The EPN Journal Podcast

Event Planner News - hosted by Bob Toovey

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The Event Planner News Podcast aims to explore news stories from the industry and go behind the scenes with members of the community. Our guest list features event planners, experts in hospitality & venues, and people from many other related areas. Please get in touch if you would like to be a guest.

3d ago

Venues, queues, and what's behind 'tighter budgets and shorter lead times'

At the end of October, I attended the annual Cvent Connect Europe conference, held at the InterContinental London, which is very close to the O2 in North Greenwich. It’s there annual European get together for partners and customers. There was one person in particular I wanted to catch up with, someone who has wide industry experience and expertise - Cvent’s Marketing Director, Felicia Asiedu. In the hotel’s conference room I talked with Felicia, and as you will hear, there’s much more to her than just being the head of marketing,. Topics discussed in this episode… Venue Shifts and Experiential Spaces: Hotels remain a staple for conferences due to guaranteed service and catering, but there is a rising demand for blank-canvas venues like Magazine London to create immersive brand experiences. Event Queues: Addressing the friction of event queues by introducing live entertainment, such as acoustic guitarists or brass bands,turns a frustrating wait into an engaging experience. Rory Sutherland’s Behavioral Insights: Highlighting concepts from Rory Sutherland on reframing problems, such as adding entertainment to make perceived wait or travel times more enjoyable rather than just trying to speed things up. Mentorship and Industry Support: Discussing the importance of informal and formal mentorship (such as Fast Forward 15) to spot and uplift new talent and retain valuable experience in the events sector. Post-COVID Industry Evolution: The shift in corporate structures resulting in top-level planners exiting, alongside a rise in young female-led entrepreneurial agencies and fractional leadership roles. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI): Practical approaches to DEI in events, focusing on widening speaker talent pools rather than getting paralyzed by tracking data or vanity metrics. Don’t forget to like and subscribe so you get notifications of new episodes. A huge thank you to our partners ⁠Vividink, Function Fixers⁠ and ⁠Eventflow⁠. You can ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠find out more about them on EPN Journal⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Thanks for listening...
Aug 17

What are the challenges and rewards of event design and production?

Experience Events is an independent creative events agency based in Central London. Like many agencies, there are two sides to the company - creative and production. In this episode, I explore the challenges and rewards of both the creative side and the production side with two guests from Experience Events. Chris Rhodes is the co-founder and Creative Director of Experience, an agency he has helped build over the past 18 years. Originally trained in graphic design, Chris moved into scenic design and live production, developing a career that spans more than 23 years in the events industry. David Lourenco is the Production Manager at Experience, bringing 13 years of expertise delivering exceptional experiential events across Europe and America for clients such as Financial Times and News UK. Don’t forget to like and subscribe so you get notifications of new episodes. A huge thank you to our partners ⁠Vividink⁠ and ⁠Eventflow⁠. You can ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠find out more about them on EPN Journal⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Thanks for listening...
Aug 5

Venue Stories: {10-11} Carlton House Terrace

This episode of Venue Stories features 4 members of the team at {10-11} Carlton House Terrace in Central London, which is just a short walk from the National Gallery and overlooks St James’s Park. The building is one of London's finest Georgian treasures, designed by John Nash and constructed between 1827 to 1833. It was two separate homes each with their own fascinating histories, in 1923 process of combining the two houses began. Now {10-11} Carlton House Terrace is the home of the British Academy and a venue used by filmmakers, TV and the BBC. It’s also a great place to hold weddings. This episode was recorded on location and features… Catherine Owen - Head of Venue Sales & MarketingMarion Baros - Venue Business Development & Marketing ManagerCharlotte O’Kane - Event Planner from SearcysRichard Oxley - Searcys Group Executive ChefWe had a great conversation, discussing football, sausage rolls and of course the venue and what goes on there. If you have something to say about this episode then leave a comment or head over to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠EPN Journal Community⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ where you find out how you can share your thoughts. A huge thank you to our partners ⁠Vividink⁠ and ⁠Eventflow⁠. You can ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠find out more about them on EPN Journal⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Thanks also to Mattia Portello and the AV team at CHT for providing the recordings and to Alicia Earls at Patch Marketing for helping to put this episode together. Thanks for listening and don’t forget to like and subscribe so you get notifications of new episodes.
Jul 27

Venue Stories: 30 Euston Square with guest Salem Retibi

Welcome to Venue Stories, a series that explores venue spaces, people and histories. In this episode, my guest is Salem Retibi from Searcys who is the venue director at 30 Euston Square. 30 Euston Square is a grade II listed events venue in central London and dates back to 1906. It features oak-panelled Heritage Rooms, marble fireplaces and period features. It also has modern AV, flexible spaces and an experienced events team. An historic London venue that has preserved its original architecture and features yet offers modern event spaces. Don’t forget to like and subscribe so you get notifications of new episodes. If you have something to say about this episode then leave a comment or head over to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠EPN Journal Community⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ where you find out how you can share your thoughts. A huge thank you to our partners ⁠Vividink⁠ and ⁠Eventflow⁠. You can ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠find out more about them on EPN Journal⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Thanks for listening...
Jul 21

