Features
Live Pros Gather In London For Pollstar & VenuesNow Impact International Reception
Around 60 live entertainment professionals gathered in London Nov. 29 for Pollstar’s inaugural Impact International reception.
The casual gathering at the Upstairs room of world-famous Ronnie Scott’s jazz club invited all of this and last year’s Pollstar and VenuesNow Impact International
honorees, and many of the UK’s and Europe’s well-known professionals in the promotion, agency, management, venue, audiovisual and transport businesses.
See: Pollstar & VenuesNow Announce 2022 Impact Int’l European Honorees
The reception had been a couple of years in the making. Last year, ongoing uncertainties surrounding the lifting of COVID restrictions, particularly pertaining
to international travel, prohibited Pollstar and VenuesNow from hosting the 2021 honorees, but this year made up for it.
Brij Gosai, director of sales & marketing international, OVG Media & Conferences, welcomed the guests to this long-overdue get-together, before handing the microphone to Ray Waddell, president, OVG Media & Conferences, who spoke about how important
the international business is to the U.S., adding that he hoped to see many of those present again in February at Pollstar Live! in L.A.
Pollstar and VenuesNow have been expanding their international coverage for years. The increase in box office reporting from across the pond has been significant, and the Impact International reception offered an opportunity to highlight and celebrate this development – a development that’s bound to continue in a world where borders are of increasingly less significance.
The buzz in the room was loud throughout the night, a screen was set up, allowing the British delegation to follow the World Cup match between England and Wales, complemented by a selection of canapés and a free bar. Professionals also attended from Germany, Spain, France, and Sweden.
This year’s Pollstar and VenuesNow Impact International list featured a total of 31 of the year’s top European live industry executives, who under extraordinary circumstances moved this business forward and, in many cases, reached unprecedented
heights of success.
Pollstar’s editorial team honored Folkert Koopmans (FKP Scorpio), Hannah Shogbola,
Obi Asika (both UTA), Jackie Lombard (Inter Concerts), John Giddings (Solo), Maria May, Paul Wilson (both CAA), Stuart Camp (Grumpy Old Management), Barrie Marshall (Marshall Arts), Chen Castaño (Planet Events), Cindy Castillo (Mad Cool Festival), David Bradley (WME), Jens Michow (BDVK), Josh Javor (X-ray Touring), Matt Schwarz (DreamHaus), Phil Bowdery (Live Nation), Signe Lopdrup (Roskilde), Simon Jones (AEG Presents), Simon Moran (SJM Concerts), Stuart Galbraith (Kilimanjaro Live), and James Whitting (Wasserman Music).
VenuesNow’s 2022 Impact International honorees are comprised of Brian Kabatznick (OVG
International), Jolanda Jansen (Rotterdam Ahoy), the team behind ABBA Voyage (Ludvig Andersson, Baillie Walsh and Svana Gisla), Andrew Parsons (Ticketmaster UK), Beverley Whitrick (Music Venue Trust), John Rhodes (HOK), Dirk Lauenstein (Stageco Germany), Marie Lindqvist (ASM Global), Stefan Löcher (Lanxess Arena), and Jim Griffiths (Vanguardia).
Pollstar and VenuesNow’s Impact International partners in 2022, who were also in the room at the reception, are Ticketmaster, Populous, UTA, CAA, Driift, Air Partner,
Pieter Smit and L-Acoustics.
Our Impact International 2022 Partners:
