is joined by Peter Eyre and Sophie Thomas from Meetoo. 

Platforms such as Spotify, Vine, YouTube and Facebook offer people unprecedented opportunities to interact with the content that they are tuning into. This instant ability to post a comment, opinion or question has prompted event tech platforms to follow suit.

During the episode, Peter and Sophie look at the way audience interaction at events has changed, and how platforms such as Meetoo are tapping into the concept of instant access.

Podcast: Patrick Blattner from The Indoor Lab

Joining the EIN podcast this week is Patrick Blattner from The Indoor Lab.

Patrick is a serial product innovator and analytics leader with early innovations in peer-to-peer messaging and flow analytics using indoor positioning technologies. He holds 19 patents and has authored four bestselling Microsoft Excel books sold worldwide across 27 languages.

He joined the podcast from his base in California to discuss the development of The Indoor Lab, and how its work within the event sector has grown from providing significant levels of security to some of the USA’s largest airports.

A look at the new Asemblr event planning tool

In this week’s Event Industry News podcast, host James Dickson looks at the new Asemblr event planning tool alongside its founder David Lovett-Hume.

With a successful career in developing start-ups, David saw the opportunity to launch Asemblr as a tool to support event planning and coordination. The platform allows users to find and book venues, but is far more than just a venue-finding tool. The system allows a user to automate all their communication to contractors and suppliers involved in the event, helping to create is to manage logistics during the planning stages.

A trans-Atlantic chat with the INBOUND team

This week’s Event Industry News podcast goes trans-Atlantic with its lineup, as host James Dickson talks to members of the USA-based INBOUND event.

Held within the Boston Convention & Exhibition Centre, INBOUND is an event that unites sales, marketing and customer services professionals, with content designed to improve and enhance those job-roles. Joining the episode is Laura Moran, the event’s content and talent manager, along with Kim Darling, the event’s senior director.

Having welcomed 2,400 attendees to their first event in 2012, the guests talk about how the event has grown to 10 times that size in 2018. Guest speakers have included Michelle Obama and internationally acclaimed author Deepak Chopra.

Could a new tool revitalise the way sponsors are sourced?

In this week’s Event Industry News podcast, James Dickson talks to Val Tsanev from Conference Pulse, a software platform designed to help event organisers source sponsors.

By compiling the details of sponsors from a huge range of events, Conference Pulse allows users to identify companies and organisations that are potentially relevant to them. With so many business events available in so many different sectors, the system is designed to speed up the task of finding potential sponsors.

During the podcast, Val explains why and how the platform was developed, and talks about some of the clients who have successfully used the system so far.

Discussing London’s continued growth as a tech event destination

Following our special series to coincide with the Event Wellbeing Week 2018, the Event Industry News podcast resumes with an episode looking at the growth of tech events within London.

Joining host James Dickson are two guests who represent organisations at the very heart of the thriving sector. Tracy Halliwell is the Director of Tourism, Conventions and Special Events at London & Partners, and Jane Hague is responsible for Business Development at ExCeL.

Both guests discuss the way in which London has established itself as a key destination for technology related events, and how London Tech Week has played a vital role in that process.