Epic Events by vFairs

Tavar James oversees global event strategy at Forrester, delivering Summits across three continents for thousands of professionals. With a career spanning hospitality operations at Ritz-Carlton, experiential marketing at Equitable, field marketing across EMEA/APAC/AMER at Riskified, and now leading events at a premier research firm, he brings a rare 360-degree view of what actually creates memorable attendee experiences. Expect honest takes on what works, what doesn't, and the uncomfortable trade-offs every event leader faces.
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Managing 2,000 site visits, 300 events, and 30 trade shows annually across five countries isn't just ambitious, it's a logistical masterclass. Oliver, Head of Events and Protocol at Airbus, shares how his 80-person team consolidated multiple event tools into a single platform to gain end-to-end visibility. From airshows to institutional visits, discover how Airbus built their "Event Factory" to scale global operations, improve data consistency, and support event managers across the UK, France, Germany, Spain, and Portugal. If you're managing events at enterprise scale, this is your playbook.
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AI is everywhere, but why do most AI projects still fail? 🤔

In this Epic Events podcast episode, Noah Cheyer breaks down how event planners can actually use AI in practical, realistic ways.

Noah Cheyer is the Co Founder of Speak About AI, the first speaker agency dedicated to AI experts. He shares real examples of AI in event planning, how to book the right AI speakers, what event teams get wrong with AI, and which tools genuinely save time instead of creating more work.

In this episode, we cover:
• How Speak About AI matches the right AI speakers with the right events
• Why most AI projects fail and what event planners should do differently
• AI workshops vs inspirational talks and when each one works best
• Practical AI tools for event planners beyond ChatGPT
• How AI can save hours in event timelines, planning, and operations
• The future of AI inside spreadsheets, Airtable, and event workflows

If you are an event planner, marketer, or event tech professional trying to cut through AI hype and focus on real outcomes, this episode is for you.
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Join Ben Costantini, CEO of Sesamers, and Muhammad Younas, CEO of vFairs, as they dive into a conversation about transforming the way we plan events. Instead of just hoping people make meaningful connections, we’ll show you how to use AI and smart strategies to turn your exhibitions into innovation engines that drive real results. Deals, partnerships, and collaborations.

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Frost (Founder, ExpoCast) joins Mohammed Younas to unpack what great event-industry talent looks like, realistic OTEs, how to approach senior hires, and where AI helps (and doesn’t) in recruitment. We also chat networking tips for grads, the value of industry experience, and even booth swag.

Key takeaways

- Hunters remain the hardest roles to fill in events sales
- Clear SDR to AE paths and near 50 50 comp help retention and results
- Event tech often pays more than organizers, so salary benchmarks matter
- Senior searches require market mapping and tight stakeholder alignment
- AI can speed research and screening but candidate experience must stay human
- For grads, smart networking beats endless CV edits
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