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- 18th Global Water Drinks Congress
18th Global Water Drinks Congress
The highest level and most influential event for the global water drinks industry. Designed for industry leaders, suppliers, customers and advisers, the 18th annual Congress will provide a complete overview of the latest market trends, innovations and issues alongside networking opportunities with key industry figures. Insights will be shared by leading international and regional businesses on the latest market and strategic developments, as well as by innovators and entrepreneurs bringing new ideas and taking up new challenges.
About the event
This 18th annual Global Water Drinks Congress is regarded as the highest level and most influential forum for the global water drinks industry.
The Congress is designed for industry leaders, suppliers, customers and advisers to gain a complete overview of the latest market trends, developments, innovations and issues, alongside extensive networking opportunities.
The event will feature two days of conference sessions, extensive networking opportunities and presentation of the 2021 Global Water Drinks Awards.
Leading international and regional manufacturers, industry suppliers and advisers will present on the latest market and strategic developments, as well as topical issues ranging from packaging and sustainability to water stewardship and innovation.
Programme highlights include:
- Consumer and commerce trends with Kantar and Highland Spring
- New initiatives on sustainability with Coca-Cola, Danone, Nestlé Waters and PepsiCo
- Changing European landscape with Acqua Vera, Gerolsteiner and Nestlé Waters
- Surge in US sparkling water with Coca-Cola, Talking Rain and Beverage Digest
- The world of water in 2030 with KPMG, Flow and Niagara
- Shaping the future with Danone and IRi International
- New water entrepreneurs Air Up and Tesla Nootropics
- Changing American landscape with the International Bottled Water Association, PepsiCo and Voss
- New Directions from beverage leaders with IDS Borjomi, Kirin and The Narang Group
- Presentations from leading packaging solutions providers Ball and Sidel
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Speakers include
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Tuesday 19 October
Join other delegates in groups of up to 25 people to network in moderated social discussion
Wednesday 20 October
Simon Oldham, Joint Managing Director of Highland Spring Group, United Kingdom
Andrew Walker, Client Knowledge Director at Kantar
Ramon Arratia, Vice President of Public Affairs – Global Beverage Packaging for Ball
Questions and discussion
Hydration break and networking
Roel Annega, Chief Executive Officer of Gerolsteiner, Germany
Pierluigi Tosato, Chairman of Aqua Vera, Italy
Muriel Lienau, President of Nestlé Waters Marketing & Technology and President of Natural Mineral Waters Europe
Questions and discussion
Networking lunch
Joe Doss, President and Chief Executive Officer of International Bottled Water Association, United States
Zach Harris, Vice President of Marketing, Water Portfolio at PepsiCo Beverages North America
Glenn Hartman, Chief Executive of Voss
Questions and discussion
Rehydration break and networking
Duane Stanford, Editor & Publisher of Beverage Digest, United States
Ulises Ramirez, General Manager - Water Portfolio for Coca-Cola North America
Chris Hall, Chief Executive Officer of Talking Rain, United States
Questions and discussion
Rehydration break
Moderated social gatherings in groups up to 25 delegates, with opportunity to meet awards winners
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Thursday 21 October
Dr Daisuke Fujiwara, Deputy General Manager – Health Science Department for Kirin Holdings, Japan
Rahul Narang, Founder and Chairman of The Narang Group, India
Alexander Erofeev, Head of Business Strategy Development and Innovation for IDS Borjomi International, Russia
Questions and discussion
Hydration break and networking
Ananda Roy, International Senior Vice President – Strategic Growth Insights for IRi International
Christian Stammkoetter, President of Danone Waters
Questions and discussion
Networking lunch
Naima Boutroy, Global Packaging Technical Support for Sidel
Panel discussion on packaging materials and design, collection and recycling, climate change and zero carbon, engaging governments and consumers with
Ben Jordan, Senior Director of Environmental Policy for The Coca-Cola Company
Vincent Crasnier, Head of One Planet One Health for Danone Waters
Nathalie Beriot-Nicolas, Global Head of Regulatory & Scientific Affairs, Nestlé Waters
Ron Khan, Vice President – Packaging for Beverages at PepsiCo
Rehydration break
Lena Jüngst, Co-founder of Air Up, Germany
Co-founder of Alder Creek Beverages and Chief Licensing Officer for Nirvana Water Sciences, United States
Angela Kahn, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Tesla Nootropics Group, United States
Questions and discussion
Rehydration break and networking
Ross Colbert, Managing Director - Global Beverages for KPMG Corporate Finance, United States
with
Maurizio Patarnello, Chief Executive Officer of Flow Beverage Corp, Canada
Rali Sanderson, Executive Vice President – International for Niagara Bottling, United States
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Speakers
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Lena Jüngst
Co-founder of Air Up, Germany
Lena is Co-Founder and inventor of air up, the world’s first drinking-bottle that flavours water just by scent – innovative, sustainable and without sugar or artificial additives.
