The return of ESco Connect for 2022

On Friday 6^th May 2022, a band of ESco merry men (and women) made their way down to The Marlin, Waterloo to prepare the meeting centre ahead of a very exciting event… The return of ESco Connect.

The day started off with a quick sign-in and our guests were fuelled up with caffeine, before we all bundled into the meeting room for a “Big Welcome” from Susan and Louise.

We would like to take this opportunity to offer once again our greatest thanks to Catriona Bolger, MD at BBC Gardeners’ World, for a fantastically engaging and interesting morning talk on how to grow your community.

ESco knows how to tune into what their clients and friends in the industry need to know more about. The structure of the day means it never feels too full on and is completely engaging. The addition of the panel session was inspiring and made the day for me!

Liam O'Connor, Operations Manager at The Economist Group

After another caffeine pit-stop, our morning talks continued with an update on Web Platforms from Richard Copping, Director at Isle Interactive (now Kiss Communications), and a case study from Cara Cullen, Project Manager at Media 10, on their experience with Single Customer View.

We rounded off the morning with a panel session on a trending topic in the industry right now – Memberships vs. Subscriptions. In the hot seats we had Verity Travers, Head of Marketing & Production at Anthem Publishing Ltd, Elliot Wellsteed-Crook, Chief Operating Officer at Wanderlust Publishing Ltd, and Steven Barkess, Head of Subscriptions at EMAP Publishing Ltd. A big thank you to all our guest speakers for sparking a thought-provoking discussion between ESco and delegates alike.

The ESco Connect events are a valuable opportunity to learn from other industry professionals, as well as network with clients old and new. The whole day was so well-organised and I can't thank ESco enough for inviting us!

Ellie Burnage, Marketing & PR Manager at Exact Editions

After a delicious hot lunch, we dived straight back in with a lowdown on the illusive EU VAT from the wonderful team at Avalara, followed by a highlight of the latest trends in publishing and an update from ESco. We then broke off for our roundtable sessions on four key topics from the day, giving our guests the opportunity to discuss ideas with each other and ask any questions.

In true ESco style, we rounded off the day in celebration with glasses of prosecco all round and a cheers to being back together once again. As always, the event was well-received, and it was the greatest pleasure of all to seize this opportunity and pick up where we left off from the last in-person ESco Connect.

With ideas already in the pipeline for next year, we can't wait to see how ESco Connect will continue to grow and develop in the same way that it has continued to do so since March 2018, when we first introduced this unique platform to network with like-minded industry professionals.

Photography by Victoria Middleton, @tori_middleton

This year's ESco Connect was a fantastic event which I would highly recommend to both publishers and industry suppliers alike. The content of the sessions was extremely well thought out and delivered with conviction and enthusiasm – it really kept me engaged throughout. As always where ESco are involved, not only was the day full of informative discussion, the hospitality and catering were also superb – thanks for a wonderful day!

John Diston, Head of B2C Client Services at Air Business Subscriptions