Latest / Event Industry News Podcast / Designing Experiences for the Next Generation of Event Planners

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Designing Experiences for the Next Generation of Event Planners · Event Industry News Podcast

0:05
Welcome along to the 3rd and final session of today's Unique
0:09
Venues of London showcase, the inaugural UVL
0:13
showcase, bringing all the venues under one
0:16
roof for the first time. And our final session of the
0:20
3 is designing experiences for the next generation of event
0:24
planners. So it'd be interesting to find out
0:29
what the panel's views are and where they think things are going at the moment.
0:32
So let's welcome them along. First of all, we've got Lucy Eden,
0:36
the founder of Be In Your Element, joining us.
0:39
Zoe Light, head of agency at Assemble.
0:42
Claire Arouche— well done— correct,
0:46
head of hospitality and events at the National Gallery.
0:50
And Martin Dibben, the co-founder of Premier Crew.
0:54
The first thing we're going to do is find out a little bit more about
0:56
you all to give some context. To the people either watching this after the event
1:00
or sat in the room now. So Lucy, let's start with you at the
1:04
end. Tell us a little bit about yourself, what you do. Okay, thank you.
1:06
Good afternoon everyone, nice to meet you. So yes, I own my own company
1:10
called Be in Your Element. I've been in the industry for about 20 years,
1:13
but 5 years ago when lockdown happened, a little bit just before,
1:17
after, and after that, sorry, I decided that wellbeing was really important
1:21
for events because when events were starting we were actually doing it online and we
1:25
were kind of missing that human connection. So Then I built a company that was
1:27
all about human connection, human sustainability. And what that looks
1:31
like is there could be a talk going on and we'd do breathwork for
1:35
the delegates before they started. There'd be a quiet room, perhaps when it's too noisy
1:38
up there in the area that everyone's communicating, or it could be a really
1:42
kind of wholesome retreat for a couple of days. So yeah, I'm here to really
1:46
shine the light and fly the flag for people's wellbeing and
1:49
human sustainability. Great, yeah,
1:53
I'm Zoe Light, Head of Agency for Assemble, and we're
1:57
part of Assemble Group. So we are a full-service event management agency that
2:00
deliver globally all over the world. So obviously
2:04
coming in from a different perspective to Lucy, but also the well-being of our teams
2:07
when they're working across time zones, they're traveling, trying to manage
2:10
that all-important burnout that is ever-present in our industry is something that
2:14
we're really keen on sort of trying to find a fix for, but also keep
2:18
the industry moving and evolving at the same time.
2:22
Claire, welcome along. Thank you. I'm Claire Arouche. I am
2:26
Head of Hospitality and Events at the National Gallery. I have been working in the
2:30
events industry for many, many years. In fact, Lucy and I used to work together
2:33
years and years ago. I look after our public kind
2:37
of hospitality at the gallery and also our commercial events and kind of tours and
2:41
tourism at the gallery as well. So I've got a background of heritage venues,
2:45
very much working in venues that aren't that's not their first
2:49
purpose, but in fact what that adds is a real element of occasion,
2:53
you know, kind of enrichment to what an event can be in those kind
2:58
of venues. So that's me. And Martin? Thank you. Well,
3:01
probably we've been going along with each other perhaps, but obviously
3:06
I've been involved with hospitality and catering and particularly in the events world
3:09
for sort of over 30 years. And then in January with
3:13
Anna, we sort of launched Premier Cru, which is really
3:16
about creating marketing experiences, but doing it
3:20
predominantly through drinks. My name is also Mr. Bubbles,
3:25
which you can— aka Mr. Bubbles. But equally, more recently, it's not
3:29
just about champagne, it's about English sparkling, and then it goes into the non-alcoholic
3:33
sparkling as well. So today we're talking about experiences,
3:37
but also the know and love, which is so dominant in our industry.
3:41
And the sort of the subject, the broad subject of today's
3:45
conversation here right now is designing experiences for the next generation
3:49
of event planners. And I alluded to the fact that I've
3:52
had this conversation of sorts recently on episodes of the
3:56
podcast and at events as well, and looking at how events
4:00
are changing shape and being driven by different
4:04
demands and how the new generation is shaping that.
4:08
I thought maybe the best place— forgive me if I'm wrong— but was to start
4:11
with Zoe and just maybe look at, from an agency side, how that's being driven.
4:15
Because you'll be working with clients who come to
4:19
you with certain requirements. And I'm wondering how, as an agency,
4:23
you're sort of looking forward ahead to the next 10 years and how
4:26
that generation is shaping what you're doing now. Yeah, I think it's
4:31
very different, right? Right down from our board to then sort
4:35
of our senior leadership and then our day-to-day project managers,
4:38
we're all from 3 different generations. Generations. You know, we still have, and there's still
4:41
people in this industry that will remember doing venue searching through venue directory
4:45
and picking up the phone and stuff. And so nowadays that's just not like it.
4:49
So I think it's not— it's about how we plan for the next generation
4:53
in terms of the younger people within our team. So for them, we're doing a
4:56
lot around trying to explain how they can manage
5:00
their sort of work-life balance, but equally the incredible experiences
5:03
we get in the industry. But also it's developing the next
5:07
generation where we're trying to develop how their pieces can
5:11
fit into the older generation. So I think it's a different way as to how
5:15
to look at it. It's not just all about the youth that
5:18
are coming through to develop that next generation. You have to bring
5:22
everyone on board that journey. And like I
5:26
said, we're doing a lot where we've got project execs that might then do a
5:29
training session to our— to the rest of the team on how they're
5:34
really fast and quick at using, using AI, or how they can zip
5:38
around a hotel website, find they need to do and put a proposal in like
5:41
20 minutes, whereas someone it might have taken now. So I think it's bringing
5:45
them on board the journey that they feel like they are shaping
5:48
that next generation as well as like the leaders.
5:53
Well, we had a— a couple of us had a conversation in advance of today,
5:56
and I think I mentioned on there about attention span.
