In this episode of The Revenue Room, host Heather Holst-Knudsen sits down with Orson Francescone, Managing Director of FT Live—the global events division of the Financial Times. Under Orson’s leadership, FT Live has delivered record-breaking growth, producing over 240 events in 2024 alone.

Join us as we explore Orson’s 20-year journey in the B2B events industry, from his early days as a conference producer to running massive global trade shows, and now leading one of the most innovative event organizations in the world. We dig into:

• How FT Live blends editorial credibility with commercial performance
• Balancing scale with quality in a rapidly growing event portfolio
• The rise of hybrid events and how they’re driving first-party data and subscriber growth
• AI’s impact on the event industry—and why the barriers to entry are falling fast
• The future of event production, personalization, and content repurposing
• Why the venue matters (and the story behind a luxury event in Venice)

Whether you’re in media, marketing, or events, this episode is packed with insights on strategy, innovation, and staying competitive in the modern data-driven economy.

ABOUT H2K LABS

H2K Labs is a tech-enabled value creation specialist that helps media, data/information, event, and marketplace businesses accelerate revenue, drive profitability, and fuel enterprise value using data, digital, and AI. We host The Revenue Room™ Podcast, curate Revenue Room™ Connect, a professional network for CEO and their revenue-critical C-Suite teams, and produce events including RevvedUP 2025. For more information, please visit https://www.h2klabs.com

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