EVENTS CONNECT CONFERENCE 2022 SPEAKERS
EVENTS PROFESSIONALS
ALUMNI PANEL
AGENDA
Sara Tomkins
Marketing & CSR Director Co-op Live
Sara joined Co-op Live in 2020 bringing her 20 years’ experience from working as Chief Executive of a charity, an Assistant Chief Executive in the public sector at Manchester City Council and in the private sector for marketing agencies and retailers including Shop Direct Group and Marks & Spencer.
Sara’s role has focused on leading destination marketing, managing strategic communications, digital, design, events and corporate social responsibility. Specialising in behaviour change and connecting residents, businesses and visitors to the city of Manchester.
Currently, Sara is building the Co-op Live brand, marketing and charitable strategies as well supporting the sustainable agenda and preparing for artists who will announce they’re coming to play Manchester soon. Co-op Live will not only be the biggest and best arena in the UK, it will also be planet friendly aiming to be net zero carbon with a charitable ethos - pledging over £1m per annum to local and national good causes.
Holly Watson
Head of Marketing & Events Co-op Live
Holly joined Co-op Live in 2022 with over 10 years working in the entertainment industry from starting her journey as a musician, to working large-scale events through Festivals, London Olympic Games.
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As Head of Marketing & Events at Co-op Live, Holly performs a pivotal role in the opening of and ongoing delivery at the UK's largest live entertainment arena. Her career spans over a decade in the entertainment industry, supporting across various internationally renowned festival and events, including the iconic London 2012 Olympic Games.
Holly’s experience brings together a plethora of music industry knowledge, and more recently she’s worked across a high volume of national marketing campaigns at Ticketmaster and brought subscription models to life for a music producer technology start-up. Working alongside high-profile artists at every turn.
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Her role at Co-op Live continues a notable career in the entertainment sector, where she is responsible for implementing and delivering extraordinary marketing campaigns, using innovative technology, all whilst driving sales and revenue strategies. The aim: to sell-out shows to attract the biggest and best talent on the planet whilst maintaining an exceptional consumer and partner experience.
Luke Temple
Promoter SJM Concerts
Worked for SJM Concerts for 10 years and been in the music industry promoting events for 13 years. Promoted acts including Billie Eilish, The 1975, Olivia Rodrigo, Glass Animals, Wet Leg
Parisa Esalat
Customer Services Manager SJM Concerts
Managing all things customer related within the business –from social media pages, site/FAQ info to emails. Also involved in individual projects such as communication with our scholarship programme.
Chris Wareing
Promoter SJM Concerts
Worked for SJM 9 years. Been in the music industry, promoting events for 15 years.
Promoted acts including Stormzy, Dave, Lizzo and Travis Scott
Rick Stainton
Group Executive Director: Smyle Group Founder and the Founder of The Power of Events UK
Rick, 48, oversees the growth strategy of Smyle Group. It owns leading creative agency Smyle Creative, that delivers live, hybrid and virtual experiences for some of the top global brands. It has won UK Event Agency of the Year award a record 8 times in the last 14 years – at the Campaign Experience, DRUM, Conference News, EVCOM and C&IT awards – a first for any agency. It also owns NJ Live, a market leading technical production agency in the gaming/esports sector and The Sports Presentation Company, a global sports presentation and fan engagement agency.
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Rick also founded The Power of Events in April 2022. It aims to launch a digital platform in January 2023 to effectively deliver a map of the UK Events industry, representing the defined 7 core sectors of Bespoke Sports Events, Business & Brand Experiences, Exhibitions & Congress, Festivals & Outdoor Events, Music & Live Performances, Public/Third Sector Events and Weddings. This unique and revolutionary initiative aims to benefit all current and future event professionals, profiling the associations, support organisations, universities and trade press as well as leading industry data research projects so as to appropriately Showcase, Respect and Value the UK Events Industry
Anika Ved
Freelance Event Manager Anika Ved Events
Anika is a passionate mental health advocate and events professional. She has a passion for improving the lives of others and creating memorable experiences. She has experience managing events in the commercial and not for profit sectors from various sectors including sporting, aerospace and music industries specialising in B2B conferences. She currently freelances for several companies providing event consultancy, project management and analysis. Mental health is an incredibly important topic to Anika and she seeks to educate her peers on looking after their mental health to create a good work / life balance.
Adrian Bell and Danielle Nay
Co founders and Executive Producers Blu Fire.
Adrian studied and trained in the industry as a theatre lighting designer and went on to spend over 20 years building and running one of the most decorated live production agencies in the MENA region, launching multiple major government projects in Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Oman.
Danielle is a creative producer. She creates high end luxury happenings, from pop-up brand experiences to boutique festivals for private and celebrity clients. As well as being a business owner, Danielle has worked client-side, as an agency employee and consultant and as a supplier of event content. Danielle was born in Brussels, grew up in Liverpool, read Classics & Modern Languages at Oxford and worked in London for 20 years before moving to Dubai in 2009. She is currently based in Cheshire.
This year saw Adrian and Danielle win "Best Venue 2022" at the Edinburgh Fringe festival with their Australian themed project called "House of Oz", a performing arts and gastro extravaganza of over 150 unique Australian performances from physical theatre to comedy and from cabaret to new emerging pop artists.
Joseph Charlton
Founder & Managing Director PlanIt
Joseph has been producing events coming up to 10 years, agency side mainly corporate B2B, events from 50 up to 31000 nationally and internationally. He has held two senior positions, both in the North and South of England. He has amassed a large network during this time and was named one to watch by the Conference News. In his event career to date, he has worked across a wide-range of sectors at a strategic level both nationally and internationally. Joseph always looks to exceed client expectations, whether working for major American corporations, start-ups, or multinational tech companies. Joseph’s vision is to revolutionise the industry through Planit, creating a sustainable way of working.