William Thomson

Head Honcho Gallus Events

Session outlines: Ensuring that attendees leave more knowledgable & totally inspiredMaking Good Planners Great

Over the last few years the role of the event planner has changed. No longer are event planners seen as an administrator or simply a logistics person. No more are they seen stuffing bags and arranging table plans. The new event planner is seen as a strategist who understanders how people and organizations like to communicate. A designer of environments and of experiences. A powerful influencer and a commanding presence. Well, of course, this isn’t true of every organization or every planer but once they have attended this session they see an achievable path to becoming great. Packed full of interesting and engaging anecdotes that demonstrate the tips, tools and techniques that William has used and developed to turn good planners into GREAT planners.

Stop Organizing Events and Start Organizing Experiences

A wonderful session where William charts the early highs of the event industry juxtaposing that with the current lows. He paints a picture of an industry regarded as creative but seriously lacking in creativity. He creates a shared belief of an industry that can play a major role in most organizations. He outlines his vision of the role that every planner and every events business can plan in making their events stand out.

From Page Three to Front Page News - An Event Journey

With almost twenty years organizing events William’s journey is a wonderful metaphor for the whole event industry. From early success to public failure he charts a very personal and inspiring course through an industry that has undergone a huge amount of change. He outlines the key beliefs that have maintained his position as a leading organizer. He discusses the epiphany that turned him from a “conference producer” to a “conference architect” Over the last 5 years William has been at the cutting edge of events and his future plans mark a visionary approach for the whole event industry.

Session outlines: Practical and packed full of fantastic take home tips

On the money and down to earth. William certainly talks the talk and he ensures that he walks the walk. His sessions are built on his own experience across almost 20 years as an event planner.

William is able to tailor these presentations and is also able to address other areas within events. However these are his most popular sessions:

• Tools Tips and Techniques to Run Fantastic Events (Audience: Event Planners)

• Running Association and Other Not for Profit Events (Audience: Senior Association Executives)

• How to Run More Events (Audience: Event Planners / Event Managers / Senior Executives)

• Creative Sponsorship (Audience: Event Managers, Sponsorship Managers)

• Understanding and Implementing Change in Events (Audience: all levels)

• The Make-up of the ‘New Event Planner’ (Audience: all levels)

• Using Event Technology Wisely - Create Time to be Creative (Audience: Event Planners / Event Managers)

Summaries of these sessions are available upon request. Session can be altered for different levels.

Speaking and chairing eventssince 2010

Speaking engagements

Making The Most Of Your Events Association Congress London, 2010Handling Event Logistics QEII Masterclass London, 2010Commercialising Your Association Trade Association Forum London, 2010Delivering Beneficial Events CHASE London, 2011Running More And Better Events The Organisers Forum London, 2011Event Logistics- Why Boring Is Good QEII Masterclass London, 2011The Nine Steps To Successful Events CIBTM Beijing, 2011How To Run Events CIBTM Beijing, 2011Making The Most of Your Assoc Events EIBTM Barcelona, 2011Marketing Beyond Your Membership CONFEX London, 2011Demanding More From Your Venue The Organisers Forum London, 2011Running More And Better Events MISUMMIT Barcelona, 2012Maximising Value At Your Event EventCamp Sydney, 2012How Events Help You Win New Members Memberwise London, 2012Making The Most Of Association Events Association Planner London, 2012How To Design Experiences Tech Fest London, 2012Running More And Better Events Int Assoc Congress Liverpool, 2012Creative Sponsorship EVENTODAYS Madrid, 2013 Making Good Organisers Great MCE CEE Budapest, 2013Get Creative IMEX Frankfurt, 2013

Chairing Event Sponsorship QEII Masterclass London, 2011The Events Stream Int Assoc Congress London, 2011 The UK Association Congress UK Assoc Congress London, 2011Winning Association Business ICCA, UK Chapter London, 2012Association Day EIBTM Barcelona 2012Event Tech Circus Event Tech Circus Amsterdam, 2013Tech Fest Tech Fest London, 2013

Social Media plays a crucial and exceptionally important role within events.

