BIMA Beyond

The Conference | The Debates

Download the agenda

BIMA Beyond | The Conference

Download the agenda

Download the agenda

BIMA Beyond

Two weeks and a nationwide series of events with a headline conference in London, all designed to bring clarity, insight and inspiration to an increasingly uncertain world. Under the banner of Opportunity & Responsibility, from 27 June to 8 July, BIMA, its Councils and wider community hosted talks and debates all over the country.

Our flagship conference in London: on 29th June the BIMA community came together for a full day experience at Ministry Venues in London. Ten amazing talks and hundreds of people to connect with. A time to step out of the day to day and go beyond. Download the agenda here.

Who is the event for? We’ve specifically curated the experience for the whole community, and not just for CEOs and founders in membership. BIMA Beyond is for the people that want to think beyond their day to day role with ideas on career growth, use of tech (a lot of web3) and then we wrapped it up figuring out what it all means to brands. Every so often we all need to step back and take a good look beyond the job description.

BIMA Beyond | The Conference

2023 dates to be announced.

What to expect?

Expect to be pulled away from your day to day role you have and go beyond. Carefully curated speakers are there to guide you through the bigger opportunity for all of us in digital. But it’s so much more…it’s about being in it together and with anything BIMA it’s about meeting friends and making new friends. Don’t expect to be lonely. Don’t expect your usual venue!

 

Why come?

It’s not easy because we’re all so busy with meetings and zoom calls, but it’s vital to step away from the routine now and again. This is for people that see the value in stepping back and looking forward. We also know it’s about being together…as everything is with BIMA. It’s as much about the community as it is the content.

Who is it for?

This is less about targeting roles and levels of seniority. It’s more about the people who want to achieve more and go beyond what’s in the job spec. Interns to CEOs…it’s about the type of person you are…not the role or salary you have.

Agenda
  • 09.30 – Registration & refreshments
  • 10.00 –  Welcome from BIMA President, Chris Mellish
  • 10.05 – Introduction with our host, Dan Sodergren
  • 10.10 Breathwork with Josh Connolly
    Breathwork is accessible to everyone and has the ability to give us some power over the ways that we feel. Focusing on our breathing can help to bring us back to a resting state or energise us in times of need. Use this as a divide from the outside world to clear your mind and get ready for BIMA to take you Beyond.

PART ONE

  • 10.25 – Sir Martin Sorrell, Businessman, Founder & Executive Chairman of S4 Capital, “Digital Skills Gap?”
  • 10.55 – Orlando Wood, Chief Innovation Officer of the System1 Group, “Look out”
  • 11.20 – Sam Conniff, Entrepreneur, Author, Creator of Uncertainty Experts, “Finding Opportunity in Uncertainty”
  • 11.45 – Break & refreshments

PART TWO

  • 12.05 – Mary Keane Dawson, Provocateur and Legendary Digital Media maven, “Building your business during an economic crisis: using innovation and creativity to deliver unfair competitive advantage”
  • 12.30 – Fern Miller, Executive Strategy Director at R/GA, “Why Social Commerce Changes Everything”
  • 12.55 – James Whatley, Chief Strategy Officer at Diva Agency, “Metaverse? What Metaverse?”
  • 13.20 – Lunch break, refreshments & networking13.45-14.15 Optional: Join BIMA’s Wellbeing Council for a walk outside of the venue to stretch your legs and get some fresh air before diving back into the afternoon’s sessions. Grab your lunch and meet them by the gate in the courtyard.13.45-14.15 For our student guests: Grab your lunch and join StackAdapt in The Loft for a special introduction to the world of programmatic.14.00-14.20 Optional: Join Josh Connolly for another breathwork session to prepare yourself for the afternoon’s talks. In the main space from 2.10pm.
  • 14.25 – Welcome back

