September 3, 2025 • 36 mins
When Ben McDonald returned to Dubai to join Purple Glow, he wasn’t chasing shiny objects or the flashiest tech. He was chasing meaning.
In this episode of EventNewsDXB, Ben shares why success in event technology isn’t about who has the biggest screens, it’s about creating moments that truly connect. For him, the metrics are simple: engagement, dwell, conversation.
He also talks about designing self-guided brand journeys, using data to give clients real value beyond event day, and how to foster a creative culture that empowers young talent. Ben’s honesty about what works and what doesn’t in the world of event tech, makes this conversation a must-listen for anyone serious about elevating experiences in the Middle East.
EventNewsDXB is supported by Warehouse Four and -45dB
Production Credits:
Presented by: Ian Carless
Studio Engineer & Editor: Roy D'Monte
Executive Producers: Ian Carless & Joe Morrison
Produced by: EventNewsDXB & W4 Podcast Studio
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It takes time and effort to put the EventNewsDXB podcast together and we hope it's worth something to you. If it is, please consider sponsoring the podcast to enable us to keep them coming. Contact us for details.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening to the Event News DXB podcast, your
behind-the-scenes look at theevent industry in Dubai, the UAE
and the wider MENA region.
I'm Ian Carlos and each week Isit down with the people shaping
one of the world's most dynamicevent markets, whether you're
an event planner, supplier,agency lead or part of an
in-house team.
I hope that this podcast givesyou some practical takeaways,
(00:23):
some fresh perspectives and adeeper understanding of how
things really get done in one ofthe world's most fast-moving
event markets.
And for season two, I'm superpleased to let you know that
Event News DXB is brought to youby Warehouse 4, probably
Dubai's best independent eventvenue.
Minus 45 dB, the teamtransforming noisy event spaces
(00:44):
into slick, sound-reducedenvironments, from full-size
conference theatres to compactmeeting pods.
Minus 45 dB builds modularspaces that are quiet,
customisable and completelyturnkey, and they're sustainable
too Smart design with zerowaste.
Check them out at minus45dbcom.
(01:06):
Before we dive in, a quick scenesetter, my guest today is Ben
MacDonald from Purple Glow, animmersive tech agency that sits
right in the sweet spot wheretechnology meets human
storytelling.
Ben talks about blending thedigital with the physical,
because stacking more LEDdoesn't equal a better
experience.
The simple brief he chases isthis design for engagement and
(01:28):
the conversation that happensafter Measure what actually
moves people and not what looksimpressive on a floor plan.
We also get into practicaltakeaways for team working in
the Middle East right now whybudgets are more disciplined
than outsiders think, howcollaboration over competition
can raise the bar, and why theregion's growth demands agility,
local understanding and cleaner, more purposeful activations.
(01:52):
There's smart guidance, too, onchoosing the right tech for
your goals, building self-guidedjourneys that don't need
hand-holding, and using data togive clients something valuable
after the event.
We also touch on talent creatingpathways for younger event
people who want purpose as muchas a paycheck, and building
cultures that keep people in thegame.
(02:13):
If you're an event professionalhere in the region, I'm sure
you'll find this refreshinglyhonest and immediately usable.
So let's get into it.
(02:39):
Listening, you probably havegathered already my other
business, besides doing thepodcast, is warehouse four,
which is an event venue.
You were with sweetwater at thetime, weren't you?
Speaker 2 (02:48):
and you guys were our very first clients yeah, that
was for the axe thing, and wehad martin youth martin glover,
yeah from um.
Is it killing joke?
Yeah, killing joke the bassplayer.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
I remember it well yeah, it was good, and we did a
few other bits there as wellAdidas Tango League, I think it
was at the time.
Yeah, that's right.
Yeah, it was a great venue.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
Let's go back a little bit.
What was it that got you intoevents in the first place?
Speaker 2 (03:25):
I stumbled into events, I'd worked in sports,
I'd coached tennis.
I come from a sportingbackground and actually came out
here after a stint in Malaysiawhere I was working for a
company called Technogym we weredoing the Athletes Village and
Gym for the Commonwealth Gamesin 98 and I landed in Dubai
after that contract finishedbecause my dad had been in and
out of the Middle East since Iwas yay high.
I'd done summers in Saudi andall of that jazz and I've always
had a love of music.
I've always DJ'd everythingfrom like 80s electro hip hop
(03:45):
into breakbeat and then sort oflater on into sort of rave,
hardcore drum and bass and Istarted a night here called
Global Funk in fact, 22 yearsago, last Saturday.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
Oh my god, yeah, giving your age away there, yeah
exactly.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Yeah, it was interesting because it was a
boudoir of all places and itgrew in popularity and I got
some sponsors in and then thosesponsors were like, oh, could
you do an event for us, couldyou put this on, could you
promote it?
So I have no formal training inevents at all and early clients
were the likes of A&E and MMI.
I used to do a lot of work withthe alcohol brands and then,
(04:27):
yeah, that's kind of juststumbled on events and met some
really good friends who arestill friends to this day, and
we started an agency called 9714which was a little bit of a
combination of sort of eventsand some fashion retailing and
all sorts of things.
Yeah, it was good, but it wasat the time where you could do
that in Dubai.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
Now, I know you took a little time out from Dubai,
didn't you?
You went and moved back to theUK in 2018.
And now you find yourself outhere again with Purple Glow.
Yes, tell us a bit about PurpleGlow.
Tell us a bit about your role.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
So firstly, I never thought I'd be back here Not
full time, you know, I left in2018, as you say, went back to
the UK and one of my first jobswas to fly back out here for the
Dubai Air Show.
For the agency I was workingfor the irony yeah, exactly
Busman's holiday Purple Glow.
So we are an immersive techagency.
Our remit is to be the techpartner to agencies, brands,
(05:19):
direct companies.
We have in-house tech solutions, whether that's rental, custom
design, we do content, we dosoftware production, we build
innovation centers and we alsohave a thing called Glow 360,
where we do offer a full servicesolution, but generally that's
direct to brand, because we worka lot with agencies, event
(05:40):
agencies.
We've been in operation for 14years.
I have been in as MD for nearlyyeah, nearly a year in
September, and really the firstsort of this first year is
really sort of assessing thebusiness, realigning it,
repositioning it, rebranding,and that kind of rebranding and
(06:00):
repositioning was launched atMies this week.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
Fantastic.
Now, obviously, I had a quicklook at the website before I did
a little bit of research.
Website's terrible at themoment.
That's again.
Well, one thing I did take awaywas your tagline, which is
where tech meets art.
Yeah, so I'm not sure whetheryou're going to keep that with
the new rebranding, but anyway,that's what I picked up on.
Yeah, so how do then thetechnical innovation side of
(06:26):
things with just the plainstorytelling Because, let's face
it, events are all aboutstorytelling.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
Yeah, I think you've got to be knowledgeable about
your consumer, because techfrightens a lot of people off.
Okay, so you've got to blend itwith the physical and something
they understand.
So when we look at a brief orwe're given an idea by somebody,
it's about making that atangible experience that they
can take something away from.
So you know a lot of events andstands.
(06:50):
I mean, I was at Leap this yearin Saudi great event but I
don't think there was a singlepanel of LED left anywhere in
the kingdom.
It was, but it was overloads.
It was overload, it was.
It was a little bit too much.
So I'm very much a protagonistof blending the digital with the
physical for purpose-drivenoutcomes.
Right, we try and sort ofanalyze the opportunity and see
(07:13):
what tech works for that.
The art side of it comes intoelements like the content what's
the aesthetic, what does itlook like?
But there's also an art to theinteraction that you have with
the product or with thatexperience as well.
It's got to be generally for us.
I like, uh, user, usergenerated journeys.
(07:33):
We'll always have promotionalstaff if necessary, but these
kind of self-perpetuatingjourneys where people discover
you know a brand or a messagefrom a brand through technology
needs to be self-serving.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
So, when you get the briefs through the door, what
are you looking for and what areyou?
Speaker 2 (07:51):
not looking for yeah, that's a lot of the time I say
Opportunity to be creative.