6:00
And whenever I sort of talk or I'm
6:03
involved in the subjects of sort of designing new experiences and next generation,
6:07
attention span is something that always comes to me very, very quickly when I think
6:11
about how we shape our agendas and our programmes of any type of event now
6:15
and how we have to sort of adjust that to understand the
6:19
different attention spans that are prevalent now.
6:23
You know, everybody's attention span is shorter. Claire, you're not— I don't know if that,
6:25
you know, from a venue perspective, is that something that you see your clients changing
6:30
and adjusting agendas? Yeah, I mean, I think the days
6:33
of just inviting people to a conference and sitting in a lecture theatre and
6:37
listening to talk after talk and seminar sessions, they're kind of long gone.
6:40
People will come to events if it— if there's something in
6:44
it for them from an experience point of view, if they're going to learn something,
6:47
if they're going to see something that they might not have seen, um, that's becoming
6:51
more and more important. And I think agendas are definitely having to incorporate that
6:54
kind of thing to make sure they're covering that for, for the delegate. Otherwise they
6:59
just won't get the attendance that they used to get back in the day.
7:01
They'll— they need to offer something more now. Is that true, Lucy? Yeah,
7:05
I was just thinking in my head, um, a fun fact about how the fish
7:08
are actually outwitting us with their memory now, because you used to say like,
7:12
I've got a memory like a goldfish, which would be a bad thing And it's
7:15
something silly like the Google adverts, they now only go for 3 seconds.
7:19
They used to go for longer because we used to have the ability
7:22
to be brought in and engaged for a longer period, but we're not.
7:26
And the neuroscience has actually been proven that 90 minutes we switch off,
7:29
like whether it's something we're really into, but we just can't focus as much.
7:33
So we came in with some things that were called brain breaks.
7:37
So we'd come in and we'd come on stage and we'd get people to maybe
7:40
move out of their seats or take a few breaths, just shift the energy because
7:43
we're all capable of that engagement and retaining the information.
7:46
But as Clare rightly says, gone are the days that, you know, you're just in
7:49
this room with no air, no light for a long period of time.
7:52
This is, you know, a 45-minute session, which is achievable. But back in the day,
7:57
you'd kind of come away from an event exhausted.
8:00
And I think it's our responsibility to make it so it's nourishing and
8:04
insightful and innovative and inspiring.
8:08
I think of basic things sometimes, just about even sort of how
8:11
we dress at an event nowadays. When I went to my— I remember my first
8:16
ever trade show that I went to as a young sort of advertising exec,
8:20
a salesperson at the NEC, and I was told absolutely you have
8:23
to have a suit and tie on, you know, it's business wear.
8:27
And even something as simple as that has changed completely now, hasn't it? How we
8:31
just— it's much less formal. I think it's
8:35
about making everyone feel comfortable to shine in their own way,
8:39
and you know, if you put a younger generation,
8:42
you made them wear a suit and you made them be all formal, they wouldn't
8:45
feel comfortable. So you're not going to get the best work out of them.
8:47
They're not going to be able to excel. They're not going to be able to
8:50
showcase their best qualities. There obviously is
8:53
a line as to, you know, we're still business versus casual. But I
8:57
think, you know, that's— it's not as prevalent as maybe it
9:01
was a couple of years ago when it did feel like we'd gone right the
9:03
other way a little bit. I think it sort of feels like it's reined back
9:07
in a little bit. It's giving them the platform to be able to feel like
9:11
they earn a seat at that table. They can do that. They want to be
9:15
able to feel like they can then voice their opinions.
9:19
The hospitality element of it is going to inevitably play
9:23
a big part of the conversation today because that's changed significantly
9:27
as well in recent years because of maybe, could we call it sort of
9:31
younger generational demands, expectations, however we're going to label it.
9:35
I mean, obviously, coming from a background of food and beverage and all the rest
9:39
of it, I mean, the change is I think that the meal experience, the food
9:42
experience, and the drink experience is part of the occasion,
9:46
whether it is a conference or an entertainment. And I think it has to be
9:49
seen as that. So it's looking at sort of energy food,
9:53
looking at the menus. You know, people are actually coming forward thinking about sustainability.
9:57
That's a very key topic for young people. So are we sort of
10:00
having maybe just a menu that has just vegetarian food perhaps? Are we thinking when
10:05
we look at the drinks, is it sustainable? Is the wine all coming from England?
10:08
Is it sparkling wine? Do we have enough, you know,
10:11
no and low on the menu, which is a huge thing? And that's not just
10:15
young people. That's people who have come to the wellness and were saying, do you
10:18
know what, we like a drink. You know, about 70% actually now do what they
10:22
said were drinking. They'll have a glass of something and then they'll have a glass
10:26
of non-alcoholic. But in fact, it's appalling the way the industry
10:30
is actually dealing with that. And to get an example, I was going around,
10:34
I won't say who it was, but you see this beautiful picture of this amazing
10:37
sort of 10th century building, whatever, and you have a lovely glass
10:41
of beautiful champagne and on the rest of it, and on it with a glass
10:44
of Paris goblet of orange juice. Now, why is it because you're
10:48
a non-drinker that you're treated like a second-class citizen?
10:51
You know, why do you not have some very beautiful drinks? And we're drinking here
10:54
Pentive. Just to say, when you go upstairs, we've got Pentive, which is
10:58
all about botanicals, non-alcoholic. We've got a beautiful
11:02
sparkling wine, non-alcoholic. So there are
11:06
options out there, and I think we really have to cater what people are looking
11:09
for. It's part of the experience. Yeah,
11:12
labels is— I mean, I know you've got to
11:16
disclaimer and all of that, saying something is non-alcoholic, but actually,
11:20
are we getting away from labels more and more by rather than
11:24
calling it a non-alcoholic gin or a 0% gin, are there other sort
11:28
of better ways of phrasing things in, particularly in F&B?
11:34
Well, I think you've got to state it's non-alcoholic because that's a very definite
11:39
question. But I think a lovely sort of menu, and if you think about it,
11:41
you get a lovely brochure and the first 7 pages are about the wine and
11:45
all that sort of stuff, and then you have literally with the coffee, you'll have
11:48
your soft drinks at the back. Think about inclusive packages.
