Industry icons: Karen Hutchings

HeadBox Founder and CEO Andrew Needham sat down with Karen Hutchings former EY Global Head of Travel, Meetings & Events. Watch the interview as they discuss Karen’s illustrious career at EY, why she has always been a champion for change, her 2024 industry predictions and what she will be doing next...

Transcript

AN: Welcome everyone to the first in a series of interviews that we are doing with thought leaders, iconic leaders from the meetings and events industry.

I'm very excited to be joined here today by Karen Hutchings, the former Global Head of Travel, Meetings and Events at EY.

Welcome Karen, great to have you here.

KH: Thank you for having me.

AN: We have got a really exciting agenda. We're going be talking about a number of interesting topics starting with the eleven years from Karen's illustrious career at EY.

Going on to talk about innovation, the importance of technology, some of the 2024 predictions. That Karen's got up a sleeve. We're gonna be really keen to hear about.

And we're then gonna be moving on to the question that's on everyone's lips which is what is Karen going to be doing next?

So Karen, huge, huge welcome, having you here with us today.

As I said, it'd be good to maybe kick off with the end of an era. Let's be honest. This is an end of an era. You were eleven years working as the Global Head of Trave,l Meetings and Events at EY.

And you were a fantastic leader, industry leader during your time and role there. So it'd be lovely to hear from you what were the kind of key takeaways, the key highlights from those eleven, illustrious years at EY.

KH: Where do you start after eleven years of being with a company like EY, some of the highlights I can probably speak of would be the opportunity to work with people from so many different countries. So the team was made up of at the end 130 people crossing around 28 different countries. So that was wonderful, just the diversity of what that brings.

I then think as well when you work for an organization like EY, the access to the intellect that you get. So I didn't really know anything about RPA robotics, AI, etcetera, and became a self taught person around that and that was because of the access to that that I got when I was at EY I think as well when you think about just the sheer size and scale of the program, what attracted me to go there in the first place was the fact that it was one of the biggest travel meetings and events programs globally. And so what that gave me was access to just so many different things that we could do because of what the scale brought there.

We became thought leaders as far as innovation was concerned and also engaging with startups. And so that was a great thing that we had the support as well that we were able to do that. So I think if I think about the highlights, I think those would be the main ones and then of course I guess I shouldn't miss out just all the awards that we won as a team as well, which I think was testament to everything that we delivered and achieved.

AN: Yeah. So, of course, you talk about awards to you, you were the GBTA, WINiT award that you got last year.

And, also, the BTN, you were recognized by the BTN top twenty five most influential, list that you, you're on as well. And obviously, there were many awards. I think that your program, the meeting events program, was award winning as well during your time there. Interesting.

You mentioned one of the highlights you touch on in your time at EY was that importance of supporting startups. I know that you've been a real champion of change of technology and the importance that plays. In, in the industry. Obviously, startups have been a key player in that.

But you've been a real supporter of why is that being why is that being so important to you and why do you think it's that this has been so important to the industry?

KH: To be honest with you, I think the is a tad archaic.

I think what I love about the fact that the startups bring a different mindset, a different thought process, and it provokes change. And I think that's why really I actively went out there and we as a team actively went out there to engage with startups. We were one of the first to actually have a global travel meetings and events innovation leader within our team, and there was a reason for that. The travel meetings and events industry is probably one of the most disrupted that there is out there and so there were so many new companies coming in and so what we decided you know, you can't ignore them.

It's gonna drive the industry forward because it will make all of the traditional suppliers think differently. And so that's why we really did actively go out there and engage with them. And I think we actually got the result that we wanted as a result of doing that as well because it put the startups more on the map because others actually followed as well. I'm not saying that we are the only ones that did it.

But we were certainly very vocal about the fact that we would do it. Now that came with its challenges because of course then every startup would want to speak with us but we never closed the door on anybody. We spoke and we went through a review process with pretty much everybody interestingly, some of them never got through the starting gate then. But then on the other hand, there was many that did and we implemented many different companies, but for me, it's around pushing the industry forward and that's what the startups are doing in both meetings and events and travel.

And I know I I speak for all startups and scale ups in this space that I think that's hugely appreciated because I think every, every startup needs those forward thinking customers and clients to to partner with. To to to help push those boundaries, to help innovate and, champion that change. So I know that that is hugely appreciated, across the industry.

Moving on, I think this leads us in to the the the the area around predictions for 2024 because there is a lot of innovation, I think, and a lot of change that's happening, in this space. There are a lot of trends that we're now seeing particularly post the pandemic that are that are shaping the industry, the meetings events industry in a different way. And it would be maybe good to to get a little insight, of what do you see? Are some of the changes that you can see coming. Maybe some of those predictions that you've got for this year, 2024 and and beyond that you think is gonna start shaping the industry in the future. So I think chat GPT, Genai, is gonna be a huge player in the space.