Yeah, opportunity to tell astory, yeah, an opportunity to
put technology in the hands ofpeople that might not
necessarily come into contactwith it.
Event companies and agencieswork with all and every brand
there is around and some of themsell cooking implements and
(08:14):
others sell very highlytechnical pieces of equipment.
So it's looking for anopportunity to be creative and
really, as I tell a story, butget people to connect with the
brand through technology.
What we're not looking for isbriefs that are very guided or
linear and stick to this, this,that We'll still deliver it.
(08:35):
I'm not saying we won't do that,but we thrive on loose briefs,
if that makes sense, where wecan take it, and instead of
being that kind of us and them,where we go backwards and
forwards, it's very muchcollaborative the approach.
We try and involve the clientor the other party as early on
in our ideation process as well.
(08:55):
So we'll do a tissue sessionearly on where you'll just peel
off some top line ideas and thensort of drill it down into what
they want, and then it's reallylooking at the outcomes.
You know, what do they want toget from it.
What we want to do is use datato start with, but give great
data at the end of an activationthat the client can then use
(09:17):
for purpose afterwards, whetherthat's in their sales process,
their marketing funnel channelsor whatever they're using it for
.
So it's not just a oh wow forthe moment.
There's got to be longevity init as well.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
Yeah, now you mentioned data.
Obviously, look, techexperiences a lot of the time
are about sort of grabbingattention and, unlike most
events, taking people on ajourney as well.
But how do you measure theimpact of the events that you do
?
I mean, does data come intothat?
What are the KPIs that you sitdown with a client to establish
before you do the activation?
Speaker 2 (09:51):
So generally, because we are part of a bigger event,
we don't tend to get superembroiled into that, which is
great, actually, at times.
I'll tell you why Because ROI isstill the most difficult thing
to measure.
I'll tell you why because ROIis still the most difficult
thing to measure.
You know, measuring the dataand the outcomes.
The KPIs that you want to setin advance are, you know, a lot
(10:11):
of the time.
They're driven aroundinteraction.
They're driven around dwelltime as well.
So if you have something thatsomeone interacts with for 30
seconds, generally what thatwill be is someone walking at me
, sees a great activation, takesa photo of it.
Second part of dwell time issomeone that gives you up to two
minutes where they'll come,they'll interact and they'll get
(10:34):
a takeaway from it.
Your ideal solution with dwelltime is that it extends that and
when they finished, they want aconversation about it as well.
So it's about using thatopportunity to further the
conversation with someone andgenerally, if that's on an event
, you want to have the rightpeople there to be able to talk
(10:54):
about the brand.
We can only, as a tech partner,take it as far as we know the
brand, but what we try to dowith these, these kind of
immersive engagements, is getthe people interacting that are
either guests, consumers,visitors, whatever with the
brand people you know and that'show they do their business.
I think ROI is impossible tomeasure from a financial
(11:14):
perspective these days becausethere's usually a lot of
different stakeholders in there.
But the general KPIs is to getengagement, dwell, leads and
contacts that you can then takeinto the sort of wider business
space afterwards.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
How difficult are those conversations with clients
?
Because I'm guessing there'sstill a lot of clients that are
a little bit more conservativeand expect ROI to be a major KPI
.
Yeah, and it's not.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Yeah, they are a major kpi.
Yeah, it's not.
Yeah, they are.
But I think now budgets aredriven by sort of global impact
and what's happening and,contrary to popular belief, the
middle east, as much, as there'sa lot of money that comes out
of it budgets here.
This is also seen as anemerging market, so people are
very diligent about how theyspend their budgets here and
(12:05):
people from the outside will say, oh, you did an event for
Adidas or whatever.
You must have had a huge amountof money to spend on it, you
don't.
So what they're looking for isvalue for money and that
extension afterwards.
I think that's really important.
A lot of the focus, I think, onevents 10, 15, 20 years ago was
get the people in.
It's a great experience andthen it's a bit kind of
(12:26):
tumbleweeds afterwards what'syour brand recall from that
particular event?
So it's about how you makepeople feel, how they engage
with it and you know, and howthey re-engage with it
afterwards.
You know there's it's all salesdriven at the end of the day.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
Now, just going back a step.
You've obviously spent sometime away.
I'm curious to know if you'venoticed what's changed in the
time that you've been.
You're away what?
Five years, I think?
Yeah, six years, six years.
Yeah, close to six years.
What do you think has changedsince leaving in 2018 and coming
back A?
Speaker 2 (12:57):
lot of the agencies, companies have diversified a
little bit.
You know Sweetwater hasdiversified away from purely
experiential.
You know there's obviously beengrowth in Saudi.
That's a big topic at themoment.
Obviously, I think people havelearned from COVID and how to
(13:21):
survive and how to work.
There's a very much moreemphasis on the freelance
population here as well.
You know, this place is notcheap.
You know, and as somebodyrunning a business overheads
cash flow, all of those.
So we're really diligent.
We have a great base of staff.
We will freelance out.
But I think there's a much moremeasured approach to business.
People aren't just throwinghuge amounts of money into staff
(13:45):
because they win an account,because that account might only
be there for a year.
So I think from an internalperspective, what I've seen from
talking to other people that Istill know within the industry
there's a little bit more riskaverse at the moment, but that's
been a I mean, I think that'sbeen common for the, you know,
since I got off the plane, whichwas 22 years ago.
Yeah, I think that's a regional,regional thing.
(14:06):
Um maybe is, you know, maybe aslightly off off key is more
collaboration.
One thing I noticed in europeis that agencies that might
technically be competition aremuch more open to collaborating
with other agencies that mighthave better skill sets in
(14:27):
certain areas.
You know, and I can see thatbeing beneficial, and I've seen
it firsthand that it can producebetter outcomes, but it takes
bold leadership to be able to dothat, and here, for example,
there's a lot of other greattech companies out there.
We might have certain USPs thatsomeone else doesn't have to
(14:49):
someone in the Far East orPoland or wherever you know a
content house, whereas it wouldbenefit the industry here to
collaborate a little bit more.
If it happens, let's see.
I would definitely be all for alittle bit more collaboration
between what are traditionallyseen as competitive agencies.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
And also based on again based on the sort of past
five or six years that you spentin the UK and also again based
on the past five or six yearsthat you've spent in the UK
where does this region stand interms of the level of quality
and also innovation?
I mean, obviously, in yourindustry you're providing the
technical side of things, allthe tech events, but also just
events in general.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
I think it's right up there now.
I think we've got some greatvenues, which helps a lot of the
time, way back when it was,like you know, the Rugby 7
Stadium, which is still there,made a scaffold, etc.
And that works you know it justworks.
It's part of the furniture,right, but now you've got venues
like the Coca-Cola Arena, whichare world-class venues.
So if you're comparing this tothe event market in London or
(15:52):
Berlin or Barcelona, we're notthere yet, but we've got the
infrastructure coming and you'vegot great locally grown
companies as well as the bigagencies are opening offices
over here as well.
That is a marker for me thatshows that you're up there with
the rest of the world.
(16:12):
I came from GPJ in London, soGeorge P Johnson, and about a
year before I joined GPJ they'dopened here.
Dp World is one of their majorclients.
They were my client when I wasat GPJ, and so if agencies like
that that have 29 other officesglobally are coming and setting
up here and being serious aboutit and then going into Saudi,
(16:35):
that tells you something.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
You mentioned your old firm, GPJ.
How much of their eye is on theUAE and how much of it is on
our neighbours across the borderin?
Speaker 2 (16:45):
Saudi.
Most of these larger agenciesthat are coming here.
They won't go straight to Saudibecause it's still got that
unknown factor to it.
As I, I'm comfortable with itbecause I was here and I worked
there when you know we'd getpicked up by the mataua for do
it, for like looking in thewrong direction, you know, and
bundled in the back here andthen released with your camera
(17:06):
taken or whatever.
But I think their businessmodel is to establish in the UAE
, because it's the most open ofthe Gulf states, and then
monitor it.
But they're super astute, theglobal agencies.
They know what they're doingand they will have done their
research.
But it's like Fischer Appel,who are a big German agency.
