Stephanie Dubois is the Program Director for SAPPHIRE NOW, SAP’s flagship event and a reference in the event industry. SAPPHIRE NOW is a multi-layered, cross industry, cross LoB event, and a 3-day celebration of business and technology. It annually welcomes more than 22,000 attendees and guests from over 100 countries. Stephanie Dubois took over the management of the event in September 2018. Founded in 1972, SAP is a German company known as a market leader in end-to-end enterprise application software.

Stephanie Dubois, the organiser of SAPPHIRE NOW, will explain how multinational corporations take on event organisation in new conditions.

DON’T YOU WANT TO KEEP UP TO DATE AND LEARN HOW HAVE EVENTS ALREADY CHANGED?

Colja M. Dams has been the CEO of VOK DAMS worldwide since 1998. Since the foundation in 1971, the agency has been one of the international market leaders in events and live-marketing – live and digital. Recognizing the importance of the internationalization of the agency at an early stage and the need to be close to his customers, he opted for networked strategies. With innovative approaches, he repeatedly established new standards in events and live-marketing, which VOK DAMS Strategic Solutions is constantly developing with its finger on the pulse.

VOK DAMS worldwide agency for events- and live-marketing moved from 100 digital events in 2019 – to 1000+ virtual events in 2020 and predicts the future to be hybrid events in 2021.

Boris Kovaček is the Co-owner of Pepermint, responsible for managing agency projects as well as conducting business operations. Pepermint agency is designing and implementing special projects including concept, strategies for promotion and sales on the market, and project production. He is executive director and co-owner of the Weekend Media Festival as well as Project Manager at the World Handball Championship, the European Water Polo Championship, Terraneo Music Festival, Asian Beach Games 2010.

Janez Kopač Lebar is an experienced project and event manager at MPG Slovenia marketing agency. He specialises in creating unique conference experiences. For the last 7 years, he has been the project leader of Microsoft NT conference – the biggest IT & business conference in Slovenia. One of his latest successful challenges was creating a virtual version of NT Conference – NT Remote.

Five provoking speakers from leading international event and marketing agencies talking about the future of our industry. Will the future be virtual or will we go back to meeting in person? Are live events really a thing of the past? Find out in this exciting panel discussion.

Matej Rus, M.Sc. is a senior lecturer in entrepreneurship. In addition to his academic and scientific career at the Faculty of Economics and Business at the University of Maribor, which he started in 1996, he focuses on consulting entrepreneurs and startup ecosystem developers. As a social entrepreneur and director of Tovarna podjemov (Venture Factory) he started in 2001 to implement the vision of building a better startup ecosystem by running local, national and international entrepreneurship programs.

Five provoking speakers from leading international event and marketing agencies talking about the future of our industry. Will the future be virtual or will we go back to meeting in person? Are live events really a thing of the past? Find out in this exciting panel discussion.

Juraj Holub is the Chief Meeting Designer at audience interaction platform Slido, which has helped to make over 800.000 events and meetings more interactive. Over the years, Juraj has worked with some of the industry-leading conferences such as Web Summit or SXSW and has helped many Fortune 500 companies make their meetings more effective. For his work, Juraj received a number of awards in Vancouver (PCMA 20 in their 20s), New York (BizBash Top 500 People in Events) and Bratislava (The National Marketer of the Year).

Five provoking speakers from leading international event and marketing agencies talking about the future of our industry. Will the future be virtual or will we go back to meeting in person? Are live events really a thing of the past? Find out in this exciting panel discussion.

Pedja is a television and event director specialized in large format entertainment programmes. He has directed and produced shows like The Biggest Loser Slovenia, Zvezde Plešejo, Serbia's most popular feature series Istine i laži and other famous reality TV shows, award ceremonies and game shows. Previous projects include Phillip Morris Red Racing, Operacija Trijumf, X Factor Adria, Prvi glas Srbije, Tvoje lice zvuči poznato, Effie Awards, Nova Zvezda Slovenije, RTL Zvijezde, Exit, Qomrah Awards Dubai, etc.​

Five provoking speakers from leading international event and marketing agencies talking about the future of our industry. Will the future be virtual or will we go back to meeting in person? Are live events really a thing of the past? Find out in this exciting panel discussion.

