08.30

Registration

09.00

Opening remarks from Chair

Denzil Rankine, Chief Executive, AMR International

09.15

Keynote opening panel: What do conferences need to offer and deliver to stay ahead as the format ages? What constitutes value for money?

Conference industry CEOs are joined by corporate clients and sponsors to debate whether and how the traditional conference model should change. What are delegates, sponsors, exhibitors and partners looking for next in terms of content delivery, engagement, value and outcomes?

Greg Hitchen, Group Chief Executive, Terrapinn
Laurence Julliard, Events Alignment and Speakers Bureau Director, Office of the CMO, Alcatel-Lucent
Peter Rigby, Chief Executive Officer, Informa
Tim Weller, Group Chief Executive, Incisive Media
Uday Singh, Chief Executive Officer, Osney Media 
Neil Stewart, Chief Executive Officer, Neil Stewart Associates
Kim Myhre, SVP and Managing Director, George P. Johnson EMEA

10.50

Networking break & exhibition

11.30

STREAM 1:

Challenging traditional conference marketing models & strategies

• Is the 400% ROI model still valid?
  
• What should you be measuring; how can you determine what’s being wasted?
  
• Direct versus electronic mail – getting transparency on multichannel marketing
  
• Building the database – hosted or local? Off the shelf or custom made?
  
• Telesales – what’s the cost / value benefit?
  
• Creating communities and owning the market space – what opportunities and challenges does 24/7 availability present?

Chair:
Isobel Peck, Chief Marketing Officer, Informa

Panellists:
Christophe Asselin, Event & Marketing Director for ad:tech & iMedia, dmg :: events
Michelle Tempest-Mitchell, Head of Marketing, UK, Publishing & Events, Euromoney
Hellen Beveridge, Partner, BIG ideas inc
Lisa Walker, Awards Marketing Manager, EMAP Inform | Awards Marketing

STREAM 2:

Best practice venue and supplier negotiations

• Venues focus group – when can and can’t they be flexible?  What constitutes a good deal?
  
• Controlling contractual risks
  
• Making the operations department revenue generating
  
• Staff incentives to drive better negotiation and revenue generation

Chair:
Fiona Paterson, Group Head of Event Operations, Incisive Media

Panellists:
Tina Compton, Events Director, Intellect
Claire Hawdon, Head of Event Logistics, Centaur Conferences
Alastair Stewart, Managing Director, etc venues

STREAM 3:

Portfolio strategy, new content and format models

• Refreshing ageing conference formats and production processes
  
• Optimising the number, size and duration of conferences in the portfolio
  
• What constitutes good content – how do you recognise it?
  
• Developing creativity and clarity in content delivery
  
• Enabling more interactivity – what new formats are successful?
  
• How will face to face differentiate itself alongside online?
  
• What can be learnt from the less structured, unconference model?
  

Chair:
Katherine Kreuter, Event Consultant, Pound Lane Productions

Panellists:
Suzy Mayhew, Head of HR Portfolio, Osney Media
Dominic Samuelson, Managing Director, Campden Wealth
Catherine O'Keeffe, Head of Conferences and Corporate Events, Chatham House

STREAM 4:

Evolving sales techniques to match increasingly demanding client expectations

• How will revenue streams evolve next over the next few years- where are sponsors and exhibitors channelling their spend?
• Sponsorship selling at the bespoke level - to what extent is the market dynamic changing?
  
• Evolving from the boiler room atmosphere - becoming more consultative
  
• Delivering value added services which enhance customer experiences
  
• Managing sponsorship while maintaining the integrity of the conference content
  
• Managing clients’ expectations on ROI

Chair:
Liam Yardy, Chief Sales Officer, GSMA Ltd

Panellists:
Richard Hargreaves, UK Sponsorship Director, Economist Intelligence Unit / Economist Conferences
Maria Villablanca, Global Sales Director and CEO North America, WTG
Laurence Julliard, Events Alignment and Speakers Bureau Director, Office of the CMO, Alcatel-Lucent

13.00

Networking lunch

14.00

STREAM 1:

Social networking and social media strategy

• How to measure and demonstrate its value
• Is monetization the true end goal?
  
