Shared learnings will play an integral part of The Meetings Show this year with an education programme designed to inspire, support and guide PAs and EAs as they reimagine events for the ‘new normal’.
The programme, curated by The Meetings Show’s new conference and content manager, Erica Oghoghorie, offers more than 40 hours of education across two days with sessions designed to highlight learnings from the last 18 months and look at how we can return profits to near pre-Covid levels.
To make it easier for attendees to identify sessions most relevant to them, content is organised across five learning theatres: Industry Trends; My Career and Personal Development; Event Marketing; Event Technology and Meetings Design.
Sessions will be held as intimate campfires within the show floor, hands-on workshops, or as presentations and panel discussions in one of two conference theatres easily accessible from the main exhibition at ExCeL London on 30 September and 1 October. Many theatre sessions will also be streamed live for virtual attendees.
Sharing his learnings from producing high-profile virtual events and giving an insight into his music management career will be Ric Salmon, CEO of Driift and producer of the first virtual Glastonbury Festival.
Salmon’s keynote session will be delivered live at 11:50am on 1 October and will see him explore Driift’s success in producing ticketed live-streams for musical artists such as Laura Marling, Nick Cave, Kylie Minogue and Andrea Bocelli that paved the way for Live at Worthy Farm, the first virtual Glastonbury Festival.
The music industry veteran of almost 25 years will also talk about how Driift overcame a database malfunction – the product of another company’s mishap – that meant some ticketholders were locked out of the Worthy Farm stream’s opening performances, before taking part in a live Q&A.
EAs and PAs looking for further insights into the world of virtual events should attend Off-the-shelf or bespoke? The best platform for you with Adam Pike of Swift MRP on 30 September at 09:50am (live and virtual) while panel discussion Navigating and excelling in the next normal: Professional growth you need at 12:30pm that day is a must for those seeking career guidance.
The rest of the education programme will tackle a range of pertinent topics – from sustainability and diversity to marketing and data management. Speakers include Ryan Curtis-Johnson of DRPG, Laura Capell-Abra, founder of Stress Matters and Gabrielle Austen-Browne and Ashanti Bentil-Dhue of Diversity Ally.
Oghoghorie says: “The lockdowns, travel bans, and social distancing measures brought about by the pandemic have had a massive impact on the meetings and events industry. It has been a time of change and transformation. However, with restrictions lifted and hope on the horizon, it is time to look ahead.
“The education programme has been designed specifically for this purpose – to guide, inspire and inform those in the industry as they set out to rebuild it.”
For more information about The Meetings Show and to register to attend visit https://www.themeetingsshow.com.
