Tourise

I was been part of a team of three writers working with Imagination on the first ever TOURISE summit, shaping the future of global tourism.

What an experience it turned out to be.

135+ speakers. 67 sessions. 3 stages.

6,000 attendees daily.

A global social reach of 2 billion. (I lost count well before that.)

Our mission? To develop moderated panel sessions and fireside chats that would spark conversations, explore new horizons and leave audiences wide-eyed with excitement.

We then headed out to work on site in Riyadh, ready to respond to last minute amends. When required we briefed moderators including news presenters, TV personalities and business leaders from around the world. And on occasion, we directed lost panellists to the lavish restrooms. I think I can say we performed that task with equal aplomb.

Highlights included:

  • Writing the opening narration plus the MC and judges script for the inaugural Tourise Awards ceremony at the Ritz Carlton. I didn’t, however, get to wear my large velvet moth-like bow tie on this occasion.

  • Writing the questions, context briefing, bibliography and a ‘human-humorous’ intro / outro for a ground-breaking session moderated by AI. Or Sarah to you and me.

  • Writing questions for a live cooking demo and fireside chat with Jason Atherton. He can rustle up a red bream ceviche quicker than I can do beans on toast with cheese on top. Kudos.

  • Writing questions for the Richard Branson ‘Beyond Earth’ session. And being given eight minutes to come up with a compelling intro and outro for the moderator.

  • Having access to a bathroom that appeared to be fashioned mostly from gold.

A big shout out to the two other writers Mark Lomas and Andrew Pettie as well as the entire Imagination team, who delivered the near impossible as usual.

The client takeout:

“You and the entire Imagination team delivered an experience that truly dazzled every attendee. It was world-class in every sense. Their hard work, care and commitment set a standard that others will benchmark against for years to come.”

Tourise
Tourise
Tourise
Tourise
Tourise