6 MAY 2021 · Peter travels the globe (now virtually) helping people define, craft and tell clearer stories with stronger impact. Bringing more value, clarity and engagement to their ideas. He helps executives, entrepreneurs and teams to develop their speaking style in front of a crowd or in a virtual setting, gain investment and persuade with impact. From Dubai to Amsterdam, Shanghai to Berlin, Peter’s workshops and coaching skills are in high demand across global digital, entreprenership and business scenes. As an internationally experienced live and virtual events MC, Peter has developed an extensive global portfolio of shaping some of the strongest tech events on the planet. Working with event producers from a spectrum of sectors, Peter hosting takes him across the globe managing more than 300 stages for international events – such as Mobile World Congress (Barcelon, Shanghai, LA), GITEX (Dubai), TNW (Amsterdam) and events all of shapes and sizes. With a strong passion and interest in creating amazing virtual event experiences, Peter works closely with organizers in ensuring these experiences are as engaging and result- driven as possible. London born, Peter has worked in 32 countries and lived in 7 - now based in Croatia. Twitter - @HopwoodMedia Instagram - @peterhopwood

6 MAY 2021 · Brodie Sutton is an Edinburgh Napier University student currently serving as President of Edinburgh Napier Events Society. Edinburgh Napier Events Society agilely pivoted to an online event format at the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic, allowing the society to continue delivering events over the past year. ​ Alongside university, Brodie works on a range of events, delivering a handful of international conferences over the past year. He also heads up the Sponsorship, Marketing & Partnerships team for Meadows Marathon, an annual student-run event, and sits on the Board of Trustees for Edinburgh Students' Charities Appeal (ESCA).

6 MAY 2021 · Mar Felices is a highly self-motivated professional with extensive background in management and the film industry. She has a Degree in Audio-visual Communication and has specialized in Creative Documentary Film. She is also Advanced Expert in the Production of Audio-visual Programmes and Shows. Mar's directorial debut “El oasis del pastor” (The Shepherd’s Oasis) won the Best Foreign Documentary Film award at FIC·PUEBLA International Film Festival (Mexico 2013). Mar moved to Edinburgh in 2013 and founded IberoDocs. Since then, she has been part of the juries at the 45th Huelva Ibero-American Film Festival (Official Selection), 12th Seattle Latino Film Festival (Documentary Strand), and 65th Seminci Valladolid International Film Festival (Time of History Strand).

6 MAY 2021 · Jenny Mitten joined Melbourne Convention Bureau (MCB) in September 2019 and is responsible for overseeing all marketing and communication strategies that support MCB’s bids to win business events for Melbourne and Victoria. This includes brand management, strategic market planning, corporate communications and delivering value back to MCB’s partners. Jenny has over 20 years experience working in the marketing and communications industry specialising in tourism, events, creative industries and government. Prior to joining MCB, Jenny held management positions within the Major Events, Strategic Partnerships and Product Marketing teams at Visit Victoria and Tourism Victoria.

6 MAY 2021 · Fiona is Director Business Development – Europe, Middle East and Africa and is based at the London office of the Melbourne Convention Bureau. With over 20 years in the international business events industry, Fiona has held various positions with the global exhibition company Reed Exhibitions the last of which was Global Head of Sales for the IBTM portfolio, managing a sales team spread across 5 continents. Fiona was part of the senior leadership team responsible for the successful launch of 3 tradeshows for the business events industry in China, the US and Dubai. One of the events in the portfolio that Fiona worked on was AIME – an annual tradeshow for the Asia Pacific business events industry held in Melbourne, Australia. It was during this time that Fiona fell in love with Melbourne as a business events city and when the position of Director Business Development, UK & Europe for the Melbourne Convention Bureau was advertised it seemed a perfect fit! Fiona has also held the position of President of SITE GB Chapter and was active on the board for several years.