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Paul Rayhilll
Co-founder of Alder Creek Beverages and Chief Licensing Officer for Nirvana Water Sciences, United States
Paul Rayhill is Chief Licensing Officer at Nirvana Water Sciences Corp. and Co-Founder of Alder Creek Beverages, United States
Previously, Paul spent nearly 25 years in the aviation industry garnering entrepreneurial and turnaround experience owning, managing and developing sophisticated and complex companies across diverse competitive aviation industries. Paul holds a BS in Engineering from the United States Naval Academy.
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Pierluigi Tosato
Chairman of Aqua Vera, Italy
Pierluigi Tosato is an experienced international CEO. Licensed with a Bachelor in Engineering, he earned an MBA Degree at SDA Bocconi, in Milan.
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Ramon Arratia
Vice President Public Affairs – Global Beverage Packaging for Ball
Ramon is an advocate for radical sustainability, campaigning for a truly circular economy. He believes that 100% recycling rates for packaging is possible if policy, product design and recycling infrastructure are aligned.
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Duane Stanford
Editor and Publisher of Beverage Digest
Duane Stanford is Editor & Publisher of Beverage Digest, a U.S.-based business newsletter covering the non-alcoholic drinks industry. He has written about the global food and beverage industry since 2006.
Duane regularly appears on radio and television and in print as an expert commentator on global beverage trends and developments.
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Ben Jordan
Senior Director of Environmental Policy for The Coca-Cola Company
Ben R. Jordan currently works as Senior Director of Environmental Policy for The Coca-Cola Company.
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Ulises Ramirez
General Manager - Water Portfolio for Coca-Cola North America
Ulises Ramirez is global marketing executive who currently leads the North America Water Business for Coca-Cola.
Ulises holds a Global MBA from Instituto de Empresa in Madrid. He was also a Marketing Professor at Universidad Anahauc where he imparted the Brand Management course.
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Christian Stammkoetter
Head of Danone Waters
Christian Stammkoetter joined Danone in 2007 working in several assignments in General Management roles in Danone’s Baby Nutrition business across emerging and mature markets.
Prior to Danone, Christian had worked in different Marketing, Global Category and General Management assignments in Unilever, Wella (later Procter&Gamble) and Numico (later Danone).
Christian is member of the Board of Food Drink Europe and Natural Mineral Water Europe.
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Vincent Crasnier
Head of One Planet One Health for Danone Waters
Vincent is head of One Planet One Health and reports in to Executive VP Waters member of Danone Executive Committee.
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Maurizio Patarnello
Chief Executive Officer of Flow Beverage Corp, Canada
Mr. Patarnello is the Chief Executive Officer of Flow. Prior to joining Flow in February of 2021, he held several senior executive positions at Nestlé.
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Roel Annega
Chairman & CEO of Gerolsteiner, Germany
Born in the Netherlands, Roel Annega can look back on an international career in the FMCG market that turned him and his family into true European citizens.