11:52
I've got a story of someone that went to a livery company and of course
11:55
she was asked for— I'm a non-alcoholic, so her allergen
12:00
was that she wanted to have non-alcoholic wine, which she got. Well, then suddenly the
12:03
lady next door said, oh, that looks interesting. I don't want to drink too much.
12:07
Can I have some of yours? And she only had half a bottle. So when
12:10
she said, oh, can I have a bit of that? And then they said,
12:11
oh no, no, she's preordered that. So if you're a non-alcoholic,
12:15
you have to preorder your alcohol. And when you do your Christmas parties, you get
12:19
sort of half a bottle each and one water. And if you suddenly say,
12:20
well, actually, I'm not alcoholic, well, you have to go over
12:24
there and get your orange juice. So we really have to start thinking about
12:28
what goes into packages. So it's not— you're not felt—
12:32
another one I went to, a big venue, and I said I'm non-alcoholic, and they
12:35
had got a non-alcoholic Prosecco, which was great, tick the
12:39
box. And he was, oh yes, do you want to go over there? But if
12:42
you want a full Prosecco, there's your glass on a tray with a beautiful waiter.
12:45
But if you want a non-alcoholic one, do you mind if you turn to the
12:48
right, as if you were sort of a leper. So it happens all the time.
12:52
Yeah, I've got an interesting story to do Just yesterday someone was telling me they're
12:55
recently pregnant and kind of keeping it quiet. They were at a wedding and the
12:59
wedding package, all the drinks were included, gin and tonics, wine, soft drinks.
13:03
Soft drinks were of course orange juice or water. And she wanted—
13:07
she had to go and buy herself a zero gin and tonic. So that's
13:11
a great example of now people just don't— they want to be quietly not drinking
13:14
because people do make a fuss if you don't drink quite often. And they want
13:17
to just do it really discreetly and then they have to go off and buy
13:20
their own drinks at a wedding reception. So yeah, it's the same thing. And I
13:23
think— oh, go on. All I was going to say is I think we're all
13:27
a bit more conscious and aware now as well. And I think being an events
13:30
professional, you need to look beyond what you're doing, which then makes you
13:34
stand out and be more innovative. So if you like, the nation is already
13:38
speaking to us, the latest generation, or even my generation. I'm in my 40s,
13:41
and there's raves going on at coffee bars before work. That is
13:45
right up my street. Like, I'm loving that. You know, there's all these— there's a
13:50
beautiful establishment called Long Lane, which is going to be a members club. And it
13:53
is all about— there's not one bit of Everything is from the soil
13:56
to the plate, like even the garnishing and the cocktails and
14:01
stuff. So there's a desire and a need. People are paying obscene
14:05
amounts of money to go to these things. So I think as event organizers,
14:08
we need to also just have that conscious awareness of what people actually
14:11
want. Because I think sometimes what can be the case for us event
14:15
professionals is we put on the party that we want, what we think. And I
14:19
think what we're not doing very well, there still needs to be a lot of
14:21
time and effort into this, is asking the right questions of
14:25
the audience members that are coming in. Because it's them that we need
14:28
to connect with. It's them that this needs to be a long-lasting impression.
14:32
So I think that that's where you sort of have to start. The impression is
14:35
very important. I mean, I have lots of stories, I'm afraid, everybody. But one
14:40
was they were drinking the Grand Siècle, which is the most prestige champagne
14:44
Laurent-Perrier make. And when you're selling it at client prices, it's about £50 a glass.
14:49
And I said, oh, that's really delicious. What have you got for those who are
14:52
not drinking? And it was, you know, sparkling elderflower. And it just is a commercial
14:56
thing. You know, how can you sell sparkling elderflower at £2 a liter and then
15:00
you're selling a bottle that's £300? But it's also—
15:03
it's a decoration. You want people to feel special. So again, you know, you can
15:07
have some wonderful cocktails, beautiful glass, maybe champagne glass.
15:11
Think about the glassware because that is part of the experience. You know,
15:15
it's just that presentation. You'll even take that Instagram moment. So it's
15:19
the glassware and things like that. And also when you go to a bar or
15:22
your reception bar, you know, having the non-alcoholic drink on
15:27
the forefront rather than it's under the table,
15:30
you know, so you have to find it somehow. Just circling back a
15:34
little bit, Lucy, you jumped in on the point about sort of asking the right
15:37
questions and using that shape. Zoe, did you want to— was there something that you
15:41
were going to jump in? No, I was just going to say on that,
15:42
I think we have to change that that perception. So yes, we have to ask
15:45
the right questions, and there's some great industry events now that you can tick if
15:50
you want alcohol on your table or non-alcoholic or whatever. But I think that
15:53
means that there's a stigma that we need to know. Is that actually the other
15:57
way around? Not to just go— it shouldn't be seen as an alternative option.
16:00
Like we say, it should be out there as a given. It shouldn't be that
16:03
people feel they need to hide they're doing alcohol. So I think there's a massive
16:06
perception switch that we need to make rather than trying overcompensate
16:12
to say, oh, do you want to drink it? Or, oh, we need to make
16:15
sure. Like, it should just be a given. Like, it should be that there's 2
16:19
different options are there, and almost you should be able to pick a drink up
16:22
and doesn't matter if it's a drink or not type thing. Sure. Yeah. Is there,
16:25
is there, um, is there still a sort of a judgmental
16:30
attitude in the events industry? Is this— is there still— are there
16:34
still people operating with a, dare I say it, sort of an old-school mentality
16:38
still towards their events? Is it— have we, have we Are we all shifting or
16:41
are there some people still got a long way to catch up? I think some
16:45
people have got a long way to catch up. There are some that are doing
16:48
it really well and that's great, but I think there's an awful lot
16:52
that, I don't know, maybe it's seen as you're not going to have as much
16:55
fun time or you're not going to stay out and party or like, you know,
16:58
I think there's also a piece in the industry in terms of like the wellness
17:02
that historically the way to, I don't
17:05
know, relax from burnout or a really difficult event or whatever else is to have
17:09
a glass of wine or have a drink. And so that's what I'm saying,
17:12
like the perception of all of that has to change. So we've got some people
17:15
in our room, if they get to the end of the day, I'm like,
17:18
right, we might go and have a drink in the bar. I just want to
17:20
go and sit and read my book for half an hour. Great. That's— if that's
17:23
your way to decompress after an event, that's fine. So I think
17:26
there's a bigger perception in the industry we need to change rather than just
17:31
focusing on, on those sort of bits. I wonder if it's
17:34
just lazy thinking, lazy historic thinking. I think it's doing it as
17:38
they've always done it, you know, not really, not really looking to change. Yeah,
17:41
not everybody, but some. Yeah, there's something— there's a real big problem here that if
17:45
you have one of your larger caterers, they tend to work with
17:49
larger suppliers, people like Matthew Clark and that, if that means anything to anyone.
