Insight: Issue 119 | Wed 18 Jan

Hot takes from the industry

How’s about some scandalous stories from this week’s exclusive instalment of the event industry’s memoirs. What to expect? We’ve got big reveals, juicy scoops and a tonne of tantalising tell-alls.

On the agenda this week we’ve got: EICC to host global neurodiversity conference; Combining Events with the Community; Four Experience Design trends We Spotted During Miami Art Week; and ICC Wales attracts major events back to venue.

EICC to host global neurodiversity conference

Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC) have been announced as the hosts of this year’s It Takes All Kinds Of Minds (ITAKOM), a global conference with a focus on neurodiversity.

The hybrid event will take place between the 13-14 March, and is set to discuss how better to understand and celebrate people’s differences as well as to provide support to those who need it.

It brings together over 50 speakers, including neuroscientists, clinicians and comedians (including Edinburgh’s own Rory Bremner) to shed light on the subject.

Alan Thornburrow, CEO of ITAKOM organiser’s Salvesen Mindroom Centre, gives his take on the need for awareness regarding neurodiversity:

“With 15-20% of the global population estimated to be neurodivergent, it has never been more important for us to understand more about neurodiversity and how we can design better and more inclusive systems.”

He adds, “diversity of thought needs to become much more central to business strategy – in the same way, that issues like gender equality and mental health have become integrated over the last decade. Embracing neurodiversity is key to that”. 

Hop over Conference News for the full agenda.

Combining Events with the Community

Brand communities are essential to modern marketing; A loyal cohort of individuals that identify with a company’s values, identity, and way of doing things. That’s no doubt an incredibly useful asset to have when maximising an event potential is it not?

So how do we harness the benefits of this to generate more engagement, attract more attendees, and nurture a community, you ask? Well, Daniel Groves of Special Events has put together six key strategies to help organisers on their way.

We’ll do a wee summary for y’all. Head over to SE for the full deets.

1 Get your community involved in the event programming.

Tap into your brand following’s expertise to maximise attendee satisfaction. You could make posts calling for recommendations, conduct social media polls or build up excitement by scheduling a series of posts on the run-up to the event.

2 Stimulate Networking Before the Event.

With networking being one of the biggest hooks for potential attendees, Groves suggests using social media platforms and Discord server to spark conversation before the big day.

3 Use the Venue as a Marketing Asset

Use the host venue’s USP or history as an effective marketing tool, it can stimulate conversation and build traction within your brand community.

4 Plan to Build FOMO During your Event

Use video content and ‘Megathreads’ to stir up FOMO (Fear of missing out) amongst your audience, highlighting the most interesting features of your event.

5 Showcase and Grow your Community

Make use of promotions like event freebies, prize draws, sneak previews of key event points to grow and build your brand community and increase your following.

6 Keep the Conversation Going After the Event

Always keep the chat going – while it’s fresh in people’s minds, post all the photos and videos taken during the events, tagging attendees and asking them for feedback. Keep the buzz going and your next event will be even more successful.

Sage advice, David!

Four Experience Design trends We Spotted During Miami Art Week

Massive mushroom installations? – sounds like the Miami Art Week!

If you’re looking for what’s possible in terms of design trend this year – the Magic City’s 2022 psychedelic spectacle of creativity had it all.

Here’s what could be on the cards for 2023:

Interactive Light Installations

Immersive light tech has been on the agenda for a while now, but brands such as Pantone have upped the game. In line with the release of their Colour of The Year (Viva Magenta), the company brought it’s interactive installation ‘Magentaverse’ to Miami’s ARTECHOUSE, an all enveloping scenario that guides participants through a series of LED tunnels that use LIDAR sensors and sonic NASA technology.

A Touch of Whimsy

Who doesn’t love a wee bit of whimsy? Perrier’s Insta worthy daytime rooftop event adorned with it’s signature green branded paraphernalia was an unlikely (and much acclaimed) talking point of the week.

Embracing the ‘Magentaverse’

SoundCloud and Meta hopped aboard Pantone’s Magenta train this year as well, making their presence known with pomegranate tinged illuminated palm trees and pinkish hue photo ops. In the words of Pantone’s Leatrice Eiseman, ‘Viva Magenta’ “galvanises our spirit, helping us to build our inner strength,”.

Psychedelic Vibes

There was shrooms a-plenty at this year’s Art Week, and the event seemed infused with psychedelia. Alcohol free beverage brand and event sponsor Kin Euphorics built a muchroom themed installation with electric blue lighting to promote it’s new Spritz products. New York rapper A$AP Rocky even teamed up with Italian furniture brand Gufram to unveil their collab “Shroom Castus”, a shroom shaped sculptural coatrack. Sounds like a fun-guy!

ICC Wales attracts major events back to venue

Congrats to Wales’ International Convention Centre Wales (ICC Wales), who have been absolutely smashing it following it’s first full year of trading last year!

Launched in September 2019, the major Welsh venue saw over two years of pandemic instability since it’s opening, but 2022 saw win after win – and there’s no sign of it slowing down.

Repeat clients like the popular (and £1.7m economy bolstering) Welsh Comic Con as well as Howdens and their Golden Rooster Awards and the University of South Wales (USW) are making sure of the Newport venue’s thriving success rate.

Danielle Bounds, sales director, ICC Wales comments, “The fact we have secured such a strong level of repeat business, as well as some major new clients for 2023, is testament to the quality of our facilities, the dedication and enthusiasm of our team, and the calibre of the events that we deliver.”

Sadly, we’ve reached the end of this week’s tales from the industry…

but join us next week and we’ll get you sorted with some more tasty anecdotes.