Event Industry News Podcast

• The challenge of delivering sustainable events that are indistinguishable from less environmentally minded events.
  

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• The importance of knowing to say no for the right reasons in case sudden changes could break an event.

• Valentina’s opinion on hybrid events and how best to approach them as two events in one

• Turning regular events into experiences, often overlooked but the little things really take an event to the next level

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In events since 2012, and in technology for about the same amount of time, Zach Butler is director of Amsterdam-based TNW Events.

Launched in 2006, full name The Next Web, TNW is a product of its founders’ interest in the future of tech. Buoyed by The FT buying a major stake, and ultimately acquiring the company, 2024 model TNW has four business lines: media platform www.thenextweb.com, commercial real estate, events and open innovation consulting programmes.

In this episode, Zach digs into the extraordinary – 6,000 per cent – growth in the TNW Conference numbers over its 18 years, emerging technologies, internationalism, and connecting dots across the community.

Talking to host James Dickson, he goes on to discuss the social aspect at events, changing the world through tech, sustainability and creativity. How the business has changed, the FT integration and its benefits, the pick of the platforms and relationships with suppliers. 

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Clare Gossage is COO & co-founder at The PIE (Professionals in International Education), which since launching in 2011 has become the sector’s hub, ‘transforming knowledge and networks’.

This episode is a deep dive into The PIE, looking at its history, its drivers and the big splash it’s made in events-world.

An avowed internationalist, Clare studied languages, taking a job in marketing at the University of Arts, London, after she graduated. Meeting Amy Baker and Jane Gilham and discovering there wasn’t a media platform that addressed the whole of the billion-dollar international education sector, brought a team together to build one and call it PIE.

Taking questions from host James Dickson, Clare discusses the brand’s evolution, from its digital news platform, still going strong, the quarterly print magazine that ‘folded’ during the pandemic, to the awards and to PIE Live.

The conversation focuses on the founders’ fluidity, their nous, and how, without any experience of the industry, that overcame ‘cultural nuances’ and took their events across the world to extraordinary success.  

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Joining business exhibitions mainstay CloserStill Media in January 2021, from Ocean Media Group, and taking his tech acumen into events-world, was an ambition realised for head of digital & CRM, Rakim Asher.

In this episode, Rakim discusses that career journey, exploring the ‘head of digital’ role, finding the right tech and scrapping old-school show guides.

With host James Dickson putting the questions, Rakim goes on to talk pressure of time, the power of collaboration, analysing data and high purchase intent.

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John Regis is global technology adoption manager at London-based publishing/intelligence/exhibition giant Informa.

This episode looks at his career path before turning its attention to the now.

John details the brief behind the job title, which he helped create, before discussing how systems are used effectively, inside the Informa walls and across its portfolio.

Prompted by host James Dickson, John goes on to detail the time he takes studying new platforms and understanding the people set to use them, before introducing any tech. He talks about learning from Formula 1, the future of hybrid events, and the value in having specialist teams for live and digital elements working together to deliver a show.   

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Ashley Kendall is director of international business development at Sorenson Communications, leading solutions servicer for the deaf and hard-of-hearing.

Andrew Dewey, vice president, EMEA, for Strategic and Business development at the same company, is also Interim CEO at the Royal Association for Deaf people.

With an interpreter on hand, this episode delivers insightful background from Ashley and Andrew, highlighting their drive, their motivation, to make events more accessible.

They look at the evolution of sign language, right through to it being recognised as an ‘official language’ in the UK two years ago, going on to discuss the growth in the number of interpreters since the 1990s, video interpretating, sharing resources and the value of booking people early in event planning. How last minute doesn’t work.

Look out too for the technology lever, the Spice Girls’ late 1990s arena tour, and understanding the broad reach of sustainability…

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Maria Sidiropoulou – senior product manager at Informa Markets – accepted a new role with the company, event director for Jewellery Arabia, based in Bahrain, since this podcast was recorded.

In events for more than 12 years, a career that’s taken her from sales and marketing to the heady world she’s now a part of, Maria talks host James Dickson through that background and the lessons learned before digging into the bigger picture.

This episode touches on the pros and cons of studying event management at university, understanding the industry and picking a path. Maria goes on talk about her role at Informa before the Bahrain job, how event companies big and small manage the myriad platforms available, the benefits of having a tech specialist on the team, analysing data, ‘always on’ connectivity and much more.    

Laura Shapiro is portfolio director for medical events at Closer Still Media (CSM) where she’s worked at for more than 12 years, during which the company has grown from 20 people to 700. 

This episode is about Laura’s frontline experience, how serving the sector has changed since 2011. She talks strength in diversity, creating Clinical Pharmacy Congress (CPC), Europe’s largest event of its kind, and the value in CSM’s carryover learnings from its tech shows. 

Answering host James Dickson’s questions, Laura goes on to discuss shaping content around the medical market’s rules and regulations, delegate bags, sustainability, programme grids/moving away from show guides and breaking the boundaries of Closer Still Media’s traditional geography.

Clarion Events’ head of sector marketing operations, Tom Fisher, worked for the prison service and the Met Police before stepping across the tracks to events-world, giving him a telling take on people and their wellbeing.

Fisher’s altruism, fostered by his own experience living with bi-polar disorder, has seen him offering support via LinkedIn and helping his own situation at the same time.

Focused on mental health, this episode sees Tom discussing triggers – social media and deep fakes among them – the next generation’s better work/life/empathy balance, pride versus taking time off, incidentals and longer-term conditions.