Every year, Eventex attracts hundreds of attendees from a variety of countries around the world with its unique mix of awards ceremony and educational and networking platform for event professionals.
The 9th edition of the disruptive event brought together more than 200 meeting and event planners, producers, marketing and communication specialists, PR and hospitality professionals as well as SMB owners and corporate executives.
The venue for Eventex 2017 was none other than the iconic Croke Park in Dublin. With a capacity of 82,300, not only is it the third largest stadium in Europe but also a historic landmark and a tourist attraction that accommodates all types of events – from field sports to concerts, meetings to trade shows and bespoke banqueting.
As per tradition, Eventex kicked off with the Global Event Awards. On 24th January the most outstanding achievements in the world of events were celebrated at a special gala. The 7th Eventex Awards show saw some of the biggest names in the industry, competing for an accolade in 19 categories. The list of finalists brought together event professionals from more than 30 countries including the UK, USA, the Netherlands, Israel, Ireland, Slovakia, Austria, Belgium, Italy, the Czech Republic, Spain, Turkey, Finland, Russia, Poland, and Portugal!
Walk Events stole the spotlight by winning the Grand Prix for Best Event and Best Sporting Event. XSAGA was pronounced People’s Choice Event and Best Brand Engagement Event in addition to becoming a runner-up for Best Festival. Attendify became the leader among the American event technology professionals, taking home a total of four awards, including the first prize for Best Event Mobile App.
The best event professionals were celebrated with the moving and energising performances by MABEA and 360 Entertainment in addition to a delicious dinner, specially prepared by master chefs at Croke Park Events, which undoubtedly added to the glorious ambience of the evening.
“What a brilliant Eventex event at Croke Park! A great venue, great food, great company… and some fantastic heartfelt, off-the-cuff speeches from the winners! THAT’S what it’s all about!” – Mark Jones, host, Global Event Awards.
The following two days were dedicated to the annual educational platform for event professionals covering the top industry trends. This year, Eventex had set out to make a statement by creating a modern and exciting escape from the old conference format, specifically aimed at providing event professionals with real and more exciting learning and networking opportunities.
The new 80/20 format of Eventex presented a new approach to conferencing altogether – a unique way to get more value from the experience by dedicating 80% of the time to masterclasses and the remaining 20% to a mash session.
The lineup of masterclasses offered an eclectic and relevant selection of topics including storytelling, experience design, ROI, sales and negotiation techniques, AV technology, content creation and gamification. The Eventex Mash Sessions, masterfully moderated by Hans Etman of Masters in Moderation, offered a unique new way to get even more value from the event – at the end of each day, participants gathered and shared what they had learned from the masterclasses.
“The team behind Eventex dares to make choices. Eventex 2017 was all about learning from a choice selection of Event Experts. A wonderful opportunity, sometimes disruptive, always with lots of positive energy. Well done!” – Hans Etman
The event also featured an expo and an off-site event showcasing partner companies’ products and services, including Meet in Ireland, Croke Park, Croke Park Hotel, Attendify, Boomset, Rhizome Live, UK Charge, Masters in Moderation, UK Drawing Booth, MABEA, and 360 Entertainment.
Details on the next edition of Eventex will be revealed in late May 2017, but the organisers have already started work on the new concept and format of the event. Stay tuned!
