Martin Fullard

New head for business events in NewcastleGateshead in the UK

NewcastleGateshead Convention Bureau, part of NewcastleGateshead Initiative (NGI), in the north-east of England, has appointed Jen Rea (pictured centre) as its new head of business events and travel trade. Caroline Reed (right) has also been promoted to the position of senior manager of business events and Allison Curry (left), accommodation and events coordinator, joins full time. NGI is the dest...

CEO congratulates recipients of EIC 2022 Global Awards

The Events Industry Council (EIC) has announced the recipients of its annual Global Awards, which celebrate exemplary achievements and focus on leadership at all levels and areas of focus within the global business events industry. This year’s Recipients are: EIC Hall of Leaders inductees Larry Alexander, President and CEO (retired), Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau; Sandy Biback, CM...

ELX: new community for global event leaders goes live

A new group of senior event leaders has launched a new collaboration for the global events industry. Called the Event Leaders Exchange (ELX), it is a community which facilitates the sharing of industry research, networking, best practices and initiatives. To-date ELX members have held sessions on critical topics such as DEI and sustainability to find immediate and realistic paths forward that can ...

Buying a virtual event platform: questions to ask the salesperson

Buying or hiring use of a virtual event platform can be an overwhelming experience for many event organisers. The pandemic gave rise to hundreds of platforms with everyone claiming to provide the best product. Unfortunately, this meant that many event organisers found themselves rushed into deciding which either turned out to be the wrong one or presented hidden costs or unforeseen problems. There...

UK All Party Parliamentary Group for Events re-elects chair and lays out five-point plan

The UK’s All Party Parliamentary Group for Events (APPG) re-elected the Theresa Villiers MP (pictured), as its chair at the group’s AGM, 28 March. Several vice-chairs were also elected, including Fay Jones MP, Bob Seely MP, Robert Largan MP, Alex Sobel MP, Simon Baynes MP and Mark Menzies MP. The APPG has laid out its five-point framework for the current Parliament, which includes a Governme...

Sky’s the limit

Martin Fullard looks at the Sydney Skyshow and asks those behind it what the B2B world of events can learn. Click here to read the feature in the CMW March/ April 2022 Magazine.  The way in which audiences engage has been under the spotlight more than ever over the last two years. Behaviours changed as the Covid-19 pandemic swept the globe and forced people into online events. But n...

International Confex

Mash Media editorial director Martin Fullard shares his observations from International Confex and the Event Production Show, which took place at ExCeL London, UK, 8-9 March.  I do appreciate that it is my job to attend events for a living, therefore it should come as no surprise that I have been back on the circuit since mid-2021, when Step 3 (remember that?) was activated, and restricted ca...

Meeting like Kings

MCI’s global endoscopy conference won them an award with the Association of British Professional Conference Organisers. CMW explores the event. King’s Live is the flagship annual conference and masterclass of the KL Foundation. The meeting brings together global medical trainees, consultants, and leading experts in the field of endoscopy for a five-day scientific programme. The educational content...

Welcome to Yorkshire DMO put into administration in England

Welcome to Yorkshire, the English county’s destination management organisation (DMO) has been put into administration. The news will come as a major blow as, before the Covid-19 pandemic took hold, the events and tourism industries were worth £9bn to the Yorkshire region. The DMO had launched a comprehensive recovery plan in 2021 to attract tourists and event organisers back to the region. A four-...

IMEX Group suspends Russia from Frankfurt show

IMEX Group has confirmed that Russian state enterprises have been suspended from attending IMEX Frankfurt, which takes place 31 May to 2 June. The Group’s CEO, Carina Bauer and chairman, Ray Bloom, released a statement, 1 March, confirming the suspension is a direct result of the ongoing military aggression. The statement read: “Sadly, today we have taken the decision to suspend Russian state ente...

BVEP elects new chair

The Business Visits & Events Partnership (BVEP), UK, has elected Chris Skeith OBE (pictured), currently director of the Event Industry Alliance, which represents the UK’s exhibition-focused trade bodies AEO, AEV and ESSA, as its new chair with immediate effect. Skeith takes on the role on a two-year term. He follows Simon Hughes, who moves into the role of immediate past chair. “I feel v...

Journey to change

Martin Fullard spoke to Neil Brownlee (pictured), head of business events at VisitScotland, prior to COP26, about the nation’s latest campaign to drive event legacy. COP26 is arguably the biggest global event the UK has seen in a generation. There are many ways in which this conference can be appraised, but there really is nothing more important than its legacy. It must be made clear that COP26 is...