• How to integrate into your operations and into your brand and/or house style
  
• Training your people to use social media whilst protecting your brand
  
• Best practices, ethics and legislation to be aware of
  
• Practical case studies

Chair:
Christophe Asselin, Event & Marketing Director for ad:tech & iMedia, dmg :: events

Panellists:
Vicki Ansell, Social Media Specialist
Sharon Roessen, Group Marketing Director, Terrapinn
Anthony Dunn, Marketing Manager, Imago Techmedia

STREAM 2:

Contingency planning, risk and security assessment

Sponsored by Hiscox

• What risk assessment and risk management strategies are applicable to location, venue selection, timing 
• Dealing with natural disasters such as the ash cloud and bad weather
• Responding to terrorist threat levels
  
• Practical case studies

Chair:
Nicola Coslett, Chief Executive Officer, CRU Group

Panellists:
Alastair Macdonald, Director of Conferences, McCloskey Conferences, IHS McCloskey
Simon Garrett, Managing Director, X-Venture Global Risk Solutions
Ed Pugh, Sales and Marketing Manager, Hiscox Event Insurance

STREAM 3:

Publishing / conference division integration: how is the rapidly changing nature and consumption of media impacting the relationship?

• How is the business model changing – how does that impact team size, structure, dynamics?
  
• As clients look for exposure across the whole package – who owns the product? Who owns the client relationship?
  
• Disseminating client facing skills to the wider team
  
• Controlling your brand – making sure it goes through every channel

Chair:
Luke Gibson, Managing Director, Euromoney Seminars

Panellists:
Jonathan Dewe, Director of Conferences UK, Economist Conferences
Claire Jenkinson, Managing Director - Conferences, Reed Business Information
Claire Tulloch, Managing Director, UBM Conferences Europe

STREAM 4:

Building, branding and refreshing large scale annual events

• Branding and positioning strategies – owning the market
  
• What can conferences learn from the exhibitions sector?
  
• Getting the right networking / content balance
• Working with advisory boards / steering committees / industry partners
  
• Should annuals move around or not?
  
• How to keep annual events fresh – what add-ons and fringe activities help create a buzz?
  
• Lifecycle management - how to spot the early signs of decline and what to do about it
• Practical case studies

Chair:
Peter Newman, former MD, IIR Telecoms

Panellists:
Daniel Kirwin, Chief Executive, Beacon Events
Ian McGarrigle, Congress Director, World Retail Congress, Emap Networks
Simon Conyers, Head of Production, Arena International Events Group

15.30

Networking break & exhibition

16.00

STREAM 1:

Building better partnerships and collaborations

• With associations
  
• With publications and online communities
  
• With government
  
• With other conference companies?
  
• Practical case studies

Chair:
Neil Stewart, Chief Executive Officer, Neil Stewart Associates

Panellists:
Philip Doyle, Director, Marketforce
Joanna Stamp, Head of Events, British Bankers' Association (BBA)
Johanna Czako, Manager, Event Production & Services, The IET - The Institution of Engineering & Technology

STREAM 2:

People & culture issues: finding and keeping talent

• Attracting and retaining the right people
  
• Staying competitive with other industries – how to benchmark 
  
• Staff incentive models – what’s new?
  
• Building cross-functional teams – what’s the value?
  
• Getting the culture right – moving away from transience being the norm
• Attracting & developing entrepreneurs
  
• Does building a career path matter or is churn just part of the conference business?

Chair:
Elvira Hunte, Conference Director, Haymarket

Panellists:
Uday Singh, Chief Executive Officer, Osney Media 
Emma Blaney, Group HR Director, Informa

STREAM 3:

Virtual events and video content – what are the business models for the conference sector?

• How to build it into your business models and processes
  
• How to price – what’s the perceived value of virtual events / webinars?
  
• Does it get you a wider audience? Will it cannibalise existing revenues?
  
• Who’s responsibility is it? What are the rights management / ownership issues – can you manage it internally?
  
• How to distribute and film the content – what are the speaker issues?
  
• How long do you offer it? How can it be repurposed?
  
• How to get conference producers and operations team to work effectively with video
  
• Practical case studies

Chair:
Richard Myles, Virtual Solutions Director, UBM

Panellists:
Miguel Fernandez, Vice President Business Development, Imaste
Fiona Miller, Head of Conferences & Training, LexisNexis
Edward Gamble, Managing Director, Policy Review TV

17.15

Drinks reception

18.15

Close of conference