'These people are phenomenal': the Events R Talented story

Events R Talented has raised almost £50k for charity since it launched in 2018 - not bad for an event that began life as a late night conversation at a Halloween party.

With the 6^th edition of the industry talent contest set to take place on Wednesday 25 June at Leonardo Royal London St Paul's, I caught up with the founders to get the full story on what has quickly become a much-loved mainstay of the events year…

“It’s basically four scallies getting together, pulling it all off - and it just works.”

Events R Talented co-founder Ken Findlay’s assessment of the talent show and charity fundraiser’s ongoing success is typically funny and self-deprecating. However, with the amount of money raised for charity since 2018 closing in on £50,000, it’s clear that the foursome are doing something right.

Launched by Findlay, along with Paul Tidy and Graeme Saunders of Sandals and Matt Curran of Chew Events, Events R Talented has gone from strength to strength over the course of its five editions.

“It was a Halloween party at the Chelsea Harbour Hotel, and we had a few drinks and started talking about how we could do something to try to raise a bit of money for charity,” says Tidy. “We came up with an idea of a talent show, because there's a lot of industry talent out there.”

“We wanted to come up with an idea that was fun and no one had done,” adds Curran.

“Considering that the four of us were all dolled up in various Day of the Dead costumes at 2:00 in the morning, we've not done too bad,” laughs Findlay.

The first edition of Events R Talented kicked off with national auditions night at Bunga Bunga in Covent Garden followed by the finals at Tobacco Dock a few months later. The event raised £7,000 for Greathearts Starfish Foundation, a children’s HIV/Aids charity in rural South Africa, and entrants were pulled from the four’s industry contacts - with a bit of cajoling here and there.

“We’d never put anything on like this before, so it was a case of finding our feet as we went, says Saunders. “There was a lot of trial and error.”

Support

“We found people at various exhibitions, networking events, whatever it might be,” adds Findlay. “We had a gymnastic routine the first year we did it, a comedy dance routine as well.

“We've always had the support from a large group of friends that we've all amassed over the years. That was particularly important in year one.”

However, with a top prize of a Sandals holiday and the chance to perform at the M&IT Awards, standards were high right from the get-go.

“The first winner, Eiza Murphy, she worked at back of house in a restaurant and we met her at an event somewhere,” recalls Curran. “She said she could sing, but her confidence was a bit low, and so we had to persuade her to do it. She's now been signed, and she lives in LA. She had a number one on Spotify, she's had about eight singles released, it's a crazy story really. Her success has spurred us on too.”

Persuading acts to take part is one of Findlay’s specialities.

“Some people need convincing,” he says. “With two of our winning acts, it took me quite a long time to convince them to actually enter, and they both won. I convinced one act after about a 45 minute conversation, she was setting up her agency at the time, and that year she won.”

Saunders pegs the first event as a high point of the Events R Talented journey.

“At the first event, where we got 120 people into Bunga Bunga and raised a few thousand pounds for charity, I realised this idea had actually got some legs to it,” he says. “That was a real wow moment, realising what we’d done.”

Learning

The format has seen some tweaks over the years, changing from a standing event to a seated dinner, as well as changing the auditions process.

“Year two was learning for us,” says Tidy. “The numbers dipped away ever so slightly, and we looked at the event and asked questions. We've streamlined it, tweaked it, changed it over the years, so now it’s just one main event.”

“It made all the difference,” adds Findlay. “We were able to announce to how much money we’d raised that night, who the winner was, and everybody could walk away and talk about it and then we could plan for the winner performing at the M&IT Awards.”

Now the finals night has found its home in the calendar in June after the first day of The Meetings Show.

“Suppliers are in town, they're hosting buyers anyway, and we're giving them a great opportunity to take clients out for food and drink and get a load of entertainment for free,” says Curran. “It works well.”

“Last year we had approximately 230 people as guests, and the next day at The Meetings Show so many people were coming up to us after, saying how fantastic the show was and wanting to book for next year,” reveals Findlay. “Already we're close to 300 people this year.”

2018 winner Eiza Murphy

2022 winner Jo Potkin performs at the M&IT Awards

In terms of organisation, the four founders have an impressive skillset to draw on.

“You've got Matt and Ken with their event agency organisational skills and then Paul and I bring different things to the table”, adds Saunders. “Obviously I'm more operational as well, and then Paul from a salesy aspect.

“When we put on the events, Ken and I are happy to take more of a back seat in terms of running around and leave Matt and Paul to take the limelight on the stage. It works.”

Charity

The event is run as a not-for-profit, with £300 from each table sold guaranteed to go directly to charity and every other penny accounted for in the cost of running the event.

“Last year we did between £6,000 and £7,000 for charity even before we started the raffle and the auction,” beams Findlay..

“We've been very fortunate with key people in the industry that supported us and have done a lot of things for nothing because it's all gone to the charities,” adds Tidy. “We've had people compering and interval acts performing without charging us anything, so that's also helped.”

The event started with the four organisers acting as judges. However, to allay any fears of bias, the move was made to professional judges.

“The judges have worked in the events industry but also have a background in performance talent,” says Findlay. “They’re regularly appearing on stage with big acts or have a background in performing. So we know that when the acts go on stage they are being professionally judged in every aspect; performance, quality of the act, working the stage, engaging with the audience - every aspect of it.”

This year’s finals show is set take place at Leonardo Royal London St Paul's on Wednesday 25 June, and while the four are tight-lipped about exactly what’s in store, they promise “some outstanding talent” appearing.

Hard work

One thing they’re not being coy about is this year’s chosen charity – event industry charity foundation Meeting Needs.

“When we first started, we got quite a lot of support from Lene Corgan and Jen Jenkins, and also from Jason Wilcock when he was chair, so we decided to do a bit of payback,” says Findlay. “Whatever we raise will go direct to Meeting Needs, and then it'll be down to them to distribute the funds however they wish to.”

“I love seeing it come together and that's down to a lot of hard work that goes in behind the scenes, particularly from Ken with his AV background,” adds Tidy. “When you look at where it has come from to where it is now, with the support of these hotel groups buying two or three tables at a time and the money we’re raising for charity, with the help and support of so many people, it’s a real highlight.”

“It's really grown, which I love,” says Curran. “It's nice to look at where we started, and think about how we're now doing 300 people in that hotel. We're just so proud of all the money we raise for charity.

“The winners have been fantastic too, I think that surprises people. They're all just working in the industry day-to-day, but yet these people are phenomenal, they come out and they properly own the room.”