Event Buyers Live - an event with a difference.
There are certain events in the event industry calendar which just can’t be missed. They provide old timers and up-and-comers alike with an opportunity to network, catch up with contacts, and nosy over new products, ideas and innovations.
And one such event is, of course, Event Buyers Live. A specialist networking event for the world’s finest live event organisers and agencies – AKA, THE place for us Event Profs to do business.
Here at Europa, EBL has been a long favourite of ours and, for the 6th year running we were delighted to be the official furniture supplier for the do!
Oh what fun we had mingling, schmoozing, showing off our new Tolix kit and generally catching up with some of the event industry’s finest! We went, we saw, we wined and dined… we liked! It was, put simply, three days packed full to the brim with networking, guest speakers and flipping fabulous furniture (obviously!).
Iain Duncan Smith MP was one of the keynote speakers and he spoke about the ins and outs of, dare we say it… Brexit (!) and what it means for the event industry. SHOCK HORROR, he was actually very funny (who knew?!) and did an excellent job of winning over the audience - but, then again, he is a politician and that’s what they – usually – do best…
And did you know that the events industry actually employs FIVE times more than the number of people working in the automotive sector? Neither did we, until EBL!
But what really stuck with us this year, was just how much we took from the people we met, and how much we learnt from those we talked to.
You see, when it comes to events most delegates arrive at a venue – which on this occasion was the utterly beautiful Heythrop Park Resort in the Cotswolds – and leave thinking ‘yea, that was worth it, I got some good info there’.
Whereas it is much more difficult to ensure said delegates walk away with a real fire in their bellies and inspiration at their fingertips.
And yet, year after year that’s what seems to happen at EBL. And that, my friends, is because of the people that attend.
I won’t name names (overly cautious, GDPR-phobic Events & Marketing Manager over here!!) but what I will say is that I met dozens of really fab people - including a lovely lady from the Wirral, a top notch bloke from Wimbledon, and a very interesting fella from Warwickshire - and that got me thinking!
The events industry is made up of so many different people from different areas and different walks of life.
We are inevitably into different things, enjoy spending our weekends in different ways (when we get the chance) and of course we will all have different tastes; but what we all have in common – or certainly, what I have in common with the people I met at EBL - is how passionate we are about putting on top class events.
It is such diversity that makes this industry so exciting and interesting, and ultimately what prevents it from EVER being boring.
Who wants everyone to look, act and, ultimately, be the same? It’s a bit like choosing the furniture for an upcoming event, in that respect (do you see what I did there?). Much nicer to be able to add a little ‘flavour’, so to speak, by injecting a bit of colour in the guise of a padded seat cover; or a bit of grit in the form of a truly industrial-style chair; or even a whole heap of pazzazz with the introduction of light-up bar tables!
Indeed, we carried that ethos with us when we kitted out this year’s EBL19, and it was great to see our new Tolix-style chairs and tables going down a treat, and even better to see that our love for a POP of colour was welcomed in the form of a splash of red here and there.
Gone are the days of corporate and monotone, mix and match is the new way forward! Think catwalk benches, bar areas and chill-out zones, all brought together with an infusion of colour. People like the idea of being able to ‘chop and change’ the look of a space with speed and ease and so, with a wave of the Europa magic want, what event profs want, event profs shall have!
The point I’m trying to make is that embracing the different – and the difference in all of us – is what it’s all about. Working with people with a different outlook on things will only ever enhance what you are already doing, and take the events you put on to the next level of awesome!
