Event Industry News Podcast

Hospitality and events with Smith & Wollensky

Despite only opening in summer 2015, the quintessential New York steakhouse restaurant Smith & Wollensky has already established itself on the high-end dining scene in London. However, it has also attracted a wealth of different event organisers seeking to take advantage of the art-deco styling and location within The Strand’s grade II listed Adelphi Building.

In an exclusive one-on-one chat with the Talking Events podcast, the restaurant’s Operations Director Nathan Evans discusses the subject of hospitality and how it differs from fixed operations and temporary ones often found at events. He talks about both the hospitality extended to customers, and also the way that staff working in the hospitality sector are trained, developed and treated.

Looking at the venue itself, Nathan also talked about the scepticism among some organisers as to whether a restaurant can be utilised as a temporary event space. He also points out the way the restaurant was conceived as somewhere that could be adaptable.

“We’ve had events that have brought in dance floor, celebrity DJ’s, LED screens and more. Flexibility is so important. Within London there are not many restaurants of this scale. We have 15,000 square feet available, so throughout the design process I constantly had ideas and questions relating to its use.”

One of these ideas related to the private dining rooms within the restaurant. These are found in most high-end eateries, but in this case some careful planning went into the design and layout.

“On the whole, if private dining rooms are not booked they are losing vital revenue. At Smith & Wollensky, London, both of the private dining rooms that are annexed from the main restaurant have huge doors that fold completely back, allowing them to be extensions to the restaurant or events space rather than them being separate entities.”

How iconic sporting venues adapt to the objectives of modern organisers

Two of London’s – and indeed the world’s – most famous sporting venues have spoken the Talking Events podcast about the ways in which they have adapted and evolved to cater for the demands of modern event organsiers.

Nick Kenton from Lords Cricket Ground and James Lee from Twickenham both highlighted the diversification within the events industry and how organisers are taking a far more invocative approach to sourcing and selecting an event space.

Joining them was James Anderson from Arena Group, a company that has worked with both venues to deliver temporary elements that have been designed to supplement the permanent infrastructure.

One such project was the Ashes Club that was erected for the England v Australia test match in 2015, which accommodated an additional 200 hospitality guests per day.

“The shift for Lords came in 2005 when the catering operation was brought exclusively in-house”, said Nick. “That prompted a change in staffing infrastructure, which has allowed the venue to push itself out there more than it ever used to.”

The construction of temporary hospitality structures was further examined by James Anderson, who said that the practicalities of them are obvious. 

“If we look at Cheltenham as a good example, I would guess that it makes 75% of its annual revenue during the Cheltenham Festival week. We build the longest triple decker in the world for that event. The course could simply not afford to build that size of permanent venue and then have it sat there for the rest of the year, so it makes complete financial sense.”

James Lee added to that thought, saying:

“As James says, the opportunity to partner with companies like Arena makes sense in the right circumstance. There is a requirement for both: using the permanent space we have but supplementing when necessary. It’s very much about how we engage with our event clients to understand their objectives.”

Talking Events Arena Group special: History, developments, and why the UK leads the overlay industry

In a special one-on-one episode of Talking Events, James Anderson, commercial director of Arena Group, talks about the rich history of the company and the way it has evolved to become one of the biggest names in the modern event industry.

From its beginnings in 1765 as a sail and rope maker – including supplying the hangman ropes for the tower of London – Arena Group now works in some of the UK’s most prestigious locations, including the Henley Regatta, Lord’s Cricket Ground and Twickenham.

During the conversation, James highlights why supplementing permanent venues with temporary structures makes financial sense, and also how it may help venues to research and develop their long-term infrastructure.

“Britain is known for its overlay industry”, James told the podcast. “By that, we mean anything that can be put in on a temporary basis to facilitate major events, be they sporting, music or otherwise. Our experience has taught us how to do things to amazing standards, which has led to us working across the world and continuing to develop the global reputation that many UK suppliers have.”

He also looks at how the internal fit-out of structures has had to adapt to cope with the modern demands of the end-user, and how open spaces are being transformed in to event venues by the level of expertise now available in the structure industry.

 

Live Streaming: mixed results so far but a big future

There is still a long way to go before people really understand what works well as a live-streamed event and what doesn’t, according to a senior YouTube UK representative. David Thorpe was speaking on the Talking Events podcast about the ways in which organisers are turning to live streaming to enhance their events.

 “The great thing about live streaming is that it’s a global medium”, said David. “You’ve got such a big audience that is potentially interested in what you’re doing, that organisers should be thinking on that level and not just on a local level.”

 Organisers were also advised to better plan the way in which they will deliver a live stream and how that will integrate with the overall event strategy. James Wilkinson from Streaming Tank told the podcast:

“The thing we try to push to organisers is to not just think of live streaming as a bolt on to their events. If you’re not planning for their needs in advance then you’re missing a trick. When we’re working with a client for the first time, the first worry is always that if they live stream,

Event industry must stay in the EU

On June 23rd, 2016 UK voters will go to the polls in what’s being described as the biggest political decision for a generation. Whether we stay in or out of Europe is now the subject of media campaigns by both sides of the debate, with each side offering vastly differing views of how we could be affected.

However, when it comes to the events industry, the only viable decision is to remain in the EU according to one industry professional.

In the latest episode of the Talking Events podcast, Robin Carlisle from Mobile Promotions says that there are simply too many benefits to event companies travelling around Europe to even contemplate any other decision. The company works with high profile clients to deliver brand activation events, marketing promotions, and event production, which regularly sees them travelling around the continent.

Robin thinks that the ease with which they can move around makes staying in an easy choice.

