Event Technology Awards Judge’s Spotlight: Katie Crocombe

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Joining the Event Technology Awards judging panel for the first time in 2018 is Katie Crocombe.

Katie is Director of 52eight3 Ltd, the brand-new marketing and events consultancy whose client list includes, AMR International, Western Business Exhibitions and Reed Exhibitions.

Previously Event Director at Artexis Easyfairs, Katie has over 14 years’ experience in delivering b2b exhibitions across the world.

Katie’s passions are ensuring events deliver the best attendee experience for both exhibitors and visitors, collaborative working and promoting the events industry.

  1. How did your career lead you to your current job?

I started my career in the customer service department of Reed Exhibitions. From there, I have worked my way up the ranks and after leaving Easyfairs in 2016, started my own consultancy providing marketing support for event organisers and event tech companies.

  1. What events have you been involved with recently and in what capacity OR which event is your favourite event to work on and why?

The beauty of my job is that I’m often working on multiple events at the same time. Two recent projects include running the marketing campaign for Western Business Exhibitions’ The Health & Safety Event and AMR International’s Transform Europe conference.

  1. What type of event technology would you like to see improved or developed and why?

As organisers, we sometimes unconsciously make the lives of our customers more difficult than they need to be – one example of this is visitor registration.

We ask visitors many, many questions during the registration process –  in fact often just short of their annual earnings and inside leg length! What’s worse, we (the organisers) very rarely use the answers to the benefit of improving the visitor experience, if at all. There simply must be a better way! I think real collaboration between registration companies and organisers needs to bring about a change that gives value to our customers and ultimately improves their overall event experience.

  1. Is there a particular piece of event technology that has impressed or inspired you?

I’m absolutely loving face recognition software and I can’t wait to see and experience working with this technology in the future.

  1. What technology do you think is overhyped? 

Event apps. Live events are about connecting people and only a handful of event apps that I’ve experienced are designed with this in mind.

In addition, many event tech apps require much backroom work to deliver and maintain correct content or require tricky APIs to set up. This can really decrease the value of the app for the organiser in terms of time. I know this pain first hand and as such, wary about taking on such technology,

By judging these awards, I really hope to see a new generation of event apps that make mobile devices an asset in connecting exhibitors and visitors.

  1. What professional experiences can you draw on to judge the Event Technology Awards?

I have worked in event marketing for over 13 years and throughout that time, I’ve project managed many tech applications into events.

  1. What are you most looking forward to as an Event Technology Awards judge?

Learning about new technology and hearing about real examples of it in action!

  1. Name one app you cannot live without and why?

Spotify. Having a limitless amount of music and podcasts at my fingertips is just a dream come true. It makes my day, every day 🙂


Entries are open now until May 31, the ETA salutes the achievements of companies designing and delivering solutions across the gamut of live events, from festivals to exhibitions, brand activations to conferences. CLICK HERE for the categories and register to enter.

The awards ceremony returns to Troxy on November 7, between the two days of Event Tech Live 2018.

Adam Parry
Author: Adam Parry

Adam is the co-founder and editor of www.eventindustrynews.com Adam, a technology evangelist also organises Event Tech Live, Europe’s only show dedicated to event technology and the Event Technology Awards. Both events take place in November, London.