Event Industry News Podcast

Event Tech Live co-founder talks new content and expanded show

With Event Tech Live only a few days away, the Event Industry News podcast invited co-founder Adam Parry on to talk about what we’ll see at this year’s event.

The show is Europe’s only dedicated show for event tech, during the podcast Adam speaks about how important it has been for the organisers to maintain the strong identity that the event has developed.

With a larger show floor and more exhibitors to satisfy, Adam also discusses the ways in which the organisers have developed vertical content streams that will allow #eventprofs to access content that is directly relevant to them.

Event Tech Live 2017 will take place on Thursday 9th November at the Old Truman Brewery. To register to attend, click here.

How do venues cope with three times as much data being used year-on-year?

Connectivity at events was the topic of discussion in the latest episode of the Event Industry News podcast.

Gareth Hay, Head of Event Networks at DB Systems, joined host James Dickson to look at the issues surrounding venue Wi-Fi and how the company is tackling them. During the episode, Gareth revealed that each year the amount of data used by consumers increases three-fold, which means networks are continually having to cope with increasing demand.

He also discusses how the types of venue being used for events alter the way in which temporary networks and access points can be deployed, with older style buildings proving surprisingly beneficial in this aspect.

AI hoping to deliver more profitable experiences for attendees

In another trans-Atlantic episode of the Event Industry News podcast, host James Dickson is joined from Minneapolis by Brandon Klein, CEO of Collaboration AI.

Having forged a successful career running events, Brandon saw an opportunity to utilise the data that was already available to organisers via the means of artificial intelligence systems.

During the podcast, he explains how the system can be deployed, but more importantly how it can affect the outcomes of events. By utilising AI to match attendees, organisers can shape their events to ensure people with the most common ground are given the opportunity to meet. By trying to reduce the ‘chance’ element of live events, Brandon hopes that organisers can deliver more profitable experiences for their attendees.

EIN Podcast: Linking the physical and digital worlds to improve event safety and security

This week’s Event Industry News podcast welcomed John Martinez, CEO of event technology supplier Shocklogic.

Joining the podcast live from a world congress event in Vienna, Austria, John analysed the methods being used to link event technology with security and safety. Having worked with organisations including the United Nations and the European Court of Justice, John’s experience in this sector has been gained from working with people who require the highest levels of security at their events.

During the episode, John explores the links between physical and digital security, referencing examples of how the technology his company delivers helps with access management and maintaining security and safety within the confines of an actual event space.

Preoday: transforming the way venues handle food and drink orders

We’ve all been to an event and queued for 20 minutes at the bar. Or visited a trade exhibition and waited in line for half an hour to buy a sandwich. 

Like many other areas of event operations, the pre-ordering of food and drink is now possible via a specially designed digital platform, which is the core subject of this week’s podcast.

Joining host James Dickson is Oliver White, Head of Customer Sucess at Preoday, and Ben Fowler, Bar Manager at The Brewery, one of London’s leading event venues. During the podcast we hear from Oilver how the Preoday system works, whilst Ben explains how the intricate operations of a busy venue bar – along with the development of new menu options – can be transformed by the platform.

How venue marketing teams can help to deliver great event experiences.

This week’s podcast welcomed representatives from three of London’s most well-known event venues.

Joining host James Dickson was Julia Galbraith, Marketing Manager for Exhibitions at ExCeL London, Kate Simpson, Head of Conference & Digital at London’s Business Design Centre, and Jazmin Beale, Head of Marketing & Communications at Olympia London.

It goes without saying that every event needs to market itself properly. Without the correct exposure before, during, and after, an event will quite simply fail to succeed. The responsibility for marketing is placed heavily on the shoulders of professionals working directly for any given event, but on this week’s podcast the guests explore how a venues own marketing team can help to deliver great event experiences.

Whether it’s offering unique local-knowledge, helping a client tap into nearby resources, or passing on the experiences gained from witnessing hundreds of other events, this week’s guests look at everything that venue marketing teams can offer and why organisers should be utilising them.

Expedia hoping to revolutionise the way meeting rooms are booked

If you’ve booked a hotel or a flight in the last few years, chances are you’ve come across Expedia. Having been launched in 1996, the website is one of the world’s leading online destinations for consumers and business travellers looking to book travel packages

The company has now launched its first dedicated service for the meetings and conference industry. The service will allow organisers to quickly book meeting rooms and conferencing facilities without the need to manually request quotes and enter protracted email conversations with venue staff. They will even be able to add extras like refreshments and bulk book hotel rooms for delegates, all in the same way as booking a single hotel room. The service was initially trialled in Germany over a two-year period, and is now set to be rolled out into more territories with support from some of the world’s major hotel chains.

Joining the podcast to give further insight into the service is Felix Undeutsch, Head of MICE & Groups at Expedia.

Task Manager vs Strategic Planner: Using tech to streamline meeting planning

Joining the podcast this week are two guests with a collective knowledge of how technology can streamline the process of event and meeting planning. CEO of Hubb Allison Magyar joined us from Portland, Oregon, whilst Social Tables' Senior Community Manager Laura Lopez joined us from Washington D.C.

During the podcast, both Allison and Laura endorsed the idea of time investment, suggesting that the time spent learning how to use a new type of technology will ultimately be paid back by the time saved further down the line.

Both guests also looked at the long-term strategic opportunities that are created by reducing the time spent ticking off tasks, giving organisers more chance to plan long-term goals and analyse targets.

Are European festivals out of touch with younger audiences?

Joining the Event Industry News podcast this week is Dr Chris Kemp, who specialises in human movement and has a PhD in cognitive psychology.

Back in January, Chris organised a focus group comprising 43 European Festivals and a group of 14-16 year old festival goers who got together to identify how in-touch the events were with their younger customers. The session highlighted an alarming number of areas where the festivals were described by Chris as being ‘on a different planet’ when it came to providing and understanding their customer needs.

In the podcast we ask whether organisers really know the best way to communicate with their younger audience members, and should they be seeking more guidance from their audiences in order to shape their operations?

In the episode, Chris highlights some of the key concerns raised by the young people during the focus group, and what he thinks organisers could and should be doing to improve the festival experience for younger audience members.

Health & Wellbeing in the events industry: do we need help?

Media outlets in the USA have reported on a study that reveals that the role of event co-ordinator is in the top five most stressful jobs. In light of this coverage, the issue of health and wellbeing within our industry was the topic of conversation in the latest Event Industry News podcast. 

Joining host James Dickson, the podcast welcomed back President of the ILEA UK Chapter Alistair Turner, and Helen Moon, Managing Director of EWL Club UK. 

During the podcast, the guests talk about the issue of health and wellbeing within the events industry, and whether it is a problem that can be tackled with better skills training. They also highlight the new eventswell.org.uk website, that has been created as a platform to host advice, help and understanding of and health and wellbeing issues affecting event professionals.