Event Industry News Podcast

Louise Findlay-Wilson is founder/managing director of award-winning agency Energy PR and an investor in green energy.   In this episode, under the umbrella ‘Consumers’ attitudes to events’, Louise talks about shows’ sustainability initiatives pre-pandemic having to catch up with the public’s invigorated passion for the subject, how quickly negative, and positive, communications can spill out from...

Ex-pat American Dax Callner, strategy director at creative agency Smyle and president of the Experiential Marketing Measurement Coalition, returns to the EIN podcast 18 months after his last appearance. In this episode, which has more answers than questions, Dax’s primary focus is a job Smyle did for the National Grid and how that relationship started during lockdown. Dax looks at best means of te...

Founded in 1991, Sledge is an award-winning event, content and creative agency. In this episode, Ben Heaysman, film and content creator at Sledge, discusses the company’s experience with the hybrid model pre-pandemic and bringing it to bear for clients caught out by lockdown; framing shots, lighting, sound quality et al. Among much more, Ben tells host James Dickson about crafting content to keep...

A digital/tech mind working in the event industry since 2014, Ryan Kenny launched Seatlab at the end of last year, raising capital to revolutionise ticketing with blockchain technology.  In this episode, Ryan, who thinks and talks quickly, explains the premise for Seatlab, how its NFT (non-fungible token) or ‘smart contract’ solution amplifies and secures proof of ownership, beating touts, bots an...

Denzil Rankine, author and thought leader in the global events and exhibitions industry, founded AMR in 1991 as a specialist in due diligence before developing the business into a strategy consultancy. In this episode, after doing the background on AMR, Denzil talks about writing Reinventing Live – The Always on Future of Events with Marco Giberti through lockdown, before digging into the company’...

Simon Howard, a professional host and compere with more than 200 virtual and 100s of live events in his portfolio over the course of some seven years, came to the job after a considerable tenure as an event manager in both hemispheres. In this episode, Simon discusses ‘Why the right event host is more important than ever’, looking at the pandemic impact on his role in the short-term and its legacy...

Hong Kong-based Hoyin Cheung founded interactive virtual event platform Remo in 2018, to ‘humanise the online event experience, and bring people together worldwide’. Triggered by his background in social media and years spent managing remote teams across eight years in marketing, Remo rings the changes. In this episode, Hoyin talks connectivity, what’s stopping us from cultivating online relations...

Founder/CEO of customer acquisition agency MCM, John McMahon, added to his lockdown To-Do list researching and writing The Power of Leading With Empathy, which was published in January to much acclaim. A product of interviews with business leaders and fellow agency owners coupled with John’s own considerable experience - empathy is a cornerstone to his leadership style at MCM – this episode looks...

Nicola Underhill is general manager at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole – a venue built in step with the NEC, where it sits. The biggest UK hotel outside London. Nicola came to the job from six plus years in a similar role at the Hilton St George’s Park - home to all 24 England football teams and a centre for coach education. In this episode, host James Dickson asks Nicola Underhill about the Hilto...

Emma Tietze, director of sales and events at Brooklyn Bowl, has a 10-year history in live events, turns at the Manhattan Center and at CBS Radio reflecting her passions. Emma joined the team at Brooklyn Bowl, a former iron foundry in ‘hip’ Williamsburg, three years ago. A sought-after mix of live music, award winning food and bowling, since its 2009 launch Brooklyn Bowl has spawned three other ven...

Carlo Zoccali joined Farnborough International Ltd in 2016. Responsible for venue sales, operations and customer service he also oversees relationships between the venue and the wider events industry. Involved with trade associations throughout his career, Carlo was president of the ILEA from 2017 to 2018 and continues to be an active board member of the Europe chapter. In this episode Carlo Zocca...

Since 2011 Chicago-based Ink Factory has been delivering visual note-taking, physically and virtually. Creating pictures that summarise key takeaways for conferences, meetings, brainstorming sessions, show content and much more, Ink Factory clients include Adobe, Amazon, CAT, Deloitte, Ford, Unilever, Whole Foods Market and the YMCA, In this episode, Ryan Robinson, the company’s co-founder and CMO...

Verbose, in the best Los Angeles tradition, Marley Majcher is CEO of The Party Goddess, an A-list full-service event planning and catering company in LA,, and author of acclaimed business guide for entrepreneurs, But Are You Making Any Money? In this episode, Marley details her background, from cooking school in Paris and egotistical chefs right through to standing out in the event planner crowd....