17:53
Yeah, but there's so much innovative drinks that are coming through, but the volume is
17:57
smaller and they don't tend to get listed by these big
18:01
boys that do the distribution to the big boys. So you tend to find
18:05
the innovative caterer is happy to go down to a a corner shop and buy
18:08
some really exciting drinks is going to come up with something much more exciting
18:12
than perhaps a larger caterer because they can't get hold of it. You know,
18:16
there's a procurement barrier. Yeah, true. I think that's where
18:20
you're seeing a lot of the, like, brand activations and stuff are sort
18:24
of finding partnerships with sort of like the new quirky brands of,
18:28
of different drinks, of like these sort of the energy drinks like Nutonics, that sort
18:31
of stuff, because that's their way getting out there in the market without, like you
18:36
say, exactly that, having to be listed and, you know, loads of things?
18:39
So yeah, I think it takes time because if you think about
18:44
it, we're quite conditioned. It's been a certain way for a certain length of time,
18:46
you know, wearing that badge of honour of 17-hour shifts as well in events,
18:50
you know, that's a hard one to sort of shake off, even me, in the
18:53
well-being element. But I think again it's that self-confidence and
18:57
consciousness to put it on the table, we should be doing things differently,
19:00
because I think you are going to have the older generation that do things a
19:02
certain way, but that's not a bad thing, but you need the younger generation to
19:05
come in, and then you just need the confidence to apply something
19:10
new and see how it feels. I think it's our responsibility to create
19:13
the environment for these things to evolve, but I think sometimes people,
19:17
especially if we bring it back to well-being, which is connected to low and no
19:20
alcohol, but a lot of people find well-being, the word woo-woo. When I first started
19:24
the company, I used the well-being like it was, you know, hello,
19:28
and then I changed it to human sustainability. And my God, did that
19:31
get a different reaction, because all of a sudden I'm talking a love language that's
19:35
talking about productivity and, you know, full engagement and
19:39
performance. So I think we can just be clever. It's still the same.
19:42
What we're trying to do is still make the spaces that we create for people
19:46
nourishing and innovative and all those things, but we can just be
19:50
clever on how we try to put it into action. You know,
19:53
like Claire's doing things amazing at the venue. They do like mindful mornings
19:57
where they bring a mindfulness teacher in and they get them to mindfully look
20:01
at this beautiful artwork. It's such a wonderful way to start the day.
20:04
So it's being a bit out there and innovative, like how can we utilise what
20:08
we've already got? Sure, yeah. That suggests something that to, you know, somebody of
20:12
a certain era finds woo-woo, but taking a breath, taking time for ourselves,
20:16
it's not woo-woo, it's what, it's what us humans need.
20:20
But again, you can just be clever in the way that you weave it in.
20:22
I think what I would just like to say on that is It's not one
20:25
thing fits all. If you can be innovative in the way that you bring it
20:28
in, you know your clients, you know your events. One thing's not going to suit
20:32
Nike like it does for NHS. Like, they're two of our clients and we don't
20:36
answer that brief the same. So I think you've got to really understand your clientele
20:40
to get, to get it right, otherwise it won't fit. So you could do
20:43
low and no alcohol and it's not very popular, but it's because you
20:47
wasn't asking the right questions and understanding the environment and who you're trying to to
20:51
make that for. That's happened several times today.
20:57
One thing— please, Clare, you jump in. To add to that, I think that's the
21:00
beauty of UVLs, really, the Unique Venues of London, because we've all got those
21:04
kind of attributes and those kind of reasons for being rather than just a room.
21:08
You know, there's something historical, art,
21:11
culture, whatever it might be, and that really is
21:15
important now, I think, rather than your hotel room or a conference centre. You know,
21:17
it's— people are wanting that extra element, and it's exactly that.
21:21
I just wanted to sort of throw in or add that I felt it
21:25
was really important with this conversation not to just get
21:29
distracted by looking at what the next generation are thinking of,
21:32
the younger generation are demanding, or how that's going to dictate
21:36
event experiences. Because we've already mentioned things like, you know, the morning
21:40
raves. You know, people who went out raving
21:43
in the late '80s and early '90s are now Raving at 8
21:47
AM. Much older, so they want a different experience.
21:51
And I think it's important that when we're talking about designing the next generation of
21:55
experiences, it's not necessarily for the next generation of younger
21:59
people coming through. It's the next generation, the next iteration of how events are shaped
22:04
for everybody. And I'm sure, again, agency side,
22:08
you're probably getting that all the time. You're dealing with all sorts of demographics
22:11
and all sorts of events. Yeah, and that's it. You have to listen to everyone.
22:14
You know, everyone has a reason to be around the table and has deserved
22:18
a seat to be there. So their opinion is— we always say it's never wrong.
22:22
Everyone can feed into it. And so no matter what you're doing,
22:25
whether you're agency or venue side or whatever, everyone has an opinion. I think that's
22:30
also the shift. You know, there's obviously a lot of stigma and talk around,
22:33
oh, Gen Z want this, Gen Z want that. That's just how they've been brought
22:37
up. They— it's not like they're doing it to be a pain or anything like
22:40
that. That's just there, that's their opinion, but we equally need to put them in
22:43
the same room environment to discuss, to hear from
22:46
the other side. You know, it should be a little bit of both. That's the
22:49
only way we're all going to work together and all be able to continue moving
22:53
forwards. And like you say, that next generation, we're all hopefully still
22:57
going to be here for the next generation and designing and moving things forward,
23:00
so we've got to work together as a, as a sort of collective team.
