Event Industry News Podcast

5 Habits of highly successful event managers

In the first Event Industry News podcast to be live streamed, host James Dickson was joined by Alex Lassiter from Gather to discuss five habits of successful event managers. For the first time, the podcast also welcomed a main sponsor, event registration supplier N200|GES.

Gather specialises in event management software for restaurants and venues, and in his role as co-founder and Vice President of Customer Experience, Alex offered his own take on the good habits he has observed when working with clients.

The live stream allowed viewers to engage directly with the podcast in real time, giving Alex the chance to respond to questions put to him by the audience as well as address the five main points of discussion.

Next week’s podcast will live stream at 6 pm UK time and will welcome Brian Anderson from Captuvate to discuss the topic ‘What’s killing your event’s ROI?’

You can register for free here

What are bots and what impact could they have on the events industry?

Lots of people will have heard the term ‘bots’ being used, but how much do we understand this type of technology and the capabilities it has?

In the latest episode of the Event Industry News podcast, CEO of Event2Mobile Siddharth Jhunjhunwala joined the show live from New York to look at the subject of bots and explain the basic principles behind them.

During the episode, he put the idea of bots into context by explaining how they have evolved steadily from other forms of technology that we are already very used to.

“Bots and artificial intelligence (AI) are very much the same thing. When a machine can take over a task performed by a human we enter the realm of bots and AI, the parameters of which are constantly changing. 30 years we would have looked upon spellcheck within a word processor as artificial intelligence, whereas now it is totally ubiquitous with the way we communicate.”

During the episode, Siddharth gives some examples of how the technology has already been used successfully at meetings and events, as well as pointing out the way that bot technology can integrate with an event’s existing technology infrastructure.

The Meetings Benchmark – A new way to calculate your delegate rates?

Jim Quintrell from the Meetings Benchmark joined the latest edition of the Event Industry News podcast.

Jim has worked in the meetings and events industry for over 20 years, and always on the agency side of the sector. Three years ago, he was one of the founders of Conference Doctor, working with organisations on commercial strategies and procurement. Whilst delivering that service, one of the things they wanted to do was to try and provide an impartial and independent source for benchmarking meeting rates, which is where the idea for The Meetings Benchmark was born.

Five years on and Jim talks to the podcast about how the service is now benefitting organisers when they are setting their rates and calculating margins. The ability they now have is to go online and look up pricing for any given city, accessing current and historic delegate rates in order to price their own event.

Expanding RFID technology within the events industry

The latest episode of the Event Industry News podcast looks at how RFID is helping to shape data-capture and engagement at meetings and events.

The technology has been widely adopted in the industry as a means of cashless payment at events like music festivals. However, the way the technology interacts with databases and CRM systems means that suppliers like Boomset are now using it to add greater depth to their own services.

CEO & Co-Founder of Boomset Kerem Baran joined the podcast to talk about the evolution of his company’s services from a simple guestlist check-in system to a sophisticated platform that integrates with many of the industry’s leading registration providers.

A Healthy Partnership: Ashfield Meetings & Events and SpotMe

Joining this week’s Event Industry News podcast was Client Partnership Director for Ashfield Meetings & Events Andrew Moore, along with the CEO of SpotMe Pierre Metrailler.

In their respective roles, the two guests form a key partnership as organiser and technology supplier, helping to improve the way in which Ashfield Meetings & Events deliver healthcare events to the sector.

SpotMe is an event app supplier that has been working with this specialist event organiser to improve the level of content that is delivered to attendees. Addressing the question of how the service is deployed within the context of an event, Andrew told the podcast that it can vary dramatically.

“In terms of service deliverables, you’re looking for those interactive features. Predominantly they have been around the audience engagement of Q&A and live polling, and we’ve also used a couple of examples of gamification to encourage people through to the app and to interact. The full tilt of their service offering is what we’re starting to adopt more and more.”

 

Brand event trends and how consumers tastes influence the event industry

The current trends in brand events have been discussed during the latest episode of the Event Industry News podcast.  

