THE PLACE TO DO BUSINESS

NADU PLACCA SELINA DONALD

Event Buyers Live is back and as organisers prepare to experience #EBL22, StandOut previews the industry event

Organisers from some of the most respected events, festivals, and agencies in the UK are preparing to gather at Carden Park, Chester, for productive meetings, insightful roundtables, thoughtprovoking workshops, and valuable networking.

Following a challenging and overwhelming summer season, events professionals are keen to reconnect at Event Buyers Live (November 28-30) and discuss the realities of life in live events.

“Our attendees are poised and ready to discuss their needs for 2023 and beyond,” said Neil Fagg, co-founder of Event Buyers Live, the leading industry event. “Event Buyers Live provides organisers with the platform to discuss procurement needs and supply chain requirements in prescheduled meetings.

“This summer, the live events industry has had an incredibly stressful few months. They have told us how overwhelming the summer months have been. We have all heard about supply chain shortages and lack of resources. So, the ability to discuss infrastructure and procurement needs in a supportive environment that harnesses productivity is exactly what events professionals need right now. Therefore, I am certain that Event Buyers Live is perfectly timed once again because organisers are desperate to nail down their supply chain, share their summer experiences, and network with other live events professionals.”

PACKED PROGRAMME

The 2022 edition of Event Buyers Live will be the event’s eighth outing and will welcome only 100 of the live event industry’s most influential organisers and 45 respected event suppliers for pre-qualified face-toface meetings. Event Buyers Live – headline sponsored by Visions Group – will be the place to focus, plan, and look forwards to 2023 in an exclusive environment that is not only relaxed but conducive to business.

Following feedback from last year’s event, the organising team has revised the event’s education programme to include more intense workshops, which will flank Event Buyer Live’s renowned roundtable discussions.

This year’s roundtable discussions will be hosted by Gary Beestone Associates’ Zoe Snow, University of Northampton’s Claire Drakeley, Professor Keith Still, Nipperbout’s Janthea Brigden, MyCause’s Rob Wilkinson, Hull City Council’s Helen Thackeray, Greater London Authority’s James Fitzgerald, and Jackie Slade, formerly at Birmingham 2022. They are facilitating sessions on large-scale event production, decision making and when things go wrong, crowd science, safeguarding and family-friendly events, volunteer management, working effectively with local authorities, event feasibility, and site design, overlay, and management respectively.

Caroline Clift, editor of StandOut magazine and Event Buyers Live’s content manager, said: “Event Buyers Live has always featured roundtable discussions. They are a popular concept because they enable event organisers to sit with an expert in a chosen field and discuss the challenges they face on-site and learn from other organisers. Roundtable discussions will remain a staple of Event Buyers Live. However, this year, it was evident that we had to create more room in the agenda for some workshops so that certain topics could be explored in more depth and detail. Hence, we have curated two workshops on sustainability and staff welfare and mental health.”

KEY FOCUS

The sustainability workshop will be led by isla, an action-driven body that seeks to accelerate the event industry’s adoption of sustainability measures. Working in collaboration with isla are The Bulb, ecolibrium, Vision: 2025, Cranfield University, Julia Charles Event Management, and A Greener Festival; together, the organisations will share vital knowledge and best practice

ROBERT MASTERSON ZOE SNOW

JANTHEA BRIGDEN

JONNY BENJAMIN AND NEIL LAYBOURN

CLAIRE DRAKELEY

that will help event professionals to either begin their sustainability journey or progress even further.

Clift said: “I’m really excited to see some of the industry’s most respected minds in the world of sustainability come together for EBL, including isla’s Ellie Ashton-Melia, The Bulb’s Selina Donald, ecolibrium’s Naomi Lawson, Vision: 2025’s Bethan Riach, Cranfield University’s Dr Phil Hart, A Greener Festival’s Claire O’Neill, and Julia Charles-Wiginton, founder of Julia Charles Event Management.”

Mental Health UK is supporting EBL’s staff welfare and mental health workshop, which will feature lived experience, realworld expertise, and insight from Claire Neal, head of workplace mental health at Mental Health UK, Jonny Benjamin, founder of Thinkwell, Neil Laybourn, founder of Beyond Shame Beyond Stigma, Craig Mathie, former MD of Bournemouth 7s, and Ben Atkins, co-founder of Lost Village festival.