23:04
And if I can jump in there, kind of— I keep saying the word environment
23:07
today, I think, but I think I've said about 12 times, but it's a bit
23:10
controversial. But, you know, back in the day— so yeah, I'm an '80s kid— I
23:14
think if I'd have been given the opportunity to go to events and have a
23:17
low and no bar and to have something that was nourishing in a quiet room,
23:20
I would have loved it. But it just wasn't that era. So you can
23:24
only do what you're presented with, right? So you just follow like
23:27
a bit of a sheep because that's what we're all doing. We're all having a
23:30
free bar. It's happy hour, that's kind of how we clock off. That was,
23:33
you know, from the war onwards. So we're shaking it off and we're shifting.
23:36
But actually, if we was all true to ourselves, we'd probably all would have liked
23:38
that a lot earlier on. It's nice that it's happening now, but again, it's our
23:42
responsibility from a venue perspective, from a supplier perspective,
23:45
agency, that we create the environment to not only do what we're doing now,
23:48
but again, the possibilities of other things that's going to make it better
23:52
and easier for everybody to attend. There's lots of things going on at the moment
23:56
which which is like, um, lots of people that travel here on their own.
23:58
I don't know if many people traveled on their own, but there's like a buddy
24:01
system because a lot of people would be anxious and not actually come on their
24:05
own because, you know, so, and it's these little
24:08
changes. And I would have loved that back in the day when I was,
24:10
you know, a 19-year-old girl not feeling very confident with myself.
24:13
So I think we just need to be again conscious
24:17
of the environment that we're creating and being respectful to what was created back
24:21
in the day because that's all we knew. But we know so much now,
24:24
so it's like moving the needle forward and what do we do with it?
24:26
How do we be more innovative and keep it going? That's, that's an interesting concept
24:31
because I bet it wouldn't be much work at all to use tools
24:34
that we're already using as event organizers. You think about an event app. Who's used
24:38
an event app for their event before? Who's deployed an event app where attendees
24:42
can connect with each other within the app, right? So if we've
24:47
got that technology there, it's already deployed. I mean, most major trade shows
24:50
now, conventions will have an app where you can connect with other attendees. Why not
24:55
promote that as a way of doing what you've just said, using that app that
24:58
you're going to roll out anyway for your event as a way of connecting people
25:00
together who might be traveling from the same part of the world? That ties into
25:04
the sustainability conversation we were having, you know, a short while ago.
25:08
You could use that sort of platform to link people together and say, well,
25:11
if you are coming by car, why not do a carpool? Because you can see
25:15
where people are coming from. You know, you're a bit anxious traveling on your own,
25:18
why not meet up with somebody who's traveling on the same level. We've got— sometimes
25:21
I think we're searching for solutions
25:25
when we've actually already got the solutions there. We just need to think about what
25:29
we're using it for. Could we use it for something different or expand it a
25:32
little bit more? And thinking about that on a human-to-human level— sorry, my voice,
25:36
I'm getting tired of it myself— but sorry, I'm going there. Just because it's a
25:39
human-to-human thing. So back in the day, you'd look at it as numbers. I've worked
25:42
for companies where it was like, how many thousands of people did we get in
25:45
the door? But that's not really what we're trying to get now. It's like,
25:48
who did we— and what's the feedback like? How did they find the experience?
25:51
So I think to your point with that, it's using the apps on a human
25:54
level. That human connection is the most important thing for
25:58
the generation coming through, and I think for us to revisit and to do better.
26:01
And I think because everyone experiences things in a different way,
26:04
right? So even when you get to the day of your event, every single person
26:08
who walks in and walks out is going to take something different from that.
26:10
And so it's remembering that we have to tailor to so many
26:14
different sort of people. And like you say, the buddy system is great. I mean,
26:17
how many times do we— and I know this from a relationship perspective— you suddenly
26:20
are chucking a project exec in a taxi to go to the airport, meet a
26:24
client, go flying 5, 6 hours around the world, no one there, you can speak
26:28
no language, and just run an event and get on with it. Like, that's terrifying.
26:32
But I think it's equally being really honest in that sort of generational conversation
26:36
where we're talking about the young need speak to like all the different generations because
26:40
they were that one day. And you can't tell me that they didn't feel that
26:43
same way and they didn't learn how to develop it. So like you're sort of
26:47
saying, like the buddy systems, I mean, 9 out of 10 times now, if I'm
26:50
going to things in the industry, you're texting some people and you know someone that's
26:54
going. So that sort of naturally happens, but we had to work to get
26:58
there. So like you say, the simple things are all there. We just have to
27:02
use them basically. Yeah, joining the dots sometimes,
27:04
isn't it? And I've found— I said this again
27:09
in the last session, excuse me, after we actually wrapped it— that sometimes joining
27:12
the dots of what we've already got in front of us is the most difficult
27:16
thing in running and managing events. Actually taking a step
27:19
back and looking at it from new perspectives. And again, that kind of ties into
27:23
this whole element of designing the next generation of events,
27:27
but not necessarily for the next generation. It's just by
27:31
joining the dots that are there already. I go back to that first experience that
27:35
I had of going to a trade show with a suit and tie and all
27:37
the rest of it. But it was also absolutely hammered into me by the
27:41
sales director. After this, we're all going to go to the bar and we're all
27:44
going to get bladdered. And that's where we're going to do business with all of
27:46
our clients. And it's such an old-fashioned way of thinking.
27:50
Nobody would do that now. Nobody would promote that way of thinking to a
27:54
member of staff, would they? Nobody would do that.