Dr. Barbara Neuhofer is a Professor and Head of Experience Design at the Salzburg University of Applied Sciences, Austria. She is the co-founder of the Experience Design Summit, a transformative experience event. As an educator, speaker and experience designer, Barbara researches, writes, and speaks about experience design as a philosophy, mindset and toolset to guide human experiences and transformations across the physical and digital realms. Barbara is widely published and has shared her work at over 60 conferences and industry events.

Learn more about experience design as a philosophy, mindset and toolset to guide human experiences, It's a perfect opportunity.

WE DON'T WANT BORING EVENTS ANYMORE, DO WE?

Mladen has dedicated his professional career to tourism, mostly in the field of sales and marketing. He has spent 5 years working in London, where he developed a flair for emerging technologies and its impact in the travel and hospitality industry. Upon returning to Slovenia in 2019 he started a company, merging its two passions, technology and tourism. Now he solely dedicates his time creating innovative business models for the travel industry looking to incorporate new technologies in their marketing, promotion and sales activities.

The landscape of many industries is rapidly changing and so is the new reality of the events industry. It is clear that technology will play a crucial role and only companies willing to adopt it will see the light of day again. Virtual and Augmented reality technology is in expansion, it is time to shift our focus towards tools and solutions that such tech provides.

Jens Mayer has built his career helping brands build strong relationships with the people that matter most to them, through live and digital marketing. He leads our offices for the German-speaking market, working with clients including BMW, Škoda, Samsung, Novartis, SABIC and HERE. With more than 25 years of experience in the brand experience industry, Jens has a special passion for integrating live events and the digital world.

Zsófia is an experienced creative event professional working in the industry for over 20 years. She is the co-owner and managing partner of Bo Live Branding Agency since 2006. She still strongly believes in the power of live events.  Therefore she kept her company busy with some projects supporting different communities together with their corporate partners during these challenging times.

Life changed in a split second and no one could have foreseen the future. Zsófia Dobos, co-owner of Bo Live Branding Agency still believes in the power of live events and will share her extensive knowledge with you at Conventa Crossover 2020.

Ivo is the owner & Managing Director of ENITED Business Events GmbH. Since 1999, he has been involved with a number of national and international educational institutions and sharing his experience and knowledge through a variety of speaking engagements. Currently, he holds a Board member position with EMBA (Event Marketing Board Austria) and with LiveCom Alliance, as well as being an active member of ICCA and 27NAMES.

A lot has been said and done about the COVID-19 pandemic, its scope & scale and its complexity of global impact. However, for our business events industry it also offers a unique opportunity, to finally dare and necessarily break old structures & habits. Now it’s our moment & chance, as we are forced to re-think and re-do the definition, purpose and value proposition of our industry.

Matthias is passionate about driving change and innovation, focusing on future proofing meetings and events as vital platforms for knowledge exchange. With a degree in business administration, he started out in hotel and congress management at Hilton International in Germany and has now almost 20 years of management experience. In 2010, he took up his current role as managing director of the GCB German Convention Bureau.

The business events industry has been transforming for many years. However, the COVID-19 pandemic even accelerated this development. Based on recent study results, this session explains the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the business events industry and shows scenarios for market development in Germany and Europe.

Romana Vlašić is a Head of Convention Bureau and International Markets Development at the Dubrovnik Tourist Board. During 30 years of successful career in tourism, she gained experience in all tourism business segments: from working in a hotel and agency to organization of incoming and outgoing trips and being director of Dubrovnik Tourist Board. She is a lecturer of Marketing in Tourism at the University of Dubrovnik and is active as a speaker at different conferences.

Five engaging panelists will be talking about drastic changes on the global meetings market caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. How can destinations adapt their marketing? How to prepare communication that raises a destination’s reputation during and after a crisis?

