Event Industry News Podcast

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The latest EIN live podcast welcomed Kevin Jackson back to show.

Kevin joined host James Dickson to discuss his new book ‘There’s no such thing as sales’, the current work he does with brands and businesses, and the Muslim Lifestyle Show that he launched three years ago.

Kevin has long endorsed the message of ‘the experience is the marketing’, and during this episode, he reinforces his opinion that the best marketing in the world won’t help you if your event doesn’t give customers the best experience possible.

Joining the Event Industry News podcast this week is Ed Templeton from Shuttlecock Inc.

Ed joins host James Dickson to talk about Neverland Spring Break, an immersive event experience that Shuttlecock created in the heart of London.

Running for just three days, Shuttlecock Inc transformed a photographic studio building into a reimagined version of Neverland, complete with Hipster Lost Boys and a gangster rap Crocodile.

During the podcast, Ed explains the creative process behind their event and discusses some of the ideas that have helped propel Shuttlecock Inc to being one of the leading agencies for immersive brand experiences.

The demand for festivals has grown enormously in the last few years. However, it’s not just music lovers that are being catered for by event organisers.

In recent times we’ve seen festivals covering areas of interest including; cars, gin, food, YouTube, and video gaming. In this week’s Event Industry News podcast, James Dickson welcomes an organiser of one such festival to the show.

Ali Sheik is part of the team behind FitLiving UK, a weekend long gathering of fitness lovers. Taking place on the beautiful beach of Bournemouth, the event sees fitness fans gather to participate in group exercise activities, meet well-known instructors, and engage with suppliers of products & services related to maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

The countdown to GDPR is well underway and over the coming weeks, special episodes of the Event Industry News podcast will be talking to various professionals about the impact the new laws will have on the industry.

Having already spoken to Cvent’s David Chalmers, this week’s episode welcomes Henry Herbert from Herbert & Ball LLP. Henry is a former solicitor who now works as a specialist Data Protection Consultant, assisting organisations and businesses in many different sectors and advising them on how best to manage their data.

Henry’s expertise on the subject makes him a leading figure in the current climate of anticipation and preparation for the arrival of GDPR.