27:58
How we think about things now has changed, you know,
28:01
arguably for the better in an instance like that. But we still,
28:05
I guess, have to not offer
28:09
that to people who do want to do it, I suppose. It's about allowing people
28:12
to be comfortable in their own skin and doing what they want to do and
28:15
designing experiences that allow everybody to access them regardless
28:19
of how they would like to access them, if that makes sense. Yeah,
28:23
and I think also, you know, we're in We're in the service industry,
28:26
right? We are not all sat necessarily with a laptop to sell in
28:29
front of us, like slightly different for venues or whatever, but you have to give,
28:33
like I keep saying, you have to give those people the ability to deliver the
28:36
service in the way they're going to do that. And so, you know, some people
28:40
might feel more comfortable in a suit and thing, and that's how they portray themselves
28:44
and their offering better versus someone else that doesn't. So I think that's where you
28:48
have to think the service is what's going to create the experience. And the relationships
28:52
that you build. Like, naturally you end up gravitating to people that
28:55
might want to have a know and low and walk back to Waterloo with you
29:00
because they want to get an 8 o'clock train. You'll naturally gravitate towards that,
29:03
so, and that's okay. And equally, if you want to go to the pub and
29:06
stay out till 2, 3 in the morning, that's okay. So I
29:10
think it's just remembering that we're service and experience-led,
29:13
and that means every individual has to be able to do it in their
29:17
own way. Has anybody sat here
29:20
right now got an example of something that they might like to share
29:24
that ties into this conversation? Again, not loaded, you don't have to,
29:27
but I'm just curious to know if anybody has done anything or designed
29:32
an experience that ties into this conversation at all.
29:36
Please, yeah, let's hand the microphone to you.
29:39
I'll try and be as brief as I can. Um,
29:43
so I was in Paris attending a
29:46
friend's 40th lunch in a wonderful hotel,
29:51
and I ordered a mint tea, which is what I do sometimes.
29:54
And, um, so this silver trolley was moved around
29:59
through the restaurant, and on this silver trolley was 3 pots of
30:03
mint and terracotta and
30:07
different varieties And the waiter put on a pair of white gloves,
30:12
got a pair of silver scissors,
30:15
and asked me which mint I'd like. And I chose Paris mint
30:19
or Parisian mint. Snipped it. He then got a pair of silver tongs,
30:23
washed the mint leaves in water in a water bowl,
30:27
put them into a clear teapot,
30:31
and then went to the salamander and poured in hot water. And I
30:35
can guarantee to you I will never forget that experience.
30:38
It costs really next to nothing to do, but actually
30:41
it creates theatre and just an amazing
30:46
thing to do. You know, it's not, it's not a grotty old tea bag
30:50
and a, you know, it's a proper experience that is really impactful,
30:55
I think. You know, so I'm really— and I've shared that so many times
31:00
and said, look, we can you can do these things, and that's down to us.
31:04
I think there's a beautiful saying that I love, which is Maya
31:08
Angelou, isn't it? And she's saying, people forget what you said, people forget
31:13
what you've done, but they never forget how you made them feel. Which is what
31:15
you've just said there, because you could— as you were saying the story, you're reliving
31:19
it, and it just made you feel so nourished, valued, VIP,
31:23
luxurious, which you don't normally get, especially when you're just asking
31:26
for a cup cup of tea. And that's what lands the message as well.
31:29
If you felt that way at an event, and obviously an event is trying to
31:32
land something, if you're— if you come away feeling special because
31:35
of it, you'll remember what that message was. Yeah, so it's, it's important.
31:40
I just wanted to also share a story. So I went to a wedding in
31:43
Rome, and the Gen Zs, they were all in their own
31:47
room for the after-party, and they sent us oldies to
31:51
another area of the room, and I found that quite strange because I hadn't seen
31:54
that before. So I just wanted to know if that is a new kind of
31:58
concept that's happening where they're actually dividing the room and sending,
32:02
you know, all of us to different points. But I found that quite fascinating
32:05
that, you know, they had their own area in the wedding and we were
32:09
sent somewhere else. Did that bother you? It was just because, you know, being an
32:13
event planner, I've never— it's not something that I've seen at a wedding where— quite
32:18
offended by that if you wanted to go and join the young ones. Yeah,
32:20
well, we did, but We did feel awkward because, you know, our children were
32:24
there and maybe perhaps they didn't want to let go, you know, let loose.
32:26
So me and my hubby just said, okay, this is not for us. But it
32:29
was just interesting that that was— I
32:41
think that's
32:45
how not to do an event. I'd love to know how they
32:49
decided what that split was. Sorry, 36, no,
32:52
35, you're in. How is that split? Yeah, I mean,
32:56
I suppose you do it like most events you do nowadays. You think
33:00
about your core areas, you think about like how neurodiversity, how you can make
33:03
everyone feel comfortable in that environment, etc. So yes, in a soft
33:08
way, but not quite so much as putting an age limit. You can go there,
33:11
you can't go there. It's— my question for you is Why didn't you go upstairs?
33:17
I mean, your choice. We did initially, but I just said
33:21
because our children were there, we just thought, let's go down.
33:25
But even the way we went, we experienced it because they put all the old-school
33:28
music and everything. But the young people had their band, they had their kind of
33:31
music that they wanted. But I think that's cool for the D&I,
33:36
right? So you're actually understanding your audience is very mixed range.
33:40
But that should be a choice. It's a bit like when you come to an
33:43
event like this, there's maybe a quiet room, or you could come for morning yoga
33:46
or something. So there's choices, so you can choose that. There's a hell of a
33:49
lot of morning runs now. When you go to Excel for a lot of the
33:53
events that you do there, you can wake up and do a 7 AM run.
33:56
That's great, actually. I've had great conversations with people, better in
34:00
that environment than I have in the busy kind of— what's interesting about that is
34:03
I've seen examples where that's not actually been organised by the organiser.
34:06
It's attendees or exhibitors who themselves, amongst their own
34:10
kind of LinkedIn groups or whatever, have just taken it upon
34:14
themselves to say, oh well, if anybody wants to come and join us, you know,
34:16
come and do this. That's what's great about some of those. It's not necessarily always
34:19
organiser-led. You know, it's about promoting an
34:23
environment in which anybody coming to your event, exhibitor, attendee,
34:27
or supplier, can actually take it upon themselves to do something that they
34:30
feel could benefit the wider community of that event, I guess. I think
34:34
I wanted to talk about— I think also you need to surprise your
34:38
guests when they're coming along. Not shock them, but surprise them.