How eSims aid sustainability & help business travellers reduce costs

In 2025 the volume of global smartphone shipments reached around 1.25 billion units. Combining new phone activations with replacement SIMs issued by mobile operators, total physical SIM card production for smartphones stood at roughly 3.2 to 3.5 billion units. In 2026, phone shipments are expected to be around 1.09 to 1.20 billion units. Physical SIM card production for smartphones in 2026 is estimated at approximately 2.9 to 3.2 billion units. That Sim Card, a small piece of plastic that looks tiny in your hand, doesn’t look like much. But when there’s billions of them, it is a major problem for sustainability. This is something that Holafly is trying to fix, with eSims. An eSIM (embedded Subscriber Identity Module) is a programmable microchip permanently built into a device's motherboard, replacing the traditional removable plastic SIM card. Using less plastic is so much better for sustainability. There’s also other considerations that Holafly aims to help with, such as improved security, bringing an end to unexpected high phone bills, and making logistics a lot less complicated. I talked to Ricardo Rodriguez, Head of Sales B2B at Holafy, at this years Meetings Show, about their solutions and why travel companies should be using eSims. Don’t forget to like and subscribe so you get notifications of new episodes. A huge thank you to our partners ⁠Vividink⁠ and ⁠Eventflow⁠. You can ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠find out more about them on EPN Journal⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Thanks for listening...
Jul 12

How Navan is growing beyond business travel & expense management

At the recent Meetings Show, I spoke with Galen Grady, SVP & GM at Navan. A company that up to now has specialised in Business travel & expense management. They are now adding venue sourcing and attendee travel services under the name of Navan Events. Galan shares details on the new additional services, and his experiences of moving to the UK with his family. Don’t forget to like and subscribe so you get notifications of new episodes. If you have something to say about this episode then leave a comment or head over to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠EPN Journal Community⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ where you find out how you can share your thoughts. A huge thank you to our partners ⁠Vividink⁠ and ⁠Eventflow⁠. You can ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠find out more about them on EPN Journal⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Thanks for listening...
Jul 5

The power of partnerships, with Margaret Reeves and Christian Skelton

Earlier this year, RefTech and Eventflow announced a new partnership. The introduction was made by Richard John, who is a Meetings and Events author, mentor and consultant. At this years Meetings Show, I caught up with Christian Skelton of Eventflow and Margaret Reeves of RefTech at the Meetings and Events Support Association’s exhibit stand. We discussed the power of partnerships and the importance of focussing on your core business. What do you think about partnerships in general? What do you see as the pros and cons? Leave a comment or head over to the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠EPN Journal Community⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ where you find out how you can share your thoughts. A huge thank you to our partners ⁠Vividink⁠ and ⁠Eventflow⁠. You can ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠find out more about them on EPN Journal⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. I would like to note that while Eventflow is a valued sponsor, our conversation remained entirely objective and editorially independent. Thanks for listening...
Jun 30

Events, confidence and human connection, why mental health & wellbeing is important

Juliette Devillard is the founder & CEO of Climate Connection and Connection Studio. Her areas of interest included sustainability, mental health & wellbeing, and helping founders and entrepreneurs to become better speakers. When Juliette and I first discussed this episode, as I do with guests before we record, we didn’t plan to go too far in to mental health and wellbeing - but we did. It was during our chat on that topic that Juliette shared something personal about her own mental health journey. I won’t give details here because it’s important you hear it in context. There are many things about podcasting that I love, one of them is talking to guests who make you think about things you’ve not considered before. That’s why talking with Juliette was a learning experience and a pleasure. Don’t forget to like and subscribe so you get notifications of new episodes. If you have something to say about this episode then leave a comment or head over to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠EPN Journal Community⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ where you find out how you can share your thoughts. A huge thank you to our partners ⁠Vividink⁠ and ⁠Eventflow⁠. You can ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠find out more about them on EPN Journal⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Thanks for listening...

The Event Planner News Podcast aims to explore news stories from the industry and go behind the scenes with members of the community. Our guest list features event planners, experts in hospitality & venues, and people from many other related areas. Please get in touch if you would like to be a guest.

Creator

Event Planner News - hosted by Bob Toovey
Years Active

2025 - 2026
Episodes

61
Rating

Clean
Copyright

© Event Planner News - hosted by Bob Toovey
Show Website

The EPN Journal Podcast