TAKING PLACE ON STAND P48: MESA EDUCATIONAL CAMPFIRE PROGRAMME
FULL PROGRAMME BELOW
Tuesday 17th November
1030-1050 AI in events: What is real, what's hype and what's next
Everyone’s selling AI, but what has changed for event professionals? This informal discussion cuts through the hype to explore where AI genuinely helps today, where it overpromises, and where it’s heading. Join Manuel for an honest, practical conversation about building AI into how we work.
Manuel Otero, Business Development Consultant, idloom
1100-1120 Let’s Talk Marketing: AI, Influencers & Finding Your Edge
Marketing isn’t just for marketers anymore. Whether you’re promoting an event, building your personal brand, or automating your workload, this chat is for you. Led by a micro-influencer in the events space, we’ll explore AI tools, influencer marketing, and practical ways to stand out without burning out. Bring your hacks, questions, and curiosity.
Johnny Martinez, Head of Events & Partnerships, CrowdComms & Eloise Newing, Co-Founder, Electric Cat
1130-1150 MESA Group Hosted Buyer Presentation (Closed Group Presentation): A Discovery Journey of Event Services and Technologies for Your Next Event (Part One)
1200-1220 Honest conversations on AI in events: what's working, what's theatre
AI is in every demo, every keynote, every pitch. But which parts have changed anything for organisers and attendees, and which are shiny wrappers for what we already did well? Join a candid discussion on what has delivered real value in your events, what hasn't lived up to the hype, and where the genuine opportunities sit. Bring your experience. Honest views are especially welcome.
Jelmer van Ast, Founder & CEO, Conference Compass
1230-1250 Driving Engagement at your Event
Engagement doesn’t just happen; it’s designed. This campfire discussion explores practical ways to create interaction before, during, and after your event. From personalised journeys and gamification to tech tools and creative networking formats, we’ll share strategies that keep attendees connected, inspired, and coming back. And we want to hear what’s working for you. After all engagement can mean different things. Let’s explore together.
Victoria Hallin, Chief Revenue Officer & Simon Roberts, Director, Solutions Engineering, InvitePeople
1400-1420 MESA Group Presentation (Closed Group Presentation): A Discovery Journey of Event Services and Technologies for Your Next Event (Part Two)
1430-1450 The Poster Hall Post-Mortem: Transforming Wasted Real Estate into High-Impact Engagement
Tired of empty corridors and disengaged presenters staring at their phones? Let’s brainstorm how to transform traditional poster sessions, often the most wasted real estate at events, into captivating experiences. In this interactive discussion, we will explore proven strategies to eliminate author no-shows, guarantee an audience for every presenter, and effortlessly captivate crowds. Join us to share your challenges and discover how to design high-impact poster halls that truly foster knowledge exchange.
Joel Chetzroni, CEO, Multilearning
1500-1520 Intelligent data: Turning Event Data into Business Value
Events generate huge amounts of onsite data every day: check-ins, badge scans, session attendance, attendee tracking, booth visits, and engagement signals. Most of this data stays operational and never becomes intelligence. Come and bring your questions as we look at how on-site event data can move from simple operations to real business intelligence and the impact of AI.
Charles White, Vice President of Global Sales, fielddrive
1530-1550 What If Your Attendees Did Your Marketing for You?
What if your attendees could be your best marketers? Join Anup for a relaxed chat about how organisers like Dubai World Trade Centre and Informa turn attendees, speakers, and exhibitors into advocates. Swap ideas on personalising content, encouraging authentic sharing and getting your event noticed, all without spending on ads.
Anup Mohan, CEO & Co-Founder, Premagic
1610-1650 Join some of our MESA Members at the ibtm Future Stage
Event Tech Meets Human Psychology: Designing for How People Really Behave
With Johnny Martinez, Head of Events & Partnerships, CrowdComms and Paul Cook, Storyteller & Creative Producer, Paul Cook Storyteller
JOIN MESA FOR DRINKS ON P48 1700-1800 ON TUESDAY
Wednesday 18th November
0930-0950 How to Make Delegates Belong, and Why it Really Matters
In a world of ROI, ROE and ROO, StoryCraft Lab, Google and Meet In Wales take guests on a deep dive into why creating a sense of belonging amongst delegates could create the most meaningful impact. Driven by StoryCraft Lab's own masterclass in belonging, be prepared to share your own stories and shape them to create a genuinely modern and powerful event.
Betsy Rives, Insights & Innovation Manager, Google / Naomi Clare, CEO, StoryCraft Lab / Heledd Williams, Head of Business Events, Meet In Wales
1000-1020 Are We Seeing the Person or the Generation?
What happens when we think we know someone because of their generation? In this conversation, Alastair Greener explores the assumptions that shape relationships across the events industry. Through real stories, we’ll examine how different expectations around communication and collaboration can lead to misunderstandings, and how curiosity can turn those moments into stronger connections. How might events professionals work better together when they see the person before the label?
Alastair Greener, Communications Speaker & Consultant, PresentYourself.co.uk
1030-1050 Where is the expert in the room?
One of the main reasons that people attend events, and particularly conferences, is to learn. But how do you find the expert you want to meet? Do the meeting formats used by conference organisers help you do this? And what do we mean by “expert” anyhow? In this interactive campfire session, we’ll find the experts in the room and highlight how the meeting format itself can help.
