The Event Industry News Podcast once again goes trans-Atlantic for this week’s episode, as host James Dickson links up with CEO of INVNT, Scott Cullather.

Scott launched INVNT in 2008 with a clearly defined ambition to create a global agency that would deliver innovative and dynamic events for the world’s leading brands.

Ten years on – and having just opened the company’s Singapore office – Scott talks about that way he and his colleagues went about pitching to potential clients as a new agency. Having established an early reputation as creative thinkers who were prepared to take risks and explore new ideas, Scott also talks about how he retains that attitude whilst also balancing the business need for consistency of practice.

Rob Murdoch, founder of Exposure Analytics, the market leader in experiential analytics for events and retail, joins us for his second podcast at the end of a fantastic 12 months for the company. Exposure Analytics work with brands and agencies to evaluate the success of activations, events and conferences. Their sophisticated technology delivers key insights into how visitors interact with event space including footfall analysis, heat maps, flow routes, and even facial expressions to determine the age bracket, gender and sentiment of visitors.

In Rob’s last appearance he explained more about how their technology works and how it is used to power experiences through insight in the event and exhibitions industries. You can listen to that podcast here: https://www.eventindustrynews.com/news/podcast-measuring-the-success-of-your-event

2018 was a bumper year for Exposure Analytics with highlights including 2 Event Technology Award wins, a successful event of their own at the Baftas HQ with a fine dining experience. They also hit a major company milestone helping clients to evaluate over 2000 events; 1000 of these were in 2018 alone. They now have a huge bank of data to help current and potential clients plan and evaluate their experiential activity.

In this latest podcast Rob shares more information about how to measure the success of your event, how their data - presented in a simple to understand and useful format - can be used alongside other performance data to calculate return on marketing investment.

If you’d like to find out more about the event Rob mentions, connect with him on LinkedIn.

Joining host James Dickson on this week’s Event Industry News podcast is Nick Gold, director of Speakers Corner.

For many years, the company has been a leading supplier of event hosts and speakers, with a vast portfolio of clients. The company’s roster includes celebrity names, but also a vast list of specialised speakers that can be booked for sector-specific events. 

However, during the podcast Nick explains why having a speaker that comes from the same background as the audience is not always the best option, and how some of his company’s most memorable bookings have come from the opposing scenario. 

Joining the Event Industry News podcast this week is Evvnt founder Richard Green.

Richard linked up with host James Dickson from his base in LA to talk about the growth of Evvnt and the way in which search engines – particularly Google – have shaped the way marketers promote events.

During the chat, Richard analyses the way in which event promoters post their online listings, highlighting some of the best and worse examples and explaining why the wording of event listings is vital to their success.

During the podcast, Trevor explains why and how the charity was formed, and some of the work that has been delivered as a result of the fundraising that has been done.

A video that highlights the early work and visits to the region by representatives of the charity has also been shortlisted for this year’s Charity Film Awards. Event professionals can watch the film and vote for it via this link.

Voting closes on Friday 14th December 2018.

In this week’s Event Industry News podcast, we’re talking all things swag! Host James Dickson welcomes Casey Schorr and Ryan Campion from Printfection, a company that have tried to reinvigorate branded merchandise for events.

During this week’s episode, the guys look at some of the traditional mistakes made by marketers when sourcing swag, and some of the current trends and innovations that are helping to shake up this marketing strategy.

The guests also discuss their full-service approach, and the input that they like their team to have when it comes to the design of client’s end-products.

This week’s podcast takes a turn into deepest Kent to look at the Black Deer Festival. The Americana & Country Music festival was launched in 2018 and received critical acclaim for its lineup and atmosphere.

Founder and promoter Gill Tee joins host James Dickson to talk about why and how the festival was created, and the inspiration behind the atmosphere that she and her team wanted to create.

Gill also talks about her experiences within the live events industry, as well as the difficulties of juggling the creative and operational roles that she has within the festival.

The EIN Podcast takes a sporting turn this week as host James Dickson talks about the Ryder Cup. Joining him on the podcast is the Managing Director of Arena Scaffolding Willy Irish.

Arena Scaffolding worked extensively on the 2018 Ryder Cup, which took place just outside Paris. The company was responsible for creating vast amounts of the base work that supported the hundreds of temporary structures that dotted the vast site.

During the podcast, Willy talks through some of the pre-production work that went into researching the site, and about the contingency planning that must be factored into a project of this size.

Joining the podcast this week is Chris Elmitt from Surrey base Crystal Interactive. Chris speaks to host James Dickson about a new product that they have brought over to the UK from America.

The product – klik – is a smart wearable that Chris and his team first spotted around 18 months ago. The product itself is worn by a delegate in the form of a smart badge. The badge itself contains a device that can be clicked, which activates it and allows the delegate to interact with other participants.

During the episode, Chris explains how the data exchange takes place when the devices are in use, and why the process creates a more immersive experience for users.