As an planner himself William knows that the great speakers understand that their engagement and the delivery of their content is not solely focussed on “during” the event.

“William is a thought-provoking speaker and is able to tackle issues and raise topics in his sessions that others may shy away from. As an event organiser I found William’s approach and level of preparation prior to the event excellent. So too was his willingness to engage in our blog discussions and social media activities” Natasha Richards, Knowledge & Partnership Executive, IMEX

A great speaker should engage with attendees before, during and after the event. When William speaks he strongly supports the event #hashtag, records clips and writes Blogs.

With over 2000 followers on Twitter and over 500 connections on LinkedIn William is an event amplification specialist!

William has been managing event since 1996. His University nickname of “Mr Organiser” was a vision of the future. After University William set up his own event management company in Scotland running graduation balls. They were a blast! That environment provided a wonderful place to learn the many hard lessons that William draws upon in some of his sessions.

William moved to London and while there he organized, marketed and designed; training workshops; dinners; conferences; seminars and exhibitions which took place across the world. William’s roles included creating an exhibition department for a commercial conferences company and successfully re-engineering the events departments at two of the UK’s largest financial services trade associations and Europe’s largest membership organisation.

Since 2010 William has consulted for several leading professional conference organizers, large membership bodies and trade associations. His first book “Successful Events For Not For Profit Organisations” was published by Lansdowne Publishing Partnership in 2011.

William is the creator, curator and organiszr of two of his own innovative events. Tech-Fest an annual event in London and the travelling Event Tech Circus the only event in the world to bring together event planners, event tech startups and investors.

@williamevents is regarded as one of the most influential event organizers in Europe and is a active member of the #eventprofs twitter community

William will be in the United States between January 2014 and April 2014.

He is available for speaking engagements. William’s fees range from $1000 for practical sessions to $3000 for tailored motivational sessions.

To really get a flavor for William’s approach to events he suggests you read some of his many Blogs on events

Contactwilliam@gallusevents.co.uk@williamevents

“I have known William for several years both as an entrepreneurial event designer as well as an excellent speaker and moderator. His enthusiasm towards any task and engagement with his audience ensures that anyone who has the opportunity to experience William’s will definitely be influenced by his knowledge and come away having learned something new. He is quality guaranteed.” Kerrin MacPhie, past UK&I Chapter Chair of ICCA

"William cuts through the traditions and politics of events and introduces his audience to the heart of what is really important and valued by delegates and sponsors. With each presentation and event he has brought fresh ideas and presented the stark reality of how you need to change what you are currently doing" Damian Hutt, Executive Director, Association Resource

"I first met William at an event in London, where he was skillfully curating and moderating a session on the power of events for associations. Being in charge of worldwide conferences and trade shows for the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers at the time, I can honestly say that I was fascinated by Willies talent to put together a top-notch program, brief all the speakers in a tasteful and meaningful way and deliver an inspiring program. Since then, we have been in touch regularly, because Willie is not only an expert speaker and event enthusiast, but a great guy at the same time!" Michael Heipel, Managing Director, spring Messe Management, Mannheim/Germany

“William is one of the few event professionals capable of mixing a wealth of experience with forward thinking approach to planning events. Whenever I’ve attended William sessions, I learned something new. He is capable of delivering content with clarity and focus. William makes the most complicated topics simple while keeping strong depth and complexity. The feedback at William sessions is overwhelmingly positive, making him a safe choice for event professionals who want to inspire attendees” Julius Solaris, Editor, Event Manager Blog

“William presented and partly facilitated and I found him to be highly efficient, highly professional, knowledgeable, friendly and full of ideas and suggestions for my group. I do hope to work with him again in the future but would not hesitate to recommend him to others” Chris Smith, Head of Membership Services, Federation of European Screen Printing Assocs

William is a fascinating writer and event professional who is constantly pushing the boundaries. His forward thinking insights are worth considering and implementing. He will challenge your conventional thinking! Jeff Hurt, Velvet Chainsaw

William Thomson

An exceptionally innovative and engaging event planner