Tamsin Treasure-Jones & Raymond Elferink, Co-Founders, Kubify
1100-1120 Full Rooms or Real Reach? The Hybrid Question
Hybrid access or full rooms: What really defines congress success? How realistic are hours of undivided attention? Planners want measurable success and full rooms, yet participants who benefit from knowledge transfer at their own pace and share it onward may be the true multipliers. Let’s put our heads together and come up with some ideas on how we can strike this balance!
Thomas Berghausen, Owner, meta-fusion
1130-1150 MESA Group Hosted Buyer Presentation (Closed Group Presentation): A Discovery Journey of Event Services and Technologies for Your Next Event (Part One)
1200-1220 The Moment Everything Went Wrong
We've all had that moment at an event, the one where everything falls apart. Join us for an honest, informal campfire conversation about the chaos, my quick fixes, and the lessons we’ve learned in our industry. No slides, no pitches, just real stories from people who've been there. Come ready to laugh, cringe, and swap survival tactics with fellow congress and event professionals. Pull up a chair. Bring your story.
Jan Diesbach, Director Sales & Strategy, ESTENSIS
1230-1250 Organising Events Abroad: What Changes and What to Plan For
Taking an event overseas is exciting, but everything you know about delivering at home gets tested. In this conversational session, I will draw on 20 years in event operations to talk through the changes that occur when you cross a border: health and safety, local suppliers, budgets, compliance, culture, and language. Bring your questions and your stories. You will leave with practical ideas and a clearer picture of what to plan for before you make the leap.
Julia Danmeri, Founder, TranslateAble
1400-1420 MESA Group Presentation (Closed Group Presentation): A Discovery Journey of Event Services and Technologies for Your Next Event (Part Two)
1430-1450 Proposition, Presentation, Process: The Commercial Engine of Event Sales
When sponsorship drops, organisers often blame market trends. Revenue leaks stem from failures in the 3 x P's: Proposition (selling outcomes over physical components), Presentation (leading with buyer ROI), and Process (building a sales engine). In this interactive session, event strategy consultant Richard Morris explains why missing just one component can break the whole machine and provides actionable steps to fix your commercial engine.
Richard Morris, Director, Active Media Events
1500-1520 Speaking Matters – Busting Myths with a New Superpower – Preparation
It doesn’t matter what your speaking opportunity is; if you want to be successful, you have to prepare. And preparation can be fun. In this discussion, Paul Cook will explore speaking myths, bust them open, and dive into your key questions. Bring your stories of what happens when you are asked to speak, what’s worked, what hasn’t, and let’s share insights for a better approach for getting ready to speak.
Paul Cook, Storyteller & Creative Producer, Paul Cook Storyteller
1530-1550 No AI Sheriff in Town? How the Event Industry Can Write Its Own Rules
Silicon Valley is moving fast and breaking things, but there is no global "AI Sheriff" riding into town anytime soon to keep the algorithms in check. We’re all galloping through a digital Wild West without a badge or a map. No slides, no sales pitches, and no doom-and-gloom. Just a straightforward, campfire chat on how we can demand accountability, protect our delegates, and bring some law and order before the bandits take over.
Grégoire Bradley, International Account Executive, LetzFair
1600-1620 How to beat the late registration game attendees love to play
Attendees play a waiting game, and right now they’re winning. Early-bird deadlines slide, reminder emails go unopened, and most of your registrations land in the final stretch. Bring your reg curves, your clever saves and your failed experiments. Let’s compare notes, pick apart tactics from waitlists to airline-style price holds, and leave with ideas that change the rules of the game.
JOIN US ON WEDNESDAY EVENING FOR THE MESA RE-FRESH DINNER
Thursday 19th November
1100-1120 Small Changes, Big Inclusion
Captions, transcripts, multi-language access, mobility considerations…Accessibility is often the first thing cut when budgets tighten, yet the fixes that matter most are rarely the expensive ones. This discussion digs into the small, affordable changes that make the biggest difference for inclusion, and challenges planners to honestly assess who their content actually reaches versus who they assume it reaches.
Cathrin Sauer, Director - Solutions & Innovation & Yara Konstantinou, Head of Sales & Marketing, CTI Meeting Technology
1130-1150 MESA Group Hosted Buyer Presentation (Closed Group Presentation): A Discovery Journey of Event Services and Technologies for Your Next Event (Part One)
1200-1220 Your Event Trends Questions Answered, Micro to Macro
Following the launch of the IBTM World Trends Report 27, this is your chance to ask questions about industry trends. What are the micro and macro trends that will affect how your events look next year and over the next five years? Spanning demographics, human experience, AI, the move from smart to dumb, and the big themes of the report.
Alistair Turner, Managing Director, EIGHT PR & Marketing
1230-1250 Event content intelligence for attendees, during and after the event
Most AI at events stops at captions. What would attendees find useful while a session is still running? Which post-event insights or assets do they actually use? This campfire invites organisers to compare experiences with live takeaways, summaries, speaker quotes, and audience questions, then explore how insights across sessions might extend the conversation after the event.
Ananth Mullapudi, Head of Sales & GTM, Snapsight
1400-1420 MESA Group Presentation (Closed Group Presentation): A Discovery Journey of Event Services and Technologies for Your Next Event (Part Two)
Thank you to Paul Cook, Storyteller & Creative Producer of Paul Cook Storyteller, MESA Member - for designing this programme!
Logistics and overall support for MESA at ibtm provided by MESA Patron Member ACS audiovisual solutions 
Our audio visual screens at ibtm are sponsored and provided by MESA Member ESTENSIS
Our campfire seating is sponsored and provided by MESA Member FestivalChairs 
MESA campfires will take place using MESA Sponsor Partner Silent Seminars headsets 