After his last position at Coca-Cola as Vice President Marketing for Central and Southern Europe in Vienna, Annega moved back to Nestlé in Frankfurt am Main. Here he led the culinary business of Nestlé Deutschland AG as Chairman and Business Executive Officer, responsible for the brands “Maggi” and “Thomy”.
In June 2019 Annega returned to the beverage industry as Chairman and CEO of Gerolsteiner Brunnen. Annega is convinced that we are witnessing a pivotal time in the mineral water industry and is exited to help shape the future for both for the Gerolsteiner brand and for the category.
He is a member of the Board of both Verband Deutscher Mineralbrunnen as well as Natural Mineral Waters Europe.
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Simon Oldham
Joint Managing Director of Highland Spring Group, United Kingdom
Simon became joint Managing Director of Highland Spring in August 2021. He joined nearly 12 years ago in 2010 initially as a Sales Director, going on to become Commercial Director and subsequently Chief Commercial Officer.
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Joe Doss
President and Chief Executive Officer of International Bottled Water Association, United States
Joe Doss has served as President and CEO of the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) in Alexandria, Virginia since 1999.
His previous positions include: Senior Vice President and Director of Public Affairs, Consumer Healthcare Products Association (formerly the Nonprescription Drug Manufacturers Association); Counsel at the law firm of Covington & Burling; Assistant General Counsel and Director of State Government Relations, Consumer Healthcare Products Association; Government Affairs Representative, National Stone Association; and Legislative Analyst, LEGI-SLATE of Congress.
Mr. Doss has a B.A. in government from The College of William and Mary and a J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He has completed an executive management course at the Center for Creative Leadership. Mr. Doss is a member of the Bar in Virginia and the District of Columbia. He serves on the Board of Directors at the International Council of Bottled Water Associations and is a member of the Food and Drug Law Institute and the American Bar Association.
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Alexander Erofeev
Head of Business Strategy Development and Innovation for IDS Borjomi, Russia
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Ananda Roy
International Senior Vice President – Strategic Growth Insights for IRi International
Ananda supports top corporate executives in FTSE-100 organisations identify & capitalise on growth opportunities, sharpen marketing effectiveness & optimisation, & use the power of analytics and data-driven inputs to make smart commercial decisions.
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Andrew Walker
Client Knowledge Director at Kantar
Andrew has spent almost two decades at Kantar helping FMCG businesses make sense of consumer behaviour.
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Dr Daisuke Fujiwara
Deputy General Manager – Health Science Department for Kirin Holdings, Japan
As an author of more than 50 publications, Daisuke’s main research interests are in immunology and microbiology.
He attended the University of Tokyo and achieved a Ph.D. He started out in the central laboratories for Kirin before moving to be a visiting researcher in RIKEN research centre for allergy and immunology, the national research center of Japan. In 2005-2007, he completed his post-doc at the David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA.
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Ross Colbert, Managing Director – Global Beverages
KPMG Corporate Finance, United States
Ross is focused on the Global Consumer Beverage sector for the KPMG global M&A network and is based in the New York, NY office.
Ross holds a B.A. in political Science from the University of Hawaii, and a MBA from the University of New Haven.
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Rahul Narang
Founder and Chairman of The Narang Group, India
Rahul Narang, under his leadership & business acumen over the last two decades, has established The Narang Group as one of the leading premium food & beverage companies in India.
The Narang Group is all about “Crafting Brands”, dating back to 1999, when Rahul’s love for Red Bull led to launching the brand & energy drink category in the country. The group has successfully introduced an entire nation to some of the finest beverage brands over the years such as Evian, Perrier, Twinings, Monster & several others. The route-to-consumer that was built & developed for these brands in India over the years, soon led to the idea of launching his own portfolio of lifestyle health & wellness beverages.
