Event Industry News Podcast

Formerly head of events at Founders Forum Group, Jesse Peterkin took his background in high-end hospitality and international events to immersive specialist This is Beyond, where he’s head of operations, in September 2023.   Focused on engagement at in-person events, this episode sees Jesse talking to host James Dickson about the customer journey and fostering that ‘I belong’ feeling.   They discuss the components that make up an event, and the best ways of getting them to work together. The registration process, audience engagement - how it can differ from event to event - and the specific start point in that relationship.   The conversation also covers the AI space, using social media, networking, the good food trigger, connection points and much more.   To keep up to date with all the news, subscribe for free here.   If you would like to take part in a podcast, then please complete our submission form. This episode of the Event Industry News Podcast is sponsored by Evolution dome, award-winning temporary event structures. Take a look at their structures at evolutiondome.com

Live and direct from Montreal, Canada, Jesse Gainer is VP growth and partnerships at C2 – a company spawned from equal measures of two impactful locals - ad agency Sid Lee and Cirque de Soleil. Best known for the shapeshifting C2 Montreal, ‘Canada’s leading creative business summit’ launched in response to the 2008 financial crisis, which has featured A-list speakers, Spike Lee, Martha Stewart, Arianna Huffington, Steve Wozniak, Jane Fonda, and Snoop Dogg among them, C2 has gone on to take that category-defying philosophy to brands around the world. This episode sees Jesse consider the question ‘Does hybrid exist’? He talks about the delivery progress from 2019 to 2023, Jurassic Park, mistakes, video on demand, inclusivity, tailoring event feeds to fit, what happened to the Metaverse and more besides.  Full of ideas, eloquent, and keen on hand gestures, these 40 minutes or so with Jesse Garner, hosted by James Dickson, are well worth tuning into.  To keep up to date with all the news, subscribe for free here.   If you would like to take part in a podcast, then please complete our submission form. This episode of the Event Industry News Podcast is sponsored by Evolution dome, award-winning temporary event structures. Take a look at their structures at evolutiondome.com

With more than 12 years’ experience working in the events industry, primarily in tech, Rachel Heller is senior content program manager, events, at Github, the AI-powered developer platform.   Tellingly, Rachel wrote a blog for the Github site, ‘9 tips to go from attendee to speaker at a tech conference’ and that’s what this episode is all about.   Rachel talks about the journey; the call for sessions, inspiring people to apply, networking, crafting talks, writing a good bio and, ultimately, becoming a familiar name to organisers.   Rachel goes on to highlight a couple of tips from her blog – not least helping the review committee to understand how long your content can live beyond the event. She discusses the thin line between a conference keynote and a podcast, taking advantage of the real-time experience, practising content ideas in front of people with no knowledge of your industry, passion projects, preparation, and vocal techniques.   It’s a really to-the-point, insightful 30 minutes that brings the stage much closer to the audience.   To keep up to date with all the news, subscribe for free here.   If you would like to take part in a podcast, then please complete our submission form. This episode of the Event Industry News Podcast is sponsored by Evolution dome, award-winning temporary event structures. Take a look at their structures at evolutiondome.com

Former head of digital innovation at Reed Exhibitions, Ade Allenby launched his own advisory business in March 2023.   In this episode, Ade talks advances in event tech, the sector’s move from the fringes to the heartbeat of contemporary shows, tools that help people connect, and generating data to help organisers better understand their audience.   Prompted by host James Dickson, Ade goes on to discuss the spoils of cameras in the halls, algorithmic Bluetooth navigation/tracking and measuring success, QR codes, engagement touchpoints, IOS update – airdrop and namedrop – incorporating audience-owned tech, or not, and clients’ common questions.   To keep up to date with all the news, subscribe for free here.   If you would like to take part in a podcast, then please complete our submission form. This episode of the Event Industry News Podcast is sponsored by Evolution dome, award-winning temporary event structures. Take a look at their structures at evolutiondome.com

Caroline Cronin took her 16 plus years of industry experience to emap in 2021, as head of conferences then head of events.   In this episode, with a focus on the post-pandemic push for new order, Caroline details the spawn of enforced downtime, changing formulas for awards ceremonies and conferences, and how covid crushed historical data’s validity.   Talking to host James Dickson, Caroline goes on to discuss everything from fostering event relationships after pandemic ground zero, the unity of inexperience, unpredictable schedules to setting new trends and compartmentalisation. To keep up to date with all the news, subscribe for free here.   If you would like to take part in a podcast, then please complete our submission form. This episode of the Event Industry News Podcast is sponsored by Evolution dome, award-winning temporary event structures. Take a look at their structures at evolutiondome.com