Joining host James Dickson was Nick Morgan from the Big Cat Group and The Fair, who highlighted the growing desire among brands to establish their own events. The Fair was launched as the dedicated events company of The Big Cat Group, whose experience in producing events since 2000 has led them to work on almost every type of live event possible. 

As more brands seek to engage with their audiences via dedicated live events, certain trends form in relation to production elements and venue sourcing. Nick offers the podcast some insight into the demands placed on organisers by the brands and their agencies, and some of the creative ways The Fair has helped meet certain event briefs. 

Producing Events in the Middle East

The latest episode of the Event Industry News podcast welcomed General Manager for Protec Richard Bellia. Joining the podcast from his base in Dubai via video link, Richard highlighted some of the challenges faced by the company when delivering events in one of the world’s richest and most demanding regions.

Despite the frequent assumption that there are bottomless budgets available for events in Dubai, Richard identifies some of the simple burdens placed on production companies. These include the toll taken on equipment due to the extreme climate and the reality of still having to exceed expectation regardless of the size of budget involved.

During the podcast, he also explains the different approaches that must be taken in order execute events in some of the world’s most luxurious buildings, whilst giving insight to the improved standards of safety that are now enforced throughout the region.

EVENTIT set to return with more exhibitors and expanded conference programme

Event Director Judith Wilson joined the Event Industry News podcast to talk about the forthcoming EVENTIT Scottish Events Expo in Glasgow. Having relocated to the recently re-branded Scottish Events Campus (SEC), the second year of the event features significantly more exhibitors and an expanded conference programme.

During the podcast, Judith explained how and why the first event was created, and what to expect from this year’s show.

“Until last year there wasn’t an opportunity for the events and festival supply chain in Scotland to showcase themselves to the event and festival buyers, so we decided to fill that gap. A lot of people were looking in to see how we performed, but it obviously hit all the right markers as it’s really taken off for year two. Last year we had just over 1,000 people register and two learning strands, which received huge interest. I think that possibly this was because there isn’t as much opportunity in Scotland for event professionals to be able to get some training outside of their actual job. Thus, that particular element has doubled for the 2017 show.”

EVENTIT, The Scottish Events Expo, takes place on Thursday 9^th March. Further details about the event are available by listening to or watching the full podcast episode.

UK Events Week aims to link the industry and improve understanding

Alistair Turner - president of the UK chapter of the International Live Events Association – joined the Event Industry News podcast this week to discuss the forthcoming UK Events Week.

Centred around International CONFEX and the Event Production Show at London Olympia, UK Events Week will bring together events from many different sectors in order to further raise the profile of the UK events industry.

During the podcast, host James Dickson also welcomed brand and experiential marketing expert Melissa Noakes, who previewed the conference session she is due to moderate during International CONFEX. The session – titled ‘The Brand View: Facing the future – how have brands adapted to the changing landscape?’ – aims to highlight the competitive marketplace of brand-staged events, and the value that live events can bring to brands.

Mock prosecution aims to educate event professionals

The latest episode of the Event Industry News podcast focusses on the forthcoming ‘mock’ trial that has been organised by the A.C.T. (National) Ltd. The staged prosecution of an events company will be based on a real case and will utilise the actual documentation that would be required in a real trial.

Speaking as a guest on the podcast, A.C.T. (National) Ltd’s group director Chris Woodford explained that the event could only go ahead due to the quality of the personnel that have agreed to participate.

“The IOSH Sports Grounds & Events Group and Magdalen Chambers have been instrumental in assisting us with the set-up of this event. Our aim was always to make it as realistic as possible, so having the chambers involved means we’ve got real barristers going about the process in the same way they would in a real trial. As an industry, the UK should be extremely proud of the safety record that its event professionals have. However, we spend a lot of time telling people that they could face prosecution if they don’t adhere to safe practice procedures, and virtually no time showing them exactly what that would actual entail.”

Further information about the date and venue for the mock trial is available by listening to the podcast, along with information on how to register as an attendee.