PART THREE

  • 14.30 – Lisa Merrick-Lawless, Co-Founder, Purpose Disruptors, “Can advertising help reimagine the future?”
  • 14.55 – Yahye Siyad, Diversity & Accessibility Lead at Cyber-Duck, “Taking a walk in my footsteps – how intuition transforms the unexpected into a world of opportunities”
  • 15.20 – Kara Prosser, Design & Social Impact Consultant, “Design For Good — The $30 Trillion Opportunity”
  • 15.40 – Break & refreshments

PART FOUR

  • 16.05 – Brand panel discussion, “Innovation Stories”, hosted by Sonoo Singh, Co-Founder of Creative Salon, with guests including Will Harvey, Head of Global Digital Innovation at Diageo, Chris Pitt, CEO at first direct, and Nishma Robb, Senior Director, Brand & Reputation Marketing, Google UK
  • 16.35 – Final thoughts
  • 16:50 – Thank you and closing remarks from host, Dan Sodergren
  • 17.00 – Networking event – open bar and food in the courtyard!
  • 20.00 – Back to reality – Thanks for coming to BIMA Beyond!

Download the agenda here.

Where?

The Conference will take place at the world famous Ministry Venues in London.

Ticket types

We have different types of tickets available:

  • Conference & Networking – BIMA Member – £250+vat
  • Conference & Networking – Standard – £300+vat
  • Networking only – BIMA Member – £25+vat (SOLD OUT)
  • Networking only – Standard – £40+vat (SOLD OUT)
  • Group of 5 Conference & Networking – BIMA Member:  £875  –  you save £375
  • Group of 5 Conference & Networking – Standard: £1125  –  you save £375

PART ONE

We will start the day with three speakers who will share their unrivalled experience and insight into where the digital industry is now, where it’s going next and how to make the most of it.

2023 dates to be announced.

Sir Martin Sorrell, Founder & Executive Chairman of S4 Capital - "Digital skills gap?"

This isn’t about the financial opportunity in Digital. It’s about the opportunity for the people that work in it. Sir Martin kicks off the day with a talk on how agency talent might look in the next 10 years and then takes a Q&A from students and interns on how they can grow their career and make a difference.

 

Orlando Wood, Chief Innovation Officer of the System1 Group and author of Lemon - "Look out"

During times of technological change, art and culture narrows its view. It turns inward and this creates a world of division. During his talk, based on his much lauded book, Orlando Wood will be explaining why looking upwards and outwards, and engaging with emotion creatively, brings a wealth of opportunity.

Sam Conniff, Entrepreneur, Author, Creator of Uncertainty Experts - "Finding opportunity in uncertainty"

Uncertainty causes indecision, anxiety and self-doubt, while we lose confidence, connection, and productivity. However great opportunities exist if we simply change our approach to uncertainty. For BIMA Beyond Sam will help us all find the tools and confidence to combat uncertainty and transform our lives for the better.

PART TWO

An event of this nature wouldn’t be considered relevant to our industry if it didn’t delve into the promise of Web3.

2023 dates to be announced.

Mary Keane Dawson, Provocateur and Legendary Digital Media maven - "Building your business during an economic crisis: using innovation and creativity to deliver unfair competitive advantage"

Having experienced Web 1.0 and helped build Web 2.0, Mary is now most excited by the promise of Web3. For BIMA Beyond, Mary will explore how creative sector agency and tech businesses need to build out their strategic value proposition, build innovative new products and services that meet clients needs in an online first citizen driven recession facing market.

 

Fern Miller, Executive Strategy Director at R/GA - "Why Social Commerce Changes Everything"

Uncertainty causes indecision, anxiety and self-doubt, while we lose confidence, connection, and productivity. However great opportunities exist if we simply change our approach to uncertainty. For BIMA Beyond Sam will help us all find the tools and confidence to combat uncertainty and transform our lives for the better.

James Whatley, Chief Strategy Officer at Diva Agency - "Metaverse? What Metaverse?"

Depending on who you believe, the metaverse is either the science fiction future of all things Web3 or it’s already here and you and your business are missing out. For BIMA Beyond, James will equip you with the knowledge and tools you need to go back to your business and be the font of all knowledge when it comes to understanding this space.