34:42
Something I did quite recently was it was an HR conference.
34:46
So of course quite serious topics and they did it vocally.
34:50
Then I came on and I did a little champagne tasting called
34:54
The Great Women of Champagne. So it's for Widow Clicquot and that's all about her
34:58
huge inspiration. She really is the lady behind creating champagne. And then the most
35:02
fascinating one is Louise Pomery. She was the first person that ever invested
35:06
in pensions and healthcare for her teams back in 1870.
35:11
And so people went away thinking, oh my gosh, wow. I mean, obviously they had
35:14
some serious topics they were discussing, but through an innovative way,
35:18
they also heard about the history of all that. And, you know, people were remembering
35:22
that and hopefully remembering what they also discussed
35:26
in the conference. Yeah, there has to be an element of kind of thrilling your
35:28
guests during the agenda as well. Like you say, they're surprising and delighting them as
35:32
the day goes on. Yeah, important.
35:35
I'm just going to circle back to the wedding
35:39
in Rome. And well, 2 great examples, you know, tea in Paris and a wedding
35:43
in Rome. Well done, everybody. Breakfast at Tiffany's.
35:46
Yeah, yeah, breakfast at Tiffany's. There's a song in there somewhere.
35:49
So, but, you know, As an example of what we alluded to earlier, which is
35:53
the organizer dictating what needs to
35:57
happen, and it needs to be the other way around. I think if there's one
36:00
thing I can take out of all 3 sessions this morning, it's the conversational
36:04
aspect. It's asking the right questions, asking plenty of questions, and designing
36:08
those set of questions on a bespoke case-by-case basis to
36:12
each client so that you can extract exactly and find
36:16
out exactly what they need. That's perhaps an example of maybe how not to do
36:19
it. I guess most of us would agree that dictating it in that
36:23
sort of way is not maybe how it should be done. But the question-led
36:28
approach is. I think the days of assuming are long and truly over,
36:31
aren't they? You need to ask the questions and understand what your audience wants.
36:35
You want your audience— sorry, not just on top of that, but you want your
36:37
audience to feel valued. I think that's the other thing that you touched upon after
36:41
the running clubs and everything in the morning. Than they did it themselves. We as
36:44
human beings, we just innately want to have a sense of community and a sense
36:48
of belonging and a sense of togetherness. Like, you know, when we were in lockdown,
36:51
that was ever so relevant at that point when we didn't have that human-to-human
36:55
connection. So events was on its knees at that point. We didn't know we were
36:58
going to get it back. So again, we're at this beautiful stage of we have
37:01
it. So how do we make them feel valued? How do we make them feel
37:05
nourished and heard and seen? Which is where you asking the right questions
37:08
at the beginning and at the end, because if you're doing an annual event,
37:11
make sure, right, well, what worked, what didn't work, and actually putting that in.
37:14
Then I'm going to come to your event all day long because you've, you've listened
37:17
to my feedback and you've made changes. It's stopping
37:21
it just being a tick box. Like, a lot of things are, okay,
37:24
we need to do a quiet zone because we need to do a quiet zone,
37:26
tick box done. But it's making sure you put that stuff in but then embedding
37:30
it into the event as a whole thing so that attendees that
37:34
think it's going to be quite a full-on day, know that there is a space
37:36
where they can go and get a quiet zone or whatever else. So I think
37:40
it's, yeah, it's making sure, like you say, so they feel valued. There is something
37:43
there for me. I kind of feel like we're working our
37:47
way down the line anyway with kind of final thoughts. So Claire, we'll come to
37:50
you and then Martin. Oh gosh,
37:54
you put me on the spot there with the final thoughts. No, I just think
37:58
it's just really important for event planners to just think
38:02
it's an experience that you're, that you're, you're arranging. It's not just an event,
38:05
it's not just a program. It's back to what I was kind of saying at
38:08
the beginning. It has to be— people get invited
38:12
to a lot of things. They've got a choice about whether they come to your
38:14
event or not. And I think with all of what we've discussed today, it's kind
38:18
of making sure that you have asked that question, you do understand that audience.
38:21
They will want to come to your event because you're, you're planning something for them.
38:25
So that would be my final thought on it. And Martin? And I think,
38:27
so mine are 2 avenues. First, I suppose, is inclusivity,
38:32
and that's particularly thinking of the low and the no and all those sort of
38:36
things. It's just thinking about there's so many diverse people, we need to think
38:40
about that, and including with our food that we offer too. And really just coming
38:43
about is, you know, that when people come to an event, and it's
38:47
not just a conference, it could be a cocktail party, it could be a dinner,
38:51
People, you know, very quickly find an excuse not to come. Oh yeah.
38:56
Oh, I haven't got a babysitter, I can't come, so sorry. You've got to
38:59
make them want to come. We have to create that experience.
39:04
You know, when you ask people, they think 87% actually want to have
39:07
an experience and hearing from a professional or someone who's going to teach them
39:11
something rather than seeing it up on a screen. So I think we have to
39:15
be very innovative to make sure that they leave with
39:19
that experience. We have time for one more exotic wedding story if anybody
39:23
in the audience has another. No, we've had Rome,
39:27
we've had— come on, yes, look, no.
39:31
Where are we going next? It's— sorry, it's not an exotic
39:36
story at all. It's just a quick question about some of the things you've all
39:38
mentioned about the quiet zone and neurodiversity and things like that and events. So the
39:42
type of events we often do, they're evening events their drinks, drinks receptions,
39:45
things like that, which are likely to be noisy.
39:49
And we do try and put a quiet space in place if we can.
39:53
But I'm interested to know from you what's the current thinking on what
39:58
should those spaces be, what should be within them, or nothing? Should they be neutral?
40:03
Because it does seem to me that it is still worth doing even though it's
40:06
a noisy event, but it kind of defeats the objective.
40:09
Like, if you cordon off a sort of area of a noisy event, it's still
40:12
going to be noisy inside that event. So I just looking for a bit of
40:15
expertise on what you do in those events, really. I guess I could take that
40:19
from experience. Yes. And so 2 things, we've answered a brief kind of like
40:23
that. So one thing, we called them the Vibe Tribes. So we have what we
40:26
call Wellbeing Warriors that are practitioners in their field. So that would be a breathwork
40:29
practitioner, yoga, nutritionist. So we called it a Vibe Tribe.
