Profile
SUPPLIER FOCUS
Splento
ALTERNATIVE VENUE
Wellcome Collection
The photography agency
co-founder Peter Gilbert
on the challenges of
upload speeds and
pushing high quality
content up the agenda
What’s one thing you would change about the
events industry?
To cut the waste generated by events – we all
have to do more to leave less behind. And from a
selfish point of view, to shift the need for high-
quality visual content a little higher up the list
of priorities for organisers, agents and everyone
else involved. The quicker everyone appreciates
that first impressions really are all-important,
the better. It pays to provide your audience with
excellent photos and videos – great images sell! (I
know that’s two things, but at Splento we like to
give you more.)
What issue most affects your working life?
It sounds pretty straightforward but internet
upload speeds can cause a few challenges. We aim
to provide clients with their event photos ‘live’
or at least on the same day. It is improving but at
one or two venues (I’m too diplomatic to name
them) it’s still very slow. Surely everyone needs
fast Wi-Fi?
How has your business changed over the past
five years?
Once again, the technology has been hugely
influential for us. Things like facial recognition
have revolutionised what we do and the way
that we do it and greatly enhance our offering to
clients.
Why do you enjoy working in events?
I know it’s a bit cheese on toast, but it has to be
the people. I’ve met lots of really lovely people,
many of whom I’m privileged to say are friends.
The friendliest industry that I’ve had the pleasure
to be a part of – and I used to be an estate agent...
Daniel Caleb, head of venue hire at Wellcome
Collection, on AV renovations and gender-neutral
toilets
Tell us a bit about the history of the venue
Wellcome Collection opened in 2007. It is a free museum and
library that aims to challenge how we think and feel about
health. We host all sort of events including conferences, AGMs,
product launches, workshops and networking sessions. We have
a variety of versatile event spaces including a tiered auditorium,
four smaller rooms and thought-provoking gallery spaces.
What support can you offer event organisers?
All our rooms come with built-in AV such as projector, screens,
WiFi and all catering is in-house.
Wellcome Collection was recently recommended as one of
the most accessible venues in the UK. We have accessible toilets
on every floor, and all of our spaces have wheelchair access and
an induction loop.
What is the USP of the venue?
A unique benefit of holding your event at Wellcome Collection is
that all profits made are Gift Aided back to the Wellcome Trust
charity and invested into improving health and wellbeing for all.
Is there anything coming up that you want to highlight?
We are undergoing various projects in Wellcome Collection,
including upgrading all of the AV facilities in the event spaces to
offer more flexibility for clients. New features will include video
conferencing, fixed cameras in the auditorium and interactive
flipcharts. The flipcharts will help with our sustainability
project - organisers can now email themselves the flipchart
notes rather than using paper.
The new Being Human exhibition will be our new permanent
gallery space, exploring what it’s like to be human in the 21st
century. Another exciting development is that we are also
changing our toilets on the ground floor to become gender
neutral and increase our accessibility for all.
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