North star

Adam Pike, director of Swift MRP, is a founding member of the Event Buyers Collective (EBC). Here, he talks of his role at EBC and what the collective can offer the live events industry…

WHAT IS EBCOLLECTIVE AND HOW DID IT COME ABOUT?

Event Buyers Collective (EBC) in essence is simply a group of companies that when pulled together in a single portfolio, have all the expertise to deliver an entire event, project, or experience. Coppard Digital, Endigo Event Communications, StandOut Multimedia, Style Branding Merchandise, and Swift MRP form the collective and we are working together, combining extensive experience and knowledge to deliver the many varied facets that make projects and events successful. Clients can pick any service – website design, venue finding, event managers, event consultation, branded merchandise, story-telling and marketing services and support – they want, making it an easy service to work with.

Event Buyers Collective came about when Neil [Neil Fagg, event director of Event Buyers Live] and I had our regular catchup. We noticed that there was a real buzz within the Event Buyers Live (EBL) community. People wanted to know how they could access the service that put on EBL. Like most events, it’s a culmination of multiple people coming together to deliver the event. Thus we thought it a great idea to create our own community of companies to allow others access to the team that plans and executes EBL.

WHAT ARE YOUR STRENGTHS AND AREAS OF EXPERTISE AND WHERE DO THEY SIT WITHIN EBC?

My biggest strength is in the planning and execution of an event, with a real focus on the creative and storytelling journey of an event. I’ve been in the industry for more than 25 years and have worked on pretty much every single type of event possible. My goal has always been to create a reputation for a client and exceed expectations. Ultimately, I’m here to make you look good! This feeds into EBC with the planning, both long-term and shortterm for the client, providing the funnel and structure of the event.

The dynamic is fluid in EBC, with each company having its own area of expertise. This allows the client to have a single point of primary contact with the rest of the collective supporting as a team, depending on their primary objective and expectation.

HOW WILL EBC DIFFER FROM ANY OTHER SERVICE PROVIDER IN THE EVENTS INDUSTRY? WHAT’S YOUR USP?

Our USP is our people. It’s the proposition that a client can tap into industry experts in many different fields and know the knowledge exists to safely navigate them through their journey. We have a combined collective experience of more than 200 years, which does make me feel very old!

WHO OR WHAT WOULD BE YOUR IDEAL CLIENT?

For me that’s easy! It’s a client who can find the value in the knowledge and expertise we have and want to weave that into their project. The best and most exciting projects always form from everyone coming together with ideas, and the experts helping guide the journey showing what in reality is possible with whatever constraints they have. I love a project that’s in the realisation and funding stage as those pipe dream ideas have a chance to land and provide real ROI as they are a milestone from the outset.

WHAT PLANS DOES EBC HAVE FOR THE FUTURE?

I think the key to this is the foundations. It’s ensuring everyone in the collective has their own focus, in their area of expertise, and loves to collaborate on projects. This then will be the catalyst to help more clients with their events and projects, representing real tangible value. For the future, I would love to see us deliver a full service and even maybe add another couple of experts to the collective as its goal is simply to help people create and deliver amazing events and experiences whilst providing knowledge and support.