Benn to give powerful keynote at Event Production Show

Managing Director of Festival Republic, Melvin Benn, will deliver a ten minute keynote speech at the beginning of Powerful Thinking’s - People, Planet, Profit panel presentation, taking place on the Event Production Show’s Main Stage, as part of the renowned Access Sessions, from 1pm – 2pm on Tuesday 11th February.Benn is an active supporter of the Powerful Thinking initiative, a not-for-profit industry think-do tank set up to strive for an energy efficient, low carbon and cost effective future for festivals. His fellow panellists include: Claire O'Neill, co-founder of a Greener Festival and senior manager of the Association of Independent Festivals, Alison Tickell, CEO of Julies Bicycle, Chris Johnson co-founder and director of Shambala Festival and chair of Powerful Thinking and Andy Lenthall, general manager of the Production Services Association. As some of the UK's leading advocates for sustainable practices, they will discuss what a vision of a low carbon industry might look like, share their successes, and explore practical ways to achieve truly sustainable events.Drawing from the panel’s considerable experience the session will explore topics such as best practice, barriers to progress, the realities of sustainable production, what is 'low carbon', is offsetting a useful concept and how the industry work together on a topic which requires an industry stance?Chris Johnson, Powerful Thinking’s chair commented: “It is vital that we talk about and tackle our environmental impact as an industry and a panel discussion at the Event Production Show is the perfect platform to place this at the forefront of event organisers’ minds and spark debate.”"Where do we want to be in 2025 - proud to be pioneers, or an industry which is lagging compared to other sectors in a changing world. The smart use of resources is climbing up the agenda year by year as prices increase, and with urgent climate challenges we have the opportunity to be the change by communicating with large audiences."REGISTER FOR THE EVENT PRODUCTION SHOW HERE