The Narang Group owns the No. 1 premium natural mineral water in India – Qua from the Himalayan Foothills, & Ocean Beverages. Apart from Qua & Ocean, the group’s current portfolio also comprises of world class brands such as Lindt, illy, Fever Tree, San Benedetto, Ocean Spray, Quaker, Doritos & Haribo.
Ocean Beverages – the latest venture of The Narang Group, caters to a target audience of approximately 350 million consumers in the country. The portfolio of hydration+ brands under Ocean Beverages consists of Ocean Fruit Water, Ocean Natural Energy Drink & O’ Natural Mixers, all of which have been crafted as ‘better for-you’ products, with a focus on sustainable living.
Virat Kohli – Captain of the Indian Cricket team & internationally-renowned Sportsman, has a stake in Ocean Beverages along with several other investors. The company has a CAGR of 157%, and is already the No.1 brand in the fruit water & premium mixer segment in the country.
Rahul has been a member of YPO (Young President’s Organization) since 2010. He also serves on the Regional Board of YPO South Asia, as Regional Finance & Alliance Officer, with a firm belief in life-long learning, through education, idea exchange and meaningful relationships & experiences.
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Muriel Lienau
President of Nestlé Waters Marketing & Technology and President of Natural Mineral Waters Europe
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Nathalie Beriot-Nicolas,
Global Head of Regulatory & Scientific Affairs, Nestlé Waters
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Rali Sanderson
Executive Vice President – International for Niagara Bottling, United States
Rali is Executive Vice President of International, Product Development, and Contract Manufacturing.
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Zach Harris
Vice President - Marketing, Water Portfolio at PepsiCo Beverages North America
Zach Harris leads the brand strategy, communications, innovation, and commercial agenda for PepsiCo Beverages North America hydration brands, including bubly, LIFEWTR and Aquafina – with a fresh vision for guiding the brands’ purpose-driven work.
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Ron Khan
Vice President – Packaging for Beverages at PepsiCo
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Naima Boutroy
Global Packaging Technical Support for Sidel
Naima Boutroy is Global Packaging Technical support at Sidel. Based in France, she has led Packaging development projects since 2007.
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Chris Hall
Chief Executive Officer of Talking Rain, United States
Chris Hall is the Chief Executive Officer at Talking Rain, the creators of the bestselling sparkling water, Sparkling Ice®.
Chris is passionate about creating profitable, progressive and sustainable change in the organization. He leads with purpose, thinking beyond brand marketing towards a business that prioritizes its capacities as much as its products.
A motivational team builder relentlessly committed to his own development, Chris encourages his leaders to develop their own unique style and voice and asks them to create the same opportunity for the people they lead. By cultivating an inclusive culture of engaged team members who are passionate and connected to the community they serve, the leadership team operates as a cohesive unit producing breakthrough results.
Since becoming Chief Executive Officer in 2018, Chris has taken a strategic approach to new product development, putting a focus on people and building a strong enterprise platform that has driven unprecedented growth in revenue, market share, and profitability. In 2020, Chris expanded the Talking Rain Beverage portfolio by launching the company’s first alcoholic beverage line and delivering several net new beverage brands in emerging categories.
Talking Rain is committed to maintaining a sustainable business model and continued growth. Through community obsession, advanced workplace culture, and by accelerating digital business practices, Chris has enabled the enterprise to stay on plan and develop a competitive edge. His approach encourages the company to be agile in an ever-changing market space.
Before joining Talking Rain, Chris served as a submariner in the United States Navy, where he developed his commitment to honor, dedication, and excellence. These values, his disciplined work ethic, and a mindset of “company-team-self” have been essential ingredients driving his successful thirteen-year career at Talking Rain.
Chris Hall earned his B.S. in Business from Central Washington University and currently resides in Black Diamond, Washington with his family. Always striving to be a better leader and person, Chris seizes every opportunity to learn and build stronger connections with those around him.
