Tag Archives: Association of Independent Festivals

AFO celebrates its 30th Birthday at its Annual Conference

Powerful Thinking Talks Sustainability at The AFO Annual Conference

The Association of Festival Organisers (AFO) will celebrate the Association’s 30th birthday at the annual AFO Conference on 11-13 November, 2016 at Ettington Chase Conference Centre, Stratford-upon-Avon. Chris Johnson, chair of Powerful Thinking will be there to celebrate the AFO and to host a session on sustainability at festivals for the 250 delegates attending.

Since its formation in 1986, when a small group of like-minded festival organisers got together to chat and share ideas, The Association of Festival Organisers membership has grown to over 200 festival and event organisers, suppliers, agents and freelance individuals.

The AFO Conference is open to all in the industry: delegates are a mix of volunteer and professional festival and event organisers, bringing together teams that have been running for generations with first time organisers, new suppliers with familiar names, programmers and marketing specialists.

From Friday evening to late lunch on Sunday, the session rooms and stages will be buzzing with headline speakers, presentations, discussions, ‘how to do that’ sessions and panel debates. The Trade Market forms the all-important networking hub and two Showcase concerts showcase the best up and coming artists on the festival scene.

Speakers and sessions announced so far:

Sustainability – Chris Johnson (Powerful Thinking)
Health and Safety and Risk Assessments – Mike Richmond (The Event Safety Shop Ltd)
Beginners Guide to running a festival – Steve Heap (AFO)
Eventree case study – Mo Jones (TheTicketSellers) and Jon Walsh (Shambala Festival)
Legal advice with Jon Payne (LSL Solicitors)
Looking after your audience –  Panel includes Dave Boardman (The White Ribbon Campaign) on the safety of women plus speakers on the safety of children and the safety of vulnerable adults.

For a full list of topic sessions and speakers and to book tickets visit the AFO website at www.festivalorganisers.org.

Delegate passes are now on sale at the early bird rate of £110 for AFO members, £135 for non-members (until 31 October 2016). Trade stands are £300 for AFO members and £400 for non-members.