40:33
So like you'd have roaming artists, they were actually going around. So we had an
40:36
aromatherapist who was then getting them to take deep breaths and tunes what they wanted,
40:40
like calm, invigoration. So there's a way that you can weave in that sense of
40:45
basically people feeling in a better position because they are there to network.
40:49
So there's ways that you can kind of weave it in beautifully so that you're
40:52
not doing a them and an us, and it's like they've come to a place,
40:54
it's too noisy, they're not actually getting anything from it. So you can be clever
40:57
in that respect, and I can speak to you privately for more details on that.
41:01
But then also with the quiet room, or just a space to go— we call
41:04
it a wellness lounge, we don't call it a quiet room because we actually have
41:07
a lot of kind of activations going on in there. They can put
41:10
a headset on, they can do colouring in, they've kind of got all the different
41:13
things. So, and a lot of people have had meaningful deep conversations
41:18
in there, and when they've come out they've had better conversations because they're like— and
41:21
we actually have a mental health first aider always present because that can then just
41:25
be somebody that's holding the space for them to feel more confident to go back
41:29
in the room. So I think my advice My advice is, as Zoe was saying,
41:32
it can never be a tick box. Looking at your audience and finding
41:36
out how that space is going to be best placed. My only
41:40
other thing on top of that is just the location. A couple of people have
41:43
done it really badly where they just have a room with nothing.
41:47
Again, it's like the orange juice and the water on the tray. A blank room.
41:50
You don't feel valued. You've got a quiet room but actually
41:54
you probably feel even worse That was right next to and adjacent
41:58
to something else going on. So it's really thinking about it in a 360.
42:02
You know, the headsets and things. There's no point putting that room when it's next
42:05
to lots of loud noise going on. I think you've got to think
42:09
about your audience. If you know you've got a whole lot of young people,
42:13
they're happy to come in and have that abrasive sound and fight it. If you
42:16
know perhaps you're having more senior directors at that sort of occasion, be aware
42:21
of that. Hearing issues and all the rest of it,
42:24
don't choose a venue which is going to have this huge cacophony of sound.
42:27
There are some venues in London which are— maybe they've been
42:30
refurbished or they're more modern buildings, you know, and the sound
42:34
is absorbed, so it's a much more comfortable space. So think about the original
42:38
place you're choosing. Just to add to that as well, the other thing, again back
42:42
to UVL venues and talking about the gallery specifically, you know, we have our events
42:45
within our gallery spaces, so people can
42:50
take themselves off and go and look at some art or walk around a couple
42:51
of galleries where the throng of the event is happening there, but they can be
42:54
off around the sidelines just kind of taking a moment. So that's, again,
42:57
it's choosing the right venue is the right— is important.
43:01
Yeah, I was just gonna say, I think it's different when you've got a drinks
43:04
reception. You might have one space, like, you know, square box
43:08
room. How on earth do you do it within there? I think then you have
43:10
to look at it from a different perspective of how can I give different options
43:13
options within that space. So I can have my poser tables, I can then have
43:16
some bars here with like real bass, even down to— we can have some furniture
43:20
but put your lounge sets further away from speakers. Maybe the speakers that are at
43:23
that end of the room shift the, shift the noise direction of that, just to
43:27
try and create these environments. Because some people might not want to stand in a
43:30
dress and heels or a suit or whatever else at a poser table for the
43:34
whole time, whereas others that's perfect, they're quite comfortable there. So it's
43:38
sort of trying to create that by using the equipment in the room, the furniture,
43:41
the way that you can, you know, our technology is so clever these days,
43:44
the way that you can bounce sound off into different areas and
43:48
stuff like that. So I think it's, you can dress the space even if
43:52
it's still within only 4 walls. It doesn't always have to be secreted
43:56
off into like an extra room. Could I add something? Who's ever used noise-cancelling
44:01
headphones? Who's worn them on a plane,
44:04
for example, on a flight? They're great, aren't they? Absolutely amazing.
44:08
In terms of creating a space, why do we have to create a
44:11
quiet space? Why couldn't we create a quiet environment
44:16
for those people within the same
44:20
space? It might sound ridiculous, but maybe utilizing
44:24
technology that we've got, if the hardware's there,
44:28
the silent disco headsets, a lot of the really good ones nowadays,
44:31
they're noise-canceling. So actually you could create an environment
44:36
that's quieter for somebody within the same space rather than finding a quiet
44:40
space, which I guess might offer a level of inclusivity as well,
44:43
rather than directing people to a totally separate space for
44:47
them to have that quieter experience. So yeah,
44:50
I thought I'd throw that in there as a final thought.
44:54
Please do connect, and relevant to everything we've been
44:58
speaking about, should you wish to participate, There is a drinks tasting going
45:01
on upstairs. I've got it on record,
45:05
reliable information coming in on message as we,
45:09
as we do this, that the fizz is
45:13
delish.
45:16
Wild Idol is upstairs and it's a very unique sparkling
45:20
wine because it's not been dealkalised, it actually has never touched
45:24
alcohol, so it's very important for various religious groups. And then Pentire
45:28
create these very exciting cocktails, but they are not having any alcohol in them.
45:31
It's all from botanicals. So available now
45:35
upstairs. And lunch as well. Yes, lunch as well.
45:39
Everything back upstairs. Would you please join me in thanking our final
45:43
panel of the day?
45:48
Thank you to you all for, for sitting in on these sessions this
45:51
morning. They've been great. And as always at events like this, when you have kind
45:54
of sessions running back to back, you get to the end of them and you
45:57
realize that they all link up. So if you've not sat in all 3 of
46:00
them, please do watch them back. Thanks to our friends at Jacobs Massey for filming
46:04
today and recording these so that they will be available
46:07
to watch back after the event. Thanks to all of our panelists
46:11
who've participated in the 3 sessions today. I shall now leave you to your lunch
46:15
and the drinks tasting. Thank you,