The ODI – an independent non-profit that works with companies and governments to build an open, trustworthy data ecosystem – asked us to produce and organise their fifth annual summit, an event conceived to promote the conversation around data and value, and to engage individuals, corporates and the ODI’s partners and wider network.
We organised a one-day conference at the state-of-the-art Kings Place in London, with 550+ participants, three content streams, 53 speakers, an unconference, poetry and art.
The event included keynotes from Sir Tim Berners-Lee and Sir Nigel Shadbolt, moderators included Mumsnet founder Justin Roberts and speakers included Roger Taylor, Chair, Chetre for Data Ethics and Innovation, Tabitha Goldstaub, Co-Founder, CognitionX, Matthew Postgate, CTO, BBC, Fran Perrin, Founder, The Indigo Trust, Steve Wood from the ICO, Azeem Azhar, Senior Advisor AI, Accenture and journalist Aasmah Mir.
The Business Narrative team led the project, working closely with the ODI’s wider team. We ensured the event delivered on its objectives, directed event production, managed the event budget, helped shape the event content, worked closely with the design agency, Philpott Design and sourced, negotiated and managed the venue. We also undertook a full range of event management tasks; event logistics, delegate management, badging, venue branding, catering, stage set, technical production, AV, videography, speaker management, sponsor management, event insurance and health and safety, event staffing, thank you letters, oversaw post-event evaluations and worked closely with marketing and sponsorship sales. We also engaged regularly with the full client team, to ensure their engagement in this flagship event, and briefed and managed the client volunteer team on the day.
In the course of the day, the Government’s new Office for AI announced its work with the ODI on Data Trust pilots, and the ODI called for greater data sharing by Google, Apple, Uber and others. The event stimulated a broad conversation on and offline with thousands of tweets on the day, and press coverage secured by our partner agency, Thwaites Communications including the FT, the Daily Telegraph, The Economist and the BBC, as well as major sector news channels (MIT Technology Review, Government Computing, and an opinion piece by minister Jeremy Wright in Computer Weekly).
A privilege to work with a great client team and convene events that have a genuine impact.
The annual summit is the ODI primary showcase event, attracting government ministers, business leaders, civil society groups and potential funders. Therefore, it’s essential that the summit is planned and delivered in the most professional manner.
I have been totally impressed with The Business Narrative in their management of this important event. We have very specific requirements relating to branding, messaging, right down to the format of the event. Sasha and her team have thoroughly immersed themselves in our culture and now think and speak on behalf of the ODI, becoming an extension of my team.
This is our most ambitious and most successful summit ever, generating a profit for the first time and with the highest number of speakers and panellists. A large part of the credit for this success goes to Sasha and The Business Narrative.
— David Beardmore, Commercial Director, Open Data Institute
- Visit The ODI Summit website
- Photography ODI / Paul Clarke
