Explore every episode of the podcast Bums On Seats

What does it take to turn events into powerful engines of brand growth and community connection?

In this episode, Ash Gibson, Head of Events Xero UK shares how she and her team design events that go far beyond logistics - creating experiences that educate, inspire, and build long-term engagement with small businesses, accountants, and bookkeepers.

Feet up, tune in and learn:

• How Xero uses events to drive both brand and business growth
• The secret to balancing large-scale impact with personal connection
• Why content and community are key to year-round engagement
• How to measure ROI when the value goes beyond numbers

Whether you're in events or marketing, this episode is loaded with insights you can apply right away.

What do hot pies, Premier League football, and accounting software have in common? Apparently, quite a lot - if you're Martin Dyhouse, former Head of Sponsorship at Intuit.

Intrigued? You should be. Take to the bench, rehydrate and tune in to this epic conversation as Martin joins Bums hosts Dom and Martin to address:

• Why B2B sponsorship is like dating with spreadsheets.
• The five-point checklist that separates “meh” from “magic.”
• How the QuickBooks brand ended up on West Ham’s sleeves.
• And yes, we talk about pies. Actual pies.

Whether you're a marketer, event planner, or just here for the banter between two Martins (a “glisten,” apparently), this episode is packed with insights and a few good laughs.

We’re doing too much. We’re rushing and we’re struggling to measure success” sighs James Houselander, EMEA Marketing Director Hewlett Packard Enterprise Aruba Networks - this weeks esteemed Bums on Seats guest. “However, there is one HPE story has enabled Aruba Networks to leverage a fully engaged, wider audience.”

James, Dom & Martin dive head-first into discussions around openly sharing event strategy with sales, marketing, and channel - sharing responsibility to vastly improve outcomes and how content, networking and experience combine to guarantee a powerful event.

If you are struggling to align sales, marketing to improve event outcomes, you need to listen to this episode. James brings a wealth of experience, proven success stories and a sense of humour to this episode.

“As an organisation we’re trying to veer towards to what I refer to as Account Based Everything” declares this week’s guest Chris Willman, EMEA North Marketing Director at global cyber resilience firm Commvault. “The more we think: how does this fit into everything we’re doing, the better it performs” 

The ‘this’ Chris is talking about is The Event: how do events fit into everything you do as a marketer? That’s the key question. 

To answer this Dom and Martin dive into an engaging conversation with Chris about the power of aligning events and marketing strategies. If you’re grappling with the challenges of audience acquisition and long-term engagement, Chris brings valuable ideas to the table for streamlining these efforts. Plus, we explore his take on personalization, audiobooks vs. podcasts, and ask the big question: if events are the answer... what’s the question?

“I hate doing one-off events”, says this week’s guest Jennie Becker. That’s odd, coming from a powerhouse in the events world; but the key word there is ‘one-off’. As Jennie explains, you’ve got to do more.

 How much more? And what does more look like? To find out, Dom and Martin sit down with podcast royalty Jennie to discuss how to balance creative ambition with shrinking budgets. If you’re struggling to get the resources and authority you deserve, it’s time to shift your approach. 

 From orchestrating iconic events for the British Fashion Council, LTK, and Stella McCartney, to her more recent role as Director of Events & Activations at WeWork, Jennie has built a career blending creativity with sound commercial strategy. In this episode she talks to us about building community to drive loyalty, why there’s no ‘one big thing’ for success, and the power of strategic evaluation behind every great event.

Ask any marketeer what matters most to them, and they’ll probably say ROI. That’s particularly true with events; they want the best return possible. At the same time there’s the need to prioritise education, growth and connecting with new audiences, so how do you balance both?

To find out, Dom and Martin are joined by Carla Barker, Marketing Manager for Kodak Alaris.

Together they discuss:

• How events connect partner networks and end user customers
• Confidence in trade show attendance and thinking beyond
• The importance of engaging with your audience before the event
• And crucially – how do you better understand your audience? 

Find out more at tenthousandhours.agency

Long-term creative partners Martin Richardson and Dom Garner have spent a decade powering events to be more strategic and objective-led. They’ve inspired event leaders and agencies to be accountable for success, and now they’re sharing some of that knowledge. 

They join leading figures in marketing, brand and communications to share how they succeed with events: attracting more event attendees, saving money, creating better engagement and gaining greater audience insights.