When things go wrong, site management, perfecting family-friendly events, designing the perfect queue, sustainability and how to have a good event cancellation. These are just some topics to be discussed at this year’s Event Buyers Live (EBL) when it returns to Carden Park, Cheshire (November 11-13).

When things go wrong and the vital lessons learned from incidents on-site will be the focus of EBL24’s only workshop, providing event professionals with a rare opportunity to sit alongside each other and share the honest realities of event life. Claire Drakeley, programme leader at the University of Northampton, who recently completed her PhD on decision-making within event management, will lead the session alongside Sam Watkins, operations director at Vision Nine, Serena Varley, director of Chaos Management, and Judy Bec, freelance festival manager and event control specialist.

Drakeley said: “Being in the midst of my PhD, which focuses on how we make better decisions, I can’t wait to get in a room with organisers, to be honest and share our experiences from event and festival sites. Let’s face it, despite the best plans, things do go wrong and so I think it’s important that we use opportunities like these at EBL to share best practices.”

PRODUCTIVE ROUNDTABLES
EBL is also respected for its informal roundtable sessions, which provide attendees with even more opportunities to open up
and have productive discussions around event challenges. Wimbledon’s Roz Combe, Threshold Sport’s Tariq El Kashef, APL Event’s Phil Ludford, and the UK Crowd Management Association’s Oliver Gardiner will deliver roundtables on queueing, mass participation events, site management and dealing with protestors respectively. Whilst London Marathon Group’s Kate Chapman, LS Events’ Zoey Benjamin, Gloworm’s Richard Walpole, and Major Impact City Events’ Tim Owen will facilitate discussions on sustainability, brand partnership activation and delivery, nailing the customer experience at family-friendly events and working effectively with SAGs.

PERSONALISED EXPERIENCE
Currently, organisers from some of the most respected events and agencies in the UK are preparing to gather at Carden Park for three days of productive meetings, engaging content, and unrivalled networking.

Following a jam-packed year, marred by horrendous weather conditions, budget pressures and event cancellations, events professionals are keen to connect at EBL24 and talk about plans for 2025.

“Our attendees are poised and ready to discuss their needs for 2025 and beyond,” said Neil Fagg, co-founder of EBL, the leading hosted buyer event for the live events industry. “EBL provides organisers with the platform to discuss procurement needs and supply chain requirements in pre- arranged one-on-one meetings.

“This year, it’s been hard. Many organisers have cancelled their events because of rising costs and they say that they are no longer financially viable to run in their current format. This is why we have decided to host a panel session on the topic of event cancellations and the impact they have on the wider event eco-system.”

John Rostron, CEO of the Association of Independent Festivals, will chair the session which includes Towersey Festivals’ Joe Heap, Underneath the Stars’ Emma Hollings and Highest Point Festival’s Rich Dyer. Together, they will talk about how to have a “good” event cancellation, if you decide your event or festival can no longer go ahead.