24 MAR 2021 · Alistair Turner is Managing Director of EIGHT PR & Marketing, a specialist research, marketing and creative agency servicing the events industry. Alistair has over 20 years’ experience in the PR and events industries, working closely with the key trade associations as well as the international government. ​ He has been the secretariat for the All Party Parliamentary Group for Events, a government advisor on the 2012 London Olympics and the 2014 and 2018 Commonwealth Games, 2017 Rugby World Cup and 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup, and past-President of the International Live Event Society (ILEA UK Chapter). He also sits on the Business Visits & Events Partnership (BVEP), the umbrella body for the UK events industry. ​ He is a regular speaker on events at a number of universities and is also a regular contributor to The Events Academy educational programmes.

19 MAR 2021 · Dr Rob Davidson is the Managing Director of MICE Knowledge, a London-based consultancy specialising in research, education and training services for the meetings and events industry. ​ His main areas of expertise are conferences and incentive travel, and he has written seven books on these themes, including his latest publication, Business Events (https://www.routledge.com/Business-Events/Davidson/p/book/9781138735767). ​ He has carried out research projects for a number of major organisations including the Poland Convention Bureau, the Ireland National Tourism Development Authority, and the Society for Incentive Travel Excellence. ​ He is regularly invited to speak at international conferences on themes linked to business events, in particular to present the results of his ongoing research into conference industry trends. Rob also teaches as a Visiting Professor in three universities in mainland Europe, where he educates and inspires Events Management and Tourism Management students every year. ​ In 2015, he was awarded a Doctorate from the University of Greenwich for his thesis, entitled 'Technological and Demographic Factors as Agents of Change in the Development of Business Events'. ​ In 2016, he won the Best Conference Speaker award at the Global Event Awards. ​ In 2017, he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the IBTM WORLD exhibition in Barcelona.

3 MAR 2021 · Stephanie Lee is a sales professional, specialising in the incentive travel and events industry. Stephanie started her career at The Balmoral hotel then working in hotels and resorts in Canada, America and Bermuda before returning to Scotland. Stephanie enjoys working in the cultural and heritage side of the events business, her favourite way to spend a working day would be in a beautiful castle or museum hosting a spectacular dinner! Outside of work, Stephanie is happiest with her wee family at home.

17 FEB 2021 · Simon is a serial entrepreneur in the event industry, having successful launched and sold events in the worlds of media, events and social media. He is a widely recognised as a champion for the power of face-to-face marketing, social media and story-telling through events. His work in the event industry includes trade shows, awards, conferences and networking events as well as a best-selling book – The Event Professionals Handbook. ​ When the Coronavirus pandemic arrived Simon was one of one the first event organisers to pivot to virtual and with industry colleagues was instrumental in establishing the Virtual Events Institute. He has an extensive global network of contacts and business partners in the event industry and holds several no-executive positions.

4 FEB 2021 · Eirene Houston lives in Glasgow, Scotland, a Glaswegian through and through. She has been an art teacher, singer/songwriter and comedian before leaving her work as a teacher to become a screenwriter. From 1993-1995 she studied screenwriting at the National Film and Television School at Beaconsfield, UK. Her graduation film, ‘A Stiff Drink’, written and directed by Eirene, was screened at the Edinburgh Film Festival and was the winner of the International Certificate of Merit at Chicago International Film Festival. It was transmitted on ZDF Television in Germany. Eirene’s first feature film ‘Day Of the Flowers’ which was filmed in Cuba by director John Roberts was released in November 2013. The film stars legendary Cuban dancer, Carlos Acosta, in a romantic comedy about two Scottish sisters, on their first visit to Cuba. It was screened at the Edinburgh Film Festival 2012 where it was in competition for the Michael Powell award for Best British Film. The Documentary Feature Film ‘My Life is Dance’, Directed by Eirene was filmed on location in Cuba and is currently in postproduction. She is Co- directing and producing ‘Havana Wheels’ a documentary about Transport, in production. She is Director of the Havana Glasgow Film Festival combining her love for the twin cities of Glasgow and Havana and her passion for film. The first festival took place in November 2015 and was a great success. The 6 th festival took place online, in November 2020, and HGFF continues to go from strength to strength. She is currently organizing the 2021 Festival.