(17:30):
They established in Qatar forthe World Cup or even before
that, but then now they'removing into Saudi, but it's a
much slower pace.
I think when Saudi exploded,probably just before I left,
people were just like, right,let's get in there.
And it was how Dubai was 20, 25years ago.
It was cowboy city.
(17:51):
Come in, make your money off,you go.
And that's not how you build anindustry.
You need to have long-termopportunities, long-term
securities as a business.
So I think they do view it as amassive opportunity, but they
will always have Dubai or theUAE rather, as a hub.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
Yeah, going back to obviously, your new role now
with Purple Glow, you showcasework with AR, vr, projection,
mapping, interactiveinstallations.
What's the process for, I'mgoing to say, choosing which one
of those or multiple ones ofthose that you work with with a
client?
Speaker 2 (18:29):
on.
Firstly, we have an incrediblein-house team of experts.
We have a technical director,we have developers, we have a
great creative team and a greatoperations team.
Some of the best ideas comefrom the most unusual sources.
So I can send a brief into thetech team, but it might be that
someone in ops has seensomething, so we never sort of
(18:50):
write.
We know that this brief iscoming for this.
We know what we're going to use.
The way that we choose it is asI said earlier.
It's based on what are theoutcomes, what's the best
outcome.
And a client might see a productand say, oh, we saw your
robotic AI booth at Mies.
You know, love it.
We want to do it for this.
We won't just sell a product orbill a client because they like
(19:13):
it.
We want to challenge the briefand say you know what?
It is cool, it's really cooland people will stand around and
look at it.
But for your particular event,you are trying to do x, y and z
with the brand.
It's not what we would suggest.
We're happy to do it for you,but maybe, maybe you know
holographic AI or something elseor a gamification of something
(19:36):
works better and you know it'smore than a one way conversation
.
So it's we don't just look atan opportunity and think, yeah,
we've got it or we've got lotsof that.
We need to get that out out thewarehouse.
It really is case by case.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
Now, obviously, a lot of what you do you could call
cutting edge.
You're really on the edge of alot of technology In a region
where, you know I don't thinkI'm going out on a limb by
saying that we're often sort ofrisk averse how easy or
difficult are thoseconversations with the clients
to take a bit of a chance, youknow, to really go for something
(20:11):
a little bit different.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
A lot of our business is inbound, so they already
look to you, have a look at thewebsite so that.
So they know they're not backin my days working for
sweetwater.
They're coming with an overallbrief and tech would be a
bolt-on or an add-on or, youknow, still quite new in those
days.
So I think before people come,they have a an idea of what we
do.
I think, because you know andthis comes with age workforces
(20:37):
the younger people in thatworkforce have been tech
adopters since they were youngand you've got very high-end
people within business now thatare in their late 20s and early
30s.
You know, I didn't even decidewhat I wanted to do until I hit
30 kind of thing, you know.
So I'm already playing behindthe eight ball or whatever it is
(20:58):
behind the nine ball.
So I think there's a lot moreinfluence within companies to
the older guard that tech can bebeneficial.
But back to a point I madeearlier.
I always want to try and blendthe digital with the physical,
because there's so much digitalconsumption.
We're on our phones, which youknow are great, and a hindrance
(21:20):
at the same time.
But I think it's not just theleaders at the top, because
we're not from.
We've had to learn to adopttechnology into our businesses
and our lives.
But the younger generation,they're born with it, you know,
know.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
So they can be influenced internally before
they come to us, give us anexample of something that's
worked well for you recently,that you that you've you've
worked obviously on with withyour client yeah, I want to
start with the image nation whoare based in abu dhabi, their ua
production house.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
They do films and direction and all manner of
things around the film industryand they approached us for
comic-con.
I was like, okay, interesting,obviously it's film and
comic-con, but everyone sort oflooks at it as everyone dressing
up as superheroes.
Now they have a huge amount ofcontent, but how do you display
that in a way that you caninteract with it rather than it
(22:13):
just being on 27 screens and youcan't focus?
So we have this idea ofcreating what we call the brand
hub, so it's navigated by acircular touch screen but a wrap
around led screen so itimmerses you in the content.
It's what we call touch andthrow, so you select and you
could select the trailer, youcould select the film and you
(22:34):
could look at this and visualizeit on a much bigger screen.
Now you can do that with vr,but vr is tricky in this region,
you know, especially with thecultural dress here.
People I don't like put inheadphones or think vr sort of
goggles on myself.
But this was a massive hitbecause you could stand there
and you could choose differentcontent you could.
(22:56):
You could look up directors.
You could look up differentthemes.
They have like horror.
They had alchemy, which is likean army based one as well.
So it was just this amazingportal that wasn't just a single
screen.
As soon as you chose it, it wasup and it was in a sort of
wraparound LED environment, soyou felt like you were there in
the movie.
(23:16):
So it's taking how you pushcontent in different mediums as
well.
End of the day, a screen is ascreen is a screen.
It's what the content is andhow you interact with it.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
Are you seeing any trends emerging since you've
been back, or even things thatare coming through from the UK
and the US?
Speaker 2 (23:34):
Obviously, AI, I have a love-hate relationship with.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
AI, they don't have a conversation.
No, exactly.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
Someone will be looking around.
I think it's overused insidepeople's lives.
In terms of writing, I thinkthe art of copywriting, and I
can tell, I can tell, andsometimes the guys will put
together a pitch, you know, andit's last minute because that's
the nature of the beast and Ican tell if it's just been AI.
But and it's last minutebecause that's the nature of the
beast, and I can tell if it'sjust been AI, but it's using it
(24:01):
to your advantage as well.
So that's the negative side.
I'll stop there now.
I want to be positive about AI,because we have to be.
It can be used for so many goodthings.
It can open inquisitive minds,you can challenge, in essence,
the world, as it were.
(24:22):
It's all linked in and it's all.
It's all pulling.
So ai is a massive trend, andother trends again, I think it's
that moving away from it beingpurely digital to having some
physical interaction with it,because otherwise you know what
are you doing with yourselfphysically as well.
So if you go and I say when wewent to leap, it was like whoa,
(24:42):
it's like overload of screens,but you couldn't focus, you
couldn't concentrate on it.
So it's also condensing theideas down so that they're a bit
more compact, you know, andflexible and they can pivot and
you can change the content aswell.
So I think, yeah, more sort ofcompressed engaging activations
(25:04):
and less of the kind ofpiccadilly circus on steroids.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
I find it quite interesting the whole ai thing,
because I mean we've had a fewthings in the press recently.
I mean we had mark cuban comeout not too long ago and say you
know the rise of ai, andcertainly you.
You know AI in video will drivepeople back towards real
experiences and you know, inin-person events.
And then we also I also read anarticle on Forbes by the CEO of
(25:29):
an AI company that said exactlythe same thing that as AI grows
, it will push people back intothe realm of real personal
experiences.
What's your take?
Speaker 2 (25:39):
on that.
Again, I think it might just bea generational thing.
Like I love digital, you know Iwouldn't be back here and I
wouldn't be doing what I'm doingwith Purple Glow if I didn't.
My take on it is that you'vegot to be careful, because I
think you know and again I seethis a little bit on YouTube,
but this is looking over mydaughter's shoulder and they're
watching videos of peopleplaying videos and commentating
(26:01):
on it and they've got an aicomment.
It's like you know where doesit end when, where does it stop?
And I just I don't know that.
There are enough.
You know you get sort ofsoftware that can block malware
and things like that, andthere's obviously parental
controls and things like that,but I don't.
I don't know where it ends interms of its usage.
I think some of the best usagesare in, obviously, things like
(26:22):
medicine.
You know anything to do withresearch as well, but I use it
as I need to use it.
You know you're probably askingthe wrong person on that as
well, but I'm always amazed whenthe team work with it, though I
have to say, like when thedevelopment team use it to
better an outcome for content orwe enhance an image, using it
(26:45):
in a presentation.
I still want that kind oforiginal like a photograph.
But how can we make it better?
But not how can we change it?
So I think, yeah, it has itsplace in society, but, yeah,
where does it end?