Launched at the threshold of the pandemic, March 2020, Vendoir is a platform for sole traders, freelancers, start-ups and existing suppliers to showcase their service to customers without paying for marketing. Vendoir also allows clients to book vendors based on their reputation, budget, location, event type etc., with just a few taps. In this episode, co-founders Oshoma Zekeri (CEO) and Yoma Jame...

The message ‘One in three event professionals will experience poor mental health every year, in the form of stress, anxiety, depression and burn out’ is spelled out loud and clear on the EventWell site - https://eventwell.org/about/ Helen Moon founded the not-for-profit CCLG social enterprise in 2017 to serve as the mental health and voice of the event industry. Talking to host James Dickson at th...

Host James Dickson attended the AEV (Association of Event Venues) Conference at the Business Design Centre (BDC) last month, a fertile ground for podcast content. In these four rapid-fire Q&A sets, James talks to management from some key locations, north and south. We kick off with Kate Simpson, marketing and comms director at the BDC, together with Paddy Lynn, head of events management at P&J Liv...

Launched in 1999, in a different guise, Berlin-based MEETYOO is the digital events business behind a customisable platform providing large-scale virtual events to audiences with up to 50,000 members. More than ‘simply’ software, MEETYOO guides clients through their virtual/hybrid event life-cycle. In this episode, Tony Kula, founder & CEO at MEETYOO, and Product Management Lead Tim Gutsche talk ab...

Former head of computer vision key initiatives at Amazon, Humphrey Chen, co-founded video analysis and management platform CLIPr 14 months ago, in the thick of the hybrid event revolution, Working out of Seattle, CLIPr, uses machine learning to index every minute of a video and generates an automated table of contents by identifying topics and sub-topics. In this episode, Humphrey Chen highlights...

Conference Compass, the Dutch next generation event platform specialist, has produced a telling, timely document ‘How to run the most engaging hybrid events’. In this episode, CEO Jelmer van Ast, who founded the company more than 11 years ago, discusses the thinking behind the publication and what its ambitions are before going on to look at the trends, or steps, towards hybrid, the strength in sm...

Owner/CEO of Eventistry by Alecia and host of the 6 Figure Event Podcast, Alecia May is an award-winning certified strategist and coach. In this episode, Alecia May talks about using 87 – EIGHTY SEVEN - virtual event platforms over the past three and half years and the key takeaways from that extraordinary weight of experience. May goes on to discuss different clients/different requirements, being...

Having worked in events for 15-years, Lauralee Whyte moved from experiential marketing towards the content construct, focused on sourcing speakers and talent. Having seen, and drawn from, the shallow waters of practiced options, in July 2021 Lauralee launched Spectrum Speakers & Entertainers, the UK’s first diversity focused content bureau. In this episode, she discusses the motivation behind that...

Based in Boston, Massachusetts, Devin Cleary is the VP of global events at award-winning digital platform Bizzabo – multiple-winner of the Event Tech Awards’ coveted People’s Choice gong. With more than 16 years’ experience designing and delivering diverse experiential marketing programmes for b2b, non-profit and consumer markets, Devin has an enviable track record in strategising and executing in...

Dr. Baris Onayis an entrepreneurial executive with 15 plus years’ experience in b2b media, events, exhibitions and conferences. He launched Precision Communities six months ago, on a mission to build virtual events that ‘catalyse’ companies outside the traditional loop. In this episode, Baris Onay discusses his learnings from the Covid-19 pandemic, the story behind the company name, cost efficienc...

Reshad Hossenally found his inspiration in a part-time job; selling tickets, by hand, while at university. He went on to found Event Genius, and the related Ticket Arena consumer brand. In 2019, Hossenally and the Event Genius, Ticket Arena company joined forces with Festicket, becoming one of Europe’s leading primary ticketing and event tech providers.   Trusted by the likes of Coachella, Afro Na...

With a background in big events, from London and Southampton Boat Shows to the International Festival for Business, James Gower was a perfect fit with The Game Fair when he was appointed managing director in 2015, and still is.   In this episode, James Gower talks about the Fair’s considerable history – the late Prince Philip famously branded it the ‘shop window of the countryside’ - before diggin...