PART THREE

The three sessions in part three will focus on inspiring you and your teams to grow your businesses mindfully, ethically and with what really matters at its heart; our people and our planet.

2023 dates to be announced.

Lisa Merrick Lawless, Co-Founder of Purpose Disruptors - "Can advertising help reimagine the future?"

We need to halve emissions by 2030 to stay within a 1.5 degree world. But what does this world actually look and feel like? What is the role of advertising in helping shape this new world? How can creativity and imagination help?

Join Lisa Merrick-Lawless, Co-Founder of Purpose Disruptors as she introduces the Good Life 2030 project which launched at COP26. Take part in a collective viewing of their documentary and hear about how the project aims to use the collective imagination of the advertising and comms industry to create a new vision for the future.

 

Yayhe Siyad, Diversity & Accessibility Lead at Cyber-Duck - "Taking a walk in my footsteps – how intuition transforms the unexpected into a world of opportunities"

From Somalia to Bahrain and onto England and beyond, former-Team GB Paralympian, UN-certified disability awareness trainer and visually impaired entrepreneur, Yahye Siyad, has travelled a truly extraordinary journey around the globe. For BIMA Beyond, Yahye will share why he believes that human-centred, intuitive digital transformation provides the single biggest opportunity to positively change the lives of billions of people, particularly those with disabilities, around the world.

Kara Prosser, Design & Social Impact Consultant - "Design for good: The $30 trillion dollar opportunity"

The world is facing some of the biggest social challenges our generation has ever seen, all happening at once – climate change, inequality in health care, millions of people fleeing war and violence. As a creative community we have a responsibility and the skills to help solve these complex problems, whilst opening up new and diverse revenue streams for our clients, and for us.

PART FOUR

To conclude the day, we will bring all of the topics together by bringing you the client-side perspective during an hour-long discussion with the help of some instantly recognisable brands. A must attend session to understand how your clients’ businesses are changing and what they expect from their agencies.

2023 dates to be announced.

Sonoo Singh, Co-Founder of Creative Salon - "Innovations stories"

In an ever-changing digital landscape, brands are challenged to move beyond ‘one size fits all’. But it’s not just about VR, AI or indeed the Metaverse and crypto currencies, it’s so much more. It’s about how these technologies are changing every aspect of our lives—from culture to business, science to design. But if the last two years have taught us anything, it’s this – the most innovative companies have proven not only resilient, but highly adept at delivering rapid change and innovation around resources, people, assets, and business models. So, what does it mean to be an innovative brand? This panel of brand leaders will share their stories to discuss how innovation drives growth and feeds into the larger cultural conversations. And how creative thinking is that lever to lead the next wave of innovation.

 

Will Harvey, Head of Global Digital Innovation at Diageo
Chris Pitt, CEO at first direct
Nishma Robb, Senior Director, Brand & Reputation Marketing, Google UK
Conference Keynote Speakers 2022:
Dan Sodergren
Host and Co-Founder of YourFLOCK.co.uk
Sir Martin Sorrell
Businessman, Founder & Executive Chairman of S4 Capital
Orlando Wood
Chief Innovation Officer of the System1 Group
Sam Conniff
Entrepreneur, Author, Creator of Uncertainty Experts
Mary Keane-Dawson
Provocateur and Legendary Digital Media maven
Fern Miller
Executive Strategy Director at R/GA
James Whatley
Chief Strategy Officer at Diva Agency
Lisa Merrick-Lawless
Co-Founder, Purpose Disruptors
Yahye Siyad
Diversity & Accessibility Lead, Cyber-Duck
Kara Prosser
Design & Social Impact Consultant
Sonoo Singh
Co-Founder of Creative Salon
Chris Pitt
CEO of first direct
Will Harvey
Head of Global Digital Innovation, Diageo
Nishma Robb
Senior Director, Brand & Reputation Marketing, Google UK

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