Unmissable headline act

Ric Salmon, co-founder and CEO of Driift, the company that produced Glastonbury Festival’s Live At Worthy Farm livestream, has been revealed as keynote speaker. The music industry veteran, who founded award-winning livestream promoter Driift in 2020, will take to the main stage on 1 October 2021 to talk about his experience in producing ticketed online events.

Despite Driift’s previous success in online ticketed events for artists including Nick Cave, Niall Horan, Kylie Minogue and Andrea Bocelli, and scrupulous planning, and diligent checks ahead of the production of Live at Worthy Farm, the online event didn’t go to plan with many UK audience members unable to access the broadcast which featured performances by world-renowned artists, including Coldplay, George Ezra, Damon Albarn and Jorja Smith.

“It was the biggest challenge of my life, professionally and it was absolutely brutal,” said Salmon who will share more about the ‘ambitious’ Live at Worthy Farm experience, advice for event professionals and more at his session at The Meetings Show.

40+ hours of quality education

This year’s programme will feature a jam-packed programme of education designed to support the industry as it gets back on its feet and help event professionals re-imagine events post-pandemic.

Content has been organised into five learning theatres: Innovation and Industry Trends; My Career and Personal Development; Event Marketing; Event Technology and Meeting Design. Sessions will be held as intimate campfires on the show floor, hands-on workshops, or as presentations and panel discussions in one of two conference theatres easily accessible from the main exhibition.

Expert speakers will cover a range of pertinent themes, including diversity, hybrid events, wellness, sustainability, and venue finding. Half of all sessions will be exclusive to ExCeL and half will be available to watch online, via our virtual platform. Many sessions will also be available to watch on-demand after the show.

Speakers include Isla co-founder Anna Abdelnoor, Lisa Sweeting of Green Sense Events and Matt Grey of Event Decision, who will lead a discussion on sustainability; Dan Elliott of Center Parcs, Denise Lopez of Helmbriscoe and Emma Little of ExecSpace who will talk about adapting to change and Samantha Salisbury who will deliver a workshop on personal development.

Meet with suppliers

Meet with hundreds of UK and international event suppliers, either in person or virtually, to learn about venues, hotels, destinations, technology, and specialist providers and make sure your product knowledge is up to date.

Exhibitors joining for the first time this year include Asia House, Atlantis Paradise Island, InterContinental Hotels Group, Istanbul Convention & Visitors Bureau, Japan National Tourism Office, Luxembourg Convention Bureau, ProColombia and PT Signature.

Also confirmed to attend are destinations VisitBritain, Malta Convention Bureau and Korea Tourism Organisation; venues and hotels such as ICC Belfast, The NEC, Almarose Hotels & Resorts and Scandic Hotels and technology suppliers such as CrowdComms and Shocklogic.

Network face-to-face

For buyers attending in person, throughout The Meetings Show, there will be a number of opportunities and events throughout the show to help you reconnect with and network with your peers, and friends face-to-face.

Hosted buyers are invited to a welcome reception at the Museum of London Docklands to enjoy complimentary food, drink, and a tour of the museum from 7pm on 29 September.

Visit The Delegate Wranglers to catch up with the team, their partners and enjoy a well-earned drink, courtesy of their cocktail bar, or pop along to Lime Venue Portfolio’s stand where they’ll be sharing their own Sustainable Plate which you can take away to inspire your own ‘green eating’ at home. Plus, they’ll be launching the final chapter of their award-winning ‘Beyond Food’ report and hosting an invite-only live event on the evening of day one.

Sign up to The Meetings Show’s new sustainability course

Find out more about and The Meeting’s Show’s new certification for event and meeting planners looking to drive their organisation’s sustainability strategy.

Starting w/c 8 November, the online six-week Complete Sustainable Events Course, which is curated and delivered by isla’s co-founder Anna Abdelnoor as well as other sustainability experts, covers key areas from purpose-driven events, supply chains and stakeholders, carbon footprint and food to waste management and storytelling.

To further enhance the learning experience, it also features engaging introductions and case study examples from Andy King – the show’s 2020 headline speaker – who, in addition to working on the ill-fated Fyre Festival in the Bahamas, runs a successful consultancy championing zero waste and sustainable events for a portfolio of high-profile clients such as Leonardo DiCaprio.

Visitors to The Meetings Show will be able to get the lowdown on the course by visiting isla’s stand.

To register to attend The Meetings Show, visit https://www.themeetingsshow.com/register