Beyond the ‘hello, my name is…’ badge: why on-the-ground PR and comms support at events matters

There is a particular kind of work that does not sit neatly in a folder, a spreadsheet, a content plan or a retainer line. It happens away from the office, in the walk between conference rooms. Over coffee. At dinner. In the moment before an introduction is made. In the quick decision to film something because it matters. In the conversation that starts as a passing comment and becomes a follow-up opportunity.

That was a lot of what our time in Turin looked like. For those of you who didn’t catch Jo’s updates on socials, in June, we joined Fairman Knight & Sons at the IFW, an international gathering of academics, researchers, suppliers, operators and industry voices working across the insect bioconversion and insect biotech sector. Across four days, almost 600 people from more than 30 countries came together to discuss where the industry is heading, what the science is showing, and what still needs to be solved.⁠⁠

For FKS, it was an important event to be part of. For KW, it was a chance to support them in a way that went far beyond “content capture”. We were there as a trusted member of their team to support with on-the-ground PR, communications and stakeholder support.

So, what did we learn? Other than the fact that Turin is home to FIAT HQ and the second-largest collection of Egyptian artefacts in the world, second only to Cairo? Well…

More than event attendance

It is easy to think of business events as something a brand simply “goes to”. Book the tickets. Sort the travel. Turn up. Sit in the sessions. Meet a few people. Post something on LinkedIn. Come home.

But if the event matters, if the room is full of people who could become partners, collaborators, advocates, suppliers, clients, referrers or future friends of the business, attendance alone is not enough:

• You need to know why you are there.
• You need to know who you want to speak to.
• You need to understand the conversations happening around you.
• You need to spot the themes that matter, the language the sector is using, the concerns people keep returning to, and the opportunities your client is well placed to respond to.

That was especially true at IFW. The programme was not built around big brand announcements or glossy launches. It was technical, research-led and evidence-focused. Sessions covered everything from black soldier fly production and processing to frass, substrate quality, biorefinery applications, regulation, sustainability assessment, AI, data, scaling and human health.⁠⁠⁠⁠

For a client like FKS, this experience was priceless.

Acting as the client’s comms brain in the room

Our role in Turin was part PR lead, part content creator, part PA, and part stakeholder support, to turn some incredible conversations, technical presentations and panels into a useful, commercial narrative.

That meant helping FKS make the most of the event while it was happening. Some of that was planned: knowing the priority sessions, understanding the themes we wanted to listen out for, thinking ahead about social content, and identifying where the strongest post-event stories might come from.⁠⁠⁠⁠

Some of it was live: getting the right people into the right conversations, supporting introductions and making our own important ones to key contacts for FKS, capturing useful moments, making notes, listening for patterns, arranging opportunities, and helping the client stay focused while moving through a busy international event.

Some of it was simply being a calm, useful pair of hands. Because when a client is in a room full of potential partners, investors, academics, suppliers and sector specialists, they should not also have to think about anything else other than making the most out of the opportunity in front of them. Every caption, every content opportunity, every dinner detail or every piece of positioning shouldn’t be on a client’s radar, really. And that is where embedded event support becomes powerful.

The value is in the conversations you create

One of the strongest threads from IFW was the relationship between science, industry and real-world application.

Before we went, we knew certain conversations mattered for FKS: academic collaboration, the global state of the sector, where the UK and FKS sit in comparison to Europe, the role of frass, what scaling responsibly really looks like to the industry, and how the delegates saw the future of the industry unfolding.

Being there in person made all of those themes tangible. We heard discussions about the challenges others have been experiencing when it comes to scaling insect farming systems (an interesting insight for the FKS team, which has set the UK benchmark for a successful, fully operational model that has proven scalability). We heard researchers talk about standardisation, process control, data, substrate quality and the complexity of making biological systems repeatable at industrial scale.⁠⁠

We heard strong evidence to support FKS’s development of a frass product, which has bolstered its own research around its potential as a fertiliser, biostimulant and elicitor, and the importance of talking about its benefits with accuracy rather than hype.⁠⁠

We heard the communications challenge too: how do you move people from ‘disgust’ to curiosity, from prejudice to empathy, from scepticism to trust? How do you talk about insects not as a novelty, but as part of a serious conversation around protein, fat, waste, agriculture, sustainability and resilience?⁠⁠

Content capture is only one part of the job

Of course, content matters.

Ahead of IFW, we had already mapped out opportunities for arrival content, day-by-day round-ups, event insight posts, behind-the-scenes moments, collaboration learnings and reflections on what the event meant for FKS.⁠⁠

But good event content should not feel like a brand desperately proving it was somewhere. It should show why being there mattered. For FKS, that meant using IFW to reinforce a bigger story: that the insect bioconversion conversation is moving from hype to evidence, standards, scale and delivery.⁠⁠

For us, it also reinforced something we talk about often with clients: content is strongest when it comes from a place that is authentic and genuine. When you are in the room, you hear the nuance. You notice what people are worried about. You understand which messages are becoming tired and which ones are gaining weight. You can tell the difference between a useful trend and a throwaway soundbite. That is why on-the-ground support matters.

Why this is now part of how we support events

Turin helped us put clearer words around a service we have often delivered instinctively.

For clients attending major events, exhibitions, conferences, industry showcases, launches or stakeholder occasions, there is huge value in having communications support there with them. Rather than watching from a distance, interpreting other attendees’ takeaways, and catching up after the fact, being in the room to listen, plan, capture, organise and help the client make the most of every opportunity is second-to-none support.

That can include:

• Acting as the client’s on-site PR and communications lead
• Supporting introductions with media, stakeholders, academics, partners or industry contacts
• Helping senior team members stay prepared, visible and focused
• Coordinating interviews, filming, photography and content capture
• Organising dinners, drinks, meetings and informal networking moments
• Spotting live content opportunities while the event is happening
• Translating technical or specialist discussions into accessible content
• Supporting post-event PR, social media, thought leadership and follow-up

It is event support with a comms brain. And for the right client, at the right event, it can make the difference between just attending vs actually showing up. And that is exactly the kind of support we want to keep building into our event work.

If you have a major event, launch, conference or industry showcase coming up, we can help you plan your time there so it is meaningful, help you work the room, capture the moments that matter and turn the experience into a valuable communications activity.ng the way in its approach to the present and future of the built environment and, having been involved with the Bricks Awards for the past couple of years, our extended team has really enjoyed developing a new visual identity for a brand that sits at the heart of celebrating sustainable development.

Read more about our on-the-ground support as a service on for Events or PR & Comms.