The Business of Events has announced the first confirmed speakers and contributors for its UK
Policy Forum, which takes place on Wednesday 8 November at IET London:
Savoy Place.
The line-up includes BBC Newsnight political editor Nicholas Watt, major event producer Martin Green CBE,
Identity’s Michael Gietzen, Theresa Villiers MP, chair of the All-Party
Parliamentary Group for Events, and Shonali Devereaux, who will moderate the
event.
The forum is an official participating event as
part of International Trade Week, which takes place from 06 – 10 November 2023,
and is run by the Department for Business & Trade.
The UK Policy Forum will bring together
government officials and political experts from the beyond the events sector
with the objective of enhancing communication between the industry and
Westminster, as well as developing a policy agenda.
Sessions at the forum include the export and
inbound value of tradeshows, exporting creativity and ‘soft power’ potential of
events, and the importance of ambassador programmes to drive innovation and
change.
The first speakers to be confirmed are:
Nicholas Watt, political editor, BBC Newsnight
Nick Watt has worked in national journalism for
more than 30 years, reporting on UK and EU politics. Since joining BBC Newsnight
as its Political Editor in 2016, Watt has become a familiar figure across BBC
television and radio, reporting on the rollercoaster of UK politics since the
Brexit referendum. This has seen five prime ministers come and go. Watt also
regularly appears on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, the World at One, PM and
the World Tonight. He can also be heard chewing the fat about the political
world as a presenter of the Westminster Hour on Radio 4 on Sunday nights.
Before joining the BBC, Watt worked as the
Guardian’s chief political correspondent and as its European editor based in
Brussels.
Theresa Villiers MP, chair of the All-Party
Parliamentary Group for Events
Theresa Villiers has been the MP for Chipping Barnet since 2005. She has held many positions in this
time, including secretary of state for Northern Ireland, secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs, a minister of state in the Department
of Transport and shadow chief secretary to the Treasury.
She is the chair of the All-Party Parliamentary
Group for Events and will share with the forum the view from Westminster.
Martin Green CBE, Producer
Green has masterminded some of Britain’s most
significant major cultural events including the London 2012 Olympic and
Paralympic Opening and Closing Ceremonies, Hull UK City of Culture 2017,
Unboxed; Creativity in the UK and most recently the ceremonies and cultural
programmes for Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022. In 2023 he led
Eurovision in Liverpool on behalf of Ukraine.
He was an advisor to the Japan 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games
and the Dubai Expo 2020. In 2018 He was awarded an
honorary doctorate by the University of Hull and made CBE in
The Queen's New Year Honours List.
Michael Gietzen, CEO, Identity
Identity has run some of the biggest events
globally, including COP26 and COP28, the G7 Summit in 2021, and events such as
the London New Year’s Eve fireworks display. Gietzen will sit on a panel
discussing the UK’s leading role in exporting creativity around the world and
how major events are a great form of soft power, by way of positive attraction
and persuasion to achieve policy objectives.
Shonali Devereaux - moderator
The UK Policy Forum will be moderated by Shonali
Devereaux. After 25 years in the events industry, Devereaux now spends her time
helping people find their voice. Through her business Profeshonali, she coaches
and mentors in confidence and public speaking. She elevates others’ voices
through her work as an emcee and facilitator with Conferenceemcees.com
and has co-founded the Diverse Speaker Bureau to bring more and diverse voices
to debates. She also inspires new generations of event professionals by
lecturing in Events and Tourism at the University of Hertfordshire.
Her past career involved working on
international mega-events (ranging from the Olympics to the Political Party
Conferences) and in fundraising (for the British Heart Foundation and Pride).
She has run her own company, gained an award-winning master’s degree with
distinction as a mature student, led a team that raised up to £10m for charity
and given a TEDx talk about the principles of improvisational theatre, which
she brings to all aspects of her work and life.
Further speaker announcements will be made
shortly.
The event is invitation only. You
can register your interest here.
