Event Industry News Podcast

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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Do you have an opinion? Tweet us using @TalkingEvents

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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Never miss another episode by subscribing to the Talking Events podcast on iTunes here https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/talking-events/id1026762265?mt=2 

Do you have an opinion? Tweet us using @TalkingEvents

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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Access Control Management Talking Events podcast episode 26

In the final episode recorded at the Ticketscript offices,we are joined by Ticketscript Access Control Manager - Toby Dier, Ross Melinn,Business Development team member from rival company Ticketea and industryveteran of 40 years, Carl AH Martin.

Topics covered include: how Digital ticketing is making itmore difficult for Scalpers to profit from bulk buying tickets to popularevents by ensuring tickets are personal to the buyer; what kind of data digitalticketing creates for event organisers, and how important is it to maintain ahuman point of contact alongside digital access control.

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The Eventice Podcast Challenge – Talking Events Special

Event Industry News were on hand at Confex to help record the Podcast Challenge for the Eventice.

The Eventice is an Apprentice style competition run in association with Mash Media and Bluehat, that allows final year event management students the chance to compete to win up to 2 jobs in the events industry. It can be tough for graduates in general to get their first step on the ladder, so this competition allows them the opportunity to win one of the most prestigious graduate jobs available.

Former contestants have been lucky enough to have been offered jobs with ExcelLondon, DMG Events, George P Johnson, Blitz, Tarsus PLC, Blue Hat, Informa and Innovations Unlimited in Doha.

During this challenge, each team was tasked with producing a podcast discussing: which is more valued by potential employers; an Event Management graduate, or someone with a year’s experience but no degree.

Each episode features one contestant producing, another acting as host, and the final member as an interviewee alongside a guest from within the industry.

Merging the physical and digital brand Talking Events Podcast episode 25

In this episode of Talking Events, Swarm Ltd Director - Tim Manning, talks to us about; how companies are interconnecting the digital and physical sides of a business and the overall effect on their media presence. How the consumer doesn’t see a clear difference between the two mediums anymore is also discussed.

This episode of Talking Events was recorded at the Ticketscript offices in London.

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Do you have an opinion? Tweet us using @TalkingEvents

How are venues changing and attracting creative events – Talking Events Podcast Episode 24

In this episode of Talking Events we talk to Lucy Rae of Central Hall Westminster and Kelly McGibney from Sadler’s Wells about; how historic venues are capable of catering for different types of event and why businesses are increasingly choosing venues which encourage interaction and creativity over the traditional conference venue.

This episode was recorded at the ticketscript offices in London.

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Never miss another episode by subscribing to the Talking Events podcast on iTunes here https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/talking-events/id1026762265?mt=2 

Do you have an opinion? Tweet us using @TalkingEvents

Meetings Mean Business – Talking Events Podcast Episode 23

Hosted again at the Ticketscript offices in London, Talking Events’ host James Dickson met with Alastair Turner of Eight PR and Richard Kadri-Langford of Lime Venue Portfolio to discuss; how business meetings have become more of a positive experience through choosing unusual venues (such as sporting grounds and castles) and the reasons why businesses are increasingly looking to make meetings and conferences more exciting and memorable.

Don’t miss next week’s podcast. Sign up to updates here

Never miss another episode by subscribing to the Talking Events podcast on iTunes here https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/talking-events/id1026762265?mt=2 

Do you have an opinion? Tweet us using @TalkingEvents