Speaker 1 (27:01):
It's a very good question, but you know, on a
similar note and speaking of theyounger generation and I hate
saying that because I justfound- that sounds so old every
time I say it, but there you go.
I probably am, and I'm curiousagain on your perspective of
having just spent the last fiveor six years in the UK as well
and to now coming back out here.
Are you seeing young peoplecome into the event industry and
(27:22):
if not, what do we need to doto encourage them?
Because obviously you know,we're only as good as the people
, aren't we, despite AI?
But AI still needs prompting,absolutely.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
Yes and no.
I worked for a sort ofshort-term contract with a more
advertising-driven agency andyou get a lot of young designers
come into there, but we werestruggling to find event
managers and operations peoplebecause maybe during COVID
they'd retrained.
So I think there needs to be abit more of a push.
(27:50):
But today you can study it.
You know it was never an optionback in the day.
Now you can.
You can study events with aspecialism in back in the day.
Now you can study events with aspecialism in experiential or
digital or probably AI now.
So I think it comes from aneducation perspective and you
know universities offeringengaging courses.
I think a lot of the youth oftoday have seen getting into
(28:14):
trading and FX and things likethat.
You know you've got very smartkids making huge amounts of
money.
You know just soaking upinformation.
I think a lot of the people thatwe're seeing in terms of
freelancers are more experiencedand maybe a little bit older,
and I do think there needs to bea drive to sort of re-engage.
(28:34):
I might be wrong, because Idon't work directly in the
coalface of event managementanymore.
I'm talking more from a techside of it what we find in terms
of the people and ourambassadors that work on our
activations is they want to doit.
There's a real love for thetechnology side of it and these
guys might have come out of adesign course or they might have
come out of a software course.
(28:57):
They might have just done acourse in Unity.
Unity, which is a gamingprogram for building games.
So in our side of the industryI think it's it's quite healthy.
But I don't know so much aboutthe, the larger scale events I
think look for in relation tothis region.
Speaker 1 (29:12):
I mean, I read recently that, uh, middle beast
have got a whole load of coursesnow for particularly the youth
in saudi to actually get acareer, to get a foothold on the
ladder and start a career inthe events industry.
I made a bit of a disparagingremark again probably showing my
age about Gen Z on a recentpodcast, saying that you know,
if you look, anecdotally,there's been a lot written about
(29:34):
the appetite for younger peoplewanting to work hard.
And my guest pulled me up on it, you know, and I'm very glad he
did, because he had a very goodpoint and he said you know,
it's not just about working hardthese days, they want purpose.
Yeah, absolutely, and I thoughtthat was a really, really
telling point.
Speaker 2 (29:50):
Yeah, they want to work smart as well, because
outside of their work, they havethese big social networks via
social media and things likethat.
Just just back to the, thestaff and that topic, we are
really big on interns as well,because you can get some really
enthusiastic people.
So we're we're really big oninterns in terms of our
(30:11):
development and creative sidesas well.
So, uh, we are pushing, youknow those, the graduate
generation, to come into thetech side of things.
Speaker 1 (30:21):
Moving on, how do you define success on the projects
that you've done?
Speaker 2 (30:25):
Repeat business.
We have a very high retentionrate as a business in the 90s.
Now that's not to say thateverything they do comes through
us all the time, but we havepeople that are coming back to
us over and over and over overthese last 14 years and with
this new sort of client-centricapproach.
We are not getting intocontracts or retainers, because
(30:50):
people always want choice,especially in the creative side
of it, but we are finding thatwe will get their business for
that year and then we'll get,you know, building those
stronger relationships.
And again, this is has.
The company has grown?
It's less focused on oh, thishas come in.
What do we do?
It's client centric.
So now the teams look after theclients that come solely to us,
(31:12):
the ones that keep coming backto us.
So success is businessretention.
Success is a growing workforce,a healthy, happy workforce.
We like to balance what we do.
I mean honestly, during theseason.
I came in september, so I cameat the start.
I've not been here for seven oreight years and working in
(31:32):
europe.
It's seasonal to a point, butthere's stuff going on 12 months
a year.
Yeah, because you've got greatindoor venues, you've got the
festival season, whatever itmight be here, it's still
governed by the weather, ramadan, etc.
I came in and I have not seen ateam work as hard as the team
(31:55):
at purple glow did for thosefirst three months during the
season, and without complaint ormoan or groan, and I think
that's testament to Christinewho built the business, to the
culture that we have withinthere.
You know we expect but we alsogive back, and giving back is
not always financial.
You know there's other thingsthat we do to the staff.
(32:16):
So, yeah, success is acombination of that client
success, but also internalsuccess as well what does the
rest of 2025 and 2026 look likefor you guys?
Speaker 1 (32:27):
I mean, you mentioned a rebrand.
Is that right?
Speaker 2 (32:29):
yeah, so we just we just rebranded our new tagline
immersive moments, lastingconnections.
It is consolidating withclients that we were working
with, creating sort of longerterm partnerships with them.
It is moving into morenon-event sort of industries
(32:50):
using technology, becausethere's a lot to be done just
outside.
Events will always be there.
It will always be the kind ofbread and butter of the business
, but there's other areas thatwe want to diversify into and
we're moving into that already.
Some expansion on the horizon,potentially in 2026, but
everything done at a sustainablerate as well.
(33:11):
One thing that I did when COVIDhit and I was made redundant was
I went back to the books.
I did a digital marketingdiploma and I did a course
through Cambridge UniversityInstitute of Sustainable
Leadership.
It was great.
So I learned aboutsustainability and it's you know
, throughout a business, youknow, and throughout the
different functions.
So we want to build that intothe company a little bit more as
(33:34):
well.
So, yeah, it's super exciting,really really exciting, exciting
, and for me it was a great moveto come back.
Gp day is a great company, butto really further my career I
had to take another risk yeah,which is often the case and
coming back here was a risk.
You know I've left my daughtersin the uk so there's that sort
of challenge around that.
(33:55):
But for the here and now it isabsolutely the right move and
the next three to five yearshere, I think are going to be
very exciting for the industryin the region.
You know exciting times.
Speaker 1 (34:08):
And finally, Ben I mean you mentioned it at the
start of the podcast You'reobviously a music fan, so I've
asked all my guests thisquestion.
It's quite amusing what answersyou get, but what's on your
playlist?
Speaker 2 (34:21):
what's on my playlist ?
Foo fighters, radio heads, lotsof jungle, drum and bass,
because that's my kind of mymain passion musically, but my
dad's.
My dad was a musician and so Iwas brought up he his, his band.
He had a hit in the 60s andtoured with the Rolling Stones
back in the day, Still livingoff the royalties is he no, no,
(34:43):
no, no, no.
He's living off the beervouchers he was given afterwards
, probably.
So I was brought up on anythingfrom 10cc Jean-Michel Jarre, so
my playlist is really varied, Ithink.
If I'm just sitting down andchilling out, I can listen to an
orbital album, or if I'mdriving and my what's amazing
(35:03):
and I you know I love this isthat my daughter's picked up on
that.
She, my daughter's autistic,but she has picked up on music
through her grandfather andmyself.
She is grade three piano nowand she collects vinyl.
So when I'm back in the UK, myweekends are spent lovingly not
going around the Disney shop,going to record fairs in
(35:25):
Manchester, and she's like haveyou got the Cocteau Twins EP
from 1984?
Speaker 1 (35:29):
No, there's a name from the past.
There you go Cocteau Twins.
Absolutely so mic drop noexactly.
Speaker 2 (35:35):
Like dream pop stuff like that.
I love bands like Ride like no,exactly Like dream pop stuff
like that.
I love bands like Ride, likethe whole Shoegaze scene.
So it's really varied.
It's really varied.
But yeah, I think music plays abig part in my life and I'm
glad it plays a big part in mydaughter's life as well.
Speaker 1 (35:50):
Now, Brilliant Well, ben.
It's been absolutely fantasticto reconnect after the region.
Speaker 2 (35:54):
Yeah, absolutely Welcome back to the region.
I know you've been here for ayear and a bit already.
Speaker 1 (35:58):
But yeah, thanks very much for joining me on the
podcast.
No, thanks for having me.
It's been a pleasure.