INCLUSIVE EVENT

Sustainability and mental health are just two of Event Buyers Live’s core pillars for 2022. Diversity, equality, and inclusion (DEI) is the other focus. Therefore, Event Buyers Live will feature a DEI panel, including Krishnan Doyle, founder of COREcruitment, Nadu Placca, global event and experience architect at The Zoo XYZ and co-founder of the Association of Black Event Professionals, Emma Ord, former head of accessibility at Birmingham 2022, Gideon Feldman, head of programmes and business development at Attitude is Everything, and Katouche Goll, a service user, who will talk to delegates about her experiences (good and bad) at UK events and festivals. The panel session will be led by Ben Whur, co-founder of Proud Events, and Event Buyer’s Live’s DEI advisor.

Fagg commented: “We are taking active steps to ensure Event Buyers Live is more inclusive. That means asking the right questions and finding out who our delegates represent; taking a snapshot of who is in the room but still delivering on our main goals.

“The events industry is wonderfully welcoming, but I acknowledge that more can be done to increase diversity, and make people feel represented and included. We have worked hard with Ben to deliver an inclusive panel session at EBL that we hope will inspire all our guests.”

LOOK TO THE FUTURE

But that’s not all; there is more content in the form of TEDx-style talks with emc3’s Josh King, Mustard Media’s Robert Masterson, and The Power of Events’ Rick Stainton talking about the future of event tech, the future of festival marketing, and the future of events.

The business of events, the future of festivals, and the lack of Government support for the events industry, hospitality, and freelancers will be discussed when Sacha Lord takes to the stage at Event Buyers Live too.

CRAIG MATHIE BEN WHUR

BEN ATKINS

ROB WILKINSON

ELLIE ASHTON-MELIA SACHA LORD

Lord, co-founder of Parklife, co-founder of The Warehouse Project, and night-time economy adviser for Greater Manchester, will take part in a Q&A session. He will draw on more than 25 years of music and events experience, relaying his thoughts and opinions on the festival market, festival saturation, upcoming industry challenges, Government support (or lack of it), the supply chain, decision-making, risk-taking, and lessons learned. Plus, he will talk about mental health and how staff and customer welfare is a major focus.

NET-WALKING

“This is the most packed content programme that Event Buyers Live has developed,” commented Clift. “We have roundtable discussions, workshops, TEDxstyle talks, and Q&A sessions. The education programme is designed to be inclusive. Everyone learns and absorbs information in different ways so we hope that by delivering a mix of formats, our audience will leave feeling they have learned from the best and can take home information that they can share with their teams.”

She added: “Furthermore, we have created two Net-Walks. Net-Walks combine networking and walking. The Net-Walks are designed to give guests a break from the meeting room, the chance to get some fresh air, and a further opportunity to meet new people, whilst taking in the beautiful surroundings of Carden Park.

“They are a new addition to the programme but we’re sure that they will get the creative juices flowing and provide our guests with the opportunity to meet someone new.”

EVENT BUZZ

Event Buyers Live is respected within the live events industry and is known as “the place to do business”. This has been recognised by event organisers that have secured their place to the annual event. Attendees already confirmed to attend Event Buyers Live 2022, include Royal Horticultural Society, IMG, LS Events, Avantgarde, Green Man, The Game Fair, Bristol City Council, Identity, Southampton Boat Show, LimeLight Sports, DHP Family, NW Live, London Marathon Events, Method Events, and Kilimanjaro Live.

Fagg said: “The event industry’s desire to reconnect is evident from the organisers and suppliers that have signed up to attend. Organisers are ready to have serious conversations about procurement and want to book infrastructure for the coming season. They are ready to book kit and have open and honest chats.”

He concluded: “There’s a lot of buzz for Event Buyers Live 2022. An event of this nature has never been more needed. The networking will be fascinating, the prearranged meetings will be authentic, and the education sessions will be amazing.”

For more information, visit www.eventbuyerslive.com or call 01795 509113.

SUPPLIERS LIST

2CL Access Events ADI UK All About ME (Marquees and Events) Amadeus Catering Ashridge House CTN Exhibitions Chronosoft Cube Modular DSV Solutions Event Flooring Solutions Event in a Tent Event Wise Evolution Dome Fantastic Fireworks Festivall Services GAP Group Gofer GL events UK Halo Solutions Harrier UK IDE Systems Iventis Odin Events Peequal PKL Group Pylon One Redbox Tickets and Events Roadphone NRB Segway Events/Big Bang Promotions Sierra 1 Security Silent Noize Events Site and Stage Space Cube Sunbelt Rentals Symphotech The Event and Exhibition Partnership The Five Star Group The Metatech Group The TicketSellers/Eventree Tixel Tysers UK Flyers Versatile Venues Visions Group

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