Teodora's passion for events started in early 2002, when she was exhibiting at international property shows, selling Bulgarian off-plan projects to the international audience. Starting from UK and Ireland, she kept exploring and adding new destinations to test the grounds. Her journey started in the real estate market, going through tourism and adding the finishing touch with being involved in the MICE industry. She is a Founding member of Consulting Cluster Veritas and the Managing Partner of Veritas Real Solutions.

Five engaging panelists will be talking about drastic changes on the global meetings market caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. How can destinations adapt their marketing? How to prepare communication that raises a destination’s reputation during and after a crisis?

Miha Kovačič has over 20 years of working experience in the travel industry. Tourism is part of his family, he started his career with Kompas Tour Operator, but soon got infected by the meetings industry. Miha continued with Kompas DMC and later joined Grand Hotel Union, the largest convention hotel in Ljubljana. His current position is the CEO of the Slovenian Convention Bureau. Miha Kovačič is also the organiser and co-founder of Conventa Trade Show.

Five engaging panelists will be talking about drastic changes on the global meetings market caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. How can destinations adapt their marketing? How to prepare communication that raises a destination’s reputation during and after a crisis?

Gernot Marx is Managing Director at the Salzburg Convention Bureau and serves as vice president of the Austrian National Convention Bureau. Before he started in destination marketing 12 years ago, Gernot worked for the a leading luxury and life style hospitality chain in different positions in events, sales and marketing. Besides marketing, he has a strong focus on psychology, coaching and leadership, currently finishing an Executive Masters degree in Training and Human Development.

Five engaging panelists will be talking about drastic changes on the global meetings market caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. How can destinations adapt their marketing? How to prepare communication that raises a destination’s reputation during and after a crisis?

Ms Petra Stušek is Managing Director of Ljubljana Tourism and President of the Board at European Cities Marketing, a non-profit organization improving the competitiveness and performance of city tourism destinations in Europe. Prior to this, she managed communications for the foreign and domestic public at Ljubljana Tourism, which she joined in 2002. Ms Stušek holds a degree from the Faculty of Arts in Ljubljana and has obtained a Master’s degree in Tourism and a second one in Sales from the School of Economics & Business, University of Ljubljana.

Five engaging panelists will be talking about drastic changes on the global meetings market caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. How can destinations adapt their marketing? How to prepare communication that raises a destination’s reputation during and after a crisis?

Rok Golob is a composer, producer, conductor and multi-instrumentalist. He has worked for film, TV, radio and over 50 CD projects. His very diverse styles of music include works for full symphony orchestra, choir, big-band, rock-pop-jazz bands/soloists and even concert bands. For various projects, he’s received 6 Golden Music Awards and 7 other awards from different countries.

Žiga Novak is an entrepreneur, manager, trainer, speaker, author and experience designer that specializes in using game, play and experiential design for assessment, engagement, entertainment, motivation and development of human potential. He is the founder of the Walnut Grove Group that includes several venues, a team building agency, a catering service and special project companies. Žiga has an international background in tourism, event management, media, EU projects, government, international organizations and human resources development.

Team building and incentive events are about creating memorable moments. Is it possible to create these feelings in the virtual space without physical contact? Check out what are current challenges and options in virtual teambuildings and what the future of corporate motivational events might look like.

Martina Merslavič believes everyone has the ability and the responsibility to raise the communication standards. She helps organizations and individuals speak outside of their comfort zone and go to next level when it comes to conveying their messages concisely, effectively and with confidence. Martina loves to share her 360-degree know-how of communications with her clients. As the founder of her own communication consultancy Martina got to know the communication industry from sales and entrepreneurial perspective.

At this interactive and fun workshop participants will learn simple techniques that will help them win the attention of their audiences and build authentic connections - making their content stick.

An event agency and a ticketing company felt the need to refocus. Together they created a Slovenian based solution for online events. Their new product is Confiva, an online event environment and streaming platform.

Imagine a real-life event only in digital form. Over their platform a guest can register, and watch live or pre-recorded content. People can chat in chatrooms, network, and visit sponsor content.

In the workshop you will find out where in the process of event organization this platform fits in, and how to use it for your event. Together with the presenter, you will walk through the platform and create an imaginary event.