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Glenn Hartman
Chief Executive Officer of Voss
Glenn is an experienced executive with a successful track record over a diverse 41-year career with Procter & Gamble, Starbucks, and several privately held entrepreneurial companies ranging from $50 million to $800 million in sales.
Glenn worked for Procter & Gamble for 25 years where he held 14 different assignments in various leadership capacities. He received the President’s award for leadership performance in running one of P&G’s multifunctional customer teams.
Glenn graduated from Yale University where he played college football. He has coached many youth sports including football, baseball and soccer and often draws inspiration from the passion, teamwork and relentless pursuit of excellence in sports.
Networking
Expand your network
Zenith Global’s conferences have become renowned for providing extensive networking opportunities. At our 2021 virtual events, we aim to create even more ways for you to expand your network, with access to all delegates through the instant chat and 1-1 video meeting functions:
- Give attendees an instant introduction to who you are through your customisable profile. Build your profile with additional links, such as your LinkedIn profile, Twitter and Skype accounts.
- View all event attendees and use search filters to find those who are most relevant to your needs. See who is online on the event platform in real-time.
- Invite and schedule meetings with delegates and speakers, especially in the dedicated networking breaks. Start an instant video call with online attendees. Invite additional delegates to join the call to facilitate a wider conversation.
- Instantly connect with other attendees through the instant messaging function.
- Access the platform ahead of the conference to begin building your profile and start networking, with ongoing access in the months following the event.
Zenith Global's 2021 virtual events will be hosted through industry-leading online event platform, Engagez.
For a guided tour of Zenith Global's 2021 virtual event platform, please view our preview video here.
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Attendees
The Global Water Drinks Congress annually attracts 180-200 business leaders, suppliers, entrepreneurs, retailers, industry advisers and media worldwide.
Delegates who attended the 17th annual Global Water Drinks Congress in 2020 included:
Through our virtual event platform you can view all event attendees and use search filters to find those individuals who are most relevant to your needs.
In addition to being able to initiate a conversation through the chat function, you can invite and schedule 1-1 video meetings with delegates and speakers throughout the day and in the dedicated networking breaks.
Virtual event preview
For a guided tour of Zenith Global's 2021 virtual event platform, please view our preview video:
If you have any questions, please reach us at events@zenithglobal.com.
Testimonials
“A unique opportunity to meet the key industry players and learn about the most relevant topics shaping the industry.” Niclas Diesen, K Hartwall Invest
“In my 27 years in business I have attended numerous conferences. This definitely was one of the best in terms of content, organisation and networking opportunities. I highly recommend to any professional in the water business wanting to get the latest update and high-level exchange.”
Dr. Eva Wuellner, Spengler Fox
“This is one of my best investments for value. Receiving the opportunity to speak with high level speakers is priceless for a company.” Olivier Van Migem, Reflective Shopper Worldwide Ltd
“Great experience and well-prepared programme in terms of content. I will definitely attend next year as well.” Ivana Králiková, Senior Brand Manager, Kofola ČeskoSlovensko
“Simply professional from end to end with relevant content and a good information/knowledge platform about the industry. A masterclass in event management.” John Pugh, National Mineral Water Company
“As a disruptor entering various markets, AQUA Carpatica has relied on Zenith knowledge and events to build insight and strategy. We are now an award-winning brand and Zenith has remained a trusted partner for market insight.” Alina Balatchi-Lupascu, PR & Marketing Manager, AQUA Carpatica
“My first time joining this event and to my surprise, I really enjoyed all the programmes and great speakers indeed. A most enjoyable event and I will sure be a fan club of Zenith Global.” Vorachand Thiengtham, Alka Plus Co Ltd
“Because of Zenith's outstanding reputation, events I have attended have always produced great opportunities for discussion and for gathering the most up to date market information, which proves invaluable.” Michael Cervin, Senior Editor, Bottled Water Web