Event News DXB is brought toyou by Warehouse 4, probably
Dubai's best independent eventvenue, and Minus 45 dB the team,
transforming noisy event spacesinto slick, sound-reduced
(36:20):
environments.
The podcast was presented bymyself, ian Carlos, the studio
engineer and editor was RoyDeMonte, the executive producer
was myself and Joe Morrison, andthis podcast was produced by W4
Podcast Studio Dubai, and ifyou haven't done so already,
please do click that follow orsubscribe button.
(36:41):
We'll see you next time.
You're listening to the Event News DXB podcast, your
behind-the-scenes look at theevent industry in Dubai, the UAE
and the wider MENA region.
I'm Ian Carlos and each week Isit down with the people shaping
one of the world's most dynamicevent markets, whether you're
an event planner, supplier,agency lead or part of an
in-house team.
I hope that this podcast givesyou some practical takeaways,
(00:23):
some fresh perspectives and adeeper understanding of how
things really get done in one ofthe world's most fast-moving
event markets.
And for season two, I'm superpleased to let you know that
Event News DXB is brought to youby Warehouse 4, probably
Dubai's best independent eventvenue.
Minus 45 dB, the teamtransforming noisy event spaces
(00:44):
into slick, sound-reducedenvironments, from full-size
conference theatres to compactmeeting pods.
Minus 45 dB builds modularspaces that are quiet,
customisable and completelyturnkey, and they're sustainable
too Smart design with zerowaste.
Check them out at minus45dbcom.
(01:06):
Before we dive in, a quick scenesetter, my guest today is Ben
MacDonald from Purple Glow, animmersive tech agency that sits
right in the sweet spot wheretechnology meets human
storytelling.
Ben talks about blending thedigital with the physical,
because stacking more LEDdoesn't equal a better
experience.
The simple brief he chases isthis design for engagement and
(01:28):
the conversation that happensafter Measure what actually
moves people and not what looksimpressive on a floor plan.
We also get into practicaltakeaways for team working in
the Middle East right now whybudgets are more disciplined
than outsiders think, howcollaboration over competition
can raise the bar, and why theregion's growth demands agility,
local understanding and cleaner, more purposeful activations.
(01:52):
There's smart guidance, too, onchoosing the right tech for
your goals, building self-guidedjourneys that don't need
hand-holding, and using data togive clients something valuable
after the event.
We also touch on talent creatingpathways for younger event
people who want purpose as muchas a paycheck, and building
cultures that keep people in thegame.
(02:13):
If you're an event professionalhere in the region, I'm sure
you'll find this refreshinglyhonest and immediately usable.
So let's get into it.
(02:39):
Listening, you probably havegathered already my other
business, besides doing thepodcast, is warehouse four,
which is an event venue.
You were with sweetwater at thetime, weren't you?
Speaker 2 (02:48):
and you guys were our very first clients yeah, that
was for the axe thing, and wehad martin youth martin glover,
yeah from um.
Is it killing joke?
Yeah, killing joke the bassplayer.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
I remember it well yeah, it was good, and we did a
few other bits there as wellAdidas Tango League, I think it
was at the time.
Yeah, that's right.
Yeah, it was a great venue.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
Let's go back a little bit.
What was it that got you intoevents in the first place?
Speaker 2 (03:25):
I stumbled into events, I'd worked in sports,
I'd coached tennis.
I come from a sportingbackground and actually came out
here after a stint in Malaysiawhere I was working for a
company called Technogym we weredoing the Athletes Village and
Gym for the Commonwealth Gamesin 98 and I landed in Dubai
after that contract finishedbecause my dad had been in and
out of the Middle East since Iwas yay high.
I'd done summers in Saudi andall of that jazz and I've always
had a love of music.
I've always DJ'd everythingfrom like 80s electro hip hop
(03:45):
into breakbeat and then sort oflater on into sort of rave,
hardcore drum and bass and Istarted a night here called
Global Funk in fact, 22 yearsago, last Saturday.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
Oh my god, yeah, giving your age away there, yeah
exactly.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Yeah, it was interesting because it was a
boudoir of all places and itgrew in popularity and I got
some sponsors in and then thosesponsors were like, oh, could
you do an event for us, couldyou put this on, could you
promote it?
So I have no formal training inevents at all and early clients
were the likes of A&E and MMI.
I used to do a lot of work withthe alcohol brands and then,
(04:27):
yeah, that's kind of juststumbled on events and met some
really good friends who arestill friends to this day, and
we started an agency called 9714which was a little bit of a
combination of sort of eventsand some fashion retailing and
all sorts of things.
Yeah, it was good, but it wasat the time where you could do
that in Dubai.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
Now, I know you took a little time out from Dubai,
didn't you?
You went and moved back to theUK in 2018.
And now you find yourself outhere again with Purple Glow.
Yes, tell us a bit about PurpleGlow.
Tell us a bit about your role.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
So firstly, I never thought I'd be back here Not
full time, you know, I left in2018, as you say, went back to
the UK and one of my first jobswas to fly back out here for the
Dubai Air Show.
For the agency I was workingfor the irony yeah, exactly
Busman's holiday Purple Glow.
So we are an immersive techagency.
Our remit is to be the techpartner to agencies, brands,
(05:19):
direct companies.
We have in-house tech solutions, whether that's rental, custom
design, we do content, we dosoftware production, we build
innovation centers and we alsohave a thing called Glow 360,
where we do offer a full servicesolution, but generally that's
direct to brand, because we worka lot with agencies, event
(05:40):
agencies.
We've been in operation for 14years.
I have been in as MD for nearlyyeah, nearly a year in
September, and really the firstsort of this first year is
really sort of assessing thebusiness, realigning it,
repositioning it, rebranding,and that kind of rebranding and
(06:00):
repositioning was launched atMies this week.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
Fantastic.
Now, obviously, I had a quicklook at the website before I did
a little bit of research.
Website's terrible at themoment.
That's again.
Well, one thing I did take awaywas your tagline, which is
where tech meets art.
Yeah, so I'm not sure whetheryou're going to keep that with
the new rebranding, but anyway,that's what I picked up on.
Yeah, so how do then thetechnical innovation side of
(06:26):
things with just the plainstorytelling Because, let's face
it, events are all aboutstorytelling.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
Yeah, I think you've got to be knowledgeable about
your consumer, because techfrightens a lot of people off.
Okay, so you've got to blend itwith the physical and something
they understand.
So when we look at a brief orwe're given an idea by somebody,
it's about making that atangible experience that they
can take something away from.
So you know a lot of events andstands.
(06:50):
I mean, I was at Leap this yearin Saudi great event but I
don't think there was a singlepanel of LED left anywhere in
the kingdom.
It was, but it was overloads.
It was overload, it was.
It was a little bit too much.
So I'm very much a protagonistof blending the digital with the
physical for purpose-drivenoutcomes.
Right, we try and sort ofanalyze the opportunity and see
(07:13):
what tech works for that.
The art side of it comes intoelements like the content what's
the aesthetic, what does itlook like?
But there's also an art to theinteraction that you have with
the product or with thatexperience as well.
It's got to be generally for us.
I like, uh, user, usergenerated journeys.
(07:33):
We'll always have promotionalstaff if necessary, but these
kind of self-perpetuatingjourneys where people discover
you know a brand or a messagefrom a brand through technology
needs to be self-serving.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
So, when you get the briefs through the door, what
are you looking for and what areyou?
Speaker 2 (07:51):
not looking for yeah, that's a lot of the time I say
Opportunity to be creative.
Yeah, opportunity to tell astory, yeah, an opportunity to
put technology in the hands ofpeople that might not
necessarily come into contactwith it.
Event companies and agencieswork with all and every brand
there is around and some of themsell cooking implements and
(08:14):
others sell very highlytechnical pieces of equipment.
So it's looking for anopportunity to be creative and
really, as I tell a story, butget people to connect with the
brand through technology.
What we're not looking for isbriefs that are very guided or
linear and stick to this, this,that We'll still deliver it.
(08:35):
I'm not saying we won't do that,but we thrive on loose briefs,
if that makes sense, where wecan take it, and instead of
being that kind of us and them,where we go backwards and
forwards, it's very muchcollaborative the approach.
