From 13th to 15th June 2017, Speakers Corner will be at  The Meetings Show 2017 , the premier event for the meetings industry based in the UK, which is taking place over at London's Olympia.

Regular exhibitors, we look forward to catching up with our valued clients and putting faces to familar names at this year's edition - for a chat and some chocolates, come meet our team at Stand J301!

Some of the individuals that we work with will be speaking over the course of The Meetings Show, so don't forget to swing by the Gallery Room to check them out (see below).

We also caught up wih our very own Tim Gold, who will be at the stand:

Hi Tim! How did you decide on which speakers were best suited to The Meetings Show audience?

Steve Knight and Paul Kennedy from Centaur kindly gave us sole responsibility for shaping the marketing stream at The Meetings Show, so all the speakers have a marketing background in some shape or form. We feel that at exhibitions and trade shows, there is usually ample content driven from within event industry insiders - whether this be discussions of their trials and tribulations, or insights and lessons learned. However, our feeling is that delegates truly achieve breakthrough moments when they look outside their industry and get an external perspective. We tried to ensure the programme included speakers that could talk about the entire marketing mix, but from a perspective where the key takeaways translate well into both the events industry and the typical challenges that delegates face.

Branding and packaging is integral to establishing an inaugural event, ensuring delegates want to return year on year and helping those in the industry forge loyal connections to a brand. Even for internal staff events it is vital to build a level of anticipation, and we feel packaging and positioning is key to this. To this end, we thought entrepreneurs such as Jo Fairley, co-founder of Green & Blacks and James Averdieck founder of Gü would deliver valuable lessons, as both their companies are model examples of successful branding and packaging. Additionally, nowadays, understanding how to maximise social media channels both pre, during and post event are critical, so we asked Andrew Davis a social media expert who helped launch MySpace and Radio1Xtra, as well as Aaron Balick, Author of the Psychodynamics to offer event organisers an understanding of the psychology underpinning the dynamics of social channels. Lastly, we feel creativity and innovation are essential to keeping events fresh so we included Rafe Offer into the programme, as he has highly pertinent insights to share from his role as the former Marketing Director at Coca Cola and Walt Disney, coupled with the fact he is the founder and CEO of Sofar Sounds, a cutting-edge event concept. These experiences illustrate the fact that he fully grasps the fast-paced industry.

What do you hope attendees will be able to take away from the sessions?

Our relationship with Centaur and The Meetings Show is to ensure the events industry have access to speakers that they often book but perhaps don’t get to hear, let alone have content shaped to their world. If delegates attend sessions from these cherry-picked experts and take just one or two ideas that catalyse a process of packaging their events differently, communicating more effectively or thinking more innovatively, then ultimately, we can all benefit. If together we can better the sector, nurture it and help it grow, it will be to the advantage of all the delegates, The Meetings Show and indeed ourselves here at Speakers Corner.

Who will the sessions appeal to?

We would like to think the entire programme would appeal to anyone involved in marketing events. However, ultimately the three core areas the speakers fall into are: branding; social; and innovation; so, if there is one remit that attendees feel is more relevant they should pick accordingly. Having said this, we would point out that at Speakers Corner we hear thousands of speakers and feel delegates attending The Meetings Show are truly privileged to have the opportunity to hear from the level of speakers we have placed into the marketing stream. We would urge all to try and make as many of the sessions as possible!

What are the keys things event organisers need to consider when choosing a speaker?

There are several criteria that we would define as hygiene factors such as the budget, date, location etc.…However, the most critical aspect for us is to understand what does the event organiser or sponsor want delegates to take away from the session? How do they want recipients to act or behave differently? Of course, there is the occasional speaker that is utilised to raise energy levels or drive ticket sales, but ultimately underpinning this should be the same question. I would also mention it is great for us to get an insight into who the audience is and what the overarching aims and objectives of the event are. If we are able to receive all this information, we can guarantee to recommend someone appropriate.

What impact can a speaker have on an event?

We have a mantra in the office that an event can take place in a cow shed so as long as the information and content that attendees are receiving is hard hitting, energetic, relevant and thought provoking. We see the event industry competing with the likes of large consultancy firms such as Bain and McKinsey and believe events are touchpoints where change can happen. It is only the speakers or content that can facilitate this, obviously, it is important to select a conducive enough environment but, the real change comes from the ideas. Events are one of the few times where organisations come together either for a reward, to discuss new products or concepts, to look at an overarching strategy or have an objective to implement change. Given this, we feel the starting point for anyone pulling together an events programme should be the speakers and the content. It is curious that typical planning and buying behaviour does not always follow this pattern, but we are doing our best to help change this thinking, one event at a time.

Thanks Tim! Here's more about who's speaking:

Tuesday 13th June 2017

11.50 – 12.45

'Putting The 'So What' Into Digital Marketing' ---  Andrew Davis : Social Media Expert, who helped launch MySpace and Radio1Xtra

With brands investing increased resources into digital marketing, showing the return is key. Focussing on content marketing and social media, Andrew will break down the 3 most important questions that event planners should address in order to achieve immediate results.

14.50-15.45

'A Quiet Revolution' ---  Rafe Offer : Former Marketing Director at Coca-Cola, Walt Disney, and Founder & CEO of Sofar Sounds

Rafe will speak about the evolution of Sofar Sounds – the worldwide musical movement he founded – starting from a living room in North London, to a community-business that hosts gigs in over 300 cities around the globe. Learn from Rafe’s expertise gained at some of the world’s leading brands.

Wednesday 14th June 2017

11.50-12.45

'Sweet Dreams: The Story Of Green & Black's' ---  Jo Fairley : Founder of Green & Blacks

Leading female entrepreneur and co-founder of the global ethical chocolate brand, Jo shares a blueprint of the lessons that every business needs to follow via the rollercoaster story of her own business’s success.

14.50-15.45

'Building A Successful Brand Second Time Over' ---  James Averdieck : Entrepreneur, Founder of Gü and The Coconut Collaborative

James founded and built Gü into a $50m international business, which he sold 7 years ago.  4 years on, he’s at it again with The Coconut Collaborative - a yogurt health brand growing at 300% a year in its 3rd year.

Thursday 15th June 2017

11.50-12.45

'Better Than You Know Yourself: Influence, Fake News, Algorithms, And Your Online Self' ---  Aaron Balick : Author of the Psychodynamics

The amount of personal information that you freely put online is unprecedented, and it’s being used like never before. But can an algorithm really know you better than you know yourself?

To learn more about our speakers or service, give us a call on 0207 607 7070. We have a fraction of the speakers on our site listed, and we are always happy to share our hidden gems and expertise! Our advice is free and we would always be delighted to hear from you, to find out how your company works, explain a bit about how we work, or even to advise you on your event programme and help shape your content.

We look forward to seeing you there! For updates, follow us on Twitter - @Speakers_Corner!