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At EuBea 2016 we want to provide the industry with smart ideas and creative potential to achieve its goals
An interview to Ilka Dzeik, EuBea Festival 2016 Strategic Advisor & Senior Partner of Event ROI Institute
Are you happy to be on board for the next edition of EuBea?
I met Salvatore and his team three years ago, when he invited me to join the EuBea jury and later, the Advisory Board. I was impressed to meet the ‘who is who’ of the industry supporting him to make the EuBea Festival so successful.
So, yes, I am proud to continue my support as a strategic advisor and to share my knowledge of the corporate world of events with Salvatore in order to make the EuBea Festival the leading award festival for the industry. And it is really fun to work with such a nice team of event professionals.
How did you choose contents for this year together with ADC Group? What were the strategies behind?
After the festival in Sevilla last year, we carefully reviewed the delegates’ feedbacks and discussed the opportunities to improve the educational program to provide more value and to encourage more corporate event managers, agencies and media to join the festival. Basing on our research, we defined the key expectations of the delegates in one sentence: “I want to be inspired and empowered to succeed in future”.
This became the theme of the EuBea Festival 2016 and we have structured the whole program according to it.
Starting with the unique opportunity to be inspired by numerous case studies and best practices which will be presented on the first day of the festival, followed by the second day – the Leadership Conference Program, where attendees can choose from inspirational keynotes providing a preview of the future, empowering breakout sessions or intense workshops – all designed by industry-leading speakers and focused on sharing knowledge and extending skills of their participants.
And everything combined with several networking opportunities and possibilities to meet experts to discuss individual challenges and not to forget the grand award ceremony which will be an inspiration on its own and the top-recognition for the industry.
As regards the contents, we want to focus on the importance of live communication within an overarching marketing and communication strategy and its contribution to achieve (business) objectives. The EuBea Festival wants to provide the industry with smart ideas and creative potential to achieve these goals.
What is the background of the speakers involved and which topics will be discussed?
According to our theme and content focus, we started to selected the speakers together with the EuBea Advisory Board and were able to engage some of the best international experts of live-communication in the industry. We composed a mix of speakers representing leading functions in agencies, corporations or institutions with highest credibility and a very good reputation so that the festival attendees can learn from the best.
The list of keynote speakers and topics at the EuBea Festival 2016 includes:
Timo Kiuru, founder & creative director at The Unthinkable, 40 under 40 honoree by Connect Corporate Magazine, who will share future societal changes and trends affecting the communication industry and opportunities for a successful experiential marketing strategy.
Colja M. Dams, ceo of Vok Dams, a leading world’s agency who will dive deeper into the trends in live-communication and discuss its impact on the world of events and the agency landscape.
Alfredo Accatino, Chief Creative Director & Partner Filmaster Events and Marco Balich, Managing Partner & President Balich Worldwide Shows, who will move into the presence and provide a world-known case – the Olympic Games 2016 in Rio.
Eric de Groot, meeting designer and Managing Partner Mindmeeting, a pioneer in meeting design, he will finally reveal the creative potential in each of us and share basic principles to touch hearts and minds through meeting design.
Gil Petersil, Co-founder of MeetSpeakers, a leading speakers bureau, business coach and the expert in effective networking will lead through the morning plenary and advise participants how to build effective networks and smart business communities during and after the Festival.
The following breakout sessions and workshops will provide participants with strategic advise, operational ideas and new skills for better events – shared by speakers such as :
Kevin Jackson, Director of Ideas and Innovation at Experience is the Marketing, Gerd De Bruycker, Marketing Director Northern Europe, Head of Event Marketing EMEA, Cisco, Maarten Vanneste, President of Meeting Design Institute, Jens Mayer, Managing Director Germany, Jack Morton Worldwide, Martijn Timmermans and Tim Corporaal, Co-founder of Event StoryBoard, Elling Hamso, Managing Partner of Event ROI Institute, Beckie Cross, Deputy Editor, EventMB and Managing Director, Events Northern Ltd.
What about the engagement for delegates?
There are many engagement opportunities for delegates starting from a mobile app that offers the possibility of providing feedback in keynotes and sessions or selecting preferred breakout sessions and workshops, the connecting wall – a simple tool to get connected to peers, or scheduled 1on1 appointments to discuss individual challenges with speakers, jury members or festival partners.
Not to forget the intense workshops where participants will be engaged to learn new skills such as using the Event Storyboard Canvas to plan and visualize the next event, or the ROI methodology as a systematic approach to prove the value of events, or a smart tech strategy to implement event technology for higher effectiveness and engagement. And last but not least, they will have many opportunities during lunch breaks, dinners, the after-show party and during a full day of St. Petersburg excursions to meet their peers and to share information.
What do you hope the participants will bring home from this experience?
First of all, I hope that participants will confirm the great value of the festival and that their expectations were met so that they will come back again. And I am pretty sure that they will only do this if they learned something new which is relevant to their job and helps them to improve their next events or to generate more business. So I simply hope – and would be very satisfied – if most of them will share their new knowledge after the event with their colleagues and implement of what they have learned at EuBea Festival 2016.