We try and involve the clientor the other party as early on
in our ideation process as well.
(08:55):
So we'll do a tissue sessionearly on where you'll just peel
off some top line ideas and thensort of drill it down into what
they want, and then it's reallylooking at the outcomes.
You know, what do they want toget from it.
What we want to do is use datato start with, but give great
data at the end of an activationthat the client can then use
(09:17):
for purpose afterwards, whetherthat's in their sales process,
their marketing funnel channelsor whatever they're using it for
.
So it's not just a oh wow forthe moment.
There's got to be longevity init as well.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
Yeah, now you mentioned data.
Obviously, look, techexperiences a lot of the time
are about sort of grabbingattention and, unlike most
events, taking people on ajourney as well.
But how do you measure theimpact of the events that you do
?
I mean, does data come intothat?
What are the KPIs that you sitdown with a client to establish
before you do the activation?
Speaker 2 (09:51):
So generally, because we are part of a bigger event,
we don't tend to get superembroiled into that, which is
great, actually, at times.
I'll tell you why Because ROI isstill the most difficult thing
to measure.
I'll tell you why because ROIis still the most difficult
thing to measure.
You know, measuring the dataand the outcomes.
The KPIs that you want to setin advance are, you know, a lot
(10:11):
of the time.
They're driven aroundinteraction.
They're driven around dwelltime as well.
So if you have something thatsomeone interacts with for 30
seconds, generally what thatwill be is someone walking at me
, sees a great activation, takesa photo of it.
Second part of dwell time issomeone that gives you up to two
minutes where they'll come,they'll interact and they'll get
(10:34):
a takeaway from it.
Your ideal solution with dwelltime is that it extends that and
when they finished, they want aconversation about it as well.
So it's about using thatopportunity to further the
conversation with someone andgenerally, if that's on an event
, you want to have the rightpeople there to be able to talk
(10:54):
about the brand.
We can only, as a tech partner,take it as far as we know the
brand, but what we try to dowith these, these kind of
immersive engagements, is getthe people interacting that are
either guests, consumers,visitors, whatever with the
brand people you know and that'show they do their business.
I think ROI is impossible tomeasure from a financial
(11:14):
perspective these days becausethere's usually a lot of
different stakeholders in there.
But the general KPIs is to getengagement, dwell, leads and
contacts that you can then takeinto the sort of wider business
space afterwards.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
How difficult are those conversations with clients
?
Because I'm guessing there'sstill a lot of clients that are
a little bit more conservativeand expect ROI to be a major KPI
.
Yeah, and it's not.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Yeah, they are a major kpi.
Yeah, it's not.
Yeah, they are.
But I think now budgets aredriven by sort of global impact
and what's happening and,contrary to popular belief, the
middle east, as much, as there'sa lot of money that comes out
of it budgets here.
This is also seen as anemerging market, so people are
very diligent about how theyspend their budgets here and
(12:05):
people from the outside will say, oh, you did an event for
Adidas or whatever.
You must have had a huge amountof money to spend on it, you
don't.
So what they're looking for isvalue for money and that
extension afterwards.
I think that's really important.
A lot of the focus, I think, onevents 10, 15, 20 years ago was
get the people in.
It's a great experience andthen it's a bit kind of
(12:26):
tumbleweeds afterwards what'syour brand recall from that
particular event?
So it's about how you makepeople feel, how they engage
with it and you know, and howthey re-engage with it
afterwards.
You know there's it's all salesdriven at the end of the day.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
Now, just going back a step.
You've obviously spent sometime away.
I'm curious to know if you'venoticed what's changed in the
time that you've been.
You're away what?
Five years, I think?
Yeah, six years, six years.
Yeah, close to six years.
What do you think has changedsince leaving in 2018 and coming
back A?
Speaker 2 (12:57):
lot of the agencies, companies have diversified a
little bit.
You know Sweetwater hasdiversified away from purely
experiential.
You know there's obviously beengrowth in Saudi.
That's a big topic at themoment.
Obviously, I think people havelearned from COVID and how to
(13:21):
survive and how to work.
There's a very much moreemphasis on the freelance
population here as well.
You know, this place is notcheap.
You know, and as somebodyrunning a business overheads
cash flow, all of those.
So we're really diligent.
We have a great base of staff.
We will freelance out.
But I think there's a much moremeasured approach to business.
People aren't just throwinghuge amounts of money into staff
(13:45):
because they win an account,because that account might only
be there for a year.
So I think from an internalperspective, what I've seen from
talking to other people that Istill know within the industry
there's a little bit more riskaverse at the moment, but that's
been a I mean, I think that'sbeen common for the, you know,
since I got off the plane, whichwas 22 years ago.
Yeah, I think that's a regional,regional thing.
(14:06):
Um maybe is, you know, maybe aslightly off off key is more
collaboration.
One thing I noticed in europeis that agencies that might
technically be competition aremuch more open to collaborating
with other agencies that mighthave better skill sets in
(14:27):
certain areas.
You know, and I can see thatbeing beneficial, and I've seen
it firsthand that it can producebetter outcomes, but it takes
bold leadership to be able to dothat, and here, for example,
there's a lot of other greattech companies out there.
We might have certain USPs thatsomeone else doesn't have to
(14:49):
someone in the Far East orPoland or wherever you know a
content house, whereas it wouldbenefit the industry here to
collaborate a little bit more.
If it happens, let's see.
I would definitely be all for alittle bit more collaboration
between what are traditionallyseen as competitive agencies.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
And also based on again based on the sort of past
five or six years that you spentin the UK and also again based
on the past five or six yearsthat you've spent in the UK
where does this region stand interms of the level of quality
and also innovation?
I mean, obviously, in yourindustry you're providing the
technical side of things, allthe tech events, but also just
events in general.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
I think it's right up there now.
I think we've got some greatvenues, which helps a lot of the
time, way back when it was,like you know, the Rugby 7
Stadium, which is still there,made a scaffold, etc.
And that works you know it justworks.
It's part of the furniture,right, but now you've got venues
like the Coca-Cola Arena, whichare world-class venues.
So if you're comparing this tothe event market in London or
(15:52):
Berlin or Barcelona, we're notthere yet, but we've got the
infrastructure coming and you'vegot great locally grown
companies as well as the bigagencies are opening offices
over here as well.
That is a marker for me thatshows that you're up there with
the rest of the world.
(16:12):
I came from GPJ in London, soGeorge P Johnson, and about a
year before I joined GPJ they'dopened here.
Dp World is one of their majorclients.
They were my client when I wasat GPJ, and so if agencies like
that that have 29 other officesglobally are coming and setting
up here and being serious aboutit and then going into Saudi,
(16:35):
that tells you something.
Speaker 1 (16:36):
You mentioned your old firm, GPJ.
How much of their eye is on theUAE and how much of it is on
our neighbours across the borderin?
Speaker 2 (16:45):
Saudi.
Most of these larger agenciesthat are coming here.
They won't go straight to Saudibecause it's still got that
unknown factor to it.
As I, I'm comfortable with itbecause I was here and I worked
there when you know we'd getpicked up by the mataua for do
it, for like looking in thewrong direction, you know, and
bundled in the back here andthen released with your camera
(17:06):
taken or whatever.
But I think their businessmodel is to establish in the UAE
, because it's the most open ofthe Gulf states, and then
monitor it.
But they're super astute, theglobal agencies.
They know what they're doingand they will have done their
research.
But it's like Fischer Appel,who are a big German agency.
(17:30):
They established in Qatar forthe World Cup or even before
that, but then now they'removing into Saudi, but it's a
much slower pace.
I think when Saudi exploded,probably just before I left,
people were just like, right,let's get in there.
And it was how Dubai was 20, 25years ago.
It was cowboy city.
(17:51):
Come in, make your money off,you go.
And that's not how you build anindustry.
You need to have long-termopportunities, long-term
securities as a business.
So I think they do view it as amassive opportunity, but they
will always have Dubai or theUAE rather, as a hub.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
Yeah, going back to obviously, your new role now
with Purple Glow, you showcasework with AR, vr, projection,
mapping, interactiveinstallations.
