International Confex which will be held in London 15th to 17th February…
International Confex which will be held in London 15th to 17th February, announce the team of independent industry experts who will be manning the Advice Centre – a show feature that provides all visitors with free and impartial advice about any aspect of the live events medium.
The team of independent event experts is led by Mike Lyon. Mike is director of Write Style Communications Ltd and has over 10 years experience as conference and events manager for a major UK Clearing Bank.
Jessica Blue, event director, International Confex said Mike Lyon has gathered together a team of the very best industry experts. The Advice Centre is a very successful attraction – our visitors find this type of expert independent advice invaluable.
Following its successful launch at the 2004 show, the centre has been developed and expanded to include a drop in CV Clinic, manned by show veterans and event industry specialists ESP Recruitment and JB Events Recruitment, and a Research Point. Exhibitors who have produced research in the last 12 months can use the Research Point as a means to promote and distribute their research papers. Confex has issued a call to exhibitors for research papers.
The Advice Centre (stand number R104) will be located in The Corporate Hospitality & Entertainment sector (colour coded in red). Visitors wishing to book appointments can do so via the Confex website (www.international-confex.com).
The International Confex Advice Centre team include:
Mike Lyon – director of Write Style Communications Ltd. Mike has over 10 years experience managing conferences within the business market as events manager for Barclays Bank. In 2000, he set up a new marketing communications agency, Write Style Communications, which offers consultancy support and training for Tourist Boards, Conference Centres and Hotels on all aspects of Venue Promotions. He is a regular feature writer for the monthly Conference & Exhibition Factfinder magazine and also appears in Conference News, Conference & Incentive Travel and Corporate Entertainer magazines.
Richard Tierney – Creative Director, Video Producer and Scriptwriter. Richard has worked in over thirty countries and produced work, which has been seen on every continent. He has experience of most styles of production from the ultra conservative government and royalty projects to the wackier production values of the music business and youth brands. Working on locations from a deserted Indonesian island to Buckingham Palace, and on projects worth under ten thousand to over one million pounds, Richard has evolved his own methodology for producing appropriately creative communication whatever the situation.
Sue Stayte – Managing Director of ILAM Services Ltd, part of the Institute of Leisure and Amenity Management Group. Sue is an experienced conference organiser and runs a series of courses for the leisure industry on conference management. She is also a guest presenter for the Association of Conferences and Events, running one day workshops. In 2002, Sue published a book on event management containing a series of comprehensive checklists on all aspects of planning a conference.
Joanna Aspin – a conference industry professional since 1989. For six years Joanna worked in venue sales at Chewton Place in Bristol, which was followed by eight years as Conference Manager for The Bristol Tourism & Conference Bureau. Joanna helped developed the Chaser BUREAU enquiry handling system which is now used by one third of UK destination conference operations and more recently has worked on the development of an on-line accommodation system.
Rob Davidson – Senior Lecturer at the University of Westminster since 1998. Rob specialises in research into the conference, exhibition and incentive travel sectors and is course leader for the MA in Conference Management. He is the author of a number of tourism textbooks and articles in the professional and academic press, and his latest book, `Business Travel Conferences, Incentive Travel, Exhibitions, Corporate Hospitality and Corporate Travel` was published by Pearson Education in 2003. He also undertakes extensive research into the business tourism market. In addition, he writes a regular monthly column for the trade publication, Conference News, and contributes regularly to other specialist periodicals.
John Spain – editor Conference News and Exhibition News magazines. John read English and French at university and spent a large proportion of this time studying cinema. He says it was here that the joys of research, interpretation and writing first took their hold but at that point he always thought he`d be a very erudite film commentator who wore black all the time. He freely admits to knowing nothing about exhibitions and conferences before joining Mash Media four years ago but now thinks they are tremendously exciting industries to be involved with. He is delighted to edit two magazines that are `must reads` for anyone who wants to keep up with the UK events industry.
Alan Summers – publisher of Corporate Entertainer, the long-established magazine catering for the corporate hospitality market in the UK. The publication, which was recently proud to celebrate its 15th anniversary, has become a `must-read` source of information and advice on best practice in the sector. Alan Summers is a veteran of the hospitality sector and his forthright views on what makes the market tick are highly-respected by those working throughout the industry.
Grania Sweeting – managing director, Grapevine HR, a company specialising in the full range of human resource (HR) services to organisations in the events industry. Grania has successfully completed a Postgraduate Diploma and MA in Human Resource Management, is CIPD qualified and has over ten years` experience of this sector. Prior to her studies, she worked at event management company TFI Group and assisted the Managing Director in all staff issues.
Glenn Bowdin – lecturer, Leeds Metropolitan University. Glenn is an experienced lecturer who has been working at Leeds for ten years, eight of which have been involved in developing the events programmes. His current interest lies in the development of events research. Other interests include the development and management of the highly successful website, WorldofEvents.net developed to support education, research and professionalism within the events industry. He is Chair of AEME (Association for Events Management Education), a new subject association for events education with the aim of supporting and raising the profile of the events discipline through the sharing of education and best practice.
The Advice Centre is in addition to the following new visitor attractions:
- CV Clinic
- New Products LIVE! Showcase
- Research Point
- Special Event Showcase
- Agency Pavilion
- NEW! Destinations
- Overseas Regional Feature Days
- The 2005 Confex Conference
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