I think it needs to be embraced I think everybody should go out and learn about it because I honestly think specifically in the travel arena, I think it's gonna really offer all sorts of enhanced experiences for people traveling, etcetera.

Meetings and events is ripe for disruption as well in my view. There's a lot of archaic systems in place there or no systems in place I mean, everybody relies on doing things still with people and I think there's huge opportunity out there to look at that very differently. Sustainability is gonna pay play a big, big role as well, I think in meetings and events. I think meetings and events change, IE, will there be more virtual?

Or how is a meeting or event run? Will people look to have more as an example vegetarian days, will they choose where the location is much more strictly versus where people are coming from also how do they use event technology instead as well. So I think there's a lot of opportunity there too. Then I do think blockchain's, not really hit in the travel meetings and events space yet, but I do think there's opportunity there as well for things to be looked at differently and just break the traditions of where we are with some of these traditional archaic shall we say systems that are out there and look at how they can be challenged and then also potentially come along on the journey though, and for them to reinvent themselves using these different technologies.

AN: No. I mean, there's there's so that's what's so exciting, isn't it? Because I think there are so many ways where we can see change coming and so many different new solutions I think we can get behind to help to help advance that that change. There are a lot of problems that still need to be solved as we know.

In the in the meetings and events space. So very, very excited to see what's, what's going to unfold in 2024 and beyond. So thank you for that for giving us a little insight to what, your thoughts around that. So I think, we're we're gonna quick we're gonna move on now.

I think to the question which is which is on on everyone's lips. It's something that you mentioned. I think in, I saw in the the the BTN piece when you were were awarded that top twenty five most influential. You were on the most influential list.

It referred that you were going to be joining a, a startup scale up in your new role. I know this is the question on, on everyone's lips as I say, what it what is Karen doing next?

So, maybe you could, perhaps share with us what that is going to be?

KH: Well, Andrew, if you don't know, then no body knows do they? So I guess, well, the start up that I am gonna go and be working with four days a month is actually HeadBox. So, I am delighted to say I'm gonna be working with HeadBox.

That that will take up four days of my month and then other things be doing is all up in the air at the moment. There's a few other, non competing startups that I'm talking to as well because be honest with you, for me, this is something really different. If I was gonna carry on doing the same as what I was doing, then I would have stayed with EY because that program is one of the best that there is out there and so why would I want to go anywhere else? So really it was about doing something completely different and HeadBox is a company that I know and have admired.

And so hence why that's the first company that I'm announcing I'm gonna be working with.

AN: Well, thank you, Karen. We are really very excited to have you joining our board and the role that you're going to be playing alongside myself, and my team is going to be really valuable. So we're really excited looking forward to that.

Can't wait to start.

Maybe just as we we bring the the interview to the close, what what what is it that excites you most about the role that you're going to be playing at, at Headbox?

KH: There's a number of different things actually. Being on the board is something very new for me and I always say that whenever you do anything and many people that I've coached or mentored, I've always said if you're not adding to your CV, you need to ask yourself why are you doing it? Well, I'll be adding to my CV. One, because I've never been on a board before.

Two, I've never worked for a start up before. And so there's two really appealing things, but also I think, The meetings and events industry is ripe for some challenges. Headbox have been out there for a few years now, in fact, doing that, but if I can be part of that journey to make it go forward even more quickly, then I'm really happy to be able to be part of that. And so that's what really excites me about this, that it is something completely different too.

And and it will challenge me and if we're not being challenged in our roles and we have to ask ourselves, why are we doing it actually? Because if it stays the same, don't know about anybody else, but I just get very, very bored. And so that's what excites me about this for sure. Well, don't you got no worries there.

AN: We what we say at a head box that any there's any any week is, is never the, never the same. There's a a whole range of challenges sighting challenges we have, in front of us. I think what from from my perspective, along with the the the experience and knowledge that you're gonna be bringing to, to HeadBox, from your your your meetings and and events career. And the relationships, obviously, that that you bring, is that, that global strategic purview that you have and that you obviously, experience during your role at EY, as we look to to expand into different geographies.

I think that is something that we're also very excited to have, have you round the table to help us, take our value proposition beyond the UK into the largest meeting events, market in the world in the US. And other geographies. So we can't wait. I can't wait, to, to sit around that table with you.

Thank you, Karen, so much for giving up your time to, to have the interview with us, today. And, just want to say to everyone listening, very excited that we've kicked off the year with this, this first interview with Karen. Watch this space. We've got more interviews with more iconic leaders from the meetings and events industries to come and happy New Year to, to all our customers and all our partners.