What's the process for, I'mgoing to say, choosing which one
of those or multiple ones ofthose that you work with with a
client?
Speaker 2 (18:29):
on.
Firstly, we have an incrediblein-house team of experts.
We have a technical director,we have developers, we have a
great creative team and a greatoperations team.
Some of the best ideas comefrom the most unusual sources.
So I can send a brief into thetech team, but it might be that
someone in ops has seensomething, so we never sort of
(18:50):
write.
We know that this brief iscoming for this.
We know what we're going to use.
The way that we choose it is asI said earlier.
It's based on what are theoutcomes, what's the best
outcome.
And a client might see a productand say, oh, we saw your
robotic AI booth at Mies.
You know, love it.
We want to do it for this.
We won't just sell a product orbill a client because they like
(19:13):
it.
We want to challenge the briefand say you know what?
It is cool, it's really cooland people will stand around and
look at it.
But for your particular event,you are trying to do x, y and z
with the brand.
It's not what we would suggest.
We're happy to do it for you,but maybe, maybe you know
holographic AI or something elseor a gamification of something
(19:36):
works better and you know it'smore than a one way conversation
.
So it's we don't just look atan opportunity and think, yeah,
we've got it or we've got lotsof that.
We need to get that out out thewarehouse.
It really is case by case.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
Now, obviously, a lot of what you do you could call
cutting edge.
You're really on the edge of alot of technology In a region
where, you know I don't thinkI'm going out on a limb by
saying that we're often sort ofrisk averse how easy or
difficult are thoseconversations with the clients
to take a bit of a chance, youknow, to really go for something
(20:11):
a little bit different.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
A lot of our business is inbound, so they already
look to you, have a look at thewebsite so that.
So they know they're not backin my days working for
sweetwater.
They're coming with an overallbrief and tech would be a
bolt-on or an add-on or, youknow, still quite new in those
days.
So I think before people come,they have a an idea of what we
do.
I think, because you know andthis comes with age workforces
(20:37):
the younger people in thatworkforce have been tech
adopters since they were youngand you've got very high-end
people within business now thatare in their late 20s and early
30s.
You know, I didn't even decidewhat I wanted to do until I hit
30 kind of thing, you know.
So I'm already playing behindthe eight ball or whatever it is
(20:58):
behind the nine ball.
So I think there's a lot moreinfluence within companies to
the older guard that tech can bebeneficial.
But back to a point I madeearlier.
I always want to try and blendthe digital with the physical,
because there's so much digitalconsumption.
We're on our phones, which youknow are great, and a hindrance
(21:20):
at the same time.
But I think it's not just theleaders at the top, because
we're not from.
We've had to learn to adopttechnology into our businesses
and our lives.
But the younger generation,they're born with it, you know,
know.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
So they can be influenced internally before
they come to us, give us anexample of something that's
worked well for you recently,that you that you've you've
worked obviously on with withyour client yeah, I want to
start with the image nation whoare based in abu dhabi, their ua
production house.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
They do films and direction and all manner of
things around the film industryand they approached us for
comic-con.
I was like, okay, interesting,obviously it's film and
comic-con, but everyone sort oflooks at it as everyone dressing
up as superheroes.
Now they have a huge amount ofcontent, but how do you display
that in a way that you caninteract with it rather than it
(22:13):
just being on 27 screens and youcan't focus?
So we have this idea ofcreating what we call the brand
hub, so it's navigated by acircular touch screen but a wrap
around led screen so itimmerses you in the content.
It's what we call touch andthrow, so you select and you
could select the trailer, youcould select the film and you
(22:34):
could look at this and visualizeit on a much bigger screen.
Now you can do that with vr,but vr is tricky in this region,
you know, especially with thecultural dress here.
People I don't like put inheadphones or think vr sort of
goggles on myself.
But this was a massive hitbecause you could stand there
and you could choose differentcontent you could.
(22:56):
You could look up directors.
You could look up differentthemes.
They have like horror.
They had alchemy, which is likean army based one as well.
So it was just this amazingportal that wasn't just a single
screen.
As soon as you chose it, it wasup and it was in a sort of
wraparound LED environment, soyou felt like you were there in
the movie.
(23:16):
So it's taking how you pushcontent in different mediums as
well.
End of the day, a screen is ascreen is a screen.
It's what the content is andhow you interact with it.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
Are you seeing any trends emerging since you've
been back, or even things thatare coming through from the UK
and the US?
Speaker 2 (23:34):
Obviously, AI, I have a love-hate relationship with.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
AI, they don't have a conversation.
No, exactly.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
Someone will be looking around.
I think it's overused insidepeople's lives.
In terms of writing, I thinkthe art of copywriting, and I
can tell, I can tell, andsometimes the guys will put
together a pitch, you know, andit's last minute because that's
the nature of the beast and Ican tell if it's just been AI.
But and it's last minutebecause that's the nature of the
beast, and I can tell if it'sjust been AI, but it's using it
(24:01):
to your advantage as well.
So that's the negative side.
I'll stop there now.
I want to be positive about AI,because we have to be.
It can be used for so many goodthings.
It can open inquisitive minds,you can challenge, in essence,
the world, as it were.
(24:22):
It's all linked in and it's all.
It's all pulling.
So ai is a massive trend, andother trends again, I think it's
that moving away from it beingpurely digital to having some
physical interaction with it,because otherwise you know what
are you doing with yourselfphysically as well.
So if you go and I say when wewent to leap, it was like whoa,
(24:42):
it's like overload of screens,but you couldn't focus, you
couldn't concentrate on it.
So it's also condensing theideas down so that they're a bit
more compact, you know, andflexible and they can pivot and
you can change the content aswell.
So I think, yeah, more sort ofcompressed engaging activations
(25:04):
and less of the kind ofpiccadilly circus on steroids.
Speaker 1 (25:07):
I find it quite interesting the whole ai thing,
because I mean we've had a fewthings in the press recently.
I mean we had mark cuban comeout not too long ago and say you
know the rise of ai, andcertainly you.
You know AI in video will drivepeople back towards real
experiences and you know, inin-person events.
And then we also I also read anarticle on Forbes by the CEO of
(25:29):
an AI company that said exactlythe same thing that as AI grows
, it will push people back intothe realm of real personal
experiences.
What's your take?
Speaker 2 (25:39):
on that.
Again, I think it might just bea generational thing.
Like I love digital, you know Iwouldn't be back here and I
wouldn't be doing what I'm doingwith Purple Glow if I didn't.
My take on it is that you'vegot to be careful, because I
think you know and again I seethis a little bit on YouTube,
but this is looking over mydaughter's shoulder and they're
watching videos of peopleplaying videos and commentating
(26:01):
on it and they've got an aicomment.
It's like you know where doesit end when, where does it stop?
And I just I don't know that.
There are enough.
You know you get sort ofsoftware that can block malware
and things like that, andthere's obviously parental
controls and things like that,but I don't.
I don't know where it ends interms of its usage.
I think some of the best usagesare in, obviously, things like
(26:22):
medicine.
You know anything to do withresearch as well, but I use it
as I need to use it.
You know you're probably askingthe wrong person on that as
well, but I'm always amazed whenthe team work with it, though I
have to say, like when thedevelopment team use it to
better an outcome for content orwe enhance an image, using it
(26:45):
in a presentation.
I still want that kind oforiginal like a photograph.
But how can we make it better?
But not how can we change it?
So I think, yeah, it has itsplace in society, but, yeah,
where does it end?
Speaker 1 (27:01):
It's a very good question, but you know, on a
similar note and speaking of theyounger generation and I hate
saying that because I justfound- that sounds so old every
time I say it, but there you go.
I probably am, and I'm curiousagain on your perspective of
having just spent the last fiveor six years in the UK as well
and to now coming back out here.
Are you seeing young peoplecome into the event industry and
(27:22):
if not, what do we need to doto encourage them?
Because obviously you know,we're only as good as the people
, aren't we, despite AI?
But AI still needs prompting,absolutely.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
Yes and no.
