Exhibition News September 2019 | Page 63

People Moves PEOPLE MOVES 2 MINUTES WITH… How do you intend to face the challenges in the industry? As a company, we ensure that we always listen to our customers and look at the market as a whole to see how it is evolving. This approach recently helped us achieve an NPS of plus-35, which is awesome. We will build on this and continue to listen, innovate and evolve. Kazz Kumar, marketing manager, ASP How did you get into the events industry? I started working in the music industry over 10 years ago as a singer in a band that was signed to Sony BMG Asia. I learned a lot about the events space and was also working closely with management to market the band. I guess it’s safe to say I enjoy working behind the scenes now. Favourite thing about events? We live in a world where technology provides us with so much choice on how we consume media. Because of this, I think sometimes people forget that you can’t beat meeting someone in the flesh and experiencing something first hand. This is why our industry is so powerful. What do you plan to do in your first month at ASP? For over 21 years, ASP has led the way in providing bespoke and purpose-built websites for events. In Flex – ASP’s new highly customisable low-cost web platform – we have a product that every organiser in the industry should be using, so I’ll use my first month to hatch a plan to help make that happen. Biggest frustration? Our industry is amazing, but it also creates an insane amount of waste that goes into landfill. Think of all those plastic lanyards! I dread to think about the amount of carpet our industry lays down at a show for a couple of days only to rip it up and throw it away. At ASP, we are working on big plans on how we can go green. Crowning moment? Performing in front of 20,000 people in Dubai and recently having my photo in a New York gallery for ‘The Legacy Pop up’ – Celebrating South Asian Women in Music. Who is the individual you most admire? I can’t pick one person, but I admire both of my parents. They are very hardworking, open- minded and taught me how to get through challenging things in life. I still call them before I make a life changing decision, just to get the ‘ok, go ahead’! At EN HQ we take our coffee very seriously, how do you take yours? I love coffee. I buy coffee beans from different destinations as souvenirs! Mine’s black with sweetener – laying off the sugar. 1. The newly-formed Star Live has announced the appointment of Grahame Muir (1) as chief operating officer. He was previously Arena Group CEO, UK & Europe. Hire Space has announced the appointment of Maja Przybylowska (2) as account manager. Working on corporate accounts, 2. Przybylowska’s role will have an international element, sourcing worldwide venues and suppliers for clients. Louise Sheehan (3) has been appointed event TV producer as part of an expansion of production at 3. Silverstream TV, she was previously video producer at the RSPCA. tfconnect has welcomed Kim Willis (4) to the team. Willis’ role will be to assist in growing tfconnect’s database of clients and 4. candidates to include more Indian, Middle Eastern and SE Asian exhibition professionals. Laura Pearce (5) has 5. joined RSA House to head up a team of five, and is responsible for the entire hospitality sales budget and related marketing. Her main objectives will be to grow the conference business, Christmas party bookings and weddings. September — 63