“This event has a lot of value to stay updated in the Global water market and to peek into the future. Even virtually, the content and the live Q&A sessions were really interesting and worth the time. I am based in the USA, and needed to start working at 1:00 AM every day to attend and I don't regret it for one second. I was able to make some good connections and learn about what is coming ahead and the challenges for the industry.” Alonso Prado, Director – Global Business Development (Water), Ball Corporation
“Relevant content and the speakers were highly competent. The facilitation by Zenith Global was excellent too.” Helen Too, Tetra Pak
“It’s certainly an event worth experiencing.” Adam Leja, Co-Founder, ÈSSE water
“The virtual Zenith Global Water Drinks 2020 conference ticked all the engagement boxes.” Peter Quinn, Director, Anu Irish Mineral Water
“The Global Water Drinks Conference this year was incredible! I learned a lot from the other speakers and loved seeing the innovation in the industry. And even though the conference switched to virtual, the platform was incredibly easy to use. And the networking was great. I already scheduled 3 follow up meetings to learn from other industry leaders!” Megan Riggs, CEO and Founder of Crunchy Hydration
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Awards
The industry's only Global Water Drinks Awards are designed to celebrate excellence and innovation across every category of the packaged water industry.
The awards are a great way for you to enhance your brand and ensure your product, concept or campaign is recognised on an international scale.
Entries are open until 3 September, and the winners will be announced on 20 October 2021, during Zenith Global's 18th Global Water Drinks Congress.
The categories
- Best Natural Still Water
- Best Natural Sparkling Water
- Best Flavoured Water
- Best Functional Water
- Best CBD Water
- Best New Brand
- Best Brand Extension
- Best New Water Concept
- Best in Can
- Best in Carton
- Best in Glass
- Best in PET
- Best Packaging/Label Design
- Best Cap/Closure
- Best Technology Innovation
- Best Marketing/Social Media Campaign
- Best CSR Initiative
For more information, visit the awards page on our website or contact awards@zenithglobal.com.
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Sponsorship
Our sponsorship packages provide a unique and effective opportunities to showcase your brand and services to a highly relevant audience.
Download the full list of sponsorship opportunities here.
Packages include the following capabilities:
- Deliver a presentation of up to 15 minutes within the main event programme.
- Host a roundtable or workshop.
- Virtual tour of your factory or plant.
- Regular mentions in Zenith Global's event marketing emails and social media posts.
- View all event attendees and use search filters to find those individuals who are most relevant to your needs.
- Give attendees an instant introduction to who you are and your networking goals through your customisable profile. Build your profile with additional links, such as your company website and LinkedIn.
- Invite and schedule meaningful 1-1 video meetings with delegates and speakers throughout the day. Invite additional delegates to join the call to facilitate a wider conversation.
- Customise your dedicated sponsor page with downloadable multimedia content and messaging.
- Instant feedback and interaction using real-time interactive features such as polling and Q&A. Attendees can share documents, chat with other attendees and share their views and opinions.
- Take advantage of your virtual booth where you can instantly connect with interested attendees, simulating a real-life event.
- Use measurable event analytics that captures real-time valuable data and insights, promoting lead generation and showing positive ROI.
- Revisit the portal in the weeks following the event to re-watch recorded sessions and access important information and contact details that may have been missed initially.
- Headline or category sponsorship of our Vertical Farming Award scheme.
The advantages of virtual allow you to:
- Stay relevant and connected to your existing clients and reach new audiences.
- Raise your brand awareness and learn from your industry peers.
- Use your time more effectively, as you no longer need to worry about logistics, travel, accommodation etc.
- Reduce your impact on the environment as you lower your carbon footprint by going digital.
Click HERE to download the full list of sponsorship opportunities.
Tailored bespoke packages are also offered to better suit your needs and budget.
For more information, please contact Francesca Hall, Associate Director - Events
e fhall@zenithglobal.comhall@zenithglobal.com t +44 (0)1225 327900
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