Event Data Management: Someone Is, Maybe, Selling Your Attendee List
Not for cash, and not as a spreadsheet. The actual value in an organiser’s attendee list gets extracted in ways that are never listed on an invoice, and, believe it or not, most contracts permit it. Just look at how the market describes itself: One matchmaking provider advertises that its recommendations are built on billions […]
7 Questions Every Organiser Should Ask Their Event Technology Provider
Cristina Achim: “Responsible data use rests on strong security, clear processes and deliberate product decisions. Nothing else a supplier says about data is worth discussing until that foundation is real.” Below are the seven questions I would put to an event software supplier, and our own answers. I think a supplier should answer all of […]
In the Gulf, Reputation Travels Faster Than Any Sales Deck
Over the past three and a half years, I’ve had the privilege of supporting organisers across the Gulf, delivering event registration technology, onsite operations and customer support & experience for some of the region’s leading exhibitions. From healthcare, technology and energy events to the rapidly expanding exhibition calendar in Saudi, every project has reinforced one […]
Most Exhibitors Miss Untapped Leads, and It’s a Behavior Problem.
I spend a lot of time on exhibition floors, observing and collecting data. Data is what proves that problems are real, and I take that seriously before I build anything to solve them. The pattern that kept appearing was this: at a busy stand, three to seven visitors would browse the products, handle materials, sometimes […]
Event Access Control for Multi-Venue Events: A Practical Architecture Guide
Funny thing about QR codes at event entrances: they look identical whether the system behind them is brilliant or borderline chaotic. One scan, half a second, and either everything works great, or your gate staff acts frantic at the phone, talking to operations. What separates those two outcomes has nothing to do with the code […]
100,000 Attendees, Zero Incidents: Inside WHX Dubai’s Access Control Operation
Opening morning at WHX Dubai. It was around 09:00, and the queue at the main entrance was building faster than we were clearing it. I had been on site since 06:30 doing terminal checks. Everything had come up clean. Then the doors opened and the arrival mix was not what we had planned for. You […]
The Most Valuable Word in Your Vendor’s Vocabulary
There is a word that makes procurement teams uncomfortable, that commercial directors flinch at, and that most supplier relationships are quietly designed to avoid. It causes more friction in a single syllable than almost any other word in business. In my years of working with event organisers across the world, I have come to believe […]
The Sustainability Mandate Is Coming to Events: Reducing Waste From Registration to Badge Printing
Every event leaves a physical footprint. Printed registration forms, pre-made badge stacks, glossy brochures, exhibitor manuals thicker than a novel, and pockets full of business cards that will be binned by Friday. For years, this was simply the cost of doing business. Now, with sustainability reporting shifting from aspiration to obligation, event organizers are under […]
7 Criteria for Choosing Event Registration Software at Exhibition Scale
When your exhibition crosses the 10,000-attendee threshold, every registration decision compounds. ISE 2026 processed 120,914 registrations across 168 countries. WHX Dubai 2026 handled 235,000 or more registered visitors from over 180 countries, with 4,300 exhibitors. At that volume, choosing the wrong event registration software starts costing you money even before a single badge gets issued. […]
The State of Event Technology Trends Beyond 2026: Worth Watching and Not
Every January, the industry produces a fresh batch of event technology trend reports. Most recycle the same themes with updated year numbers. The useful ones are willing to say what is not going to happen, alongside what is. Consider this an honest read of where event technology actually stands beyond 2026, based on what we’re seeing […]