I worked for a sort ofshort-term contract with a more
advertising-driven agency andyou get a lot of young designers
come into there, but we werestruggling to find event
managers and operations peoplebecause maybe during COVID
they'd retrained.
So I think there needs to be abit more of a push.
(27:50):
But today you can study it.
You know it was never an optionback in the day.
Now you can.
You can study events with aspecialism in back in the day.
Now you can study events with aspecialism in experiential or
digital or probably AI now.
So I think it comes from aneducation perspective and you
know universities offeringengaging courses.
I think a lot of the youth oftoday have seen getting into
(28:14):
trading and FX and things likethat.
You know you've got very smartkids making huge amounts of
money.
You know just soaking upinformation.
I think a lot of the people thatwe're seeing in terms of
freelancers are more experiencedand maybe a little bit older,
and I do think there needs to bea drive to sort of re-engage.
(28:34):
I might be wrong, because Idon't work directly in the
coalface of event managementanymore.
I'm talking more from a techside of it what we find in terms
of the people and ourambassadors that work on our
activations is they want to doit.
There's a real love for thetechnology side of it and these
guys might have come out of adesign course or they might have
come out of a software course.
(28:57):
They might have just done acourse in Unity.
Unity, which is a gamingprogram for building games.
So in our side of the industryI think it's it's quite healthy.
But I don't know so much aboutthe, the larger scale events I
think look for in relation tothis region.
Speaker 1 (29:12):
I mean, I read recently that, uh, middle beast
have got a whole load of coursesnow for particularly the youth
in saudi to actually get acareer, to get a foothold on the
ladder and start a career inthe events industry.
I made a bit of a disparagingremark again probably showing my
age about Gen Z on a recentpodcast, saying that you know,
if you look, anecdotally,there's been a lot written about
(29:34):
the appetite for younger peoplewanting to work hard.
And my guest pulled me up on it, you know, and I'm very glad he
did, because he had a very goodpoint and he said you know,
it's not just about working hardthese days, they want purpose.
Yeah, absolutely, and I thoughtthat was a really, really
telling point.
Speaker 2 (29:50):
Yeah, they want to work smart as well, because
outside of their work, they havethese big social networks via
social media and things likethat.
Just just back to the, thestaff and that topic, we are
really big on interns as well,because you can get some really
enthusiastic people.
So we're we're really big oninterns in terms of our
(30:11):
development and creative sidesas well.
So, uh, we are pushing, youknow those, the graduate
generation, to come into thetech side of things.
Speaker 1 (30:21):
Moving on, how do you define success on the projects
that you've done?
Speaker 2 (30:25):
Repeat business.
We have a very high retentionrate as a business in the 90s.
Now that's not to say thateverything they do comes through
us all the time, but we havepeople that are coming back to
us over and over and over overthese last 14 years and with
this new sort of client-centricapproach.
We are not getting intocontracts or retainers, because
(30:50):
people always want choice,especially in the creative side
of it, but we are finding thatwe will get their business for
that year and then we'll get,you know, building those
stronger relationships.
And again, this is has.
The company has grown?
It's less focused on oh, thishas come in.
What do we do?
It's client centric.
So now the teams look after theclients that come solely to us,
(31:12):
the ones that keep coming backto us.
So success is businessretention.
Success is a growing workforce,a healthy, happy workforce.
We like to balance what we do.
I mean honestly, during theseason.
I came in september, so I cameat the start.
I've not been here for seven oreight years and working in
(31:32):
europe.
It's seasonal to a point, butthere's stuff going on 12 months
a year.
Yeah, because you've got greatindoor venues, you've got the
festival season, whatever itmight be here, it's still
governed by the weather, ramadan, etc.
I came in and I have not seen ateam work as hard as the team
(31:55):
at purple glow did for thosefirst three months during the
season, and without complaint ormoan or groan, and I think
that's testament to Christinewho built the business, to the
culture that we have withinthere.
You know we expect but we alsogive back, and giving back is
not always financial.
You know there's other thingsthat we do to the staff.
(32:16):
So, yeah, success is acombination of that client
success, but also internalsuccess as well what does the
rest of 2025 and 2026 look likefor you guys?
Speaker 1 (32:27):
I mean, you mentioned a rebrand.
Is that right?
Speaker 2 (32:29):
yeah, so we just we just rebranded our new tagline
immersive moments, lastingconnections.
It is consolidating withclients that we were working
with, creating sort of longerterm partnerships with them.
It is moving into morenon-event sort of industries
(32:50):
using technology, becausethere's a lot to be done just
outside.
Events will always be there.
It will always be the kind ofbread and butter of the business
, but there's other areas thatwe want to diversify into and
we're moving into that already.
Some expansion on the horizon,potentially in 2026, but
everything done at a sustainablerate as well.
(33:11):
One thing that I did when COVIDhit and I was made redundant was
I went back to the books.
I did a digital marketingdiploma and I did a course
through Cambridge UniversityInstitute of Sustainable
Leadership.
It was great.
So I learned aboutsustainability and it's you know
, throughout a business, youknow, and throughout the
different functions.
So we want to build that intothe company a little bit more as
(33:34):
well.
So, yeah, it's super exciting,really really exciting, exciting
, and for me it was a great moveto come back.
Gp day is a great company, butto really further my career I
had to take another risk yeah,which is often the case and
coming back here was a risk.
You know I've left my daughtersin the uk so there's that sort
of challenge around that.
(33:55):
But for the here and now it isabsolutely the right move and
the next three to five yearshere, I think are going to be
very exciting for the industryin the region.
You know exciting times.
Speaker 1 (34:08):
And finally, Ben I mean you mentioned it at the
start of the podcast You'reobviously a music fan, so I've
asked all my guests thisquestion.
It's quite amusing what answersyou get, but what's on your
playlist?
Speaker 2 (34:21):
what's on my playlist ?
Foo fighters, radio heads, lotsof jungle, drum and bass,
because that's my kind of mymain passion musically, but my
dad's.
My dad was a musician and so Iwas brought up he his, his band.
He had a hit in the 60s andtoured with the Rolling Stones
back in the day, Still livingoff the royalties is he no, no,
(34:43):
no, no, no.
He's living off the beervouchers he was given afterwards
, probably.
So I was brought up on anythingfrom 10cc Jean-Michel Jarre, so
my playlist is really varied, Ithink.
If I'm just sitting down andchilling out, I can listen to an
orbital album, or if I'mdriving and my what's amazing
(35:03):
and I you know I love this isthat my daughter's picked up on
that.
She, my daughter's autistic,but she has picked up on music
through her grandfather andmyself.
She is grade three piano nowand she collects vinyl.
So when I'm back in the UK, myweekends are spent lovingly not
going around the Disney shop,going to record fairs in
(35:25):
Manchester, and she's like haveyou got the Cocteau Twins EP
from 1984?
Speaker 1 (35:29):
No, there's a name from the past.
There you go Cocteau Twins.
Absolutely so mic drop noexactly.
Speaker 2 (35:35):
Like dream pop stuff like that.
I love bands like Ride like no,exactly Like dream pop stuff
like that.
I love bands like Ride, likethe whole Shoegaze scene.
So it's really varied.
It's really varied.
But yeah, I think music plays abig part in my life and I'm
glad it plays a big part in mydaughter's life as well.
Speaker 1 (35:50):
Now, Brilliant Well, ben.
It's been absolutely fantasticto reconnect after the region.
Speaker 2 (35:54):
Yeah, absolutely Welcome back to the region.
I know you've been here for ayear and a bit already.
Speaker 1 (35:58):
But yeah, thanks very much for joining me on the
podcast.
No, thanks for having me.
It's been a pleasure.
Event News DXB is brought toyou by Warehouse 4, probably
Dubai's best independent eventvenue, and Minus 45 dB the team,
transforming noisy event spacesinto slick, sound-reduced
(36:20):
environments.
The podcast was presented bymyself, ian Carlos, the studio
engineer and editor was RoyDeMonte, the executive producer
was myself and Joe Morrison, andthis podcast was produced by W4
Podcast Studio Dubai, and ifyou haven't done so already,
please do click that follow orsubscribe button.
(36:41):
We'll see you next time.
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