Hi #eventprofs! Sorry for the long absence from writing and updating this blog in the last two weeks. The reason for it is that I moved flats – and didn’t even imagine how stressful it will be! I like to write on weekends, but my weekends were busy with packing, ordering and building furniture, cleaning and arranging everything and it took enormous amount of time and energy. This week we went on holidays in Cornwall, very beautiful sea side destination. Now everything is almost done with the move and I am happy to be back on track and share with you some of the recent and exciting industry news.
Back in May I was invited to attend ISES Accelerate event, and that was the first year it took place. The topic this year was “Creativity Accelerates Business Growth” and was a three day long event, starting with an opening party on Thursday, main conference on Friday and venue tour on Saturday. I attended only the event on Friday and here share with you some of the highlights.
There was a great line-up of international speakers. Colja Dams, CEO of Vok Dams, a leading German agency for Events and Live Marketing talked about current trends. He said that biggest trend over the last five years was hybrid events – that is live combined with mobile, social and location based (MoSoLo). The current trends are egolution (the selfie, smart watches and measuring ones results against others), social media, WOM 2000 3D, co-creation and storytelling. He also shared some of their projects they run internationally in the automotive and pharmaceutical industries, some of Germany’s biggest industries. Since I lived two years in Germany I was familiar with Vok Dams, which is one of the biggest in Germany and was looking forward to attend this talk, which of course didn’t disappoint.
Second speaker was King Dahl, Executive Director of Event Design, MGM Resorts, Las Vegas. Obviously Las Vegas is one of the most exciting and dynamic places to work in where you need to deliver an experience of a lifetime. He talked about the “X5 – creating extraordinary events” by “Exceeding customer expectations by creating extraordinary event experiences through expertise, innovation and collaboration”.
Following session was a Q & A with Caprice Bourret, a successful business woman, TV personally and entrepreneur, owner and founder of By Caprice Brand who shared with us how she created her brand, how she leverages social media and ups and downs of her business. Even though she is not from the events industry – it was inspiring to hear how she runs her business and recognises and leverages trends.
Kevin Jackson Vice President EMEA at George P Johnson and president elect of ISES talked about how “creativity makes you money” and spoke about the changing trends in brand communication and the relationship brands can establish via different channels – “it is not about broadcasting anymore but listening because your audience is talking about you without you being aware of it”. Social media is the most powerful tool and brands need to understand it and be part of it by joining the conversation.
In the afternoon session, Michelle Bryan-Low head of large customer marketing EMEA at Google UK shared the four Google principles in delivering events, these are : start with the end – what you want attendees to talk about, defend the delegate, make a few memories and “make it live on”.
Luckily, all talks are available on YouTube and I highly recommend you to watch.
The event took place at Emirates stadium. There was no match on the day and we were the only ones having an event there. Personally I like very much football stadiums and everything to do with sports – so I think ISES made the right choice. It is a unique venue and at the same very functional.
The catering was also excellent, provided by Delaware North and was a buffet style.
What in my opinion distinguished this event from most of the events I attend in London is that there were many participants from oversees, from different backgrounds, with different expectations and experiences and it was great exchanging ideas with international planners.
Overall, the first ISES Accelerate event was very successful and can highly recommend attending it next year.
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