“Compared to way back when being in the EU has made life so much easier. Being able to travel across borders without ATA Carnets – which listed every item you were carrying – is so much better than the traditional nightmare that it used to be. Way back when you could easily loose a couple of days by being held up at a border waiting for stuff to be checked. I have been one of those that was in doubt, but from what I’ve read and what I’ve considered I’m now 100% in favour of staying in.”

Joining the same episode was Nic Howden from All Access Communications, who shared Robin’s view on staying within the EU. Nic told the podcast that a vote to leave could mean lots of small little barriers being created by countries that may be unhappy with that decision.

“I can imagine there being a few more little trip wires being put up. Whether it’s big businesses or small businesses, in the short-term life would be made a lot more difficult fairly quickly.”

Organisers must become smarter with their content marketing - Talking Events Podcast Episode 25

Consumers have become far more sophisticated with what they are prepared to receive, so simply bombarding them with email marketing is no longer a viable way to attract visitors to live events, so says a leading event industry communications expert.

Kursha Woodgate spoke to the Talking Events podcast about the challenges faced by organisers in a world where people have become far more savvy about what incoming communications they respond to and what message they are prepared to listen to.

“I think we need to get a bit cleverer about how we target people and how we find the people who are looking at any given event. Open rates for emails have been diminishing and there’s a lot of science behind email subject lines. What I’ve personally been using over the last 12 months are tools to help develop relationships over a longer period of time, helping to improve the chance of that customer opening an email when it lands.”

Kursha was discussing the subject of event marketing and the many tools and methods that are now available. In particular, she looked at ways to capture the valuable email addresses of potential customers by getting them to proactively hand over that key piece of information.

“Good content marketing starts with understanding your audience. Take time to create marketing personas and find out what content is relevant to them. The key thing is to give people valuable content, and that’s when they will willingly volunteer the information or email address that you’re looking for. Events create great content in their own right, so I think event organisers are actually well positioned to leverage content marketing in a better way than perhaps other organisations.”

In a one-to-one episode of the podcast, Kursha also looked at how campaigns are measured and the question marks surrounding the effectiveness of event marketing campaigns.

Event Security Pt 2 - Is the landscape changing? Talking Events Podcast

The question of whether the landscape of event security has changed has been discussed during the latest episode of the Talking Event podcast. Referencing the terror attacks in Brussels, podcast host James Dickson asked guests whether the communication between stakeholders at events is up to scratch and whether the attacks have prompted a change in preparations.

 Joining the episode was Alex Leake from Carlisle Support Services, who told the podcast that various elements are becoming more commonplace as a way to ensure that all attendees are being channelled through the necessary ingress and egress points.

David Boswell from TSG also joined the podcast, highlighting the differing ways in which events have to deal with ingress and egress depending on the day or time of the event and how crowd demographics are being closely analysed to assist in the planning process.

This week’s episode follows up on the last week’s broadcast that looked at some of the controversial remarks made about TSG and the services that it now provides to the industry. During that episode, David Boswell also responded to comments that his company was ‘cashing in’ on the terror attacks in both Brussels and Paris.

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Event policing specialist slams ‘shameless and opportunistic’ claims - Talking Events episode 29

TSG, the Sussex-based service designed to support private security teams, has hit back at suggestions of opportunism post-Bataclan.

David Boswell, managing director of TSG, spoke to the Talking Events podcast, explaining his open reference to the tragic events in Paris last year and the benefits of a multi-agency response from the live events industry.

Industry commentator Nic Howden – a guest on the same episode – said the accusations of ‘shameless opportunism’ were ‘crazy’, describing the online comments made in response to the original article as ‘incredibly naïve’.

Boswell went on to explain his company’s make-up and mission statement, to use proven police expertise and experience alongside incumbent security teams to reassure the public and keep them safe.

Special Police Services (SPS) have been the subject of ongoing debate within the industry for several years, and during the interview Boswell also gave his thoughts about whether customers would feel as safe with private contractors as they would with actual Police Officers.

The full interview with David Boswell features in the latest episode of Talking Events. It includes a detailed explanation of how this new tier of security works alongside other agencies and the management of a site in a multi-agency setting.

Transforming Venues into Event Spaces Part One – Talking Events Podcast Episode 27

In the second episode of a two-part discussion, podcast host James Dickson is once again joined in the studio by Tom Allan, project manager at True Staging, Matthew Blood, business development manager for Twickenham Experience Ltd, Kevin Monks, company director at Blackout Ltd, and via live feed, Robin Carlisle, managing director of Mobile Promotions Ltd.

Following on from last week’s episode, the panel discusses whether event organisers are being pushed by their clients towards sourcing new venues and whether this has helped to remove any pigeon-holing of certain venues for certain events. The guests also discuss the difficulties of working within sensitive venues like private houses, listed buildings, and Cathedrals, along with the challenges those venues face when marketing themselves and sourcing new business.

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Transforming Venues into Event Spaces Part One – Talking Events Podcast Episode 27

In the first episode of a two-part recording, podcast host James Dickson is joined by Tom Allan Project Manager at True Staging, Matthew Blood Business Development Manager for Twickenham Experience Ltd, Kevin Mark Company Director at Blackout Ltd and via live feed, Robin Carlisle managing Director of Mobile Promotions Ltd.

Topics discussed include: Are event organisers pigeonholing venues less & being more active in choosing venues they may not have opted for 10 years ago in order to make their events more unique? Who is responsible for driving the creative approach towards venues? Has the economic downturn driven creativity by event causing organisers to look for alternative venues to lower costs?

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