For any Professional Conference Organiser (PCO) the importance of sponsorships and partnerships can never be overlooked or underestimated – it’s not just the case that success and failure can hinge on how many partners you secure, it’s also true that the event might not even go ahead at all if the numbers don’t work.

At TFI Lodestar we take pride in designing events and experiences that connect and cut through. Everything we do is about clear communication. Getting that right doesn’t just mean having a firm understanding of our clients’ message and objectives, it also means being alert to the needs of the audience.

Building event engagement always begins with understanding the audience. This is so obvious, so instinctive, that we’re sometimes surprised when we read insight pieces about how to "understand your audience" – as if this is something new or innovative. After all, who makes a conscious decision to communicate without first thinking about who they’re talking to?

It’s a diverse world, and every workplace is a microcosm of that world – a kaleidoscope of different backgrounds and perspectives, habits and tastes, ages and ethnicities. For event organisers, this diversity presents a challenge: how to engage, how to communicate, how to design experiences that bridge across the divide.

It’s July and we’re now deep into congress season. For speakers and presenters of all types, with all levels of experience, this means one thing – how to take to the stage, stand out, and not get lost amid the clutter and clamour of a packed conference programme.

This Mental Health Awareness Week we’re reflecting on how much time we spend in our industry thinking about our clients and designing wonderful experiences for their guests. It’s important work – in fact, it IS the work – but there’s another consideration that often gets lost: thinking about our colleagues and designing wonderful experiences for them, every day, in the workplace and in their lives.

Spring is well and truly sprung, and at TFI Lodestar we’ve been seeing the green shoots of growth right across our business and our industry. We’ve been onboarding new clients, picking up the reins of major congresses, and delivering a swathe of events for our corporate and associations clients. It’s been a fantastic Q1 and a vigorous start to Q2.

In July 2021, TFI Lodestar’s Josh Willmott won Online Event Producer of the Year at the CN Agency Awards. For Josh and his company, the previous year had been one of rapid learning and adaptation. Matthew Gidley, TFI Lodestar’s Head of Strategy, spoke to the company’s clients to discover how the pandemic had affected them, how they had adapted, and what it might bode for the future of live events.

When we merged our operations and re-launched as TFI Lodestar in 2021, we decided it was the perfect time to review our many policies and practices and shape them into a single coherent statement of intent. Beyond the already high quality of our work, we want to be an agency that we can all feel proud to be part of – one that tries to make a positive difference, not just to our clients, but to everyone we engage with and our world.

Since announcing the launch of our newly integrated agency last month, we’ve been overwhelmed by positive feedback, interest, curiosity, messages of support, and good wishes. It’s been hugely encouraging, and we’re grateful to our friends across the industry for giving us such a warm welcome.

With the clocks going forward to begin British Summer Time, the first easing of (we hope) post-Covid social restrictions, and UK vaccinations reaching around 50% of the population, there is a growing sense of relief and optimism that things – finally – are back on track. We are nearly through this. The future that we have all been longing for is nearly here. What might that mean for our industry?

Today marks an exciting new beginning for our agency, where we fully unite our formerly separate divisions and go forward, with one powerful integrated offer, as TFI Lodestar.