Ewelina Dunkley has years of experience in the live events world, working in hospitality, fine dining and private parties before joining Meta, (then Facebook, Inc) in 2016, where she’s events lead. This episode is about Hackathons, a term for a social coding event that brings computer programmers and other interested people together to improve upon, or build, new software. Ewelina talks host James Dickson through the customer journey, dispelling myths and clarifying the makeup of a Hackathon. She goes on to discuss the value in collaboration, the high energy atmosphere of these get-togethers, in-person or remote and who benefits. Ewelina details the duration, building teams, commitments, connectivity, skills diversity, structure, judges, unpolished results, networks, ensuing relationships, and… the Hackers Club.    To keep up to date with all the news, subscribe for free here.   If you would like to take part in a podcast, then please complete our submission form. This episode of the Event Industry News Podcast is sponsored by Evolution dome, award-winning temporary event structures. Take a look at their structures at evolutiondome.com

Working at Emirates Old Trafford since 2013, Angela Hobson has been sales director at the home to Lancashire County Cricket club for more than three years. Talking to host James Dickson just after the third Ashes Test had decided the series, Australia retaining the urn, Angela does the detail about the venue’s massive redevelopment – a £45m programme over 15 years. She discusses the planning and delivery behind a Test match and Emirates Old Trafford’s new-look provision for the greater events model, the Point controversy, getting other elements of the portfolio up to standard, the versatility of the Pavilion and the Player & Media Centre. Angela Hobson goes on to detail the ecological terrace and the greater sustainability picture, the Sensory Room and the on-site 150-bedroom Hilton Garden Inn, replete with pitch views and balconies, and providing for everything from 60,000 cap concerts to conferences to board meetings. And beyond those boundaries… To keep up to date with all the news, subscribe for free here.   If you would like to take part in a podcast, then please complete our submission form. This episode of the Event Industry News Podcast is sponsored by Evolution dome, award-winning temporary event structures. Take a look at their structures at evolutiondome.com

Thomas Serrano launched Exclamation Group in 2020. Driven by its ‘Events That Make A Point’ mantra the company is a ‘one-stop-shop for corporate and luxury events, cultural and sports partnerships’. And the New York/Miami-based business lists Bulgari, Audemars Piguet, Dom Perignon and Swarovski among recent clients. In this episode, the focus is on how music sews, or should sew, events together. Thomas Serrano discusses the experience clients want to create, mapping their collective or independent emotional journey through sound, and how that system can make events memorable as well as meaningful. Talking to host James Dickson, Serrano goes on to explain how music fits the Exclamation Group model, live versus pre-recorded sound, compositions behind the reveal of a new car, the value of researching an audience, the data behind a playlist, drawing/keeping attention and the power of the unexpected.   To keep up to date with all the news, subscribe for free here.   If you would like to take part in a podcast, then please complete our submission form. This episode of the Event Industry News Podcast is sponsored by Evolution dome, award-winning temporary event structures. Take a look at their structures at evolutiondome.com

Launched in 2003, IMEX Frankfurt is the heartbeat of the global business events community. And that’s what it says on the show’s homepage. In this episode, IMEX design manager Anna Gyseman and Oli Bailey, interaction designer, detail the considerable process involved in giving a new look to the practised, proven event. In conversation with host James Dickson they discuss 18 months research – not least with 50 external partners - how it’s a refresh not a rebrand, modernising and streamlining the stamp, physically and digitally. They go on to talk diligence in the process – through prototypes in context, animation, sponsorships and timing, ahead of the big reveal. To keep up to date with all the news, subscribe for free here.   If you would like to take part in a podcast, then please complete our submission form. This episode of the Event Industry News Podcast is sponsored by Evolution dome, award-winning temporary event structures. Take a look at their structures at evolutiondome.com

Raccoon Media Group, formerly Raccoon Events, launched in a garden shed and delivered the award-winning National Running Show, at Birmingham NEC, less than two years later. In this episode, CEO Mike Seaman talks host James Dickson through Raccoon’s growth, how it currently runs 10 shows, eight of them homegrown, two acquired. Mike discusses rebranding during Covid, delivering for the 500,000 people on the Raccoon database, turning ideas into realities, the resurgence of events post-pandemic, the future of Raccoon as a blended events and digital business, and the vetting process among target communities. The podcast also touches on engagement and galvanising groups of people, similarities between running and equine events, sustainability, and the metrics of taking shows across the Pond.    To keep up to date with all the news, subscribe for free here.   If you would like to take part in a podcast, then please complete our submission form. This episode of the Event Industry News Podcast is sponsored by Evolution dome, award-winning temporary event structures. Take a look at their structures at evolutiondome.com